The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals (2019) PDF

The Complete Book of
1920s Broadway Musicals

The Complete Book of
1920s Broadway Musicals
Dan Dietz
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
6 Tinworth Street, London, SE11 5AL, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dietz, Dan, 1945– author.

Title: The complete book of 1920s Broadway musicals / Dan Dietz.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018042828 (print) | LCCN 2018043893 (ebook) | ISBN
9781538112823 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538112816 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Musicals—New York (State)—New York—20th century—
History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML1711.8.N3 (ebook) | LCC ML1711.8.N3 D516 2019
(print) | DDC 792.6/45097471—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018042828
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America

For Eva DeMarinis
Contents
Acknowledgment ix
Introduction xi
Alphabetical List of Shows xv
BROADWAY MUSICALS OF THE 1920s
1920 Season 1
1920–1921 Season 19
1921–1922 Season 71
1922–1923 Season 113
1923–1924 Season 165
1924–1925 Season 205
1925–1926 Season 259
1926–1927 Season 313
1927–1928 Season 385
1928–1929 Season 459
1929 Season 525
APPENDIXES
A Chronology of Book Musicals (by Season) 561

B Chronology of Revues 565
C Plays with Music 573
D Miscellaneous Productions 575
E Revivals and Return Engagements 577
F W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan Productions 581
G Pre-Broadway Closings 583
H Discography 585
I Filmography 587
J Published Scripts 589
K Black-Themed Shows 591
vii
viii CONTENTS
L Theatres 593

M Long Runs 607
Bibliography 609
Index 611
About the Author 651
Acknowledgment
A special thanks to Mike Baskin for his invaluable help and support in the writing of this book.
ix
Introduction
The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals examines in detail 287 book musicals that opened on Broad-
way during the period January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. These shows represent book musicals with new
music, new operas, and book musicals imported from Europe that made their Broadway premieres in new
adaptations and generally included interpolated songs by American lyricists and composers. In contrast to the
287 productions that opened during the 1920s, the 1930s offered 128 such productions (book musicals with
new music, operas, and imported adaptations) and the 2000s offered only 57.
The 1920s was rich in its impressive roster of major lyricists and composers. Irving Berlin, George M.
Cohan, Rudolf Friml, Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Sigmund Romberg, and Harry Tierney were already estab-
lished on Broadway, and in the 1920s, Kern hit his stride with a string of long-running hits (The Night Boat,
Sally, Good Morning Dearie, Sunny, and Show Boat). Kern was joined by a number of newcomers, some of
whom had emerged in the late 1910s and were now quickly becoming major figures in the American musi-
cal theatre, including George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Vincent Youmans, Cole
Porter, Oscar Hammerstein II, and the unjustly neglected team of Lew Brown, B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, and
Ray Henderson. Other important names that emerged during the decade were Harold Arlen, Howard Dietz,
and Arthur Schwartz.
The first half of the 1920s focused on lighthearted shows of the Cinderella or Disguised Prince variety, but
in the second half more ambitious musicals premiered, ones with serious adult themes, the most important
of which was Kern and Hammerstein’s groundbreaking Show Boat.
Tierney’s 1919 hit Irene institutionalized the Cinderella musical as a Broadway staple, and for the first
half of the 1920s it seemed that every other show was a variation of the story about a poor shop girl, restaurant
dishwasher, or boarding-house drudge who longs to meet and marry a man who is (1) young, (2) handsome,
(3) eligible, and (4) a millionaire, and to become the star of the Ziegfeld Follies (and not necessarily in that
order). And when our innocent heroine is invited to a snooty society party, she’s inevitably accused of steal-
ing the hostess’s jewels. But just as inevitably, she’s exonerated and by the final curtain finds herself in the
arms of her hero.
The heroines of these Cinderella shows (grand girls all, including Lassie; Mary; Sally; The O’Brien Girl;
Suzette; Sue, Dear; Molly Darling; Little Nellie Kelly; Elsie; Helen of Troy, New York; Mary Jane McKane;
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly; Plain Jane; Bye, Bonnie; Judy; and, yes, even Cinders) always seem to live and
work in Greenwich Village, and their princes reside if not in castles then at least in Long Island mansions
(twenty-eight musicals took place in whole or in part on Long Island, one of the era’s most-favored locales).
In I’ll Say She Is!, even Groucho Marx bowed to the theatrical times and in one scene appeared in Cinderella
drag, replete with moustache and cigar. Cinderella musicals of one sort or another have continued to flourish
over the decades, including two hits from 1956, My Fair Lady and Bells Are Ringing, and as recently as 2013
a stage adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 television musical Cinderella enjoyed a run of almost
two full years on Broadway.
Royalty-in-Disguise was another favorite theme, and these were generally operettas set in mythical king-
doms on the order of Graustark, Ruritania, and Marsovia, but sometimes the locales were updated to contem-
porary New York. The plots offered sundry variations on the general theme of a young woman who becomes
xi
xii INTRODUCTION
involved with a seemingly inconsequential and sometimes impoverished young man, but at evening’s end
there’s a lo-and-behold moment in which she and the audience discover that the unassuming fellow is really
and truly a prince from a faraway European kingdom. The farfetched plot of My Princess was ingratiating in
spite of itself. The heroine is a social climber who enters into a business arrangement with a street organ-
grinder, whom she pays to pose as a prince in order to impress her society friends. Just imagine her shock and
surprise when she discovers he’s a real prince who has donned the disguise of your everyday garden-variety
organ-grinder! And then there was The Circus Princess, which dealt with the wrongly disinherited Prince
Alexis who incognito has become a famous circus star known as Mr. X. A spurned suitor of Princess Fedora
decides to get even with her by inducing Mr. X to masquerade as a prince and woo her. Soon Mr. X and the
princess marry, and—oh! the horror—she realizes he’s not a real prince but instead is a lowly commoner, and
a show-business commoner at that. But imagine her delight when she discovers that the faux prince is an
actual prince, and that both she and he are blue-blooded equals!
If Cinderellas lived in Greenwich Village and princes on Long Island, others in the musical comedy
population were found in uptown Manhattan, Westchester, and (with the land boom) Florida. Paris and
Monte Carlo were the locales of choice for Europe, and of course there were all those turreted, bannered, and
beflagged mythical European kingdoms obsessed with Tradition and Royal Duty.
But musical comedies weren’t just populated by Cinderellas and showgirls. There were also vampires (a
word that soon morphed into vamps) and flappers (Liza offered the song “My Brownskin Flapper”; Be Your-
self! boasted that “Grandma’s a Flapper, Too”; for China Rose, a character named Fli Wun is described as a
flapper; and the program for Oh! Oh! Nurse indicated the heroine was a “flapper nurse”).
The male equivalent to the flapper was the sheik, and both flappers and sheiks were required to have
“It,” a word novelist/scriptwriter Elinor Glyn appropriated to describe a special quality of allure. Those who
possessed “It” were imbued with the ultimate in sexual magnetism. “It” was something you recognized
immediately (Rudolph Valentino and Pola Negri had “It,” but Zeppo Marx didn’t), and in The Desert Song
Romberg and Hammerstein paid tribute to the phenomenon with “It,” a surprisingly frank and flippant song
for a romantic operetta, but of course The Desert Song took place in the same era in which it premiered, the
mid-1920s.
Many of the musical comedies capitalized on the era’s fads, including golf and aviation (and aviators),
and operettas ensured that princes, princesses, ladies-in-waiting, military officers, hussars, gypsies, peasants,
marching students, pretty barmaids, merry villagers, and fuddy-duddy old folk held the stage. In most cases,
a romance between a royal and a commoner met with a happy ending, but in Castles in the Air the Queen
Regent simply sets aside the rule that royals can’t marry commoners. But there were also bittersweet partings,
and when the final curtain fell on The Student Prince in Heidelberg, the rigid rules of royal tradition had de-
feated all four principals, who were doomed to live out their lives without the one they loved. This downbeat
ending was at odds with the typical happy denouements of the era, but it didn’t keep the public away, and
the operetta became the longest-running musical of the 1920s.
The ever-present scourge of Prohibition lent itself to plots about bootleggers and speakeasies, and songs
that celebrated the joys of hooch. Operettas set in the distant past generally included a salute to drinking,
and these songs went over well with Prohibition audiences: The Vagabond King hailed “A Flagon of Wine,”
Song of the Flame offered “Vodka,” Bitter Sweet raised a glass of “Tokay,” and the college boys in The Stu-
dent Prince in Heidelberg urged everyone to “Drink, Drink, Drink.” Perhaps the most dominant theme in
the era’s ballads was the special joy of lovers who share a secret getaway: Mary’s “The Love Nest” and No,
No, Nanette’s “Tea for Two” were among those songs in search of cozy cottages, bungalows, hideaways, flats,
and tiny kitchenette apartments.
Shows introduced new dances to capture the public’s fancy, and Runnin’ Wild led the pack with the most
famous Broadway dance of them all, the iconic “Charleston,” a dance whose steps and music practically
define the Roaring Twenties. “The Varsity Drag” (Good News) and “Black Bottom” (the 1926 edition of the
revue George White’s Scandals) were also popular, and other dance specialties included: “The Hindu Hop”
(Adrienne), “Chinky China Charleston” (Florida Girl), “The Monkey-Doodle-Doo” (The Cocoanuts), “Jersey
Walk” (Honeymoon Lane), “Tampico Tap” (Bye Bye, Bonnie), “Manhattan Walk” (Good Boy), “The Break-
Me-Down” (Just a Minute), “The Heaven Hop” (Paris), “The Long Island Low-Down” (Animal Crackers),
“The Regal Romp” (Angela), “Campus Walk” (Pansy), and “Satanic Strut” (Woof, Woof). And The Gingham
Girl offered the wise advice that “You Must Learn the Latest Dances.”
INTRODUCTION xiii
Black musicals zoomed into popularity with the groundbreaking and long-running Shuffle Along, which
boasted hit songs, fast and furious comedy, and knockout dancing. It created the blueprint for most of the
era’s black shows, and was followed by fifteen black book shows, including the hits Liza and Runnin’ Wild.
By the mid-1920s, a sea change was in the air. Rodgers and Hart offered three ambitious works, two hits
and one daring failure. Dearest Enemy (1925) was described by Percy Hammond in the New York Herald Tri-
bune as a “baby grand opera,” and it focused on an actual military incident that took place in New York City
during the Revolutionary War. Later, Peggy-Ann (1926) used dream sequences to explore the heroine’s inner de-
sires and conflicts, and the eyebrow-raising Chee-Chee (1928) looked at the picaresque adventures of the hero
and his wife, Chee-Chee, both on the run because he’s been sentenced to a rendezvous with the scalpel—to
become a royal eunuch. Other unusual (but short-running) musicals included Frank Harling’s (aka W. Franke
Harling) opera-like Deep River (1926), about life and death in the Creole culture of New Orleans, and Youmans
and Hammerstein’s Rainbow (1928), a musical drama set against the sweep of California’s Gold Rush days.
The crowning achievement of the decade was Kern and Hammerstein’s Show Boat, the groundbreaking
musical that looked at life on the Mississippi over a period of some forty years and dealt with racism, misce-
genation, alcoholism, and dysfunctional marriages.
The period also offered new staging techniques that have continued into the present day. Cohan’s mu-
sicals (particularly Mary) used choreography to speed the plot along (“Long live the dancers,” exclaimed the
New York Times), and for all purposes the dances and the dancers became the show’s storytellers. One sus-
pects Cohan would have appreciated Bob Fosse’s dance-centric book musicals, such as Redhead (1959), Sweet
Charity (1966), and Pippin (1973), in which dance and stylized movement dominate the action.
Cohan also kidded the conventions of musical theatre and was an early proponent of the ironic musical,
a genre that later included Hooray!! It’s a Glorious Day . . . and All That (1966), Smith (1973), The Producers
(2001), Urinetown (2001), and Spamalot (2005). During the first act of Cohan’s Little Nellie Kelly, a char-
acter remarks that an important plot point will be revealed sometime during the second act. The ensemble
of Cohan’s The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly suggested that performers should do their utmost to “stay out of the
chorus,” and the program identified them as those who “sing and dance themselves into a musical comedy
state of mind” (among the songs were “The Arrival of the Plot” and “The Plot Again”). And then there was
The Merry Malones, in which Cohan’s hero complains to the audience about the predicament he’s in, no
thanks to the show’s author.
The era also offered special music and scenic effects to help speed the story along. Mary Jane McKane
utilized a scenic overture illustrated with three silhouetted scrims that provided the setup for the plot: first,
“Mary Jane Leaves Slab City, Mass.”; then she has “Her First Sight of New York City”; and finally, she con-
fronts the less-than-scenic “View from Her Bedroom Window.” Good Boy used treadmills set in opposite
directions which carried cut-outs of scenery on and off the stage, an innovation that eliminated stage waits
and in-one scenes and allowed the action (and the décor) to move along in one continuous flow before the
eyes of the audience.
For each entry in this book, the following information is given: name of theatre (including transfers, if
any); opening and closing dates; number of performances; and the show’s advertising tag (e.g., Go Easy, Mabel
was “The Musical Comedy Different”; Sun Showers was “A Downpour of Song, Dance and Laughter”; The
5 O’Clock Girl was “A Fairy Tale in Modern Clothes”). Other information includes the names of librettists;
lyricists; composers; producers; directors; choreographers; musical directors; and scenic, costume, and (when
such information is available) lighting designers. The names of the cast members are followed by the names
of their characters (italicized names indicate the performer is listed above the show’s title), and variant names
are occasionally given when there seems to be no definitive information available. When a performer later
became better known with a complete name change, alternate names are given (Archie Leach became Cary
Grant, Dorothy McNulty became Penny Singleton).
Technical information also includes the number of acts for each show, the time and locale of the action,
the titles of songs by act with titles followed by the name of the performer (not character) who introduced the
number, and, when applicable, the show’s source material.
The commentary for each show includes a brief summary of the plot, brief quotes from the critics, data
about recordings and published scripts, and information about film, radio, and television adaptations. In many
cases, information is given about a show’s pre-Broadway history (preproduction and tryouts), post-Broadway
tours, and London productions.
xiv INTRODUCTION
This introduction is immediately followed by an alphabetical list of all the book musicals discussed. The
book also includes a bibliography and thirteen appendixes: chronology by season; revues that opened during
the decade; a selected list of plays with music; miscellaneous productions; revivals and return engagements;
Gilbert and Sullivan revivals; a selected list of pre-Broadway closings (both book musicals and revues); dis-
cography; filmography; published scripts; black-themed shows; theatres where the shows were presented;
and long runs. Throughout the text, bolded titles refer to productions that are represented with an entry in
the book.
Information in this book is mostly drawn from original source material, including programs (pre-Broadway,
Broadway, post-Broadway, and London), souvenir programs, flyers, recordings, scripts, and contemporary reviews.
Note that many reviews are from the invaluable newspapers.com site. The majority of reviews cited in
this book originally appeared in New York newspapers and then were published in syndicated columns for
national newspapers (in some cases the original reviews were shortened for syndication, and sometimes the
critics revised their notices for the syndicated versions). When this book uses a brief quotation from a review
drawn from the newspapers.com database, the name of the cited newspaper is the specific one provided in the
database, which is usually a non–New York City daily.
Alphabetical List of Shows
The following is an alphabetical list of the 287 book musicals discussed in this survey.
Adrienne 162 The Chocolate Dandies 213

Afgar 40 Cinders 157
Always You 1 The Circus Princess 374
Angela 495 The City Chap 284
Animal Crackers 486 Cleopatra’s Night 4
Annie Dear 223 The Clinging Vine 139
As You Were 2 The Cocoanuts 293
Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler) 171 A Connecticut Yankee 416
Betsy 349 Countess Maritza 321
Betty, Be Good 16 Criss Cross 330
Betty Lee 238 Cross My Heart 466
Be Yourself! 220 The Dancing Girl 144
Big Boy 240 Daffy Dill 114
Billie 474 Dearest Enemy 271
Bitter Sweet 542 Dear Sir 221
Black Scandals 488 Deep Harlem 507
The Blonde Sinner 314 Deep River 328
Blossom Time 78 The Desert Song 341
Blue Eyes 51 Dew Drop Inn 160
The Blue Kitten 96 The Dream Girl 210
The Blushing Bride 99 Elsie 155
Bombo 84 Enchanted Isle 399
Bomboola 525 Engaged 262
Boom-Boom 512 Fifty Million Frenchmen 552
Bottomland 388 Fioretta 516
Bringing Up Father 252 The 5 O’Clock Girl 409
The Bunch and Judy 135 Florida Girl 286
Bye, Bye, Barbara 211 Flossie 205
Bye Bye, Bonnie 357 Follow Thru 510
Captain Jinks 265 Footlights (aka Beyond the Footlights) 391
Caroline 146 For Goodness Sake 100
Castles in the Air 316 Funny Face 419
Chee-Chee 471 Ginger 173
Cherry Blossoms 371 The Gingham Girl 116
The Chiffon Girl 192 The Girl Friend 308
China Rose 244 The Girl from Home 13
xv
xvi ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHOWS
The Girl in the Spotlight 19 Lady Fingers 514

Glory 140 The Lady in Ermine 123
Go Easy, Mabel 109 Lassie 12
Go-Go 151 The Last Waltz 63
Golden Dawn 424 Letty Pepper 107
Good Boy 461 Little Jessie James 166
Good Morning Dearie 88 Little Miss Charity 26
Good News 392 Little Nellie Kelly 131
Great Day! 537 Liza 133
Half a Widow 395 Lollipop 187
The Half Moon 39 Look Who’s Here 9
Hanky Panky Land 93 Louie the 14th 250
Happy 427 Love Birds 53
Happy Go Lucky 327 The Love Call 415
Heads Up! 547 Love Dreams 87
Helen of Troy, New York 165 The Love Letter 83
Hello, Daddy! 505 Lovely Lady 436
Hello Lola! 301 The Love Song 242
Hello Yourself!!!! 488 Luckee Girl 464
Here’s Howe! 455 Lucky 368
Her Family Tree 48 Lucky Sambo 259
Hit the Deck! 376 Madame Pompadour 225
Hold Everything! 481 The Madcap 444
Holka Polka 282 The Magic Ring 170
Honeydew 27 The Magnolia Lady 228
Honey Girl 15 Manhattan Mary 400
Honeymoon Lane 323 Marjolaine 97
The Hotel Mouse 104 Marjorie 206
The Houseboat on the Styx 501 Mary 37
How Come? 158 Mary Jane McKane 181
I’ll Say She Is! 201 The Matinee Girl 305
It’s Up to You 55 Mayflowers (aka May Flowers) 290
Jack and Jill 153 Mecca 30
Jim Jam Jems 32 Mercenary Mary 254
Jimmie 42 The Merry Malones 402
Judy 364 Merry Merry 279
June Days 264 Molly Darling 118
June Love 57 Moonlight 191
Just a Minute 476 Music in May 521
Just Because 106 My Girl 227
Just Fancy! 412 My Golden Girl 5
Katja 333 My Magnolia 313
Keep Shufflin’ 449 My Maryland 397
Kid Boots 184 My Princess 408
The King’s Henchman 367 Namiko-San 385
Kissing Time 35 Natja 246
Kiss Me! 389 Naughty Riquette 319
Kitty’s Kisses 310 The New Moon 468
Kosher Kitty Kelly 261 The Night Boat 7
Lace Petticoat 354 The Nightingale 352
Lady, Be Good! 230 A Noble Rogue 530
Lady Billy 43 No, No, Nanette 267
Lady Butterfly 142 No Other Girl 208
Lady Do 373 The O’Brien Girl 81
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHOWS xvii
Oh, Ernest! 379 Sons o’ Guns 550

Oh, Kay! 336 Spring Is Here 518
Oh! Oh! Nurse 292 Springtime of Youth 128
Oh, Please! 344 Stepping Stones 176
One Kiss 179 The Street Singer 535
Orange Blossoms 122 The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka
Our Nell 137 The Student Prince) 234
Pansy 523 Sue, Dear 113
Paradise Alley 194 Sunny 276
Paris 478 Sunny Days 445
Peggy-Ann 346 The Sunset Trail 443
Peg o’ My Dreams 198 Sun Showers 148
Phoebe of Quality Street 61 Suzette 91
Piggy (aka I Told You So) 356 Sweet Adeline 531
Pitter Patter 28 The Sweetheart Shop 24
Plain Jane 199 Sweetheart Time 303
Polly 508 Sweet Little Devil 189
Polly of Hollywood 366 Take the Air 422
Poor Little Ritz Girl 20 Tales of Rigo 382
Poppy 168 Talk about Girls 386
Present Arms 453 Tangerine 73
Princess April 233 Tell Me More 255
Princess Flavia 287 Three Cheers 484
Princess Virtue 60 The Three Musketeers (1921; Temple) 65
Queen High 317 The Three Musketeers (1928; Friml) 451
Queen o’ Hearts 127 3 Showers 10
Rainbow 492 Tickle Me 23
Rainbow Rose 306 Tip-Toes 296
Rain or Shine 447 Tip-Top 34
The Ramblers 325 Top Hole 215
Red Pepper 111 Top Speed 556
The Red Robe 502 Topsy and Eva 237
The Right Girl 54 Treasure Girl 490
Rio Rita 361 Twinkle Twinkle 339
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly 183 Two Little Girls in Blue 58
Rosalie 440 Up in the Clouds 94
The Rose Girl 49 Ups-A-Daisy 480
Rose-Marie 216 Up She Goes 130
The Rose of Stamboul 102 The Vagabond King 273
Runnin’ Wild 174 When You Smile 281
Sally 45 The Whirl of New York 71
Sally, Irene and Mary 120 The White Eagle 428
Say When 459 White Lights 413
Sharlee 178 White Lilacs 463
She’s My Baby 438 The White Sister 381
Show Boat 430 Whoopee 497
Show Girl 527 The Wild Cat 92
Shuffle Along 66 Wildflower 149
Sidewalks of New York 404 The Wild Rose 335
The Silver Swan 555 A Wonderful Night 540
Sitting Pretty 195 Woof, Woof 559
Sky High 247 The Yankee Princess 125
Song of the Flame 298 Yes, Yes, Yvette 406
Sonny (aka Sonny Boy) 76 Yours Truly 359
1920 Season
ALWAYS YOU
Theatre: Central Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Lyric Theatre)
Opening Date: January 5, 1920; Closing Date: March 1, 1920
Performances: 66
Book and Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Music: Herbert (P.) Stothart
Direction: Arthur Hammerstein; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Robert Marks; Scenery:
Julius Dove; Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Helen Ford (Toinette Fontaine), Walter Scanlon (Bruce Nash), Edouard (later, Edward) Ciannelli (East Indian
Peddler), Julia Kelety (Julie Fontaine), Russell Mack (Charlie Langford), Ralph Herz (Montmorency Jones),
Bernard Gorcey (A Mysterious Conspirator), Joan Summers (Anna Seymour), Joseph Barton (Thomas), Em-
ily Russ (A Waitress), Cortez and Peggy (Dancers), Burton Green (Pianist); Girls of the Ensemble: Marietta
O’Brien, Alicia Smith, Virginia Clark, Irma Marwick, Emily Russ, Memphis Russell, Mildred Rowland,
Helen Neff, Rose Cardiff, Jose Carmen, Marvee Snow, Rheba Stewart, Elinore Cullen, Gene Morrison
The musical was presented in two acts.
The action takes place in Trouville during August 1918 and August 1919.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Always You” (Helen Ford, Walter Scanlon); “The Voice of Bagdad (Baghdad)” (Edouard Ciannelli);
“A Wonderful War” (Julia Kelety, Chorus); “Always You” (reprise) (Helen Ford); “I Never Miss” (Russell
Mack, Girls); “Syncopated Heart” (Helen Ford, Russell Mack); “Same Old Places” (Helen Ford, Walton
Scanlon); “Some Big Something” (Anna Seymour); “Misterioso” (Ralph Herz, Joseph Barton, Anna Sey-
mour); “Hayward’s Harlem Hellions” (Anna Seymour); “(My) Pousse-Café” (Julia Kelety, Ralph Herz);
Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “I’ll Say So” (Russell Mack, Anna Seymour); “Do (Don’t) You Remember?” (aka “Lullaby”) (Julia
Kelety, Helen Ford); “Woman” (Ralph Herz); “Always You” (reprise) (Walter Scanlon); “Dance Divertisse-
ment” (Cortez and Peggy); “Passing Through” (Anna Seymour, Burton Green); “Drifting On” (Walter Scan-
lon); “The Tired Business Man” (aka “A String of Girls”) (Anna Seymour, Russell Mack); Finale (Company)
The decade’s first book musical Always You was an auspicious one, for it marked the first time Oscar
Hammerstein II was represented on Broadway as both lyricist and librettist (his Broadway debut occurred in
1917 when he contributed the lyric for “Make Yourselves at Home” for the musical Furs and Frills). His 1919
nonmusical The Light had been headed for New York but closed during its pre-Broadway tryout.
Hammerstein was the grandson of producer, librettist, lyricist, and composer Oscar Hammerstein (1847–
1919) and the nephew of producer and director Arthur Hammerstein (1872–1955), the latter of whom produced
1
2 THE COMPLETE BOOK OF 1920s BROADWAY MUSICALS
a number of his nephew’s musicals, including Always You, Tickle Me, Jimmie, Daffy Dill, Wildflower, Mary
Jane McKane, Rose-Marie, Song of the Flame, The Wild Rose, Golden Dawn, Good Boy, and Sweet Adeline.
During his years at Columbia University, the young Hammerstein participated as a performer and/or
writer in the varsity shows On Your Way (1915), The Peace Pirates (1916), and Home, James (1917) (it was
after a performance of the latter that he was introduced to a young composer named Richard C. Rodgers). For
Columbia’s War Show of 1918, he wrote the book and lyrics for Ten for Five, and between 1919 and 1922 he
was associated with six musicals by Rodgers, one of which he directed and five of which included a few songs
with his lyrics: Upstage and Down (1919), You’d Be Surprised (1920), Fly with Me (1920), You’ll Never Know
(1921), Say It with Jazz (1921), and Jazz a la Carte (1922). Of course, for almost two decades Hammerstein
partnered on and off with Jerome Kern in a number of musicals, and for roughly the same period Rodgers
collaborated with Lorenz Hart. It wasn’t until 1943 that Rodgers and Hammerstein began their memorable
Broadway (and film) partnership with Oklahoma!
Hammerstein’s book for Always You took place in France. In a brief prologue set during August 1918,
American soldier Bruce Nash (Walter Scanlon) and French girl and Red Cross nurse Toinette Fontaine (Helen
Ford) pledge eternal love for one another, but a year later, Bruce returns to France with his fiancée Joan Sum-
mers (Anna Seymour). Bruce quickly realizes that he’s always loved Toinette, and, conveniently, Joan falls in
love with Bruce’s best friend, Charlie (Russell Mack). And so all ends well for the two couples.
The New York Times said Always You was “full of melody, jazz, girls, and comedy,” and singled out
four songs (“Syncopated Heart,” “Misterioso,” “My Pousse-Café,” and the title song), noting that the “hurdy-
gurdies” would “probably be playing [them] all next summer.” The critic mentioned that the lyrics for these
four numbers were “more clever than those of the average musical comedy.” The reviewer for the New York
Tribune indicated the evening followed “traditional and conventional models,” and when it diverged “from
accepted standards” it became “commonplace.” Composer Herbert Stothart was the “only” one of the show’s
creators who deserved “congratulations,” and two of his songs (including the title number) were “tuneful.”
The team of Cortez and Peggy provided “graceful” dances, Julius Dove’s décor was “lavish,” and the chorus
was “shapely and pretty.” But the laughs were “relics of a dim past” and included such would-be nifties as
“So this is Paris! Then these must be parasites!”
The New York Sun said the musical was “fairly musical and moderately comic” and mentioned that,
while the first act dealt with mismatched lovers, the job of the second act was to “unscramble” them. The
reviewer decided the jokes should “go over” on Broadway because “they always have,” and the music was
“quite catchy” but had “a very strong family resemblance to other musical comedy tunes.” The New York
Evening World found the “youthful and tuneful” Always You “a bit amateurish” but “decidedly entertain-
ing.” However, Ford “should lose no time in taking something for her French accent, for it is not only weak
but it has sinking spells in which it completely disappears.” Seymour sometimes suggested Fannie Brice, and
at one point parodied Eddie Foy; Mack and Bernard Gorcey were amusing, and the latter had “nothing on Peter
Pan”; Ralph Herz was “really funny”; and Julia Kelety looked “like Niagara Falls in one of her costumes.”
Prior to New York, the musical was known as Joan of Arkansaw and Toinette. One or two sources indicate
“Misterioso” was cut during the tryout, but the Times’ review singled out the number. During the Broadway
run, “I’ll Say So” was replaced by “Let’s Marry.” A later 1927 musical titled Joan of Arkansaw was a completely
different show, and other than its title wasn’t related to the earlier production. The 1927 musical (with book
and lyrics by Will Carleton and music by Kenneth Sheridan) closed on the road and never made it to New York.
Most of the lyrics are included in The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II; however, those for
“Let’s Marry,” “The Voice of Baghdad,” “Woman,” “Hayward’s Harlem Hellions,” and “Passing Through”
seem to be lost. Complete Lyrics notes that the lyrics and music for the latter two numbers may have been
written by Burton Green, who played the role of the pianist. “Hayward’s Harlem Hellions” was sung by the
character of Joan, and “Passing Through” by Joan and the pianist; during the tour, Green’s wife Irene Franklin
played the role of Joan, and it may well be that the two songs were added for the tour and not heard in New
York. There is also uncertainty as to whether “Do (Don’t) You Remember?” (aka “Lullaby”) was heard in the
New York production.
AS YOU WERE
“A Fantastic Revue”
Theatre: Central Theatre

Opening Date: January 27, 1920; Closing Date: May 29, 1920
1920 Season 3
Performances: 143
Book and Lyrics: Arthur Wimperis; additional book material by Glen MacDonough
Music: Herman Darewski
Additional Lyrics and Music: Alfred Bryan, Melville Gideon, E. Ray Goetz, and Cole Porter
Based on the 1915 revue Plus ça change by the French songwriter/librettist “Rip” (George Gabriel Thenon).
Direction: George Marion; Producers: E. Ray Goetz by arrangement with Charles B. Cochran of the London
Pavilion; Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Scenery: H. Robert Law Studios and Withald Gordon, with art
direction by Herbert Ward; Costumes: Homer Conant; Dorothy Armstrong; Pieter Meyer; Mme. Pascaud;
Paul Poiret; Anna Spencer; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Silvers
Cast: Sam Bernard, Irene Bordoni, Clifton Webb, Hugh Cameron, Violet Strathmore, Stanley Harrison, Frank
Mayne, Ruth Donnelly, Pat Walshe, William Ward, Irwin Emmer; Specialty Dancers: Sascha Piatov, Mlle.
Moskovina, and Helen Kroener; Ensemble: Grace Jones, May Carmen, Olive Brown, Lucille Gordon, Jea-
nette Cook, Peggy Tomson, Betty Hamilton, Marilyn Martin, Effie Smith, Mae Terrisfield
The action begins during the present time in Westchester, and then goes back in time to Versailles in 1650,
Egypt in 49 BCE, in Athens around 65 BCE, and a primeval forest.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Saturday Afternoon Till Monday Morning” (lyric and music by E. Ray Goetz) (Violet Strathmore);
“Washington Square” (lyric by E. Ray Goetz and Cole Porter, music by Melville Gideon) (Clifton Webb,
Ruth Donnelly, May Carmen, Chorus); “If You Could Care for Me” (lyric by Arthur Wimperis, music by
Herman Darewski) (sung by Irene Bordoni, who played the role of Gervaise; Chase Clews: Hugh Cam-
eron; Ethel Nutt: Ruth Donnelly; Pinkie Smith: Violet Strathmore; Cuthbert: Stanley Harrison; Wolfie
Wafflestein: Sam Bernard; KiKi: Clifton Webb; Professor Filbert: Frank Mayne); “Follow Mr. Watteau”
(lyric by Arthur Wimperis, music by Herman Darewski) (Violet Strathmore); “Ninon Was a Naughty
Girl” (lyric by Arthur Wimperis, music by Herman Darewski) (sung by Irene Bordoni as Ninon de
l’Enclos; A Marquis: Violet Strathmore; Henri the Comte de Belamy: Clifton Webb; De la Reynie: Frank
Mayne; Wolfie Wafflestein: Sam Bernard; Nicole: Ruth Donnelly); “Specialty Dance” (Sascha Piatov,
Mlle. Moscovina, Helen Kroener); “I Am Cleopatra” (Cleopatra: Irene Bordoni); Finale (lyric and music
by E. Ray Goetz) (The Court Dancers: Sascha Piatov, Mlle. Moscovina, Helen Kroener; Charmion: Ruth
Donnelly; Captain Hodgkins: Stanley Harrison; Wolfie Wafflestein: Sam Bernard; The Man from Cooks:
Hugh Cameron; A Royal Slave: Frank Mayne; Cleopatra: Irene Bordoni; Mark Antony: Clifton Webb)
Act Two: “Under Grecian Skies” (lyric and music by E. Ray Goetz) (Violet Strathmore); “Danse Pastorelle”
(Sascha Paitov, Mlle. Moscovina); “Helen of Troy” (sung by Irene Bordoni as Helen of Troy; An Athe-
nian Serenader: Violet Strathmore; A Sergeant in the Military Police: Stanley Harrison; Thermos: Hugh
Cameron; Wolfie Wafflestein: Sam Bernard; Diogenes: Frank Mayne; Paris: Helen of Troy); “Who Ate
Napoleons with Josephine (When Napoleon Was Away)?” (lyric by Alfred Bryan, music by E. Ray Goetz)
(sung by Sam Bernard as Wolfie Wafflestein; A Primeval Husband: Pat Walshe; A Prehistoric Wife: Wil-
liam Ward; An Antediluvian Friend of the Family: Irwin Emmer); “When You’re Dancing in a Nightie
on the Lawn” (lyric and music by E. Ray Goetz) (Clifton Webb); “Specialty Dance” (Clifton Webb, Helen
Kroener); “If You Could Care for Me” (reprise) (Irene Bordoni); Finale (Gervaise: Irene Bordoni; Wolfie
Wafflestein: Sam Bernard; Cuthbert: Stanley Harrison; KiKi: Clifton Webb; Mr. Clews: Hugh Cameron;
Ethel Nutt: Ruth Donnelly; Pinkie Smith: Violet Strathmore; Professor Filbert: Frank Mayne)
As You Were was a revue-like musical that originated in Paris at the Théâtre Michel in 1915 as Plus ça
change by Rip, and was later produced under its current title in a revised version at the London Pavilion
on August 3, 1918, with Alice Delysia (who later impressed Broadway when she appeared in Afgar). The
Broadway production underwent further revision with a spate of new songs, mostly by the show’s American
producer Ray E. Goetz (and with one lyric cowritten by Cole Porter).
The musical was an early variation of the Groundhog Day story, and it depicted a man who lives one epi-
sode in his life over and over again. It seems that in modern-day Westchester, Wolfie Wafflestein (Sam Bernard),
who has become rich with his string of faux Parisian pastry shops and lives in his country home Vanilla Villa,
must endure the blatant infidelities of his wife Gervaise (Irene Bordoni), who showers his money on her Green-
wich Village lover, the painter KiKi (Clifton Webb). A scientist gives Wolfie some magical pills that enable him
to transport himself to other times and places. But whether he’s in primeval forests, seventeenth-century Ver-
sailles, or in ancient Athens and Egypt, he’s always trapped in a variation of his life in 1920. Thus, he constantly
encounters the flirtatious Gervaise and the callow KiKi in their earlier lives, where Gervaise (as Helen of Troy,
Cleopatra, and other flirts) always has Kiki (as boy-toys Paris and Mark Antony) on hand as her latest paramour.
And no matter what the time zone may be, whenever Wolfie runs into Gervaise, she always manages to sing
the same waltz (“If You Could Care for Me”) over and over again, like a long-running theme song.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times praised the “quite sumptuous and thoroughly entertain-
ing” production, the kind of show “to which the whole town stampedes.” Like other critics, he mentioned
that the musical brought to mind the time-travel depicted in Mark Twain’s novel A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court, and he suggested Twain’s fantasy would make a good musical (which, of course, it did,
as Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s A Connecticut Yankee). Some of the jokes were a bit wince-inducing,
such as the one about “French pheasants singing the Mayonnaise,” but then there were also amusing ones
(when Wolfie meets Helen’s lover and says, “So this is Paris”). Bordoni was “very gorgeous” and sang with
“deviltry,” and upon her and Bernard “the entertainment rests.” Surprisingly, Woollcott said Webb worked
“earnestly” but provided “something less than a decent minimum of assistance” and was “without gifts as
a comedian.”
The Sun and New York Herald said Bernard and Bordoni made “an admirable couple to stand at the head
of any musical play.” He was “deliciously comic” and “irresistibly amusing,” and gave “one of the most
diverting performances of the winter.” Bordoni was perhaps “most spectacular” as Cleopatra, and in the Ver-
sailles sequence made an “exquisite picture” when she “coyly” sang “a wicked little song” (“Ninon Was a
Naughty Girl”). As for Webb, he showed “skill” as a dancer and comedian, was “remarkably finished in his
methods,” and there were “frequent indications of an ability to do much more artistic things” than the op-
portunities afforded him in As You Were.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “decidedly delightful” evening, and praised the “delectable” Bordoni
and the “almost invariably funny” Bernard, both of whom made a “merry thing” of As You Were. Bordoni
had “pretty nearly all of the vitality and bounce in the world” and it was “difficult to conceive of any woman
looking better in clothes than she did last night,” and Bernard could “put almost anything over.” The critic
noted that the humor was of the “obvious sort,” and so the Venus de Milo was referred to as the Venus de
Mildew. Brooklyn Life said Bordoni was “coy and spectacular,” Bernard “irrepressible and irresistible,” and
Webb as the “lounge lizard” and “parlor snake” was a “clever” comedian and “skilful” dancer who showed
he “could do justice to a role of greater scope.” The critic singled out the “bright” song “Who Ate Napoleons
with Josephine (When Napoleon Was Away)?”
The 1918 London cast, which included Delysia, recorded a number of songs from the production for Co-
lumbia Records. Most of the songs were dropped for the Broadway version, but among those recorded that
were heard in New York were “If You Could Care for Me” and “Helen of Troy.”
Another time-travel musical opened the following season when Nora Bayes starred as herself in Her Fam-
ily Tree. Here Bayes goes back in time in order to unravel her history and background, and her trips take her
from New Jersey to such places as the gold-rush days in California, England during the Georgian era, ancient
China, and biblical times.
CLEOPATRA’S NIGHT
Theatre: Metropolitan Opera House
Performances: 4 (in repertory)
Libretto: Alice Leal Pollock
Music: Henry Hadley
Based on the 1838 short story “Une nuit de Cléopatre” by Théophile Gauthier.
Direction: Richard Ordynski; Producer: The Metropolitan Opera Company; Choreography: Rosina Galli; Scen-
ery: Norman Bel-Geddes; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gennaro Papi
Cast: Frances Alda (Cleopatra), Orville Harrold (Meiamoun), Marie Tiffany (Iras), Jeanne Gordon (Mardion),
Millo Picco (Eunuch), Louis D’Angelo (Roman Officer), Vincenzo Reschiglian (Marc Antony); Dancers:
Rosina Galli, Florence Rudolph, and Giuseppe Bonfiglio
The opera was presented in two acts.
1920 Season 5
The world premiere of Henry Hadley’s Cleopatra’s Night was presented at the Saturday matinee on Janu-
ary 31, 1920, at the Metropolitan Opera House, where it was performed with Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 opera
Pagliacci with Enrico Caruso. The lucky opera goers for that performance had the rare opportunity to attend the
premiere of an American opera and to hear Caruso in a classic role. The opera was presented for a total of four
performances at the Met during the season as well as one performance each in Philadelphia and at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music. During the following season the opera returned for three more showings at the Met.
The story centered on Meiamoun (Orville Harrold), a chaste Egyptian lion hunter who falls under the spell
of Cleopatra (Frances Alda), who grants him one night of love on the condition that he will be put to death at
dawn. He agrees to her terms, and the two spend the night together, but come morning Cleopatra is willing
to hold back the dawn for a full month. However, Meiamoun is resigned to his fate, starts to drink a goblet of
poison, and only hesitates because Cleopatra implores him not to. When a messenger arrives with news that
Antony (Vincenzo Reschiglian) has arrived, Cleopatra says she eagerly awaits him. So Meiamoun drinks the
poison, Cleopatra embraces his body, and then goes off to greet Antony.
Richard Aldrich in the New York Times said that of the ten American operas to premiere at the Met,
Cleopatra’s Night was the “best.” The work was the most “competent,” “most skillfully made,” and most
“viable,” and the performances were “excellent.” He reported that Alice Leal Pollock’s libretto was only
serviceable and he had certain reservations about Hadley’s music, but he noted that the score had “variety,
depth, color, and significant detail of instrumental effect” and was “a pleasure to hear.”
Harrold had created the role of Captain Warrington in the original Broadway production of Naughty Marietta
(1910), and with Emma Trentini introduced “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” and “It Never, Never Can Be Love”; led
the male chorus in the stirring “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!”; was part of the quartet that introduced “Live for To-
day”; and sang the solo “I’m Falling in Love with Someone.” In 1921, he appeared at the Met in the U.S. premiere
of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt and later in the decade performed on Broadway in Holka Polka.
The CD collection Henry Kimball Hadley by the BBC Concert Orchestra and released by Dutton Epoch
Records includes music from the opera. In 2016, Forgotten Books reprinted the libretto in both hardback and
paperback editions.
MY GOLDEN GIRL
Theatre: Nora Bayes Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Opening Date: February 2, 1920; Closing Date: May 1, 1920
Performances: 105
Book and Lyrics: Frederic Arnold Kummer
Music: Victor Herbert
Direction: J. Clifford Brooke; Producer: Harry Wardell; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery, Costumes, and
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Philip James
Cast: Robert O’Connor (Wilson), Dorothy Tierney (Blanche), Evelyn Cavanaugh (Kitty Mason), Richard Dore
(Captain Paul de Bazin), Victor Morley (Arthur Mitchell), Marie Carroll (Peggy Mitchell), Raymond Barrett
(Martin), Ned (A.) Sparks (Mr. Hanks), Edward See (Mr. Pullinger), Helen Bolton (Helen Randolph), George
Trabert (Howard Pope), Edna May Oliver (Mrs. Judson Mitchell), Harold Vizard (Mr. Clarence Swan),
Victoria White (Mildred Ray), Adele Boulais (Lois Booth); Ensemble: Trixie Packard, Yvonne LaGrange,
Gladys Hart, Eileen Adaire, Caroline Holton, Viola Degnan, Flo Howard, Jeannette Dietrich, Robina Da-
vidson, Peggy Schramm, Marcia White, Loretta Walsh, Norma Eve Warrington, Robert Archibald, East-
man McRoy, William Strubain
The action takes place during the present time in Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Jazzy-Jaz Dancing Lesson” (Robert O’Connor); “A Little Nest for Two” (Evelyn Cavanaugh,
Richard Dore, Chorus); “Bassoon Solo” (Victor Morley); “Darby and Joan” (Victor Morley, Marie Carroll);
“Variety” (Victor Morley, Marie Carroll, Edward See, Ned Sparks); “Name the Day” (Evelyn Cavanaugh,
Richard Dore, Chorus); Scene One Finale; “I Want You” (Victor Morley, Chorus); “My Golden Girl” (George
Trabert); “A Song without (Many) Words” (Victor Morley, Helen Bolton, Chorus); “Ragtime Terpsichore”
(Robert O’Connor, Dorothy Tierney); “If We Had Met Before” (Helen Bolton, George Trabert); Act One Finale
Act Two: “Shooting Star” (Marie Carroll, Chorus); “My Golden Girl” (reprise) (George Trabert); “Change Part-
ners” (Victor Morley, Marie Carroll, George Trabert, Evelyn Cavanaugh, Richard Dore, Chorus); Specialty
(Richard Dore, Evelyn Cavanaugh); “I’d Like a Honeymoon with You” (Marie Carroll); “Think It Over”
(Ned Sparks, Edward See, Harold Vizard); “What Shall We Do If the Moon Goes Out” (Evelyn Cavanaugh,
Richard Dore, Chorus); Act Two Finale
Victor Herbert’s My Golden Girl enjoyed a modest run of three months, and its smallish cast and the use of
one set for each act were something in the mode of Jerome Kern’s intimate Princess shows. Both Herbert and Kern
shared the same opening night of February 2 when both My Golden Girl and Kern’s The Night Boat premiered.
One always expected operettas from Herbert, but My Golden Girl was an old-fashioned musical comedy.
The action took place within one day, and the setting was Long Island (in the 1960s it sometimes seemed
that every other musical took place in Manhattan, and for the 1920s the preferred location was clearly Long
Island, with Greenwich Village and Florida not far behind). The story looked at Arthur and Peggy Mitchell
(Victor Morley and Marie Carroll), a young married couple who are bored with one another. Each pursues a
hobby: Arthur plays the bassoon and Peggy likes to golf. Their hobbies expand when they become romanti-
cally involved with others, he with Helen (Helen Bolton) and she with Howard (George Trabert), but soon
Helen and Howard pair off and Arthur and Peggy decide they really love one another.
The characters also included such endearing stock characters as Arthur’s battle-axe of a mother (played
by Edna Mae Oliver), two shyster divorce lawyers (Ned Sparks and Edward See) who hope to profit if Arthur
and Peggy divorce, and a dance-mad butler and maid (Robert O’Connor and Dorothy Tierney). The songs and
libretto gave everyone a chance to emote, sing, or dance, but it was a chorus girl named Jeannette Dietrich
who captured raves with a show-stopping shimmy.
The New York Tribune reported that Dietrich was the “surprise” of the evening with her shimmy for
the “Shooting Star” number, and the enthusiasm of the audience resulted in her returning to the stage five
times and reprising her specialty, all to the audience’s delight. She shimmied with many variations and her
“sincerity and enthusiasm” won over everyone, including Herbert, who conducted the opening night per-
formance. The headline in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle proclaimed, “Chorus Girl Is Hit of My Golden Girl,”
and the reviewer praised her “zip” and “sparkle” and said everyone liked “the vigorously cheerful way she
wiggled.” The New York Times said “the audience held up the performance to watch [Dietrich] again and
again” because they were “captivated” by her “gay vivacity.”
In his Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life, Neil Gould reports that the critics decided the show’s book was
“superior to the music” and Herbert received his “poorest” reviews since the 1891 premiere of his cantata The
Captive (which was presented at the Worcester Festival in Massachusetts). But Herbert received some good
notices for My Golden Girl, and the headline for the Times’ review stated that “Herbert’s Music Pleases.” The
unnamed critic predicted that the show’s “most agreeable” and “most lasting” impression would no doubt
prove to be the score, including six stand-outs, “If We Had Met Before,” “A Song without (Many) Words,”
“Shooting Star,” “In Venice” (see below), “What Shall We Do If the Moon Goes Out,” and the title number.
The Tribune found the music “sprightly, whistly and typically Herbert,” and said that “Ragtime Terp-
sichore,” “Shooting Star,” and the title song “promise to linger on phonograph records long after they cease
to be heard at the Nora Bayes Theatre.” The New York Herald said the plot and lyrics were “something ex-
ceptional,” but here “the music” was “the thing” (and the show needed “more humor per yard of dialogue”).
The setting of the Long Island mansion was “filled with so many airs of the inimitable Herbert lilt that it
seems as though the house was wall-papered, fireproofed, tapestried, furnished and positively electrified with
music.” The critic praised four songs. “A Little Nest for Two,” “If We Had Met Before,” the title song (which
“revealed Mr. Herbert at his best”), and “A Song without (Many) Words” (an example of “what agreeable ef-
fects a composer could achieve if the librettist used only the words ‘moon,’ ‘June’ and ‘spoon’”).
The song “In Venice” was among the songs praised by the Times’ critic, who mentioned that the number
was performed by Marie Carroll. No such song was listed in the program, but note that Carroll had just one
solo in the show, “I’d Like a Honeymoon with You,” and perhaps the full line of the title phrase was “I’d like
a honeymoon with you in Venice.”
During the run, “Darby and Joan” was cut and “Hobbies” was added to the score.
As for the show-stopping Dietrich, it seems she appeared in just one more musical, the 1921 Al Jolson
hit Bombo, in which she was a featured player and one of the cast members who danced “The Globe Trot.”
1920 Season 7
THE NIGHT BOAT

Theatre: Liberty Theatre
Opening Date: February 2, 1920; Closing Date: October 30, 1920
Performances: 313
Book and Lyrics: Anne Caldwell
Music: Jerome Kern
Based on the 1897 play Le contrôleur des wagon-lits by Alexandre Bisson.
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Ned Weyburn; Scenery: Uncred-
ited; Costumes: O’Kane Conwell; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Marie Reagan (Minnie), Irving Carpenter (A Workman), Ada Lewis (Mrs. Maxim), Louise Groody (Barbara),
Stella Hoban (Mrs. Hazel White), Hal Skelly (Freddie Ives), John Scannell (Inspector Dempsey), John E. Haz-
zard (Bob White), Ernest Torrence (Captain Robert White), Hansford Wilson (The Steward), Lillian Kemble
Cooper (Dora DeCosta), Betty Hale (Florence DeCosta), Mrs. John Findlay (Mrs. DeCosta); The Ladies’ Maids:
Arline Chase (Betty), Lois Leigh (Susan), Mildred Sinclair (Molly), Bunny Wendell (Jane), Geraldine Alexander
(Alice), and Lydia Scott (Polly); Specialty Dancers: The Cansino Brothers; Ensemble: Babz Fowler, Evelyn
Conway, Cecile Conway, Irene Wilson, Lola Curtis, Jeanette MacDonald, Beatrice Hughes, Isabel Falconer,
Phoebe Appleton, Janet Carleton, Mildred Sinclair, Helen Gates, Marie Cavanagh, Peggy Craven, Agnes
Allen, Daisy Daniels, Mae LeRoy, Dorothy Hollis, Gene Fleming, Evelyn Plumadore, Marie Benedict, Paul
Lester, Gordon Kyle, Jack Hughes, Ray Moore, Ralph O’Brien, Frank Rowan, Dan Sparkes, Kay Tudor
The musical was presented in three acts.
The action takes place during the present time, mostly in New York City and on the Hudson River aboard
the steamer Rip Van Winkle.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Some Fine Day” (Louise Groody, Ensemble); “Whose Baby Are You?” (Louise Groody, Hal Skelly);
“Left All Alone Again Blues” (Stella Hoban, Ensemble); “Good Night Boat” (lyric by Anne Caldwell and
Frank Craven) (John E. Hazzard, Stella Hoban, Louise Groody, Hal Skelly, Ada Lewis, Ensemble); “The Plot
Demonstrators” (The Ladies’ Maids); “I’d Like a Lighthouse” (Louise Groody, Hal Skelly); “Buffo Finale”
Act Two: “Catskills, Hello” (Ensemble); “Jug Band and Dance” (Hansford Wilson, The Jug Band); “Maids’ Sex-
tette” (The Ladies’ Maids); “Don’t You Want to Take Me?” (Louise Groody, Hal Skelly); “I Love the Lass-
ies” (Ernest Torrence, Arline Chase, Lois Leigh, Bunny Wendell, Lola Curtis, Mildred Sinclair, Dorothy
Hollis, Geraldine Wilson, Irene Wilson, Evelyn Conway, Helen Gates, Daisy Daniels, Marie Cavanagh,
Phoebe Appleton); “River Song Medley” (Various members of the company): (1) “The Quadalquiver”
(dance) (The Cansino Brothers); (2) “By the Saskatchewan” (aka “The Girl by the Saskatchewan”) (The
Pink Lady, 1911; lyric by C. M. S. McLellan, music by Ivan Caryll); (3) “On the Banks of the Wabash”
(lyric and music by Paul Dresser); (4) “Congo Love Song” (Nancy Brown, 1903; lyric by J. Rosamond John-
son, music by Bob Cole and James Weldon Johnson); (5) “Row, Row, Row” (Ziegfeld Follies of 1912; lyric
by William Jerome, music by James V. Monaco); (6) “Down by the Erie (Canal)” (Hello, Broadway!, 1914;
lyric and music by George M. Cohan); (7) “M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I” (Ziegfeld’s Midnight Revue, 1916; lyric
by Bert Hanlon and Benny Ryan, music by Harry Tierney); and (8) “Good Night Boat” (reprise)
Act Three: “The Plot Demonstrators” (continuation) (The Ladies’ Maids); “Laundry Duet” (John E. Haz-
zard, Lillian Kemble Cooper); “A Heart for Sale” (Louise Groody, Boys); “Girls Are Like a Rainbow” (Hal
Skelly, Arline Chase, Lois Leigh, Mildred Sinclair, Bunny Wendell, Chorus); Finale (Ensemble)
The flyer warned “You’ll be sorry if you miss The Night Boat,” and Broadway audiences made sure they
didn’t. Jerome Kern’s musical was a huge hit and played for 313 performances. Actually, the nautical refer-
ences became a bit tiresome. The flyer proclaimed that the show was produced by the “Charles Dillingham
Navigation Co.” and was the “greatest amusement steamer ever built.” Further, every performance was a “joy
ride,” evening shows were “excursions,” matinees were “special trips,” and the show was “anchored” at the
“theatre dock.” Tickets (“accommodations”) could be booked “for passage” at the theatre’s “purser’s office.”
The critics continued with the belabored allusions. Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said
the “musical craft” was “plain sailing” with a “merry crew” and “cleverly rigged” words and music. The New
York Tribune noted that the show “rocks slightly, but is off on [a] long cruise.” And the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
liked the “pleasant crew” and predicted the musical would “stay in anchor” on Broadway.
The farce centered on the very-married but philandering Bob White (John E. Hazzard), who finds the time
for extramarital affairs by telling his wife, Hazel (Stella Hoban), and his battle-axe mother-in-law, Mrs. Maxim
(Ada Lewis), that due to the nature of his job as the captain of a night boat to Albany he must frequently
be away from home. (In 1938, a character in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s The Boys from Syracuse in-
formed us that one in search of sex can take the “night boat to Albania,” and note that the 1958 Broadway
musical Oh Captain! employed a variation of The Night Boat’s plot).
Because of her suspicious nature, Mrs. Maxim books passage on the night boat for herself, Hazel, and her
young unmarried daughter, Barbara (Louise Groody, here a few seasons away from Broadway stardom when
she created the title role in No, No, Nanette). Farcical complications blossom when the actual captain of the
night boat Rip Van Winkle turns out to also be named Bob White (Ernest Torrence).
One amusing touch found six chorines in black-and-white costumes as “ladies’ maids” who in the first
and third acts sang two versions of “The Plot Demonstrators,” in which they summarized the details of the
show’s plot in case latecomers were confused by the intricacies of the story. A couple of the critics noted that
the musical was based on a French farce by Alexandre Bisson (best known for his 1908 melodrama Madame
X), and the reviewer for the New York Times wondered what was the “French equivalent of the Albany night
boat.” A few days after the opening, the Times answered this burning question by explaining that for Bisson’s
farce (Le contrôleur des wagon-lits) the philandering husband’s escapades took place on a train.
Although the Times found the story “slender and conventional,” the show nonetheless moved “briskly and
breezily” and the libretto was “tricked out with several insidious melodies” by Kern, including “Left All Alone
Again Blues” and “A Heart for Sale.” The Tribune liked the “dizzy” dances, “appealing” and “whistleable” songs,
and of the latter the critic singled out “Left All Alone Again Blues” and “Good Night Boat.” This being the era
of Prohibition, there was also “a glimpse of stuff that went out of style—or out of sight—with the Eighteenth
Amendment” and there were the “inevitable wood alcohol jokes.” As for Hazzard, who impersonated the captain
of the night boat, one character noted that in his uniform he looked like a “carriage [cab] starter at the automat.”
The Eagle reported there were “several tuneful” songs that were “light and pleasing to the ear without be-
ing wildly original.” The critic also noted that, as the overbearing mother-in-law, Ada Lewis was “amusing”
in a drunk scene. Darnton said there was “something in the grapes” that excited her, and in “the exhilaration
of the moment” she was “screamingly funny” and danced “inimitably.” The Times found Lewis “a terrify-
ing if grotesque mother-in-law” and the Tribune said she was “always effective.” As for the score, Darnton
named “Left All Alone Again Blues” as the score’s “best” song, but Kern ensured there was “enough lively
music to go around.”
The Times commented that Groody was “somewhat chubbier” than when last seen on Broadway, but the
Tribune described her as a “little dancer of delicate charm” who “contributed much” to the musical. Darnton
found her “a charming little creature.”
Four songs were dropped from the musical in preproduction and during the pre-Broadway tryout: “She’s
Spanish,” “Jazz,” “Bob White,” and “Rip Van Winkle and His Little Men.” (Note that the last two are in-
cluded on the concert recording discussed below.)
The Comic Opera Guild’s release Two Shows by Jerome Kern (CD # CTS210P-1M) includes selections
from concert versions of The Night Boat and The Bunch and Judy; the musical director is Adam Aceto and
two pianos provide the musical accompaniment. The recording includes nine songs from the score: “Bob
White,” “Whose Baby Are You?,” “Left All Alone Again Blues,” “Good Night Boat,” “I’d Like a Lighthouse,”
“Don’t You Want to Take Me?,” “A Heart for Sale,” “Rip Van Winkle and His Little Men,” and “I Love the
Lassies.” The script was published in paperback in 2015 by the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Plat-
form’s Theatre Archives/Historical Libretto Series.
The Night Boat is yet another musical for which Kern used songs by other composers (the medley of river
songs included six such numbers, not including a reprise version of Kern’s “Good Night Boat” and a dance
number titled “Quadalquiver”). Kern may have thought these interpolations added flavor and authenticity to
his shows, but this penchant is less enlightening than annoying. Leave It to Jane (1917) included a medley of
traditional college songs; Show Boat (1927) offered “Goodbye, My Lady Love” and “After the Ball”; and the
overture for Sweet Adeline (1929) was comprised of famous turn-of-the-century numbers. It would have been
far more interesting had Kern written his own pastiche versions.
The Night Boat marked the first of ten musicals by Kern that were conducted by Victor Baravalle, and
the current show was followed by Good Morning Dearie, The Bunch and Judy, Stepping Stones, The City
Chap, Criss Cross, Show Boat, The Cat and the Fiddle (1931), Music in the Air (1932), and Roberta (1933).
1920 Season 9
Note that the Cansino Brothers included Eduardo, the father of Rita Hayworth, and that one member of
the singing ensemble was Jeanette MacDonald, here fifteen years away from cinematic immortality when she
appeared with Nelson Eddy in the first of eight MGM film musicals between 1935 and 1942.
Note that both The Night Boat and Herbert’s The Golden Girl shared the same New York opening night.
LOOK WHO’S HERE

“A New Farce with Music” / “A New Musical Farce”
Theatre: 44th Street Theatre

Opening Date: March 2, 1920; Closing Date: May 22, 1920
Performances: 87
Book: Frank Mandel
Lyrics: Edward Paulton
Music: Silvio Hein
Note: Performer Cecil Lean was credited with “Travesties and Dialogue and Extra Lyrics.”
Direction: Edwin T. Emery; Producer: Spiegel’s Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Edward Hutchinson; Scen-
ery (and “decorations”): Law Studio; Costumes: Mahieu (Cleo Mayfield’s costumes by Joseph’s); Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Howard
Cast: George R. Lynch (James Saunders), Madge Rush (May), Bell Boys: Alicia McCarthy (Flo) and Mary Mc-
Carthy (Jo); Louise Kelley (Caroline Holmes), Dave Quixano (Carlos Del Monte), Cecil Lean (Robert W.
Holmes), Cleo Mayfield (Rosamond Purcell), Georgie Mack (Horace Bream), Sylvia de Frankie (Dorothy
Chase), John F. Morrissey (Daniel V. Chase); Ladies of the Ensemble: Georgie Empey, Gayle Friegel, Ad-
elarie Starr, Burnic Cantor, Lispa Taft, Alice Biglow, Millicent Fillat, Lillian Dennis, Florence Haynes,
Dorothy Neill, Ruth Thomas, Harriette Munson
The action takes place during the present time at an inn in the Catskill Mountains.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = “extra lyrics” by Cecil Lean
Act One: “Opening Ensemble” (George R. Lynch, Alicia McCarthy, Mary McCarthy, Sport Girls); “My Night
in Venice” (Dave Quixano, Girls); “If I Had Only Met You, Dear” (Louise Kelley, Dave Quixano); “I Know
and You Know” (*) (Cecil Lean); “Bubbles” (Cecil Lean, Cleo Mayfield, Chorus); “Love, Love, Love”
(Louise Kelley); “I Wonder What She’s Thinking of Now” (Georgie Mack, Madge Rush); “Love Never
Changes” (*) (Cecil Lean, Cleo Mayfield); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “The Bell Hop Blues” (lyric and music by Frank Goodman and Al Piantadosi) (Alicia McCarthy,
Mary McCarthy); “Give Me a Little Cozy Corner” (Cleo Mayfield, Chorus); “Look Who’s Here” (Cecil
Lean, Sylvia de Frankie); “The Turk Has (Had) the Right Idea” (*) (Cecil Lean, Cleo Mayfield, Chorus); “I
Cannot Understand” (Louise Kelley, Dave Quixano); Dance (Madge Rush); “When a Wife Gets Fat” (full
lyric by Cecil Lean) (Cecil Lean); Finale (Company)
Look Who’s Here lasted almost three months on Broadway, and it brought Chicago favorite Cecil Lean
back to Broadway with his wife, Cleo Mayfield. He played best-selling novelist Robert W. Holmes, who has
written a book espousing a spouse’s right to leave her husband if he ignores her. Which is just what Holmes’s
wife, Caroline (Louise Kelley), does when she runs off with art critic Carlos Del Monte (Dave Quixano).
Holmes is naturally unhappy about the situation, and hires marriage counselor Rosamond Purcell (Mayfield)
for advice. And soon Holmes finds himself with three wives: besides Caroline, he pretends to have married
Rosamond in order to make Caroline jealous, and then he discovers that a friend has just gotten married under
his name (and thus the friend’s wife is “Mrs. Robert W. Holmes”). The musical’s most memorable scene took
place in a hotel bedroom with twin beds, where Holmes wakes up to find the ersatz “Mrs. Robert W. Holmes”
in the next bed. She informs him he’s in his “right mind” but “wrong bed,” and before long the pajama-clad
Rosamond joins the twosome, and then other similarly clad young women who are guests at the hotel join
the pajama party.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the evening wasn’t “particularly brilliant fun” but decided the material
would “probably suffice to make the show popular.” Although the New York Herald said the first act was
“rather usual,” the critic suggested the second act with its bedroom scene had perhaps brought forth “a
revolution in musical comedy.” For here the players “simply burst the accepted tenets and restrictions” of
bedroom farce and “launched forth into revelry inconceivable.” Soon “coverlets were kicked,” a corset was
“tossed, not to say twirled about as though it were nothing at all,” and the audience was clearly expected to
endorse “the whole amazing business.” Further, when the evening’s “most cruelly bold line” was spoken, the
audience “burst forth in simple, whole-hearted laughter” and “so there you are” (unfortunately, the reviewer
didn’t share the offending line with his readers).
The New York Tribune found the evening “tuneful, colorful and full of action,” and singled out “The Bell
Hop Blues,” which was a “clever specialty.” The New York Times said the musical was a “well-staged and rea-
sonably entertaining” show, one that was “an agreeable and refreshing entertainment” despite “some shortcom-
ings.” And composer Silvio Hein’s score included six “very good” songs, including “Bubbles,” which was “likely
to do a lot for Mr. Hein.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World noted that Frank Mandel’s book had
“plot,” and that the wordsmiths had “jollied” the book with lyrics; further, Hein had “sweetened” the evening
with music, and Alicia McCarthy and Mary McCarthy scored a “big hit” with “The Bell Hop Blues.”
The critics liked Cecil Lean, but seemed compelled to discuss his teeth. The Tribune said his smile
showed “a marvelous set of teeth,” and the critic “shudder[ed] to think of what the stage would lose should
a dentist with a pair of forceps get Cecil in his chair and administer gas.” Likewise, the Herald reported that
the performer “grinned and showed his teeth until he had everybody grinning with him.”
Some of the critics added an exclamation point to the show’s title, but the tryout and New York programs
didn’t include one. Note that the London revue Look Who’s Here! (which opened during the 1959–1960 sea-
son) isn’t related to the musical.
3 SHOWERS
Theatre: Harris Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Plymouth Theatre)
Opening Date: April 5, 1920; Closing Date: May 15, 1920
Performances: 48
Book: William Cary Duncan
Lyrics: Henry Creamer
Music: Turner Layton
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producers: Charles Coburn and Mrs. Charles Coburn; Choreography: Edward P.
Bower; Scenery: Frank Gates and Edward A. Morange; Costumes: Men’s costumes by Finchley and wom-
en’s costumes by Irma Campbell; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Walter Wilson (Colonel John White), Vera Ross (Anna Mobberly), Anna Wheaton (Roberta Lee White,
aka Bob), Edna Morn (Ray White), Andrew J. Lawlor Jr. (Willie Mobberly), Paul Frawley (Peter Fitzhugh),
William Winter Jefferson (Hudson Gatling), Lynn Starling (Rastus Redmond Reynolds, aka Red), Wilbur
Cox (Riley), Norman Jefferson (Bruce Payne); Ensemble: Ruth Urban (Virginia Mae Gordon), Lulu May
Hubbard (Mary Love Burgess), Daisy MacGlashan (Patsy Ann Pritchard), Margaret Fitch (Maria Allan Mor-
gan), Lillian Wagner (Alice Dean Lowe), Constance Huntington (Penelope Dangerfield), Frances M. Hal-
liday (Lida Belle Norwood), Elizabeth Reynolds (Sally Mae Blaine), Ralph Derst (Clarence Melton), Russell
Griswold (William Henry Fish), James McKenzie (Robinson Tucker), H. M. Arden (Ward Allan Yancy),
Carl Rose (Byron Habersham), Henry Ward (Kinsey McAllister), Alfred Siegler (Stuart Thompson), Frank
Slater (Norman Castleman), Wilbur Cox (“Worthless” Akers), Eddie Gray (character name unknown),
Arthur Porter (Jackson Gray), Richard Cooper (Lincoln Brown), Charles B. Foster (Harrison Green)
The action takes place in Virginia during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Shower” (Orchestra); “Work Chant” (The Farm Quartette); “Open Your Heart” (Anna Wheaton);
“One of the Boys” (Anna Wheaton, Ensemble); “‘B’ Is the Note” (Lynn Starling, Andrew J. Lawlor Jr.); “It
1920 Season 11
Must Be Love” (Paul Frawley, Anna Wheaton); “I’ll Have My Way” (Walter Wilson); “Love Me, Sweet-
heart Mine” (Vera Ross); “Where Is the Love?” (Paul Frawley, Anna Wheaton, Ensemble); “Open Your
Heart” (reprise) (Paul Frawley, Anna Wheaton, Ensemble); “Love Me, Sweetheart Mine” (reprise) (Anna
Wheaton, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Pussyfoot” (Edna Morn, Ensemble); “If, And, and But” (Anna Wheaton); “How Wonderful You
Are” (Paul Frawley, Anna Wheaton); “He Raised Everybody’s Rent but Katie’s” (Lynn Starling, The Farm
Quartette); “There’s a Way Out” (Double Octette); “Dance” (James McKenzie, Daisy MacGlashan); “The
Old Love Is the True Love” (Vera Ross, Ensemble); “Dancing Tumble Tom” (Anna Wheaton, Ensemble);
Finale (Company)
Prior to the first act curtain of 3 Showers, two chorus girls appeared on stage and told the audience the
legend of three showers. If there are three rain showers during a twelve-hour period, whatever wish one makes
that day will come true. The musical itself took place within twelve hours and on a day that included three
rain showers (which were simulated via special lighting effects), and apparently the wishes for all the charac-
ters came true. But not the producers’ wish, because 3 Showers (also known as Three Showers) lasted just six
weeks, which wasn’t enough time for the show to move into the hit column.
The producers were the later Academy Award–winning actor Charles Coburn and his wife (known as
Mrs. Charles Coburn) who had enjoyed considerable success as the stars and producers of The Better ’Ole, an
import from London that during its initial Off-Broadway showing and later Broadway engagement played over
350 performances and was made into a silent film in 1926. The tagline for The Better ’Ole read “A Fragment
from France in Two Explosions, Seven Splinters and a Short Gas Attack.”
The wispy plot of 3 Showers focused on farmer Colonel John White (Walter Wilson) and his family, in-
cluding his daughter Roberta (Anna Wheaton). Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said Whea-
ton worked “very hard” (“too hard, in fact”) as the Colonel’s tomboy “farmerette” who wears men’s clothes,
climbs ladders, slides down ropes, and rides around in a wheelbarrow (she also finds time to sing “One of the
Boys” and is otherwise known as Bob). She has also learned to master a gun (Roberta get your gun?), and when
a government official from Washington takes photographs of a still on the Colonel’s property, she takes aim
at the camera and blasts away, thus obliterating any tell-tale photographic evidence.
Because of Prohibition, there were jokes and references to drink and the lack of it (at one point, a character
lamented, “Nothing to drink, and everything in the world to get drunk for”), and along for the ride were a few
dances (including one called “Pussyfoot,” and of course a song-and-dance with this title cropped up decades
later in the 1958 musical Goldilocks) as well as a black quartette that weaved in and out of the action.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s noted that the plot dealt with legends and wishes, and she reported that early
during the performance she wished “that the show would be over by nine o’clock.” But her wish “didn’t come
true,” and “so that’s all there is to that.”
Darnton found the evening “only mildly refreshing,” and despite its “sprinkling” of music (by Turner
Layton) he suggested the show could be “taken as a Prohibition joke.” But the New York Herald (which
called the musical both Three Showers and 3 Showers) said the Coburns offered “a charming mélange of
good music and genuine, spontaneous humor.” The score consisted of “tinkling airs of melodious simplic-
ity,” and “Baby Lamb” was “a beautiful bit of harmony worthy of light opera.” This number was apparently
not in the opening-night program, and might have been a last-minute addition for Broadway. American Song
reports that it and two other numbers (“Always the Fault of the Men” and “You May Be the World to Your
Mother”) were cut during the Baltimore tryout. Perhaps “Baby Lamb” was cut and then later reinstated for
the Broadway opening (besides the Herald, Brooklyn Life also mentions the song in its New York opening-
night review). American Song seems to indicate that “Dancing Tumble Tom,” which was titled “Dancing
Tumble-Down” in Baltimore, was dropped prior to New York, but the song is referenced in at least one of the
New York opening-night reviews.
The Herald also noted that Layton “hit upon the novel idea of using some of the solos as thematic mat-
ter,” and thus music that could be described as Bob/Roberta’s “theme song” was performed “against [Paul]
Frawley’s vocal protestations of love with a novel blending of contrasting melodies.”
Brooklyn Life praised the “excellent entertainment,” which offered “entrancing” music, a “well-drilled”
chorus, and Wheaton herself, who alone and with Frawley was “decidedly the hit of the show.” The review
singled out thirteen songs. The New York Times complained that the book was “only moving picture writing or
magazine fiction of distinctly second grade,” and for a while it seemed the show was just a collection of “new
and old Prohibition jokes set to music” with “a bit of motion picture melodrama.” Although the show “took a
turn for the better” as the evening proceeded, Wheaton’s “tomboy tricks” were “not enough,” and the actress was
“hampered” by “the strange and improbable things she had to say.” The critic mentioned that the songs would
no doubt be heard “around town,” and then said they were already being heard “under other names” because
the music recalled other songs. However, the score was “melodious” and only once were the songwriters guilty
of “bad taste,” with a number “that should have been discarded.” The critic didn’t name the song, but it was
probably “He Raised Everybody’s Rent but Katie’s,” which Darnton said was “off-color” but had “an amusing
and a timely quality” (Brooklyn Life said Lynn Starling and the Farm Quartette made “a big hit with the song”).
LASSIE
“The Charming Musical Novelty”
Theatre: Nora Bayes Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Opening Date: April 6, 1920; Closing Date: August 21, 1920
Performances: 159
Book and Lyrics: Catherine Chisholm Cushing
Music: Hugo Felix
Based on the 1914 play Kitty MacKay by Catherine Chisholm Cushing.
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Lassie, Inc.; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: William Kellam; Cos-
tumes: Schneider-Anderson; Brooks; Russell Uniform Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Erno Rapee
Cast: Miriam Collins (Lily), Louie Emery (Mrs. McNab), Colin O’Moore (Winkie), Ralph Nairn (Sandy), Alma
Mara (Jean MacGregor), Percival Vivian (MacGregor), Molly Pearson (Meg Duncan), Tessa Kosta (Kitty
MacKay), Roland Bottomley (Lieutenant David Graham), Carl Hyson (Philip Grayson), Dorothy Dickson
(Lady Gwendolyn Spencer-Hill), David Glassford (Lord Inglehart), Ada Sinclair (Mrs. Grayson), Robert
Smythe (Robbins); Ladies of the Ensemble: Agatha DeBussy, Hazel O’Brien, Elsie Craig, Julia Silvers,
Lucille Marion, Edna Richmond, Elsie Frolick, Olive Hammond, Julie Collins, Virginia Richmond, Laura
Hastings, Polly Shorreck, Violet McCabe, Ruth Allison, Madelaine Dare, Ethel Hobart, Marjorie Wall,
Polly Watkins, Alice Gordon; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Arthur Green, Harold Williams, Boris Scott,
Charles Mansfield, Mack Ruber, Louis Laub, Harold Abbey, Let K. Thompson
The action takes place during the 1860s in Scotland and London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Piper o’ the Dundee” (Miriam Collins, Ensemble); “Barrin’-o’-th’-Door, O” (Ralph Nairn,
Percival Vivian, Louie Emery); “Echo” (Tessa Kosta); “Boo-Hoo” (Dorothy Dickson, Carl Hyson); “Fairy
Whispers” (Colin O’Moore, Tessa Kosta); First Act Finale (Tessa Kosta, Colin O’Moore, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening (David Glassford, Ada Sinclair, Ensemble); “Lady Bird” (Dorothy Dickson, Carl Hyson,
Ensemble); “Lovely Corals” (Tessa Kosta, Roland Bottomley); “Lassie” (Roland Bottomley, Ladies of the
Ensemble); “Under the Jessamine” (Tessa Kosta); “A Teacup and a Spoon” (Tessa Kosta, Roland Bottomley,
Dorothy Dickson, Carl Hyson, Molly Pearson, Ada Sinclair); Second Act Finale (Tessa Kosta, Colin O’Moore)
Act Three: Opening (Percival Vivian, Ensemble); “Kitty of Juniper Green” (Colin O’More); “Skeletons”
(Dorothy Dickson, Roland Bottomley, Carl Hyson, Ada Sinclair, David Glassford); “Flirting” (Carl Hyson,
Dorothy Dickson); Third Act Finale (Company)
Lassie was Catherine Chisholm Cushing’s musical adaptation of her hit 1914 play Kitty MacKay. Kitty
(Tessa Kosta) is a lassie from Scotland who as a foundling was adopted by the McNab family. When her blood
relatives claim her, she moves to London and falls in love with a dashing lieutenant (Roland Bottomley), but
the future darkens when it appears they might be related. It turns out Kitty isn’t the lieutenant’s half-sister
after all, and so happiness lies ahead for the couple.
The musical enjoyed a lengthy pre-Broadway tour, and the New York run lasted for 159 performances.
Hugo Felix had composed the music for such hits as Madame Sherry (1910) and Pom-Pom (1916), and the crit-
ics were impressed with his score for Lassie. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the “enchant-
1920 Season 13
ing” music contributed to what was “far and away the gayest and sweetest of all the new ventures in musical
comedy and comic opera which the season has witnessed.” The “delightful” score was composed by a “real
musician” who turned a “passable comedy of a by-gone season” into “a joyous and beguiling entertainment.”
The title song and “Kitty of Juniper Green” were “likely to assail your ears very often in the next few years,”
and “other numbers even more seductive” were “Fairy Whispers” (with its “tinkling” music) and the sextette
“A Teacup and a Spoon” (“spry and diverting”).
Charles Darnton in the Evening World said the “captivating” Lassie offered “the best light music that has
been heard along Broadway in many a month” with a score that was “the work of an artist, a real musician,
not merely a tunesmith.” Bottomley sang the title song “so well that he covered himself with the glory of
several encores,” and “Skeletons” was “an exceptionally clever and original song.”
Late in the run, Brooklyn Life reviewed the production and said the “Scotch Cinderella” story was not
only “tuneful” but “an entertainment unsurpassed by any musical comedy in town.” And because the Nora
Bayes Theatre had a movable roof and wide doors, the flowing breezes made the venue “one of the coolest
places in town to spend a summer afternoon or evening.”
A number of changes occurred during the pre-Broadway tryout: director Percival Knight was succeeded by
Edward Royce; set and costume designer Willy Pogany was succeeded by William Kellam for the décor and by
Schneider-Anderson, Brooks, and Russell Uniform Company for the costumes; and while Dodge & Pogany were
the producers of record for the tryout, the Broadway production cited Lassie, Inc. The Broadway production didn’t
cite a choreographer, but for the tryout Leon Errol was credited for the arrangement of the dance numbers.
Cast members Dorothy Dickson and Carl Hyson were married at the time of the production. Dickson
soon settled in London where she appeared in many revues and book shows, and starred in the London produc-
tions of such Broadway hits as Jerome Kern’s Sally, George and Ira Gershwin’s Tip-Toes, and Richard Rodg-
ers and Lorenz Hart’s Peggy-Ann. In the 1936 London revue Spread It Abroad she introduced the evergreen
“These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You).” Tessa Kosta appeared in a number of the era’s musicals, and
was the “flame” in George Gershwin and Herbert Stothart’s Song of the Flame.
THE GIRL FROM HOME

Theatre: Globe Theatre
Opening Date: May 3, 1920; Closing Date: May 22, 1920
Performances: 24
Book and Lyrics: Frank Craven
Music: Silvio Hein
Based on the 1904 play The Dictator by Richard Harding Davis.
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Uncredited (the specialty dances
were probably created by the dancers themselves, and Burnside may have devised the choreography for
the chorus numbers); Scenery: painting by D. Frank Dodge and William Castle (first act), The Tarrazona
Brothers (second act), and Mark Lawson (third act); Costumes: O’Kane Conwell; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Anton Heindl
Cast: Frank Craven (Brook Travers, aka Steve Hill), Jed Prouty (Simpson, aka Jim Dodd), Russell Mack
(Charles Hyne), John Parks (Colonel John T. Bowie), Charles Mitchell (Duffy), William Burress (General
Santos Campos), Walter Coupe (Reverend Arthur Bostick), Sam Burbank (Lieutenant Victor), George E.
Mack (Doctor Vasquez), John Hendricks (Jose Dravo), Jose Vallhonrat (Senor Hoakumo), Gladys Caldwell
(Lucy Sheridan), Marion Sunshine (Merci Hope), Flora Zabelle (Juanita Arguilla), Virginia Shelby (Sister
Agnes), Eleanor Masters (Sister Eleanor), Sophie Brenner (Sister May), Marie Sewell (Sister Marie), Edna
Fenton (Sister Isabel), Kathryn Yates (Sister Helen), Janet Megrew (Sister Mabel), Clara Carroll (Sister
Clara); Specialty Dancers: Jessica Brown, Margarita Flora DeMayo, Eduardo and Elisa Cansino; Ensemble:
Estelle MacIntosh, Ann Poulson, Jean Carroll, Dorothy Haighton, Marie Fredericks, Arline Mason, Hazel
G. Webb, Ione Ritchie, Doris Landy, Peggy Dana, Alma Braham, Elizabeth Reed, Mayre Morris, Mary
Ellen Capers, Bonnie Murray, Dorothy Grace, Tom Maynard, Harry King, John Allan, Robert Norman,
Charles Kirby, Harry Pierce, Joe Qualters, William Boren
The action takes place during the present time in and around Porto Banos, the capital of the Republic of San
Manana in Central America.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “All Ashore” (Ensemble); “Nine Little Missionaries” (Gladys Caldwell, Missionaries); “Just Say
Goodbye” (Marion Sunshine, Russell Mack); “Ocean Blues” (Russell Mack, Ensemble); “Bit o’ Breeze”
(dance) (Jessica Brown); First Act Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Porto Banos” (Ensemble); Dance (Margarita Flora DeMayo); “Our Presidents” (John Hendricks,
Ensemble); “Sometime” (Flora Zabelle); “Vanity” (dance) (Jessica Brown); “Manana” (Gladys Caldwell,
Boys); “The Wireless Heart” (Marion Sunshine, Russell Mack, Ensemble); “El Presidente” (William
Burress, Ensemble); “I’ll Be Dictator” (Company)
Act Three: Opening (Frank Craven, Army); “It’s a Wonderful Spot” (Frank Craven, Jed Prouty); “By the Palm-
ist Tree” (Gladys Caldwell); “Marimba” (Marion Sunshine, Russell Mack); Specialty Dance (Eduardo and
Elisa Cansino); Finale (Company)
The musical farce The Girl from Home was Silvio Hein’s second score of the season. Look Who’s Here
had managed almost three months on Broadway, but The Girl from Home played for just three weeks and was
the season’s shortest-running musical. The quick closing is somewhat surprising because the reviews were
favorable, the score was praised, and the farcical elements of the plot sound amusing. Both The Girl from
Home and Honey Girl opened on the same night, and the latter enjoyed a run of four solid months instead
of the few weeks allotted to the former, which Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said “couldn’t stand the strain of
Broadway life.”
The show was adapted by Frank Craven from Richard Harding Davis’s hit 1904 comedy The Dictator
(Craven also wrote the lyrics and was the show’s star). The plot focused on playboy Brook Travers (Craven)
who mistakenly believes that during an argument in New York he killed a taxi driver. And so with his man-
servant Simpson (Jed Prouty) he takes off for Central America and finds himself in Porto Banos, one of those
banana republics that have a revolution every Tuesday. On board the steamer headed for Porto Banos our hero
meets Colonel John T. Bowie (John Parks), the new U.S. Consulate to Porto Banos, who is afraid to embark be-
cause the country seems on the verge of its latest revolution. He’s also wary because local and jealous spitfire
Juanita (Flora Zabelle) has vowed to kill him because of his roving eye. Due to his perceived troubles back in
New York, Travers agrees to assume the consulate’s identity, and from thereon in the sparks fly when Travers
takes office. The show’s title didn’t seem to have much to do with anything, and in fact Charles Darnton in
the New York Evening World commented that “vivacious and trim” Gladys Caldwell (as Lucy Sheridan) was
“the girl who gives the piece its thin excuse for a title.”
Darnton found the musical “bright and tuneful entertainment,” and with one exception praised the “re-
freshing” score: he felt that “Ocean Blues” seemed “a bit stale” when compared to The Night Boat’s “Left
All Again Blues,” which had become “the song-hit of the year.” Otherwise, the topical “A Wonderful Spot”
(which the critic referenced as “A Wonderful Boat”) brought “roars of laughter” from the audience; “Nine
Little Missionaries” was “clever”; and “Our Presidents” was a “funny” tribute to all the short-lived presi-
dents of past revolutions.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle felt that Craven the librettist and lyricist had short-changed Craven the actor,
and it sometimes seemed that the performer was “very much in the background.” Although the show might
“not make musical comedy history,” it would no doubt “entertain many thousands before it has run its race,”
and producer Charles Dillingham would no doubt enjoy “another success” because the show contained “more
than enough to entertain even a very critical audience.” In addition, Caldwell sang “delightfully,” Jessica
Brown’s dances were “the hit of the evening,” the Cansinos danced “cleverly,” and Hein wrote “several tunes
that are bright and clever,” including “Ocean Blues” and “The Wireless Heart.”
Brooklyn Life said the evening offered “many very funny situations,” and Craven had “few peers” and got
“a laugh in nearly every line he speaks.” The chorus was “good looking,” the costumes were “beautiful,” and
the décor was “elaborate.” Among the “prominent” songs were “Ocean Blues,” “Nine Little Missionaries,”
“The Wireless Heart,” “Manana,” and “By the Palmist Tree.” The New York Herald said Dillingham “had
provided a most delightful springtime entertainment,” the songs offered “gayety,” and director R. H. Burnside
had set the evening “into harmonious motion.”
The New York Times noted that the show had moments that were “musical comedy at its best” as well
as moments where “the pace is somewhat slower than seems justified.” Like the critic for the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, the Times felt that Craven had been “over modest in the writing” of his own part, and despite his be-
1920 Season 15
ing “a rare comedian” with “a rare brand of humor” he didn’t give himself enough comic opportunities. The
critic mentioned that “A Wonderful Spot” was a “capital topical” song for Craven and Prouty and that “The
Wireless Heart” was “the number that the town will soon be whistling.”
“The Wireless Heart” was clearly the evening’s show stopper, and it was sung by Russell Mack (as a wire-
less operator), Marion Sunshine, and the chorus. The Herald said that for this number Burnside’s ingenuity
and “striking maneuvers” for the chorus reached its climax when on the darkened stage “every figure became
an operator at the wireless telegraph, with the electric rays lighting the faces of the pretty girls and the letters
spelling out ‘I Love You’ on the black background.” There was no more “taking tune” in Hein’s “sprightly”
score, and the number was “tellingly sung” and “illustrated with novel steps.” Darnton praised the “novelty”
number, and as noted, the Times, Brooklyn Life, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the sequence. The song
was added to the score of Tip-Top during the course of its run.
Note that librettist, lyricist, and star Frank Craven later created the role of the Stage Manager in the origi-
nal 1938 Broadway production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. The Cansino Brothers (including Rita Hay-
worth’s father Eduardo) had danced in The Night Boat, and for The Girl from Home Eduardo again danced,
this time with his sister Elisa Cansino.
HONEY GIRL
Theatre: The Cohan and Harris Theatre
Opening Date: May 3, 1920; Closing Date: September 4, 1920
Performances: 142
Book: Edward Clark
Lyrics: Neville Fleeson
Music: Albert Von Tilzer
Based on the 1903 play Checkers by Henry M. Blossom Jr., which in turn was based on Blossom’s 1896 novel
Checkers: A Hard-Luck Story.
Direction: Bert French and Sam Forrest; Producer: Sam H. Harris; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Edward
G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes; Costumes: Henri Bendel; Arlington; Schneider-Anderson; Brooks Uniform
Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Eugene Salzer
Cast: Peter Lang (Judge Martin), Rene Riano (Cynthia), Edna Bates (Honora Parker, aka Honey Girl), Louise
Meyers (Lucy Martin), Lynne Overman (David Graham, aka Checkers), Robert Armstrong (Orville Bryan),
George McKay (Timothy Smiley, aka Tip), Dodson Mitchell (G. W. Parker), William Mortimer (Sol
Frankenstein), Sidonie Espero (Carmencita), Edmund Elton (Jim Hayward), Mercer Templeton (Charles
Hawkins), Cissie Sewell (Marion Rose), Charlie Yorkshire (Thomas Lyons), Ottie Ardine (Esther Blake);
Ladies of the Ensemble: Betty Shannon, Florence Ashton, Lucretia Craig, Kay Mahoney, Frances Mink,
Helen Berkley, Beth Fowne, Patricia Mayer, Marie DuChette, Hazel Purcy, Fern Collier, Annette Gardner,
Tess Mayer, Helen Trainor, Harriet Gustin, Katherine Wilson, Bert Alden, Virginia Allen, Mabel Allen,
Beatrice Anderson, Louise Mallory, Ann Ross, Florence Rush, Grace Elliott, Marie Wallace; Gentlemen
of the Ensemble: Leo Howe, Allan Blair, Harold Brady, Clifford Daly, Lou Sears, Walter Mayo, William
Wilder, Bill Bailey
The action takes place during the present time over a year’s period in both Parkerstown and New Orleans,
Louisiana.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Shopping” (Peter Lang, Ensemble); “Small Town Girl” (Louise Meyers, Chorus); “I’m Losing My
Heart to Someone” (Lynne Overman, Chorus); “It’s a Very Easy (Simple) Matter” (George McKay, Louise
Meyers, Chorus); “Anything You Liked” (Edna Bates, Louise Meyers, Chorus); “Close to Your Heart”
(Edna Bates, Lynne Overman)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Racing Blues” (Mercer Templeton, Chorus); “Can I Find a Toreador” (Sidonie
Espero, Chorus); “I’d Place a Bet” (Cissie Sewell, Mercer Templeton, Chorus); “You’re Just the Boy for
Me” (Louise Meyers, George McKay, Ottie Ardine, Chorus); “Why Worry?” (Rene Riano); “I’m Trying”
(Lynne Overman)
Act Three: Opening: “The Bluebird Song” (“Myltil and Tyltil”) (Edna Bates, Sidonie Espero, Children) (se-
quence included “The Bluebird Ballet” with Sidonie Espero as the Good Fairy; Lucretia Craig, Berylune;
Harriet Gustin, Fire; Grace Elliott, Water; Katherine Wilson, Light; Helen Trainor, Night; Cissie Sewell,
The Bluebird; Mercer Templeton, Tyltil); “I Love to Fox Trot” (Louise Meyers); Specialty Dances (Mercer
Templeton, Cissie Sewell, Ottie Ardine, Lucretia Craig); “I’m the Fellow” (George McKay, Rene Riano);
Finale (Company)
Henry Blossom adapted his popular 1896 novel Checkers: A Hard- Luck Story into his hit 1903 play
Checkers, and the comedy was followed by silent film adaptations in 1913 and 1919 (as Gold Heels, another
silent film version followed in 1924, and in 1938 a version titled Checkers was released as a vehicle for Jane
Withers).
A year after Blossom’s death, a musical version of the material opened on Broadway as Honey Girl with
lyrics by Neville Fleeson and music by Albert Von Tilzer. Edward Clark’s book more or less followed the
outline of the original story, but overall the evening seems to have been an excuse for a number of song-and-
dance specialties. The basic plot focused on David Graham, aka Checkers (Lynne Overman), who is in love
with Honora Parker (Edna Bates), otherwise known as Honey Girl. Checkers has a weakness for the racetrack
and bets all his money on a horse named Honey Girl (in the novel and play the horse was known as Remorse).
Naturally, Honey Girl (the horse) wins the race, and Checkers wins Honey Girl (the girl).
George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair decided Honey Girl was “easily the most diverting” of Broadway’s
recent musical offerings, and the show had the “great advantage” of “a real framework upon which to hang
dances and lyrical numbers.” Tilzer’s music had “a lot of swing,” the décor was “charming,” and the cast
members were “pleasantly adequate.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s liked the “extremely pleasant music,” the
“extraordinarily poisonous” lyrics, “some most amusing lines” of dialogue, the “generous amount of clever
dancing,” and an “efficient” cast. She decided that all these elements would keep the theatre “in an agreeable
state of congestion until well into the summer.”
The musical’s highlight was a peek at the big race, which utilized puppets to represent the jockeys and
horses. The New York Herald said that although the “quite exciting” race took place offstage, a “lifelike
glimpse” was presented to the audience when “puppet horses and jockeys [finished] the race with all the fury
of wire strings.” Otherwise, the evening included a number of specialty acts. The New York Times reported
that many of the cast members were given specialty numbers, and all these sequences were presented “with
spirit and dash” and won a “number of encores.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “swift, sleek and spirited” Honey Girl was “the best dancing show
that has reached Broadway this season,” and the Times emphasized that dancing was the “real feature” of the
specialties and that by evening’s end there was a “final rush of numbers.” The newspaper singled out “It’s
a Very Easy Matter” (which featured Louise Meyers and George McKay, the latter praised by Brooklyn Life
as an “agile” and “eccentric” dancer who “without hesitation” won the show’s “comedy honors”); “Racing
Blues” (led by Mercer Templeton); “I’d Place a Bet” (Templeton and by Cissie Sewell); “I’m the Guy” (McKay
and Rene Riano); and “Why Worry?” (a “gay grotesque” danced by Riano). Brooklyn Life said Riano triumphed
with “the grotesque song and dance,” and the Herald said Riano was “prominent” among the dancers and
“remarkably versatile in kicking at her head, around it, under it and about three feet over it in perfect time
to Von Tilzer’s mellifluous tunes.”
Note that featured player Robert Armstrong was thirteen years away from his best-known role. In King
Kong (1933), he portrayed Carl Denham, the director responsible for bringing the gorilla to New York City,
and it was he who uttered the film’s classic closing line, “’Twas beauty killed the beast.”
BETTY, BE GOOD
“A Smart Comedy with Smart Music”
Theatre: Casino Theatre

Opening Date: May 4, 1920; Closing Date: June 26, 1920
Performances: 63
Book and Lyrics: Harry B. Smith
Music: Hugo Reisenfeld
1920 Season 17
Based on an unidentified comedy by Eugene Scribe.

Direction: David (Dave) Bennett; Producers: A Stewart & Morrison Production (Charles G. Stewart and Lee
Morrison); Choreography: Uncredited (most likely David Bennett); Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman Studios;
Costumes: Yvette Kiviat (later known as Kiviette); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ross Mobley
Cast: Grace Hallam (First Bridesmaid), Gladys Elliott (First Guest), Louise Hersey (Second Guest), Frances
Grant (Page), Raymond Oswald (Somers Short, Guy), Worthington Romaine (Phillip Fuller), Jeanette
Wilson (Maggie), Thy Daly (Berenice), Eddie Garvie (Colonel Ichabod Starkweather), Josie Intropidi (Mrs.
Starkweather), Irving Beebe (Tom Price), Georgia Hewitt (Amy Starkweather), Frank Crumit (Sam Kirby),
Josephine Whittell (Betty Lee), Vivienne Oakland (Marion Love), Lucille Manion (Mme. O’Toole), Peter
Mott (Percy); Ensemble: Grace Duncan (Laura), Millie Fillat (Cora), Mabel Benelisha (Nora), Pauline
Delmore (Dora), Betty Raedel (Flora), Jess Fay (Moira), Frances Romana (Muriel), Thy Daly (Gwendolyn),
Bobbie Rait (Eulalie), Grace Duncan (Annabel), Grace Hallam (Belinda), Betty Raedel (Clarissa), Thelma
Holiday (Diana), Dore Leighton (Imogene); Specialty Dancers: Frances Grant and Ted Wing
The action takes place during the present time in Lenox, Massachusetts, New York City, and on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Let’s Pretend We’re Free” (Worthington Romaine, Girls); “Where Shall We Go?” (Irving Beebe,
Georgia Hewitt); “Tell Me, Daisy” (Georgia Hewitt, Bridesmaids); “Betty, Be Good” (Josephine Whittell,
Girls); “You Must Be Good, Girls” (Frank Crumit, Girls); “Keep the Love Lamp Burning (in the Windows
of Your Eyes)” (Josephine Whittell, Irving Beebe); First Act Finale
Act Two: “Keep Them Guessing” (Vivienne Oakland, Girls); “Dance Unique” (Frances Grant and Ted Wing);
“Listen to My Heart Beat” (Irving Beebe, Georgia Hewitt); “’Tis in Vain (That I Try to Forget You)” (Jose-
phine Whittell); “The End of a Perfect Night” (Josephine Whittell, Eddie Garvie, Worthington Romaine);
“I’d Like to Take You Away” (Vivienne Oakland, Frank Crumit); Second Act Finale
Act Three: “Moonlight Dance” (Frances Grant and Ted Wing); “Temptation” (Vivienne Oakland, Peter Mott,
Raymond Oswald, Girls); “Same Old Stars, Same Old Moon” (Vivienne Oakland, Frank Crumit, Girls);
“Keep the Love Lamps Burning” (reprise) (Josephine Whittell); Finale
Inspired by an unnamed French farce by Eugene Scribe, the free-wheeling plot of Betty, Be Good dealt
with Betty Lee (Josephine Whittell), an actress who has sublet her New York apartment to a man she’s never
met while she’s on the road with a show. At a hotel in Lenox, Massachusetts, she runs into former flame
Sam Kirby (Frank Crumit), who doesn’t want her to know he’s going to be married and thus tells her he’s the
best man at a friend’s wedding. Actually, the man subleasing Betty’s apartment is Sam’s best man, and he’s
loaned the apartment to Sam and his bride. And when Betty happens to return to her apartment, pandemo-
nium reigns.
The Sun and New York Herald said Hugo Riesenfeld’s music was “smoothly wrought, excellently or-
chestrated and full of bright fancies that not even the musical detectives could indict for having been in a
previous play.” The score offered “the kind of melodies that one can listen to on the hottest, draggiest days”
of summer, and the song “Keep the Love Lamps Burning” seemed “destined to pass into the pianolas.” The
critic also singled out “Listen to My Heart Beat” and “Tell Me, Daisy,” and so “by grace of its music Betty,
Be Good doesn’t have to be. It is good.” No show was complete without a reference to Prohibition, and the
musical didn’t disappoint: there were jokes on the subject (as well as ones about Russians and bombs). The
patter was “not always of the sure-fire variety,” but at least the book was written “in intelligible English.”
The New York Times noted that the musical offered a half-dozen “captivating” songs and dances, Ries-
enfeld’s score was “tuneful and graceful,” and the plot was “loose enough to allow free scope to a number of
good people of a vaudeville style of theatricals.” The critic also provided a sample of one of the Prohibition
jokes: “A bone-dry restaurant is a restaurant where you have to persuade the waiter to be reasonable.”
Charles Darnton in the Evening World noted that “all the good old traditions of musical comedy” were
followed in Betty, Be Good, and these were accompanied by “a great deal of noise and activity to fill the bill,”
particularly when “bedroom doors are shut and opened” as Betty “pursues a bridegroom through his honey-
moon.” Darnton concluded that Betty, Be Good “might be better [and] I leave it to you.” As far as Dorothy
Parker in Ainslee’s was concerned, the score was “pleasant” but otherwise it was best “to preserve a discreet
silence” about the musical.
During the tryout, Charles Sinclair was the director, and for Broadway he was succeeded by David (Dave)
Bennett; the New York production didn’t credit a choreographer, but most likely the dances were staged by
Bennett (during the tryout, Vaughn Godfrey was cited as the choreographer). Note that one of the tryout flyers
referred to the musical as both Betty Be Good! and Betty, Be Good! The flyer also said the “scenic production”
was one of “Hippodrome lavishness” and the score contained “dreamy waltzes, tantalizing foxes, snappy one
steps, [and] jazzy rags.” During the New York run, “Let’s Pretend We’re Free” and “’Tis in Vain (That I Try
to Forget You)” were dropped and respectively replaced with “Ahead of the Times” and “Don’t Blame Me.”
1920–1921 Season
THE GIRL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Theatre: Knickerbocker Theatre
Opening Date: July 12, 1920; Closing Date: August 28, 1920
Performances: 56
Book and Lyrics: Richard Bruce (pseudonym for Robert B. Smith)
Direction: George W. Lederer; Producer: The George W. Lederer Production Company; Choreography: Julian
Alfred; Scenery: Triangle Scenic Studio; Costumes: William H. Matthews; Lighting: Tony Greshoff; Musi-
cal Direction: Harold Vicars (Victor Herbert conducted the opening night performance)
Cast: John Reinhard (Tom Fielding), Johnny Dooley (Bill Weed), Richard Pyle (Ned Brandon), James B. Car-
son (Max Preiss), Mary Milburn (Molly Shannon), Ben Forbes (Frank Marvin), Minerva Grey (Bess), Jessie
Lewis (Clare), Agnes Patterson (June), Hal Skelly (Watchem Tripp), June Elvidge (Nina Romaine), John
Hendricks (John Rawlins), Ruby Lewis (Margot), Lucille Kent (Julie), Lillian Young (Laurette); Ensemble:
Flora Crosbie (Ethel), June White (Margery), Gertrude Reynolds (Kitty), Evelyn Greig (Dorothy), Helen
Gates (Mabelle), Geneva Mitchell (Estelle), Helen March (Berenice), Ann Milburn (Audrey), Elizabeth
Chase (Clarice), Margaret Kerr (Jean), Georgie Prentice (Leila), Dorothy Barth (Natalie), Marguerite Dan-
iels (Olivia), Gladys Hart (Rosina), Ly Wirth (Stella)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Knew Him When” (Johnny Dooley, John Reinhard, Richard Pyle); “I Cannot Sleep without Dream-
ing of You” (Mary Milburn, Ben Forbes, Ensemble); “Come Across” (Minerva Grey, Jessie Lewis, Agnes
Patterson, Richard Pyle, John Reinhard, Johnny Dooley); “It Would Happen Anyway” (Mary Milburn, Ben
Forbes); “Intermezzo” (Orchestra); “’Twas in the Month of June” (Johnny Dooley, Ensemble); “Catch ’Em
Young, Treat ’Em Rough, Tell ’Em Nothing” (James B. Carson, Ruby Lewis, Girls); “Somewhere I Know
There’s a Girl for Me” (Ben Forbes); “Dancing Lesson” (Hal Skelly, Girls); Finale
Act Two: Opening Ensemble (Company); “In My Looking Glass” (Jessie Lewis, Agnes Patterson, Girls); “I’ll
Be There” (Johnny Dooley, Minerva Grey, James B. Carson, Jessie Lewis, Hal Skelly, Agnes Patterson);
“I Love the Ground You Walk On” (June Elvidge, Girls); “Oo La La”(Johnny Dooley); “I Cannot Sleep
without Dreaming of You” (reprise) (Ben Forbes); “There’s a Tender Look in Your Eyes” (Mary Milburn);
Ensemble Sequence (Company); “A Savage I Remain” (John Hendricks); “I Learned about Women from
Her” (Hal Skelly, Girls); Finale
19
The season’s first book musical was Victor Herbert’s The Girl in the Spotlight, a tried-and-true Cin-
derella story about young immigrant Irish maid Molly Shannon (Mary Milburn), a girl no doubt related to
such title characters of the era as Irene, Sally, Mary, Suzette, Mabel, Sue, Nellie Kelly, Liza, Caroline, Elsie,
Adrienne, Helen, Ginger, Mary Jane, Jane, Rosie, Flossie, Marjorie, Barbara, Rose-Marie, Annie, Betty Lee,
Kitty, Nanette, Sunny, Lola, Kay, Peggy-Ann, Bonnie, Rita, Polly, Yvette, Rosalie, Billie, Angela, Pansy,
and Adeline.
Tragically, Molly’s name wasn’t the title of her show, but in true Cinderella fashion she manages to rise
from slavey to star. She’s a drudge who scrubs floors in a Greenwich Village boarding house that seems to
rent only to artistic types, such as composer Frank Marvin (Ben Forbes), poet Bill Weed (Johnny Dooley), and
painter Richard Pyle (Ned Brandon). When Frank’s new operetta is beset with problems because its leading
lady, Nina Romaine (June Elvidge), has an attack of temperitis, our colleen steps into the part, saves the show,
becomes a star, and marries Frank. It seems that when Molly was scrubbing away, she heard Frank composing
the operetta, and because she knows the music, lyrics, and dialogue by heart it only stands to reason she’s the
logical choice to step in and save his show. In addition to the familiar story, the evening provided many dance
specialties, and Hal Skelly in particular scored as a choreographer named Watchem Tripp.
But the Cinderella story and its theatrical milieu didn’t quite catch on with the public, and after seven
weeks on Broadway the show hit the road for a national tour, which included some tinkering with the score
in which songs were reordered, dropped, and added. The short run is surprising, because the critics praised
Herbert’s score, and the New York Evening Telegram said it contained “the best music Mr. Herbert has writ-
ten since Mlle. Modiste.” In Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life, Herbert’s biographer Neil Gould notes that the
composer’s score was “among his most theatrically effective.”
The New York Times reported that the audience gave the score its “stamp of approval,” and after the first
act the “thunderous applause” encouraged Herbert (who conducted the opening night performance) to leave
the orchestra pit and step onto the stage. Unlike his earlier Mlle. Modiste and Sweethearts, the setting and
style of The Girl in the Spotlight were somewhat unusual for Herbert, and the composer didn’t disappoint and
“got constant rhythmical variety by his constant shifting of style.” The New York Herald praised the “most
welcome entertainment” and said some of the composer’s “best melody” was heard in several of the songs.
Brooklyn Life said the work was a “gem” and “one of the best musical shows of this or any other season.”
Herbert’s music was “light” and “tuneful,” the show had been “beautifully staged,” there was a “corking
good-looking chorus,” the costumes were “beautiful,” and the décor was “elaborate.” The critic singled out
five songs: “I Cannot Sleep without Dreaming of You,” “There’s a Tender Look in Your Eyes,” “Somewhere
I Know There’s a Girl for Me,” “Catch ’Em Young, Treat ’Em Rough, Tell ’Em Nothing,” and “A Savage I
Remain.”
George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair said the audience knew exactly where the Cinderella story was going,
and throughout the evening the denouement loomed up “like a grain elevator.” But the songs were “delight-
fully well-made and easy to listen to.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s liked the “prettily reminiscent” music
and “prettily reminiscent” libretto, and found the overall production “wholly charming.” But she wryly noted
that when the heroine is hailed by an offstage crowd as a “great” star and is led onstage to sing a song that
“overpowered” the fictional offstage audience, the real audience attending The Girl in the Spotlight was “able
to keep quite cool about it.”
And speaking of “quite cool,” the critic for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was just that. Herbert’s score
had some “captivating” numbers, but others were “ordinary enough.” The composer never reached “great
heights” but was “always well above the average,” and his music was the kind he could “always be relied
upon to write and re-write.”
POOR LITTLE RITZ GIRL

Opening Date: July 28, 1920; Closing Date: October 16, 1920
Performances: 119
Book: George Campbell and Lew Fields
Lyrics: Lorenz M. Hart and Alex Gerber
Music: Richard C. Rodgers and Sigmund Romberg
1920–1921 Season 21
Direction: Ned Wayburn; Producer: Lew Fields; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Robert H.
Law Studios; Costumes: Cora Macgeachy; Marie Cook; Anna Spencer; Lighting: Ned Wayburn; Musical
Direction: Charles Previn
Cast: Eleanor Griffith (Barbara Arden), Lulu McConnell (Madge Merril), Aileen Poe (Lillian Lawrence), Flor-
ence Webber (Annie Farrell, aka Sweetie), Charles Purcell (William, aka Billy Pembroke), Andrew Tombes
(Doctor Russell Stevens, aka Doc), Eugenie Blair (Jane De Puyster), Ardelle Cleaves (Dorothy Arden),
Donald Kerr (Teddie Burns), Elise Bonwit (Helen Bond), Ruth Hale (Marguerite), Dolly Clements (Mlle.
Lova), Michael Cunningham (M. Mordky), Grant Simpson (Stage Manager); Ensemble: Muriel Manners,
Bobbie Beckwith, Julie Anderson, Madeline Smith, DeSacia Crandell, Dore Lighton, Frisco Devere, Mabel
Pierson, Nan Phillips, Betty Warlow, Vivian White, Mary Phillips, Josephine Rolfe, Peggy Walsh, Mabel
Hastings, Lee Smith
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Lorenz Hart and music by Richard Rodgers; (**) = lyric by Alex Gerber and music by Sig-
mund Romberg
Act One: “Poor Little Ritz Girl” (**) (Ensemble); “Mary, Queen of Scots” (lyric by Herbert L. Fields, music by
Richard Rodgers) (Lulu McConnell); “Love Will Call” (*) (Eleanor Griffith); “Pretty Ming” (**) (Florence
Webber, Ensemble); “I Love to Say Hello to the Girls” (**) (Andrew Tombes); “When I Found You” (**)
(Charles Purcell)
Act Two: “You Can’t Fool Your Dreams” (*) (Eleanor Griffith, Charles Purcell, Andrew Tombes); “What
Happened Nobody Knows” (*) (Lulu McConnell, Aileen Poe, Florence Webber); “My Violin” (**) (Ardelle
Cleaves); “All You Need to Be a Star” (*) (Eleanor Griffith, Ardelle Cleaves, Charles Purcell, Andrew
Tombes); “The Daisy and the Lark” (*) (Florence Webber, Elise Bonwit, Ensemble); “In the Land of Yes-
terday” (**) (Ardelle Cleaves, Elise Bonwit, Ensemble); “The Phantom Waltz” (music by Sigmund Rom-
berg) (Mlle. Lova, M. Mordky); “The Bombay Bombashay” (**) (Donald Kerr, Elise Bonwit, Ruth Hale,
Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The legendary partnership of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart got off to a rocky start with their first
Broadway musical Poor Little Ritz Girl. During the New York opening night performance, they discovered
that producer Lew Fields had thrown out more than half their score and substituted songs by lyricist Alex
Gerber and composer Sigmund Romberg. For all that, Fields either produced or coproduced five more Rodgers
and Hart musicals (The Girl Friend, Peggy-Ann, A Connecticut Yankee, Present Arms, and Chee-Chee). The
first four were hits, but after the quick failure of Chee-Chee, Fields dropped out of the partnership and during
the mid-1930s and early 1940s Dwight Deere Wiman and George Abbott became Rodgers and Hart’s produc-
ers of choice, Wiman with four hits (On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I Married an Angel, and By Jupiter) and
one failure (Higher and Higher) and Abbott with three hits (The Boys from Syracuse, Too Many Girls, and
Pal Joey).
The farcical story dealt with chorus girl Barbara Arden (Eleanor Griffith), who is appearing at the Frivolity
Theatre in a musical called Poor Little Ritz Girl. She unknowingly rents an apartment that’s already leased
by the wealthy Billy Pembroke (Charles Purcell), and comic confusions abound when Billy suddenly returns
to New York and discovers that a chorine is living in his quarters. By the final curtain, all is happily resolved
when Barbara and Billy decide to tie the knot.
The New York Times said the “freshness” of the first act was “halted rather arbitrarily for a series of spe-
cialties” in the second half, and the plot suddenly wrapped up with the “simple expedient” of marriage for
the two main characters. The essential story wasn’t “particularly promising,” but the creators of the show
“extracted quite a bit of merriment” from the proceedings, the chorus was “plenteous,” and the scenery and
costumes were tasteful. The critic was especially impressed with the “clever” scenic transformations from the
apartment to the Frivolity Theatre, changes that achieved “no little novelty in the method by which” the set-
tings were switched back and forth (unfortunately, the critic didn’t describe just what made the scene changes
so effective, but Brooklyn Life reported there was a “lightning” transition scene, and Arthur Pollock in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “quick shifts of scene” that borrowed staging techniques used in revues).
Kenneth Macgowan in the New York Globe said Rodgers’s music was “hard” and “brisk,” and Romberg’s
contributions were “rich and syrupy.” And Charles Pike Sawyer in the New York Post praised Rodgers’s
“good” music” and noted Romberg was “in his best Viennese waltz style.” Heywood Broun in the New York
Tribune said “Mary, Queen of Scots” was “the most rollicking ballad we have heard in a twelvemonth” and
“What Happened Nobody Knows” was “excellent.” Overall, Romberg’s music was “pleasing, but hardly as
striking as [Rodgers’s] lighter numbers.”
The Sun and New York Herald reported that the audience was more appreciative of the first act than
the second, and the critic complained “there was very little singing last night” because of such feeble vocal
chords. Griffith was a “lovely incompetent” who “struggled along with two or three notes in her middle
voice and an occasional falsetto,” and although Purcell was “clearly audible” when he sang, “he did not look
happy while he was at the task.” Pollock said the “lusty” entertainment had “gusto” and wasn’t “tame” and
“anemic,” and the humor was “flavored with intelligence” and had a “pronounced tang.” Brooklyn Life liked
the “happy musical novelty” and singled out several numbers, including “What Happened Nobody Knows”
(which stopped the show), “I Love to Say Hello to the Girls” (“snappy”), and “The Bombay Bombashay” (“as
clever a bit of jazz as we have heard”). George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair said the songs had the “soothing,
reminiscent quality of a lullaby,” and the plot—“but why speak of the plot?”
The musical had gone through two months of Tryout Hell in which the book writers Henry B. Stillman
and William J. O’Neill were replaced by George Campbell and Fields himself. Further, a number of the leads
were replaced: Aileen Poe was the original Barbara, and was succeeded by Gertrude Vanderbilt, who in turn
was replaced by Griffith, who heretofore had played the role of Dorothy. Victor Morley originated the role of
Billy, and was replaced by Purcell.
For Broadway, eleven songs by Rodgers and Hart were dropped (“The Midnight Supper,” “Lady Raffles,
Behave,” “The Gown Is Mightier Than the Sword,” “Let Me Drink in Your Eyes,” “Will You Forgive Me?,”
“Souvenirs,” “Call the Doc,” “The Lord Only Knows,” “The Boomerang,” “I Surrender,” and the title song).
A few of the team’s songs made it to New York (“Love Will Call,” “You Can’t Fool Your Dreams,” “All You
Need to Be a Star,” “Love’s Intense in Tents,” and “The Daisy and the Lark”); the tryout’s “Mary, Queen of
Scots” was also in the New York production, but note the lyric was by Herbert L. Fields (Lew Fields’s son),
not Hart; and Rodgers and Hart’s “What Happened Nobody Knows” was in the New York production and may
have been a revised or retitled version of the tryout’s “The Lord Only Knows.”
A number of songs in the score had been previously heard in various Rodgers and Hart amateur productions:
“You Can’t Fool Your Dreams” was first heard as “Don’t Love Me Like Othello” from the Akron Club musi-
cal You’d Be Surprised and Columbia University’s varsity show Fly with Me, both 1920;
“Love Will Call” utilized the same music as “Dreaming True,” which had first been heard in Fly with Me and
then in the Institute of Musical Art’s musical comedy Say It with Jazz (1921);
“Love’s Intense in Tents” utilized the same music as “Peek-in Pekin” (from Fly with Me);
“Mary, Queen of Scots” had been heard in Fly with Me and later in the Institute of Musical Art’s musical
comedy Jazz a la Carte (1922);
“All You Need to Be a Star” had first been heard as “Inspiration” (aka “The Futurist Love Song”) from Fly
with Me;
“The Boomerang” had first been used in You’d Be Surprised; and
“Let Me Drink in Your Eyes” and “Will You Forgive Me?” had first been heard in Columbia University’s
varsity show You’ll Never Know (1921); the latter was later heard in the Institute of Musical Art’s musical
comedy A Danish Yankee in King Tut’s Court (1923).
Romberg and Gerber contributed seven songs (“Pretty Ming,” “I Love to Say Hello to the Girls,” “When I
Found You,” “My Violin,” “In the Land of Yesterday,” “The Bombay Bombashay,” and a new title song), and
Romberg composed the music for the dance number “The Phantom Waltz.”
All of Hart’s extant lyrics from Poor Little Ritz Girl are included in the hardback collection The Com-
plete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. Columbia University’s cast album of the 1980 revival of Fly with Me (Original
Cast Records LP # 8023) includes “Don’t Love Me Like Othello,” “Dreaming True,” “Peek-in Pekin,” and
“Inspiration.”
1920–1921 Season 23
TICKLE ME
“A Musigirl Comedy” / “A Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre

Opening Date: August 17, 1920; Closing Date: February 12, 1921
Performances: 207
Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel
Lyrics: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music: Herbert Stothart
Direction: William Collier; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Joseph
Physioc; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting; Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Louise Allen (Mary Fairbanks), Allen Kearns (Jack Barton), Vic Casmore (Marcel Poisson), Frank Tin-
ney (as himself), Marguerite Zender (Alice West), Benjamin Mulvey (Customs Inspector), William Dor-
riani (A Native Boatman), Frances Grant and Ted Wing (Olga and Mishka), Jack Heisler (A Slave), Marcel
Rousseau (The Tongra), Harry Pearce (Blah Blah), Tex Cooper (Keeper of the Sacred Horse); Girls of the
Ensemble: Betty Nevins, Ruby Nevins, Marietta O’Brien, Sunshine Heyerdahl, Rose Cardiff, Memphis
Russell, Emma Pesh, Alys Roby, Josie Carmen, Constance Reed, Laura Maverick, Mildred Mason, Ruth
Andrews, Rheba Stewart, Muriel Graham, Florence Dixon, Muriel Reed; Boys of the Ensemble: George
Griffin, Bobbie Culbertson, Jerome Kirkland, Jack O’Brien, Arnold Gluck, Harry Pearce, Gerald Gardner,
Arthur Conway
The action takes place during the present time in such locales as Hollywood, California, Calcutta, and Thibet
(Tibet).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Safe in the Arms of Bill Hart” (Vic Casmore, Chorus); “You’re the Type” (Vic Casmore, Chorus);
“A Perfect Lover” (Allen Kearns, Chorus); Finaletto: “Globe Trot” and “Big Old World” (Louise Allen,
Marguerite Zender, Allen Kearns, Chorus); “I Don’t Laugh at Love Anymore” (Allen Kearns, Marguerite
Zender; “The Sun Is Nigh” (William Dorriani); “Adagio” (Frances Grant and Ted Wing); “Then Love
Again” (Allen Kearns, Louise Allen); “Little Hindoo Man” (aka “Play a Little Hindoo”) (Allen Kearns,
Louise Allen, Chorus); “The Ceremony” (aka “Ceremony of the Sacred Bath”) (Frances Grant and Ted
Wing, Chorus [for this song, the programs included a character identified as the White Lama as one of the
performers; Frank Tinney may have played this character)
Act Two: “Until You Say Goodbye” (Allen Kearns, Marguerire Zender); “Temptation” (Allen Kearns, Cho-
rus); “Until You Say Goodbye” (reprise) (Marguerite Zender); “Valse du Salon” (Frances Grant and Ted
Wing); “We’ve Got Something” (Marietta O’Brien, Chorus); “Bagpipe Specialty” (Frank Tinney); “Tickle
Me” (Louise Allen, Chorus); “If a Wish Could Make It So” (Marguerite Zender, Allen Kearns, Chorus);
“Broadway Swell and Bowery Bum” (Frank Tinney, Louise Allen); Finale
Tickle Me starred vaudevillian Frank Tinney, who played himself in a story where he lands a job in a
movie being filmed in California, Calcutta, and Tibet. Tinney was a popular entertainer of the era, and as far
as the critics were concerned he was virtually the whole show: he appeared in blackface, then in drag, had
time to haul out one of his old vaudeville routines that involved a bagpipe, and, with Louise Allen, performed
“Broadway Swell and Bowery Bum,” a special ten-minute sequence evocative of old-time entertainment of
the Tony Pastor variety.
Tinney’s humor may not go over all that well today, but the New York Times singled out a joke that
wowed ’em on opening night: Tinney says he provided the Dardenella of India with a card index system for
his 289 wives. The Times said the show offered “nothing startling in the way of scenes or jokes or singing”
and was sometimes slow, but it almost always hit a “bright spot” before the “really dull” ones set in, and
then there was always Tinney to entertain everyone.
The Sun and New York Herald said Tinney provided “sideshaking mirth,” Herbert Stothart’s score was
“never original” but “at all times tuneful and pleasing,” and the book by Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II,
and Frank Mandel “was almost worth acknowledging.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show a “whooping
[whopping?] success” and Brooklyn Life said Tinney was “genuinely funny” and in Tickle Me was “supreme.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Tinney gave the season’s “funniest performance” so far (“just as long as he
can be on the stage for most of the evening, nothing else matters”) and the songs were “exceedingly good.” And
George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair found the book and score “sparkling” and Tinney “unfailingly amusing.”
The musical’s most talked-about visual effect occurred during “The Ceremony” (or “Ceremony of the
Sacred Bath”) in which a cascade of bubbles gave the effect of a waterfall. The Times said the “real soapy af-
fair” was “well done” and gave “the illusion of Niagaras of suds”; the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the sequence
was “novel in the extreme, a soap bubble water-fall effect . . . the like of which has not been seen before”; and
Brooklyn Life noted that “great volumes of soap suds pour in through the crevices of the rocks and over the
sea wall, creating a most beautiful effect.”
The show’s advertisements warned potential audience members that the chorus girls just hated wearing
clothes, but there was no advance word about souvenirs that would be dispensed by the chorines on opening
night when they sang “We’ve Got Something.” The Times reported that the girls handed out “alleged and
apparently authentic whiskey” to many audience members, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said this sequence
was the “real sensation” of the evening: the chorines left the stage and promenaded up and down the aisles
with little baskets on their arms, all of them filled with tiny bottles that they gave to the ticketholders, many
of whom immediately sampled the contents.
The performance itself may have been a merry one, but the next day the Times reported that Federal Super-
vising Prohibition Agent James Shevlin was not amused and promised a thorough investigation. The Sun and
New York Herald later reported that many cast members were subpoenaed by Assistant United States Attorney
Ben A. Matthews. Thankfully, the chorines “very kindly granted” the press interviews about their meeting with
the law, and the poor girls “protested bitterly” over the “unjust accusations” that they should have been “able
to recognize liquor by sight and by smell.” They emphasized that they’d been “kindhearted enough to hand Mr.
Hammerstein’s audiences some pretty little bottles,” and in a “body unanimously” complained that they didn’t
“relish being called from their slumber at the unearthly hour of 11 o’clock in the morning.”
The New York papers didn’t seem to cover the rest of the story, so perhaps there wasn’t an indictment
and the matter was thrown out of court. But one newspaper reported that for future performances the chorus
girls handed out cigarettes to the customers.
During the tryout, the following songs were cut: “Come Across,” “Famous You and Simple Me,” “The
Log of the Ship,” “India (Indian) Rubber,” “Tears of Love,” “Bones,” “You Never Know What a Kiss Can
Mean,” “Tragedy and Comedy,” and “Didja Ever See the Like?”
The collection Oscar Hammerstein II Revisited (Painted Smiles LP # PS-1365 and CD # PSCD-136) in-
cludes two songs from the musical, “We’ve Got Something” and “Little Hindoo Man.”
Some twenty-one years after the waterfall of bubbles, the 1941 musical Viva O’Brien offered its own
unique waterfall, which was really a thirty-foot high sugarfall where thousands of pounds of granulated sugar
poured down on waving curtain-like material in order to give the effect of rushing water. But this novelty
didn’t entice the customers, and the show’s big number “Wrap Me in Your Sarape” didn’t make the Hit Pa-
rade. As a result, Viva O’Brien disappeared after twenty performances.
THE SWEETHEART SHOP

“The Fascinating Musical Play”

Opening Date: August 31, 1920; Closing Date: October 16, 1920
Performances: 55
Music: Hugo Felix
Direction: Edgar J. MacGregor (at least one source credits Herbert Gresham for the direction); Producers:
Edgar J. MacGregor and William Moore Patch; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery: Herbert Moore;
Costumes: S. Strauss, Inc.; Lighting: Tom Greshoff; Musical Numbers: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Roy Gordon (Gideon Blount), Daniel (later, Dan) Healy (Freddie), Una Fleming (Peggy), Joseph Lertora
(Julian Lorimer), Mary Harper (Mildred Blount), Harry K. Morton (Peter Potter), Esther Howard (Minerva
1920–1921 Season 25
Butts), Helen Ford (Natalie Blythe), Zela Russell (Daphne), Clay Hill (Mr. Hylo); Bridesmaids: Irma Irving
(Grace), Teddy Hudson (Teddy), Dorothy Irving (Iona), and Marie Brady (Mary); Artists’ Models: Charlotte
Taylor (Amaranth), Jane Arrol (Clarinda), and Mary O’Brien (Timandra); Attendants: Ralph Derst (Tom),
Thomas Malaney (Jerry), Alfred Opler (Harry), Clay Hill (Jack), Jack Scheidel (Bill), and William Strahlman
(Pete); Other Attendants: Gene Martinette and Al Knight; Patronesses: Mary O’Brien, Martha Parsons,
Frankie Dawn, Charlotte Starbuck, Charlotte Taylor, Jane Arrol, Bobbie Renys, Virginia Taylor, Kathryn
Fallon, Lucille Poirier, Wilma Busey, Doris Irving, Dot Tosbelle, Teddy Hudson, Irma Irving, Marie Brady,
Dorothy Irving, and Rhea Norton
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Pantomime Dance” (Una Fleming, Boys); “As We Go Out Walking” (Sweethearts); “The Sweet-
heart Shop” (Roy Gordon, Mary Harper, Sweethearts); “Oh, Mister Postman” (Daniel Healy, Girls); “Is
There Any Little Thing I Can Do for You?” (Harry K. Morton, Bridesmaids); “I Want to Be a Blooming,
Blushing Bride” (Esther Howard, Boys); “Didn’t You?” (Joseph Lertora, Helen Ford); “A Sweetheart Shop
Wedding” (Company)
Act Two: “The Glow of the Cigarette” (Charlotte Taylor, Models); “Dance Divertissement” (Una Fleming);
“June Bells” (Daniel Healey, Teddy Hudson, Models); “She’s Artistic” (Esther Howard, Boys); “Waiting
for the Sun to Come Out” (lyric by Arthur Francis, aka Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin) (Helen
Ford, Joseph Lertora, Boys); “My Caravan” (Joseph Lertora, Esther Howard, Oriental Chorus); “I’d Like to
Teach You the A-B-C of Love” (Harry K. Morton, Zela Russell)
Act Three: “The Dresden China Belle” (Una Fleming, Chorus); “Dance Eccentric” (Una Fleming, Daniel
Healy); “Life Is a Carousel” (Joseph Lertora, Company); Finale (Company)
The Sweetheart Shop had been a long-running hit in Chicago, but New York was indifferent and the shop
closed its doors after just six weeks. If the musical is still remembered today it’s because it included “Waiting
for the Sun to Come Out,” an interpolation with music by George Gershwin and lyric by his brother Ira (here
using the synonym Arthur Francis) which marked the first published song by the lyricist.
The slight story dealt with the Sweetheart Shop, a matrimonial agency that the Sun and New York Herald
described as a place “where lonely young men may fall in love with lonely young girls at reasonable rates.”
Peter Potter (Harry K. Morton) is hired by the agency to investigate the backgrounds of the female clients,
and soon he falls in love with client Minerva Butta (Esther Howard), a pickle factory worker who has recently
inherited a fortune. After they marry, Minerva is more interested in vamping other men, neglects Peter, and
dallies with a sculptor.
The New York Times said the evening was “breezy and highly melodious” despite “a highly conventional-
ized book” and weak attempts at humor (“Are you emotional?” “No, I’m a commuter”). Hugo Felix had com-
posed the score for the recent and “tuneful” Lassie, and here he wrote a number of “exceptionally appealing
tunes.” Howard won “honors,” and Una Fleming danced with “exceptional grace,” but otherwise the cast was
“quite undistinguished and even inadequate.” As for Morton, he scored with his acrobatic dances, but harmed
his work “just a bit by a tendency to oversmile at his own antics” and “to pose expectantly after cracking a
joke.” The Sun and New York Herald noted that “a defect in [his] otherwise riotous performance was a method
of delivery that too often had the cloying quality of sweet sixteen,” and while this style might be acceptable in
burlesque, a performer “who uses it continually [on] the legitimate [stage] is liable to be spoken to.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted success for the musical, but noted with a few exceptions the cast
wasn’t “particularly good” or “successful.” The “dainty and pretty and sweet” score was better than the book,
and some of the songs possessed a “swing” that would make them “exceedingly popular.” Further, the work
was presented in a “lavish manner” with “beautiful” sets and costumes. George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair
said The Sweetheart Shop offered “a smart and attractive line of goods” and the evening’s “highest honors”
went to Howard. But Chappell said Morton’s “brazen assurance annoyed me exceedingly,” and when the
critic “began to like him” he was annoyed “even more.”
For the post-Broadway tour, “June Bells” wasn’t retained.
LITTLE MISS CHARITY

“The 1921 Model Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Belmont Theatre

Opening Date: September 2, 1920; Closing Date: November 6, 1920
Performances: 77
Book and Lyrics: Edward Clark
Music: S. R. Henry and M. Savin
Based on the 1918 play Not with My Money by Edward Clark.
Direction: Alfred Hickman and C. A. deLima; Producer: Richard G. Herndon; Choreography: Sammy Lee;
Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Finchley; Schneider Anderson Company; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Lucille Williams (Rosalie), Frederick Raymond Jr. (“Dickey” Foster, aka J. Robert Fulton), Frank Mou-
lan (“Fingers” Clay, aka Henry Vincent, aka Reverend Doctor Clayton), Marjorie Gateson (Amy Shirley),
Juanita Fletcher (Angel Butterfield), Edna Shaw (Miss Wheeler), Bernard Wells (Woodruff Porter), Jere
McAuliffe (Mortimer Gayling), Lillian White (Billikins); Applicants and Friends of Angel Butterfield:
Eddie Pierce, James Healy, Jacques Stone, Charles Mansfield, Betty Mack, Marcia Joy, Laurette Stanley,
Grace Bonney, Ruth Mansfield, Victoria Gardner, Beth Meakins, Amata Grassi, Helen Fleming, Mildred
Quinn
The action takes place during the present time at Angel Butterfield’s country home and at the office of the
Butterfield Society.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Little Miss Charity” (Applicants); “That Certain Something” (Marjorie Gateson, Frank Moulan);
“Little Miss Charity” (reprise) (Frederick Raymond Jr.); “Step Inside” (Juanita Fletcher, Edna Shaw, Girls);
“That Certain Something” (reprise) (Juanita Fletcher, Ensemble); “Crinoline Girl” (Juanita Fletcher, Edna
Shaw, Girls); “I Think So, Too” (Frederick Raymond Jr., Juanita Fletcher, Edna Shaw, Jere McAuliffe,
Bernard Wells); “Revenge” (Marjorie Gateson, Frank Moulan); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “A Woman’s Touch” (Juanita Fletcher, Edna Shaw, Marjorie Gateson, Ensemble); “Eyes of Youth”
(Frederick Raymond Jr., Juanita Fletcher, Ensemble); “Poor Workingman” (Marjorie Gateson, Frank Mou-
lan, Frederick Raymond Jr.); “Angel Town” (Frederick Raymond Jr., Company); “When Love Comes to
Your Heart” (Juanita Fletcher, Frederick Raymond Jr.); “When Love Comes to Your Heart” (dance reprise)
(unspecified dancer); “Dance Me Around” (Marjorie Gateson, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
The title character of Little Miss Charity was the angelic Angel Butterfield (Juanita Fletcher), a rich young
woman who plans to share her $7 million fortune with the unfortunate. “Dickey” Foster (Frederick Raymond
Jr.), “Fingers” Clay (Frank Moulan), and Amy Shirley (Marjorie Gateson) are three con artists who soon wend
their way into Angel’s life with a plan to steal her money, but the would-be terrible trio soon learn the error
of their ways and join in her altruistic quests. And “Dickey” undergoes such a complete transformation that
his turnabout leads to marriage for both him and Angel.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times noted it was “quite puzzling” that librettist Edward Clark
had adapted his short-lived 1918 play Not with My Money as the basis for the musical because the play had
“few of the ingredients that have come to be accepted as making the basis for an evening of merriment, in-
nocent or otherwise.” The Sun and New York Herald said the “naïve” musical “ought to be the delight of
schoolgirls and all the subdebs,” but otherwise there was “little” to appeal to “more mature pleasure seek-
ers.” Moulan was “as amusing as his opportunities allowed” and Gateson was “altogether charming,” but
“competence and experience seemed to end here.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show “rather dainty
and rather dull” with a less than capable cast (some were “pretty bad” and “seem to have been engaged
primarily because they were not high-salaried performers”). As a result, the musical was “nothing to get
delighted about,” but there were “attractive” settings and “quite a bit” of “charm” to the score, albeit “a
somewhat hackneyed charm.”
1920–1921 Season 27
HONEYDEW
“The Zimbalist Play with Music”

Opening Date: September 6, 1920; Closing Date: February 19, 1921
Performances: 200
Book and Lyrics: Joseph W. Herbert
Music: Efrem Zimbalist
Based on the play The Scourge of the Sea by Joseph W. Herbert (which wasn’t produced on Broadway).
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Joe Weber; Choreography: Kuy Kendall; Scenery: Hassard Short; Cos-
tumes: Ralph Mulligan; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Company, Inc.; Musical
Direction: Max Hirschfeld
Cast: Hal Forde (Henry Honeydew), John Park (Sylvester Adams), Sam Ash (Howard Taylor), John Dunsmore
(Captain Dick), Kuy Kendall (Jack), Frank Gill (Pedro), Fred Manatt (Chauser), Gordon Spelvin (Timothy
Hay), Theresa Maxwell Conover (Mrs. Vanoni), Dorothy Follis (Lenore), Ethelind Terry (Muriel), Marie
Hall (Penelope), Mlle. Marguerite (Conchita), Evelyn Earle (Daisy), Helen Long (Sing Loo); The Young
Ladies of the Amateur Glee Club: Dorothy Powers (Miss Japonica), Aldian Hudson (Miss Rosemary),
Adele Sanderson (Miss Jonquil), Betty Hill (Miss Nasturtium), Margaret Arthur (Miss Violet), Victoria
Wallace (Miss Dahlia), Doris Benham (Miss Azalea), Margaret Leona (Miss Orchid), Dorothy Neill (Miss
Hollyhock), Alice Purcell (Miss Columbine), and Betty DeGrasse (Miss Gardenia); Chinese Servants:
Pauline Lee, Catherine Lee, Adeline Lee, May Moy; Note: During the run, the following characters were
added—Lang Yuen (Sang Far Lee), Mai Far (Bow Lin Lee), Yeah Seang (Bow Lang Lee), and Mai Kune (Bow
Kiam Lee)
The action takes place during the present time in Pelham and Larchmont.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Slaves of the Demon King” (Hal Forde, Ladies); “My Husband’s Dearest
Friend” (Dorothy Follis, Sam Ash); “The June Bug” (Hal Forde); “Entrance of Fairies” (Hal Forde, [other
performer unknown; see below], The Ladies); “The Morals of a Sailor” (John Dunsmore, Ladies); “Oh,
How I Long for Someone!” (Dorothy Follis, Sam Ash); “A Cup of Tea” (Ethelind Terry, Hal Forde, John
Park); “Chinese Phantasy” (The Maid: Mlle. Marguerite; The Mandarin: John Dunsmore; The Coolie:
Frank Gill); “Drop Me a Line” (Ethelind Terry, Hal Forde); Finale (Ensemble); Note: A program during the
first run of the musical cites Evelyn Herbert as one of the singers of this number, but she doesn’t seem to
have been in the opening night performance.
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); Dance (Marie Hall, Kuy Kendall); “Entrance of Bridesmaids” (The Ladies);
“Spanish Song” (Mlle. Marguerite, The Ladies); “Your Second Wife” (Ethelind Terry); “Time to Take a
Drink” (Mlle. Marguerite, Marie Hall, Margaret Leona, Dorothy Neill, Frank Gill, Kuy Kendall); “Polka”
(Marie Hall, Kuy Kendall); “Honeydew Waltz” (Mlle. Marguerite, Frank Gill); “Unrequited Love” (Doro-
thy Follis, Theresa Maxwell Conover, John Park); “Believe Me, Beloved” (Sam Ash); “Sunshine of Love”
(Ethelind Terry, Hal Forde); “The Sound of the Sound” (Ethelind Terry, Marie Hall, Alice Cavanaugh, The
Ladies); Dance: “A la Minute” (Kuy Kendall); “A Fast Step Creation” (Mlle. Marguerite, Frank Gill); “It’s
a Small, Small World” (Hal Forde, Sam Ash, John Park, John Dunsmore); “Morning Glories” (Ethelind
Terry, The Ladies); Finale (Ensemble)
Honeydew stirred Broadway’s interest because it marked the first (and turns out only) Broadway score by
famed composer and violinist Efrem Zimbalist (who was the father of Efrem Jr., the film and television actor).
The show was a hit, and although no standards emerged from the score, Zimbalist’s melodies were praised
by the critics.
Perhaps the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said everything one needed to know about the farcical plot: “The first
wife with her second husband came to visit the first husband with his second wife and brought along the
mother-in-law.” The Sun and New York Herald also added that the hero Henry Honeydew (Hal Forde) “finds
himself the son-in-law of his first wife.” As a result, the Sun decided the story “sometimes stretches out to
the point of growing short of breath”; Brooklyn Life suggested “why bother” about the plot; and the New York
Times said the action was “thoroughly inconsequential.”
If the story wasn’t confusing enough, there was a subplot that focused not only on Honeydew’s romantic
problems but also on his career as a serious but eccentric composer who writes cantatas that depict such ar-
cane subjects as the love life of insects. Moreover, Honeydew’s father-in-law works in the bug-extermination
business and through his efforts the hero’s cantata about insects is turned into a hit song.
The Times reported that Zimbalist had created a musical comedy score “as though he were an old
hand at it.” He hadn’t composed “down” for Broadway, and had “merely marshaled his skill as a musician
of parts and rung the bell with ease and confidence.” Although his music wasn’t “ambitious,” it offered
the kinds of songs that are “whistled.” The composer provided a varied score that included a Chinese-
styled number (“Chinese Phantasy”) and a Spanish one (“Spanish Song”). The Sun noted the score was “a
musical league of nations” with one song in the style of a Viennese waltz (“Honeydew Waltz”), another
(“The Morals of a Sailor”) in the mode of Gilbert and Sullivan, and one (“Oh, How I Long for Someone”)
that brought to mind Victor Herbert. The music was “graceful” and “imaginative,” and some of the songs
were destined for “the pianolas, phonographs and perhaps hand organs.” Brooklyn Life said the show was
“tuneful throughout” with a few “excellent” songs, and these plus the “elaborate” décor and “beautiful”
costumes combined “to make a most entertaining and delightful evening” that was “bound to be one of
the serious successes.”
The Herald exclaimed that the costumes had “an alluring taste hardly believed possible this side of
Paris,” and director Hassard Short’s scenery was “extremely handsome.” George S. Chappell in Vanity Fair
found Honeydew “an enchanting entertainment” that was “clear and clever with the most soundly written
book I have heard in years and a score written in an idiom which is at once jazzless and joyful.” As for the
cast, it was “very capable,” and Ford and Ethelind Terry could “sing, dance, and fool, with much elan.”
Although Terry received some good notices, she was met with two particularly harsh ones. The Times
said her voice was “metallic” and “not particularly pleasing to the ear,” but suggested this was perhaps due
to “first night nervousness.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioned that some songs in the score were “headed
for popular success in the records,” but others performed by Terry might not share such fame because Terry’s
voice sounded “as if the needle were scratching the record.” In 1923, Terry appeared with Eddie Cantor in
Harry Tierney’s hit Kid Boots, then created the title role of Rio Rita in another Tierney success, and later
played the title role in Sigmund Romberg’s Nina Rosa (1930), her final Broadway show.
Terry’s big screen opportunity was the 1930 MGM film musical Lord Byron of Broadway (with a score
that included “Should I?”), but she and costar Charles Kaley didn’t impress the public (Leonard Maltin in his
Classic Movie Guide says the two “short-lived” stars gave “terrible” performances) and the film lost money.
Terry appeared in just one more film, the obscure 1937 western Arizona Days. Lord Byron of Broadway is
available on DVD from the Warner Brothers Archive Collection, and is worth seeking out for its fascinatingly
bad performances and strange story (a composer’s songs are vaguely inspired from events in the lives of his
friends, and soon he’s excoriated by everyone for his alleged tastelessness). The film also includes what may
be the most bizarre choreography of the early-talkie era (the production number “The Old Woman and the
Shoe,” choreographed by Sammy Lee).
During the run of Honeydew, “Your Second Wife” and “Believe Me, Beloved” were dropped, and “The
Eyes of the Girl I Love” was added. Three months after the musical closed, it returned to the Casino Theatre
on May 16, 1921, and played for forty-nine more performances before permanently closing on June 25, for a
season’s total of 249 showings. Incidentally, for the 125th Broadway performance, Zimbalist conducted the
orchestra.
PITTER PATTER
“A Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Longacre Theatre

Opening Date: September 28, 1920; Closing Date: January 1, 1921
Performances: 111
Book; Will B. Hough
Lyrics and Music: William B. Friedlander
1920–1921 Season 29
Based on the 1906 play Caught in the Rain by William Collier and Grant Stewart.
Direction: Uncredited; Producer: William B. Friedlander; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Scen-
ery painted by Dodge & Castle (D. Frank Dodge and William E. Castle); Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.
(The “Pitter Patter” raincoat designed by C. Kenyon Company, New York); Lighting: Electrical effects by
Harry Sears; Musical Direction: Harry Archer
Cast: John Price Jones (Bob Livingston), Jack Squires (Bryce Forrester), Mildred Keats (Violet Mason), Helen
Bolton (Mrs. George Meriden), Frederick Hall (James Maxwell), Jane Richardson (Muriel Mason), Wil-
liam Kent (Dick Crawford), Albert Warner (George Thompson), Hugh Chilvers (Howard Mason), George
Smithfield (George Smithfield), George Spelvin (Street Car Conductor), Arthur Greeter (Butler); The Girls:
Elsa Dawn, Dawn Renard, Anne Foose, Billie Vernon, Rae Fields, Hazel Rix, Aileen Grenier, Alice Nor-
ris, Florence Davis, Mabel Benelisha, Georgie Cable, Katherine Powers, Sunny Harrison, Estelle Callen,
Gertrude Morgan, Florence Carroll, Pearl Crossman, Violet Hazel; The Boys (Note: The program provided
last names only): Fields, Cagney, LeVoy, Grager, Maclyn, Smith, Jackson, and Mayo.
The action takes place during the present time in Colorado Springs and Havana.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I’m a Bachelor” (John Price Jones, Jack Squires, Mildred Keats, Ensemble); “Since You Came into
My Life” (John Price Jones, Ensemble); “Send for Me” (lyric and music by William D. Friedlander and Will
B. Hough) (Helen Bolton, Mildred Keats, John Price Jones, Jack Squires); “Somebody’s Waiting for Me”
(Jane Richardson, Ensemble); “Wedding Blues” (Helen Bolton, John Price Jones, Jack Squires, Ensemble);
“Pitter Patter” (lyric by Will B. Hough) (Jane Richardson)
Act Two: “Any Afternoon” (Helen Bolton, Mildred Keats, John Price Jones, Jack Squires, Ensemble); “You
Never Can Tell” (Mildred Keats, John Price Jones); “Pitter Patter” (reprise) (Jane Richardson); “True Love”
(Jane Richardson, William Kent); “Bagdad on the Subway” (John Price Jones, Ensemble); “I Saved a Waltz
for You” (lyric by Will B. Hough) (Jane Richardson); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Wedding Chorus” and “Love Me Tonight” (Helen Bolton, Jack Squires, Ensemble); “A Man, a
Maid” (Jane Richardson); “They’re Jazzing It Up in Havana” (John Price Jones, Ensemble); Finale (Jane
Richardson, William Kent)
Pitter Patter was based on the 1906 play Caught in the Rain, and the two titles didn’t fail the audience,
because the musical offered a chandelier moment when special effects took over as the cast sang “Pitter
Patter” and a rainstorm flooded the stage for the first-act finale. The musical received favorable notices and
played for just over three months before it went on tour.
The story centered on beyond-bashful Dick Crawford (William Kent), a millionaire’s son who is com-
pletely tongue-tied in the presence of the opposite sex. When he meets the most unbashful Muriel Mason
(Jane Richardson), he falls in love, and when he discovers Muriel’s father is about to be swindled out of a cop-
per mine, he comes to the rescue and foils the villain.
The New York Times said the musical could “hardly be said to be more than fair-to-middling entertain-
ment” and was “as good as the run of musical comedy—nor better nor worse.” Much of the story was “rather
naïve,” the music was “melodious if conventional,” and the lyrics were generally “above the average.” The
Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show had “lively movement,” but the humor was “not so lively” and “some
of the jokes have lain cold in their graves for many a year” (in one scene, a woman tells a man to “Walk this
way, please”; she wiggles offstage; and as the man follows her, he proceeds to wiggle as well).
Brooklyn Life enjoyed the “lively” music and “very delightful” comedy and predicted that “you’ll find
this an amusing, lively and diverting musical show.” The “very good songs” brightened up the evening, there
was some “clever” dancing, and the musical “should be enjoyed for some time by those of us who like good
musical comedy.” Brett Page in the Washington Post said Pitter Patter had “gayety, cleverness, an abundance
of pretty girls, and lyrics that proved a pleasant surprise.” The music was “excellent—surprisingly excel-
lent”—and the “gay” show’s best song was “Bagdad on the Subway.” Also, the rain effect offered “real water,
and the whole business went with a rush, water and all.”
During the New York run, and for the post-Broadway tour (which, incidentally, featured Ernest Truex in
the role of Dick Crawford), two songs were cut: “Any Afternoon” and “A Man, a Maid.”
MECCA
“A Musical Extravaganza of the Orient”
Theatre: Century Theatre

Opening Date: October 4, 1920; Closing Date: January 22, 1921
Performances: 130
Book and Lyrics: Oscar Asche
Music: Percy E. Fletcher
Direction: E. Lyall Swete; Producers: F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest; Choreography: Michel Fokine; Scen-
ery: Joseph and Philip Harker (properties designed by Carl Link); Costumes: Percy Anderson; Leon Bakst;
Alice O’Neill; Lighting: Electrical effects by Eugene Braun; Musical Direction: Frank Tours
Cast: Richard Henry (Officer of the Guard, The Patriarch of the Pilgrims), Arthur Barron (Gate Keeper), John
Nicholson (Abdullah), Robert Rhodes (Kataf), Julian Winters (Orange Seller), Herbert Grimwood (Prince
Nur Al-Din), Lionel Chalmers (An Old Wazir), Orville R. Caldwell (The Sultan Al Malik Al-Nasir), Gen-
evieve Dolaro (An Old Woman), Basil Smith (The Blind Man), Lionel Braham (Ali Shar), Hannah Toback
(Zummurud), John Doran (Abu Yaksan), Kate Mayhew (Zarka), Edward Watson (Zaid), Thomas Merryman
(Zan), Harold Skinner (Wazir Al Khasib), John Pierson (Wazir Abu Shamar), Gladys Hanson (Sharazad),
Thomas Leary (Wei San Wei), Ida Mulle (Wei Wa Shi), Harry L. Reese (A Singer of the Pilgrims), Martha
Lorber (Dancing Girl), Audrey Anderson (Ayesha), Elizabeth Talma (Zobeide), Helen Zorn (Nazida), Wal-
ter Lane (Abram), Margaret Brodnax (Lamra), Mai Poth (Mirza), Joseph Dillon (Scarf Seller); Sharazad’s
Women: Georgia Lane, Elizabeth West, Lily Lubell, Billie Wilcox, Dorothy Lee, Florence Chandler, Nel-
lye Savage, Dorothy Durland, Dorothy Johnson, Phyllis Sydney, Nesha Medwin, and Sybil Gunn; Ladies
of the Ensemble: Suzanne Rennard, Beulah Berson, Esther Brankin, Alice Cole, Evelyn Farrar, Viola
Green, Harriet Hicklin, Gabrielle Pitcher, Florence Loeb, Edwina Oliver, Hildreth Keehner, Irene Titus,
Erna Steinway, and Virginia Richardson; Gentlemen of the Chorus: Messrs. Bowlan, Boughman, Conroy,
Lawrence, Nash, Hoppe, Gray, Fitzpatrick, and Oliver (the program didn’t provide the first names of the
male chorus members); Notes: The ensemble played the roles of Fruit Vendors, Merchants, Dancing Girls,
Pilgrims, Slaves, Buyers, and others. Dancers who appeared in the ballet “Memories of the Past” and the
dance number “Bacchanale” are listed under these respective sequences.
The action takes place in and around Cairo “about a thousand years ago.”
Act One: “The Gates of Cairo”; Entrance Song: “From Bagdad [Baghdad] We Come” (Lionel Braham,
Troupe); “My King of Love” (Hannah Toback); “A Fool There Was” (John Doran); “The Sultan’s March”;
“Sharazad’s Theme”; “When Love Knocked upon the Door” (Hannah Toback); Bridal Song: “Allah
Guard Thee” (Ensemble); “Me Welly Poor Old Chinaman” (Thomas Leary); “To the Palace Gardens”;
“Entrance of Singers and Dancers”; First Act Finale
Act Two: “Intermezzo”; “The Pilgrim’s Prayer”; “Hast Thou Been to Mecca?” (John Doran); “Dance Poem”
(Gladys Hanson, Desert Dancers); March Chorus: “The Kin of Nur Al-Din” (Ensemble); “In the Harem”;
“Love in My Breast” (lyric “freely adapted” from Sir Richard Burton) (Hannah Toback); “Procession”;
Ballet: “Memories of the Past” (Isis: Rita Hall; Triumphant Love: Martha Lorber; Plaintive Love: Dorothy
Durland; Combative Love: Martha Bellack; Jealous Love: Grace Segal; Arabian Group: Helen Talmar,
Rosalind Clark, Dorothy Lee, Billie Wilcox, and Nellye Savage; Fantastic Arabian Group: Elizabeth West,
Nanette Conigere, Lily Lubell, and Margaret Waldron; Egyptian Group: Rena Wilde, Sybil Gunn, Phyllis
Sydney, Nesha Medwin, Dorothy Johnson, Phyllis Reynolds, Millicent Bishop, Margaret Chandler); “Bac-
chanale” (Premier Dancers: Martha Lorber and Sergei Pernikoff; Ina Seligman, Olga Krogal, Agnes Arlova,
Helen Rose, Frances Lee, Terry Bauer, May Savage, Marion O’Neil, Constance Joscelyn, Julia Doran, Cor-
neile Niles, Dorothy Calnan, Florence Martin, Dorothy Durland, Martha Bellack, Grace Segal, Rosalind
Clark, Dorothy Lee, Billie Wilcox, Nellye Savage, Elizabeth West, Nanette Conigere, Margaret Waldron,
Georgia Lane, Clair Bruce, Doris Reynolds, Tanya Salovy, Anna Case, Wiona McFarlaine, Wilmer Engles,
Lillian Lane, Evrena Weaver, Rena Wilde, Sybil Gunn, Phyllis Sydney, Nesha Medwin, Dorothy Johnson,
Phyllis Reynolds, Millicent Bishop, Margaret Chandler, Edna Sortelle, Anita Barlow, Felicia Axelrod,
Grace Fiala, Adele Stollman, Irene Van Cleve; The Messrs. English, Gardner, Bland, Fisher, Merriman,
Roth, and Talmand (the program didn’t provide the first names of the male dancers).
Act Three: “The Slave Market”; “Chinese Interlude”; Finale
1920–1921 Season 31
Mecca was an extravaganza that dazzled Broadway, and legendary dancer and choreographer Michel Fo-
kine created the dances, including the second-act “Bacchanale,” which was perhaps the most sensational and
controversial dance sequence of the era.
Mecca was Oscar Asche’s follow-up to his 1916 London hit Chu Chin Chow, which played for a then
record-breaking 2,238 performances and was produced on Broadway in 1917 for 208 showings. Like Mecca,
the story of Chu Chin Chow was a fantastic fairy tale–like affair, which in this case was inspired by “Ali Baba
and the Forty Thieves.” For Chu Chin Chow, Asche had written the book and lyrics, and was also the star,
director, and coproducer; Percy Fletcher was the orchestrator (and for London had been the conductor as well);
and the brothers Joseph and Philip Harker were the set designers. For Mecca, Asche also wrote the book and
lyrics, the Harkers again designed the production, and this time around Fletcher was the show’s composer.
Asche had planned to first produce Mecca in London, but because Chu Chin Chow was still playing there he
encountered various legal and contractual issues that made a New York world premiere more viable.
Set in Cairo “about a thousand years ago,” the Arabian Nights–inspired story was an involved one that
focused on the Sultan of Cairo (Orville R. Caldwell), who goes about the city incognito and falls in love with
Zummurud (Hannah Toback), who has accompanied her wrestler father Ali Shar (Lionel Braham) and his
troupe to Cairo. The Sultan’s throne is in danger of being usurped by Prince Nur Al-Din (Herbert Grimwood),
and from there the evening offered palace intrigues, spies, kidnappings, disguises, betrayals, daring rescues,
and a happy ending.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s found the evening full of “lamentable confusion” and apologized that her
“piteously straining mind” never grasped the characters’ relationships. She also couldn’t quite fathom “the
reasons for the impulsive knifings, poisonings, and abductions,” and it didn’t help that among “sporadic
bursts” of song most of the characters at one time or another donned disguises, which added to the general
confusion. But she was “awed” by the “gorgeousness” of the work and “staggered by its vastness,” and, “save
Babe Ruth,” it seemed that “every acknowledged specialist” in the entertainment world had helped bring
the show to the stage. The music was “mild and memorable,” the direction “notable,” a wrestling match
“went off nicely,” and the production even offered two “exceedingly shabby” camels (Parker confessed that
her “memory for faces” was not “infallible,” but she was positively certain that the two camel cast members
had originally made their stage debut in the world premiere of Ben Hur). Mecca was probably the “most ex-
pensive” show ever produced, but rather than speculating on what the show cost she instead wondered how
much the backers could have saved “by the simple means of not producing it at all.”
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times praised the “great achievement” and pronounced it better
than Chu Chin Chow. The evening was capitalized for the staggering sum of almost $400,000, and was “a
festive thing to behold” with its “never-ending pageant” of “brilliantly costumed” performers. He reported
that the palace scene in the second act provided a “visual climax” of green columns, a huge staircase, light
and incense pouring from glowing braziers, cushions, hanging rugs, and vestments, all “of incomparable
richness.”
Brooklyn Life found Mecca “more elaborate” and “more gorgeous” than Chu Chin Chow, and noted that
every member of the cast was a “great artist,” the singing was “perfect,” the costumes were “a riot of color,”
and Frank Tours conducted a “grand opera orchestra.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “astonishing”
production, a “glittering and gorgeous” spectacle and “a living, breathing, vital, dramatic entertainment
that sweeps you off your feet.” In some respects, the work would have made a “wonderful grand opera,” and
while the score wasn’t of “high-brow origin” it was hard “for the non-musical ear to remember” most of the
“tunes.” But there were two exceptions, both of them “light and catchy enough to please even the lover of
barrel organ tunes,” and these were “From Baghdad We Come” and “Me Welly Poor Old Chinaman” (but
don’t expect to hear the latter on the Hit Parade any time soon).
Although Heywood Broun in the New York Tribune said the “lavish” production was “of its kind ab-
solutely first rate,” he preferred theatre that required “less than three or four hundred persons” in the cast,
and “one heroine clothed and in her right mind” was better than “two hundred dancing girls clad only in the
mosquito netting of their native land.”
As for the “Bacchanale,” Woollcott said it was a “dizzy and orgiastic” ballet that left the audience “vari-
ously incoherent, scandalized, breathless or quite genially diverted”; Broun said it was “the most striking
incident” in the musical and was as “beautiful” as it was “startling”; and Brooklyn Life stated it was “the
best ever seen in a spectacle of this kind.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised Fokine’s “magnificent” dances,
and said that nothing like the “Bacchanale” had “ever before been set upon the stage.” It “swept the house
completely off its feet” and was “the most beautiful and the most daring dance we have seen.”
Parker found the dances “startlingly beautiful,” and noted that writer Elinor Glyn (whose concept of “It”
defined the indefinable mental and physical magnetic appeal of certain men and women) was compelled to
write a letter to the producers of Mecca, a missive which soon found its way into newspaper ads for the show.
Glyn praised the “intangible subtlety” of the production and she gave a “perfect tribute” to “Bacchanale”
when she described it as a “refined orgy.” But Parker speculated that while the now “famous” dance provided
a “marvelous picture,” she suspected that many who beheld it would “not be so struck by its refinement
as was Mrs. Glyn.” (Note that Glyn and her notion of “It” was celebrated in a song of the same title in The
Desert Song.)
Fokine was associated with five Broadway musicals. In 1919, he choreographed Aphrodite, an exotic spec-
tacle set in ancient Greece that was similar in style to Chu Chin Chow and Mecca and included members
from Mecca’s creative and production team (including producers F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest). After
Mecca, Fokine choreographed “The Ballet des Perfumes” for The Rose Girl; “The Thunder Bird” ballet for
the 1921 revue Get Together, which marked his only Broadway appearance when he and his wife (known as
Vera Fokina) were the lead dancers in the ballet, for which she wrote the libretto; and the “Flirtation Ballet”
for the Gershwins’ 1924 musical Sweet Little Devil.
Mecca was later produced in London as Cairo, where it opened on June 3, 1922, at Her Majesty’s Theatre
for 267 performances. Columbia Records released a few recordings from the score conducted by the composer
Percy E. Fletcher, and these included at least one member from the London cast (Frank Cochrane). The record-
ings include “Me Welly Poor Old Chinaman,” here titled “Chinaman’s Song.”
JIM JAM JEMS

“A Musical Pastime” / “A Nocturnal Frolic”
Theatre: Cort Theatre

Performances: 105
Book and Lyrics: Harry L. Cort and George E. Stoddard
Music: James Hanley
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: John Cort; Choreography: Robert Marks; Scenery: Beaux Art Studio;
Costumes: H. Mahieu Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Stanley Forde (Cyrus Ward), Ada Mae Weeks (June Ward), Rose Langdon (Annette), Joe E. Brown (Philip
Quick), Frank Fay (Johnny Case), Harry Langdon (James), Kathryn Miley (Geraldine McCann), Ned
Sparks (Archie Spotter), Virginia Clark (Birdie McIntyre), Gattison Jones (Murphy), Miss Gay (Minnie),
Joe E. Miller (O’Ryan), Irma Marwick (Miss Flipp), Roscoe Ails (Mr. Jazz), Midgie Miller (Miss Jazz), Zoe
Barnett (Rosie Robbins), Paul McCarty (Harry Judson), The King Sisters (Miss Padd and Miss Pencil),
Cecelia Edwin (Miss High), Viola Duval (Miss Lowe), Madge Lawrence (Miss Sextette), The Temple Four
(Arthur Brooks, Thos. E. Woods, Harry R. Maurer, and Murray Hart), Cecil Langdon (Dancer), The Saxi
Holtsworth Harmony Hounds; Guests, Cabaret Performers, Policemen, Others: Ladies of the Ensemble—
Eleanore Matthewson, Grace Hall, Agnes Hall, Sybil Gould, Bessie Gray, Margaret Fitzgerald, Lurleen
Garrison, Irene Medora, Ella Ewen, Pauline LeGrail, Gertrude Farrell, Diana St. Guye, Viola Duval, Elsie
Elliott, Claire St. Claire, Winifred Mitchell; Gentlemen of the Ensemble—D. C. Winne, N. H. Miller, Paul
Pollock, Robert Rolem, Jack Sloat, R. L. Ridgley, Fred Hamilton, W. H. Muller
The action takes place during the present time within a period of about three and a half hours, in New York
City (including the Hotel Astorbilt and the Plaza Hotel).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Magic Kiss” (Stanley Forde); “Show Me the Town” (Stanley Forde, Chorus); “Poor Little Rich
Little Me” (Ada Mae Weeks); Ensemble Number (Chorus; includes a dance by Gattison Jones); “Panto-
mime” (Types; includes a dance by Midgie Miller and Gattison Jones); “Automobile Scene” (Harry Lang-
don, assisted by Rose Langdon and Cecil Langdon); “Jazz Entertainment” (Roscoe Ails, Midgie Miller, The
1920–1921 Season 33
Saxi Holtsworth Harmony Hounds); “Fond of Babies” (Stanley Forde, Girls); “Specialty Dance” (Gattison
Jones); “Sweet Little Stranger” (Ada Mae Weeks, Paul McCarty); “Eccentric Dance” (Joe E. Brown); “Jim
Jam Jems” (Frank Fay, The King Sisters); “Right Little Girl” (Zoe Barnett, Frank Fay); “Little Bo Peep”
(Ada Mae Weeks, Boys); Finale
Act Two: “Just a Little Bit Behind the Times” (Paul McCarty, The King Sisters, Girls); “Poor Old Florodora
Girl” (lyric by Ballard Macdonald) (Stanley Forde, Madge Lawrence, Chorus); “Right Little Girl” (reprise)
(Frank Fay, Zoe Barnett, Ada Mae Weeks, Paul McCarty); “Don’t Let Me Catch You Falling in Love”
(Frank Fay, Ada Mae Weeks); “Everybody’s Got Somebody but Me” (lyric by Joe Goodwin) (Kathryn Mi-
ley); “Ballet” (Girls); “Danse Pantomime” (Ada Mae Weeks); “Raggedy Ann” (The King Sisters, Girls);
“They’re Making Them Wonderful” (Paul McCarty, Zoe Barnett); Finale (Company)
The cast members of Jim Jam Jems included young comics on the order of Joe E. Brown, Ned Sparks, and
Frank Fay, all of whom enjoyed long careers on the stage and in the movies. Sparks was the ultimate deadpan,
non-smiling, and sardonic character actor in about a million Warner Brothers movies, Fay created the role of
Elwood P. Dowd in the long-running comedy Harvey, and Brown was given one of the most famous last (and
laugh) lines in movie history when some forty years later he appeared in the classic comedy Some Like It Hot
as dirty-old-man Osgood Fielding III and informed Jerry, disguised as Daphne (Jack Lemmon), that “nobody’s
perfect,” two otherwise innocent words that were jaw-dropping within the context of the film.
But perhaps there were too many comedians in Jim Jam Jems, and the New York Times suggested the
musical “suffered” from a “superabundance” of them. The musical received mixed but generally favorable
reviews, and like so many shows of the period lasted about three months on Broadway.
The New York Tribune said there was “really no plot,” and what little there was involved Johnny Case
(Fay), a newspaper reporter for a society scandal sheet who gathers dirt while hanging about fashionable water-
ing holes and hotels (such as the Astorbilt). He also escorts about town a young woman named June Ward (Ada
May Weeks), who turns out to be the niece of Cyrus Ward (Stanley Forde), a millionaire he’s planning to expose.
The Tribune found the “musical pastime” the season’s “prettiest” production with “lilting” melodies
that included the stand-out “The Magic Kiss.” Brown was “screamingly funny” as a butler, Sparks was a de-
tective who spoke in dry monotones, Ada May Weeks’s dance in the final scene was “far beyond anything”
seen on Broadway that season, the sets were “gorgeous,” the costumes “refreshing,” and overall the show was
“exquisite” from the chorus girls to the principals. But there was a problem: the dialogue included offensive
expletives such as “damn” and “hell,” and the producer should ensure that these and other “profane” words
were excised from the script.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted the show would be popular, and praised the “artistic” sets, “hand-
some” chorus, “vigorous and graceful” dances, “pretty” songs, and “really funny” comedians. The latter ex-
celled because they didn’t depend on dialogue and instead utilized “clever” and “skillful” pantomime effects
to put over their comedy.
The Times said the “sometimes dreary” production made for “a very full if not particularly inspiring eve-
ning.” The lyrics were generally “commonplace,” jazz music and foxtrots were heard throughout (apparently
not a good thing), and there was a “violent jazz orchestra” which “injected a too liberal amount of musical
barbarism into the score.” Charles Darnton in the Evening World said the “commonplace” show was more in
the nature of a cabaret act, and James Hanley’s score reminded you “of nearly everything you ever heard along
Broadway.” But Fay had a nice “light sense of humor” and burlesqued a “fairly well known” and “chesty
baritone” (perhaps Walter Woolf King, aka Walter Woolf, who, according to Gerald Bordman in American
Theatre, once “exposed his hairy chest” in a nonmusical), Harry Langdon scored as a distraught chauffeur
trying to cope with a noisy automobile, and Brown was “amusing” as an “impossible” butler.
After its opening, the musical underwent considerable revision, including a temporary change of title to
Hello Lester before the original one was reinstated. Brooklyn Life reported the producer decided to change the
title from Jim Jam Jems to Hello Lester in order to avoid litigation with the publishers of a magazine titled
Jim Jam Jems. The publishers claimed that the title belonged “solely to them” and they had it “copyrighted in
every form and manner for their protection.” For all that, an agreement of one kind or another was certainly
reached because eventually the title Hello Lester was discarded and Jim Jam Jems was reinstated.
During the run, four songs were added to the score (“After Tonight, Goodbye,” “In a Cabaret,” “Why
We Ride in the Subway,” and “Ding Dong Dell”) and five numbers (“Right Little Girl,” “Poor Old Florodora
Girl,” “Ballet,” “Danse Pantomime,” and “They’re Making Them Wonderful”) were cut.
TIP-TOP
“A New Musical Extravaganza” / “The Greatest of All Fred Stone Shows”

Opening Date: October 5, 1920; Closing Date: May 7, 1921
Performances: 246
Book: R. H. Burnside
Lyrics: Anne Caldwell
Music: Ivan Caryll
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Charles Mast; Scenery: Uncredited;
Costumes: G. Wilhelm; O’Kane Conwell; Schneider-Anderson Company; Brooks Theatrical Costume
Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: W. E. MacQuinn
Cast: Oscar Ragland (Judge Tiger, Jonas Barker), Dan Baker (Lawyer Pussyfoot), Bert Jordan (Lawyer Maltese,
Smart), Lilyan Webb (Miss Puff), Tommy Bell (Charles Youngcat), Fred Brown (Court Clerk); Court At-
tendants: Billy Brown, Harry Brown, Verne Brown, and Alex Brown; Helen Rich (Fairy Justicia), Scott
Welsh (Dick Derby), Fred Stone (Tipton Topping), Roy Hoyer (Lord Cyril Gower), Teresa Valerio (Jinia
Jones), Gladys Caldwell (Alice), Vivian Duncan (Bad), Rosetta Duncan (Worse), Marie Sewell (Nina),
Pauline Hall (Adele), Ursula O’Hare (Rosalie), Dorothy Clark (Bertha), Dan Butler (Sharp), Gus Minton (I.
Skinem), Charles Mast (Lizzie Cowface), Ray Talmadge (Sheriff), Princess White Deer (Wetonah), Violet
Zell (Judy), Anna Ludmila (Fairy Caprice, Specialty Dancer); The Six Brown Brothers (Fred, Billy, Harry,
Verne, Alex, and Tom); The London Palace Girls: Jessie Wharton, Kitty Dolan, Minnie Shaw, Annie Lor-
raine, Teresa McSpirit, Hettie Ward, Rosa Swettenham, Ethel Swettenham, Minnie Gray, Dolly Thomp-
son, Rosa Thompson, Elsie Thompson, Cissie Bailey, Violet Little, Dolly Pacy; Other Characters: Peggy
Williams, Marcelle Earle, Gladys White, Janet Megrew, Alida Middlecoat, Lola Curtis, Jet Stanley, Lillian
Harrington, Adelaide Robinson, Leila Randall, Adeline Valero, Mona Sartoris, Frances Margulies, Ruth
White, Lilyan White, Corabelle Platt, Myrtle Miller, Phoebe Appleton, Dorothy Francis, Dolly Stanley,
Peggy Dana, Kitty Conway, Margaret Taylor, Betty Mack, Elsie Elwell, Martha Elwell, Verna Burke, May
Blythe, Marjorie Belle, Grace Duncan, Madge Reed, Evelyn Conway, Dorothy Duncan, David Catlin, Pe-
ter Thompson, Eugene Ford
The action takes place during the present time in such sundry places as a courtroom, Melodyville, and the
Land of Heart’s Desire.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Little Fairy in the Home” (Helen Rich, Girls); “Cat Dance” (Dan
Baker, Bert Jordan); “The Girl Who Keeps Me Guessing” (Roy Hoyer, Marie Sewell); “Wonderful Girl—
Wonderful Boy” (Scott Welsh, Gladys Caldwell); “Shoppers’ Dance” (The London Palace Girls); “Myste-
rious Detectives” (Dan Butler, Bert Jordan); “I Want a Lily” (Fred Stone, Girls); “Beautiful Booby Prize”
(Fred Stone, Teresa Valerio); “Give Me That Letter” (Company); “Dance of the School Girls” (The London
Palace Girls); “Pianologue” (Dorothy Clark); Some Songs (medley of unidentified songs performed by The
Duncan Sisters); “Dance of the Young Warrior” (Princess White Deer); Indian Song: “Keewa-Tax-e-Yaka-
Holo” (lyric by Louis Harrison) (Fred Stone); “Indian Ensemble and Finale”
Act Two: “In the Sea” (Bathing Girls); “The Girl I Never Met” (Scott Welsh, The Duncan Sisters); Dance
(Princes White Deer); “Mysterious Detectives” (continuation) (Dan Butler, Bert Jordan); “What Makes the
Wild Waves Wild?” (Fred Stone, The London Palace Girls); Specialty: The Six Brown Brothers (with Tom
Brown) (medley of unidentified songs performed by the sextet); “Valse Divertissement” (Anna Ludmila);
“Life Is Like a Punch and Judy Show” (Roy Hoyer, Marie Sewell, Fred Stone, Violet Zell); “Dance of the
Valentines” (The London Palace Girls); “Tip-Top” (Helen Rich, Company); Finale
The title character, Tip-Top, was Tipton Topping (Fred Stone), and the story depicted his various revue-
like adventures in which he played a variety of comic characters, such as a shop’s handyman, an Indian, a
burglar, and a fortune teller. The score was by Ivan Caryll, who less than a week later was represented on
Broadway with another score. But Kissing Time ran just under two months, while Tip-Top lasted the entire
season for a total of 246 performances and then began a national tour. Besides Stone, the cast included the
1920–1921 Season 35
Duncan Sisters (Vivian and Rosetta), the saxophone sextet Six Brown Brothers (Fred, Billy, Harry, Verne, Al-
fred, and Tom), and the imported dance troupe known as the London Palace Girls.
The scattershot story found Stone involved in a number of madcap situations that placed him in a world
not unlike that which Ed Wynn experienced in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Simple Simon (1930).
Stone’s fairyland included surreal courtrooms (with lawyers named Pussyfoot and I. Skinem, and a trial in
which a cat complains he was treated like a dog), a place called Melodyland, and the Land of Heart’s Desire.
Stone made a memorable first-act entrance when he shot up through a trap door on the stage floor. This
being Prohibition, it seems some kegs of bootleg beer exploded in the store’s cellar, where Stone’s character
works, and the explosion catapulted the star through the cellar’s ceiling and onto the stage. And when Stone
landed in the store itself, he proceeded to perform a backflip somersault over a rolling barrel. Physical comedy
was a Stone specialty, and in a later sequence he jumped from the stage to a box seat in the theatre’s audito-
rium and back again, and then proceeded to dive into the orchestra pit and somehow bounce back onto the
stage.
In 1928, the star was seriously injured in an airplane accident and couldn’t appear in Three Cheers (Will
Rogers substituted), and when he returned to Broadway in 1930 for Ripples, he was up to his old rough-and-
ready tricks with a knockout first-act entrance. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times reported that Stone
came “flying” through a barn door and crashed into a bed of roses, and that such a “gymnastic” entrance,
more than enough for a man in his fifties (Stone was nearing sixty at the time), offered a “certificate” of
Stone’s “complete recovery.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Times stated that without Stone Tip-Top would be “pretty nearly unthink-
able,” yet without him the show would still be “considerably more entertaining and agreeable” than most
of which opened on Broadway. Throughout the evening, Woollcott “detected vestiges of a libretto,” one that
was “nursery-flavored” and “designed to keep the theatre full on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.” Oth-
erwise, Caryll’s score was “agreeable enough,” the colors and lighting were “gay,” and the specialty acts were
entertaining. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the title was “only moderately descriptive” because the “charm-
ing entertainment” was “tip top and much more,” with a “whole conglomeration of fine fun and grace and
melody.” The plot didn’t matter “very much,” and the book and jokes weren’t the “most brilliant you have
ever heard,” but the evening offered “so many other things to catch your fancy and hold it that a little thing
like verbal humor” didn’t count for much. Stone was “always funny,” the score was “good enough” and pos-
sessed “lilt,” and as a result, the critic hadn’t enjoyed a show “so much in many months.” Tip-Top deserved
“a place at the top of the list of theatrical amusements.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the evening “proved to be the most cheering mu-
sical extravaganza in years,” and with it Stone “scored the biggest hit of his life.” Stone had a “very good”
song in “I Want a Lily”; R. H. Burnside directed the “fantastic scenes with a great deal of ingenuity”; and
while there was “a bit too much of them,” the Duncan Sisters were “amusing and musical,” although their
“occasional profanity struck a wrong note.” Overall, the “charming” Tip-Top was “the most entertaining
musical show in town.” Brooklyn Life found the fun “fast and furious,” said the show was the “best ever,”
and suggested “you see it as soon as you can secure seats.”
During the run, the following numbers were dropped: “Beautiful Booby Prize,” “Dance of the Young War-
rior,” “In the Sea,” “The Girl I Never Met,” “What Makes the Wild Waves Wild?,” the second-act dance num-
ber for Princess White Deer, and both sequences of “Mysterious Detectives.” Added were: “I Don’t Belong on
a Farm” (lyric by Dorothy Clark, music by Arthur Swanstrom), “Sweet Dreams,” “I Want to See My Ida Hoe
in Idaho” (lyric by Alex Sullivan, music by Bert Rule), and “She Knows It.” Among the songs performed by
the Duncan Sisters in their first-act medley were “Baby Sister Blues” (lyric and music by Henry I. Marshall
and Marion Sunshine), and the second-act medley of numbers performed by the Six Brown Brothers included
“Don’t Bring Me Posies (It’s Shoesies That I Need)” (lyric by Billy McCabe and Clarence Jennings, music by
Fred Rose) and “Finders Keepers (and I Found You)” (lyric and music by Tom Brown and Jack Frost). At one
point during the run, the showstopper “The Wireless Heart” (lyric by Frank Craven and music by Silvio Hein)
from The Girl from Home was interpolated into the score.
KISSING TIME
“A Melody Play”
Theatre: Lyric Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Astor Theatre)
Opening Date: October 11, 1920; Closing Date: December 4, 1920
Performances: 65
Book: George V. Hobart
Lyrics: Philander Johnson, Clifford Grey, Irving Caesar, and George V. Hobart
Music: Ivan Caryll
Based on the libretto Mimi by Adolf Philipp and Edward A. Paulton.
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Empire Producing Corporation; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery:
Dodge & Castle (furnishings and drapes by William Birns); Costumes: gowns by Hickson, N.Y.; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Primrose Caryll (Tashi), Harry Coleman (Emile Grossard), Dorothy Maynard (Mimi), Edith Talliaferro
(Clarice), William Norris (Polydore Cliquot), Paul Frawley (Robert Perronet), Frank Doane (Armand
Moulanger), Carl Hyson (Paul Pommery), Charles Edwards (Anatole Absinthe), Georgia Lynne (Rose-
Marie), Eleanor Ladd (Virginia), Cora d’Orsay (Jeannette), Jessie Lynne (Babette), Frances Chase (Su-
zanne), May Whitney (Diane), Margaret Green (Helene), Norma Warrington (Vivienne), Shirley Latham
(Loie), Ellen Best (Georgette), Ruby Vernon (Maxine), Evelyn Cavanaugh (Specialty Dancer); Clerks of
the Banque Mayonnaise: De Forrest Woolley (Pierre Martini), Thomas Maynard (George Bacardi), Fred
Packard (Raphael Sauterne), Frank Brian (Francois Chandon),William McGurn (Henri Martel), John Daly
(Gaston Burgundy)
The action takes place during the present time in Paris.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Custom-Made Maids” (Shoppers, Models); “Bill and Coo” (lyric by George V. Hobart) (Primrose
Caryll, Harry Coleman); “Temporary Wives” (Ensemble); Specialty Dance (Carl Hyson, Evelyn Cavanaugh);
“The Nicest Sort of Feeling” (lyric by Irving Caesar, music by William Daly) (Paul Frawley, Girls); “An
Absolute Don of a Juan” (William Norris, Evelyn Cavanaugh); “Love’s Telephone” (Edith Talliaferro, Paul
Frawley); “Mimi” (Dorothy Maynard, Boys); “Keep a Fox Trot for Me” (Evelyn Cavanaugh, Carl Hyson,
Primrose Caryll, Harry Coleman); “Kikerikee” (lyric by George V. Hobart) (Edith Talliaferro, Dorothy May-
nard, Frank Doane, Paul Frawley); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Bill and Coo” (reprise) (Paul Frawley, Edith Talliaferro); “So Long as
the World Goes Round” (lyric by George V. Hobart) (Edith Talliaferro, Dorothy Maynard, William Nor-
ris, Paul Frawley); “Mimi Jazz” (Dorothy Maynard, Carl Hyson, Evelyn Cavanaugh, Ensemble); “Kissing
Time” (lyric by Irving Caesar) (Paul Frawley); “Kissimee” (lyric by George V. Hobart) (Dorothy Maynard,
William Norris, Ensemble); “Absolutely Certain” (Edith Talliaferro, Paul Frawley); Finale (Company)
Kissing Time was Ivan Caryll’s second musical to open within one week, but unlike Tip-Top, which
played for seven months, Kissing Time was kissed off by the public and lasted for less than two. Perhaps the
show’s weirdest moment was the dance sequence “Kikerikee,” which may have been a guilty pleasure for
some and a cringe-inducing moment for others (see below).
The critics didn’t quite agree on the details of the plot, but in the main the slight story dealt with Robert
Perronet (Paul Frawley), whose boss Polydore Cliquot (William Norris) believes that only married men should
be promoted. To that end, and without Robert knowing about it, a young woman named Clarice (Edith Talia-
ferro) pretends to be his wife in order to secure a promotion for him. And soon Clarice finds that both Robert
and Polydore have fallen in love with her.
The New York Times said the “cohesive” plot was “none too amusing” and “not very ingenious nor con-
ducive to much legitimate merrymaking.” But Caryll’s score was “ingratiating” and the composer “emerged
with the chief honors” with “a number of pleasantly tinkling melodies.” The New York Tribune decided
“parts of the book appear to have been ordered from a catalogue,” but Norris somehow managed to be “funny
in spite of some dull and hackneyed lines.” The critic made the odd comment that because the musical was
set in Paris, the gowns were “bewildering.” He also mentioned that although dancer Evelyn Cavanaugh was
“skilled,” what “promised to be a finished performance” was “spoiled” by both her nervousness and the fact
that “the stage was somewhat too crowded with furniture for perfect freedom.” The score lacked distinc-
tion but was “likeable on the whole,” and the audience enjoyed “Bill and Coo,” “So Long as the World Goes
1920–1921 Season 37
Round,” and the title song. But according to the critic, the “bright hit” of the evening was the aforementioned
“Kikerikee,” which was no less than a “chicken dance.” Yes, the dancers’ steps “imitated the antics of barn-
yard fowl,” the dancers made clucking sounds, and the entire lyric consisted of the word “Kikerikee,” which
is allegedly the “clarion” call of a rooster.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that “never once” in the musical was “there anything done that has not
been accepted many times by the Broadway public,” but Norris and comedian Frank Doane “managed to get
humor out of a rather deadly book.” The songs were “tuneful and pleasing but not particularly original” (and
“So Long as the World Goes Round” was the score’s best number). The second act was “better, brighter and
more original than the first,” which made the show “a fairly satisfactory evening’s entertainment.” Brooklyn
Life liked the “pleasing” musical, however, with its “corking good” cast, its “large, capable [and] good-looking
chorus” who were “beautifully gowned,” and Caryll’s “tuneful” music (and once again “So Long as the World
Goes Round” was cited as the show’s best song).
During the run, “Mimi Jazz” and “Kissimee” were cut from the score.
MARY
“The Musical Comedy Success” / “The Musical Sensation”

Opening Date: October 18, 1920; Closing Date: April 23, 1921
Performances: 220
Book: Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel
Lyrics: Otto Harbach
Music: Lou (Louis A.) Hirsch
Direction: Julian Mitchell and Sam Forrest, with “entire production under the personal direction of Mr.
(George M.) Cohan”; Producer: George M. Cohan; Choreography: Uncredited (George M. Cohan); Scenery:
Scenery painted by Unitt & Wicks; Costumes: Schneider-Anderson Co.; Finchley; Mme. Francis; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Charles J. Gebest
Cast: Jack McGowan (Jack Keene), Georgia Caine (Mrs. Keene), Alfred Gerrard (Tommy, aka Tom, Boyd),
Florrie Millership (Madeline Francis), Janet Velie (Mary Howells), Frederic Graham (Huggins), Charles
Judels (Gaston Marceau), James C. Marlowe (Mr. Goddard), Gene Richards (Deakon), Wesley Totten
(Meakon), Chicky (Chicky); Guests: Sibylla Bowhan (Golden Girl), Si Layman (Whirlwind Willie), Helen
Kling (Toddling Tessie), Bert Shadow (Hotfoot Harry), Lillian McNeil (Dancing Dora), Lou Lockett
(Two-Step Tom), Edna Pierre (Waltzing Winnie). Billy and Cooey (Billy and Cooey); Ladies of the Cho-
rus: Molly Christie, Helen Borden, Ruth Sawyer, Helen Jackson, Helen Christie, Edna Stilwell, Muriel
Cort, Belle Gannon, Kitty Bird, Agnes Purtell, Kitty Dever, Dolly King, Loretta Ryan, Anna Christopher,
Virginia Alves, Marion Baker; Gentlemen of the Chorus: Walter Blair, Jack Neilan, Harry Rose, Harold
Jackson, Edward Grant, Walter Dodge, W. J. Hawkins, Harry Case, Harry Bolton, Gordon Bennett
The action takes place during the present time on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “That May (Might) Have Satisfied Grandma” (Jack McGowan, Florrie Millership, Alfred Gerrard,
Chorus); “Down on That Old Kansas Farm” (aka “That Farm Out in Kansas”) (Janet Velie, Jack Mc-
Gowan); “Anything You Want to Do, Dear” (Alfred Gerrard, Florrie Millership); “Every Time I Meet a
Lady” (Charles Judels, Girls); “Tom, Tom, Toddle” (aka “Tom-Tom-Toddle”) (Alfred Gerrard, Florrie Mil-
lership, Si Layman, Helen Kling, Ensemble); “The Love Nest” (Janet Velie, Jack McGowan); “The Love
Nest” (reprise) (Charles Judels, Georgia Caine); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Flirtation Dance” (Lou Lockett, Edna Pierre); “Mary” (Janet Velie,
Boys); “When a Woman Exits Laughing” (Alfred Gerrard, Florrie Millership); “When a Woman Exits
Laughing” (reprise) (Jack McGowan); “Don’t Fall until You’ve Seen Them All” (Alfred Gerrard, Sibylla
Bowhan, Girls); “Waiting” (Janet Velie); “Money, Money, Money” (James C. Marlowe, Alfred Gerrard,
Charles Judels, Jack McGowan); “We’ll Give (Have) a Wonderful Party” (Alfred Gerrard, Florrie Miller-
ship, Bert Shadow, Lillian McNeil, Si Layman, Helen Kling, Lou Lockett, Edna Pierre, Ensemble); Finale
(Company)
Mary—or, to give its complete title, Mary (Isn’t It a Grand Old Name?)—was one of the era’s biggest hits,
and its score offered the hit song “The Love Nest,” which inspired hideaways, bungalows, tiny flats, and cozy
cottages as the locales for many a Broadway ballad during the decade (“The Love Nest” also served as the
theme song for George Burns and Gracie Allen’s radio and television shows). The musical’s original title was
The House That Jack Built, but once producer, codirector, and uncredited choreographer George M. Cohan
came on board, the title was changed to capitalize on Cohan’s hit song “Mary’s a Grand Old Name,” which
Fay Templeton had introduced in Cohan’s 1906 hit Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway.
The plot dealt with the world of real estate (note that even the lyric of “The Love Nest” alluded to
real estate and home-building), and focused on Jack Keene (Jack McGowan), who plans to build affordable
mobile homes (otherwise known as trailers). Mary (Janet Velie) is a secretary in love with Jack, but he’s
so preoccupied with getting rich in real estate that he doesn’t really notice her. He buys land in Kansas,
discovers the property is rich in oil, becomes wealthy, returns to Long Island, and realizes that Mary is
his true love.
The show had toured for a full year before the Broadway premiere, and so it and “The Love Nest” were al-
ready well-known prior to the New York opening. Once the musical was established on Broadway, four national
touring productions were mounted, and in 1921 a London version opened with Evelyn Laye in the title role.
The New York Times praised Cohan’s staging and his constant use of dance to propel the story along. As
a result, Mary was “the fastest musical comedy in town” and any weaknesses in the plot were glossed over
by Cohan’s “whirlwind” direction and choreography, which provided “no pauses for breath.” The dancers
took over the stage with “speed, dash, pep, momentum, zip and all the other synonyms for movement,” and
the critic concluded by noting “and then there are the dancers. Long live the dancers.” The critic also hailed
Louis A. Hirsch’s “consistently tuneful” score which was “studded with hummable melodies,” including the
“instantaneous” hit “The Love Nest.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said Mary was “so speedy” it broke all Broadway re-
cords and even made Cohan’s 1919 hit The Royal Vagabond look like a “limping tramp.” The show was a
“whirlwind” and a “whizzing hit” with “amazingly rapid” footwork in which the cast danced “like mad”
and were seen “leaping” and “romping” in “the perpetual motion of youth.” The ultimate effect was one of
“sensational activity,” and if the book and lyrics had a few dull moments, the “action of the performance”
quickly dispelled them.
The New York Tribune said the “very fast” musical offered a “sprightly” chorus that was “never still for
an instant, ever weaving itself into an animated and picturesque background.” The work was “beautifully
staged” with a “bewitching” score and “intelligent” book and lyrics. In fact, here was a show with all the
qualities and “characteristic speed” of the typical Cohan musical, and so the evening offered “pretty girls,
smart gowns, buoyancy, [and] importuning music.” Brooklyn Life said Mary was the “speed demon of musical
comedies” with singers, dancers, and comedians who were the “best” and a chorus that was the “best looking
and best dressed that has hit Broadway in many seasons.” It was doubtful if Broadway had “ever before seen
such a capable, hard-working chorus,” and “if you catch your breath during” the show, “that’s your fault.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the book “ordinary enough” and the music “not much better.” But
once the dancers took over, one forgot “everything else about the production save three songs and the pretty
dresses of the lively girls.” As a result, Mary set “the swiftest pace in town” with “electric” dancing and
“expertly done” pantomime.
During the run, “Deeper” was added to the score, but wasn’t retained for the national tour; the tour sub-
stituted “Golf Dance” for “Flirtation Dance.”
The musical was revived by the Equity Library Theatre (where it was curiously subtitled “A 1921 Musi-
cal”) on March 1, 1979, for approximately eighteen performances. The production included “Deeper,” and
“When a Woman Exits Laughing” was retitled “When the Vampire Exits Laughing.” A dance sequence titled
“Tumbling” was added for the second-act opening, and it seems to have supplanted the earlier “Flirtation”
and “Golf” dances. Jennifer Dunning in the Times found the book “thin and exceedingly silly,” but the score
was “hummable” and overall the evening was a “corny, silly and utter delight.”
The invaluable collection Midnight Frolic: The Broadway Theatre Music of Louis A. Hirsch (New World
Records CD # 80707-2) includes “Mary” and “The Love Nest” as well as a medley of nine numbers from the
1920–1921 Season 39
musical (“That Might Satisfy Grandma,” “The Love Nest,” “Mary,” “Waiting,” “Tom-Tom-Toddle,” “That
Farm Out in Kansas,” “Anything You Want to Do, Dear,” “We’ll Have a Wonderful Party,” and a reprise of
“The Love Nest”).
The London production opened on April 27, 1921, at the Queen’s Theatre with Evelyn Laye, Ralph Lynn,
and Percy Parsons for a run of approximately ten weeks.
THE HALF MOON

Opening Date: November 1, 1920; Closing Date: December 11, 1920
Performances: 48
Book and Lyrics: William LeBaron
Music: Victor Jacobi
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Scenery: Dodge &
Castle; Costumes: Lichtenstein’s of Fifth Avenue; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Harold Vicars
Cast: Herbert Sparling (Harkins), Edna May Oliver (Mrs. Francis Adams Jarvis), Ivy Sawyer (Grace Bolton),
Charles W. Lawrence (Joe Beckett), Virginia Shelby (Anne), May Thompson (Mary Bolton), William In-
gersoll (John Copley Adams), Joseph Cawthorn (Henry Hudson Hobson), Oscar Shaw (Bradford Adams),
Joseph Santley (Charlie Hobson), Elaine Palmer (Estelle), Maude Eburne (Maggie Green); Others: Doris
Landy, Pearl Bennett, May Morris, Daisy Daniels, Bobbie Rait, Betty Raedel, Madeline O’Brien, Caroline
Burke, Sophie Brenner, Lucille Darling, Isabel Falconer, Jean Farrel, Peggie Smith, Migonne Reed, Lorraine
Nelson, Rose Timponi, Sallie Everett, Ruth Appleton, Edna Wheaton, Sally Chester, Peggy Parmalee,
Helen Allan, Mary Eillson, Betty Mack, Lucille Conboy
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Brookline, Massachusetts.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Innocent Girls” (Ivy Sawyer, Girls); “The Girls along Fifth Avenue” (Joseph Santley, Oscar Shaw,
Girls); “When You Smile” (Joseph Cawthorn, Girls); “The Little Book” (Ivy Sawyer, May Thompson, Jo-
seph Santley, Oscar Shaw); Finale
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); Dance (Elaine Palmer); “The Dancing Band” (Ivy Sawyer, May Thomp-
son, Joseph Santley, Oscar Shaw, Girls); “Deep in Your Eyes” (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley); “What’s the
Matter with Women Now?” (Joseph Cawthorn); “Half Moon!” (May Thompson, Oscar Shaw, Elaine
Palmer); “Serenade” (Oscar Shaw); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Days That Used to Be” (Joseph Santley, Oscar Shaw); “Stay Awhile” (Ivy Sawyer, May Thompson,
Joseph Santley, Oscar Shaw); Finale (Company)
For his new musical The Half Moon, producer Charles Dillingham gathered together an impressive cast, all
of them major names of the era: Edna May Oliver, Joseph Cawthorn, Oscar Shaw, and the married couple Joseph
Santley and Ivy Sawyer. But the A-listers couldn’t overcome indifferent reviews, and so the half-moon went dark
after six weeks. Incidentally, the title referred to a sailing vessel owned by Henry Hudson, whom the unpreten-
tious but wealthy merchant Henry Hudson Hobson (Cawthorn) discovers is one of his ancestors. Hobson fears
his son Charlie (Santley) is far too involved with the rich but seemingly snooty Grace Bolton (Sawyer), but when
he discovers she’s down-to-earth he withdraws his objections and the couple proceeds with their wedding plans.
The New York Times found the story “rather thin” and “too sugary,” and regretted that the action never
gave comedian Cawthorn much opportunity to be funny as he “struggled to put life” into an “undeniably flat
and dull” book. But if the plot was lacking, Victor Jacobi’s score was of “high merit almost throughout,” and
instead of writing “merely” music his score “fitted” the story “very deftly for long stretches.” Among the
“bright spots” in a “futile libretto” were “The Girls along Fifth Avenue,” “The Little Book,” and the title
song, all of which “hit the bulls-eye of popular music.”
The New York Tribune said The Half Moon was an “entertainment value,” and “seldom” had “so many
excellent actors and actresses gathered together in one production.” The musical was “graceful and smooth”
with a “pleasant” score of “little variety,” and except for “The Little Book” and the title song, most of the
numbers didn’t “seem especially adapted for easy whistling by the multitudes.” The “workmanlike” book
was “hardly brilliant” and occasionally one lost track of the story, but some of the lines had “sparkle” and
the “superb” Cawthorn gave them “full value.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World suggested that not “in a blue moon” had there been so
“strange” a musical as The Half Moon. The book and lyrics weren’t “bad,” but some of the characters alter-
nated between being “impossibly stern” and “hopelessly sentimental,” and sometimes “ridiculous things”
cropped up in the staging which made “you realize you are in a theatre.” But the show had “musical charm,”
the evening was “something more than agreeable,” Cawthorn was “amusing,” and Edna May Oliver helped
“immensely” during a “sofa scene” she shared with the comedian.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said it had been “many moons” since New York had seen “a more delightful
entertainment” than The Half Moon. Had the work opened in Europe, the critic suggested it would have been
designated as an “opera comique,” and Jacobi’s score was “of a superior sort,” with songs “well above the av-
erage” and three or four of them destined to become popular. The musical was “one of the rarest treats of the
new season and is sure to please those who are looking for a fresh, original, clean and tuneful entertainment.”
AFGAR
Opening Date: November 8, 1920; Closing Date: April 2, 1921
Performances: 168
Book: Fred Thompson and Worton David
Lyrics: Douglas Furber
Music: Charles Cuvillier
Based on the 1909 operetta Afgar, ou les loisirs andalous (libretto by Andre Barde and Michel Carre, music
by Charles Cuvillier).
Direction: Frank Collins; Producers: F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery
and Costumes: Paul Poiret; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Guy Collins (Wise Man of the East, Danasch), Irving Beebe (Don Juan Jr.), Lupino Lane (Coucourli),
Paul Irving (Houssain), Phil M. Sheridan (Giafar), Glenn Gamble (Khasan), W. H. Rawlins (Lord Afgar),
Frances Cameron (Isidla), William P. Adams (Le Conteur); Lord Afgar’s Wives: Violet Blythe (Messaouda),
Fay Evelyn (Hanifa), Jean Casselle (Amina), Gene Grey (Badoura), Alyce Melzard (Morgiana), Clara Burton
(Belbali), Vera Ruby (Seraphine), Carolyn Reynolds (Marrima), Oretta Lewis (Zarruda), Jacque Sage (De-
lona), Anna Milier (Sylphine), Billie Dauscha (Antilas); Harem Dancing Girls: Betty Michaels (Nissa), Olga
Harting (Anneka), and Queenie Andrews (Zubaydah); Harem Slave Girls: Olga Nezzie (Elhawa), Agnes
D’Assia (Shayana), Anna Fisher (Nayhara), and Betty Squiers (Kamarrah); Jean Barnette (Zaumiss), Alice
Delysia (Zaydee); Soldiers, Guards, Husbands, Others: James Duffer, Edward Sheldon, Roy Fitzsimmons,
Bertran Urrenne, Morris Milman, and Alfred Frank
The action takes place a long time ago in and around the palace of the Moorish Lord Afgar.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Choral Sequence (Wives); “Give the Devil His Due” (Irving Beebe); Concerted Number (Lupino
Lane, W. H. Rawlins, Frances Cameron, Chorus); “Rose of Seville” (Frances Cameron); “Live for Love”
(Alice Delysia); “Man from Mexico” (Lupino Lane); “Why Don’t You?” (lyric by Joseph McCarthy, music
by Harry Tierney) (Alice Delysia); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “United We Stand” (Lupino Lane, Paul Irving, Chorus); “We’re the Gentlemen of the Harem”
(Lupino Lane, W. H. Rawlins, Irving Beebe, Chorus); “Sunshine Valley” (Frances Cameron); “Where Art
Thou, Romeo?” (lyric by Joseph McCarthy, music by Harry Tierney) (Alice Delysia); “Garden of Make
Believe” (Alice Delysia); “I Hate the Lovely Women” (lyric by Joseph McCarthy, music by Harry Tierney)
1920–1921 Season 41
(Lupino Lane); “Ceremony of Veils” (Alice Delysia, Frances Cameron, Paul Irving, Chorus); Dance (Lu-
pino Lane); “’Neath Thy Casement” (Irving Beebe); Finale (Company)
A month after the opening of Mecca, Broadway was treated to another spectacle that offered an exotic
look at the Middle East when Afgar opened and caused a stir with both its European pedigree (the show had
been a hit when it opened at the London Pavilion on September 17, 1919, for a run of 300 performances) and
its star Alice Delysia, a French entertainer who became a sensation in London. She created the role of Zaydee
for the West End premiere of Afgar (which in an earlier version as the operetta Afgar, ou les loisirs andalous
had been presented in Paris at the Theatre des Capucines in 1909).
After the London run of Afgar, Delysia then reprised her role in the United States, first on Broadway and
then for a national tour. A few critics mentioned that Afgar marked the star’s Broadway debut, but they had
either forgotten or didn’t know that she’d been seen in New York in the1905 musical The Catch of the Season
under the name of Elise Delisia.
Afgar also starred British entertainer Lupino Lane (the uncle of film actress and director Ida Lupino) in
his first of three Broadway appearances. Like Delysia, he too had appeared in the London production of Afgar
and was here re-creating his West End role. In 1937, Lane enjoyed his greatest success as Bill Snibson in the
London premiere of Me and My Girl, which played for 1,646 performances. It was in this show that Lane
introduced the irresistible evergreen “The Lambeth Walk.”
Afgar had a wispy story that emphasized spectacle. The flirtatious Don Juan Jr. (Irving Beebe) is serving
time in prison, and as part of his punishment the window of his cell gives him a generous but frustrating view
of the harem of the wealthy Moor, Lord Afgar (W. H. Rawlins). In a Lysistrata-inspired moment, harem girl
Zaydee (Delysia), who is attracted to Don Juan, leads her cohorts in a strike, a happy event that effects the
release of Don Juan and the right of each girl to choose her own husband.
The huge cast and Paul Poiret’s colorful costumes and lavish décor impressed everyone, but two or three
critics suggested the evening would have been more effective in a larger theatre because the stage of the Cen-
tral looked a bit cramped with so many cast members and acres of décor and costumes.
The critics compared Delysia to a number of legendary performers (Gaby Deslys, Anna Held, Mary Gar-
den, Doris Keane, Irene Bordoni, and Fannie Brice), and the New York Times said she was “stunning” and
“resplendent” with “undeniable” appeal in the “much-authored” and “sufficient-for-the-purpose” musical.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said Delysia had a “beautiful figure” and sang “pleasingly”;
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle hailed her “considerable beauty”; and Brooklyn Life said she was “all that they
claim for her” and noted she was “a very beautiful blonde type with a perfect figure.”
Most of the critics singled out the evening’s, if not the season’s, most spectacular costume when for the
first-act finale Delysia appeared in a white and green feathered coat. Brooklyn Life noted that her “ostrich
feather headgear” and other costumes were “more daring than any ever worn” by Gaby Deslys. Dorothy
Parker in Ainslee’s said that once you saw the “much-heralded” Delysia in her outfit of green feathers you
would decide they hadn’t “heralded her half enough.”
The Times compared Lane to Fred Stone, and noted that his acrobatic-styled dancing “definitely halted
the show in the first act.” Darnton said Lane “scored a big hit”; and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated he was
“the hit of the show” and the evening’s “brightest spot.”
As for the work itself, the Times mentioned that the jokes included allusions to Broadway delicatessens,
and the determination to “localize” the story was “frequently ghastly.” And while the décor and costumes
were “gorgeous and fantastic,” the sometimes “striking” stage groupings looked “crowded” on the small
stage. Parker echoed this sentiment, noting that Poiret’s “gorgeous” creations were “on a stage unfortunately
small,” and she also mentioned that the “local” jokes added for Broadway gave “a touch of the home soil,
and ‘soil’ is putting it mildly.” Darnton found the show “a strange thing” made stranger by the use of Ameri-
can slang, but he praised the “good” music and said that “altogether” the show scored as “a highly-colored
novelty.”
For the Broadway production, lyricist Joseph McCarthy and composer Harry Tierney contributed three
songs (“Why Don’t You?,” “Where Are Thou, Romeo?,” and “I Hate the Lovely Women”) and one for the
national tour (“Eyes of Blue”). The team was at this point between their two biggest hits: the 1919 Cinderella
musical Irene had become the longest-running musical in Broadway history with 670 performances, and in
1927 Rio Rita would play for 494 showings.
Columbia Records recorded most of the songs from the score by the London cast members, including
Delysia and Lane.
JIMMIE
“A Musicomedy”
Theatre: Apollo Theatre

Opening Date: November 17, 1920; Closing Date: January 15, 1921
Performances: 71
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Joseph Physioc;
Costumes: Henri Bendel; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Paul Porcasi (Vincenzo Carlotti), Dee Loretta (Madame Gambetti), Hattie Burks (Beatrice), Frances
White (Jimmie), Don Burroughs (Tom O’Brien), Harry Delf (Milton Blum), Howard Truesdale (Jerry
O’Brien), Ben Welch (Jacob Blum), Tom O’Hare (Watkins), Rita Owin (A Dancer), Irwin Rossa (A Violin-
ist), Peter Mott (Peters), Raymond Oswald (Henri), Jack Heisler (Giuseppi), George Clifford (Antonio),
Betty Marshall (Wanda Holmes), Mary Jane (Rose), Helen Neff (Henrietta), Tess Mayer (Blanche); En-
semble: Jessie Lorraine, Edna Fenton, Geraldine Bernhardt, Laura Maverick, Mary Jane, Helen Neff, Tess
Mayer, Lottie Graham, Evelyn Palmer, Adelaide Starr, Dorothy Gilbert, Frances Lawrence, Marjorie Flynn
The action takes place during the present time in a large city (probably New York).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “An Aria” (Hattie Burks, Dee Loretta, Paul Porcasi); “Baby Dreams” (Frances White); “Below the
Macy-Gimbel Line” (Mary Jane, Rita Owin, Girls); “Cute Little Two-by-Four” (Frances White, Don Bur-
roughs); “All That I Want” (Harry Delf, Girls); “Carlotti’s” (Paul Porcasi, Ben Welch, Rita Owin, Girls);
“Jimmie” (Frances White); “She Alone Could Understand” (Hattie Burks); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Don’ Yo’ Want to (Wanna) See de Moon?” (Hattie Burks, Irwin Rossa, Girls); “It Isn’t Hard to Do”
(Harry Delf, Helen Neff, Girls); “Jimmie” (reprise) (Don Burroughs, Girls); “Just a Smile” (Don Burroughs,
Girls); “Do, Re, Mi” (aka “Do, Ra, Me” and “That’s as Far as I Can Go”) (Frances White); “Some People
Make Me Sick” (Frances White); “I Wish (Wish’d) I Was a Queen” (Frances White)
Act Three: “Toodle-Doodle-Um” (Frances White, Girls); “A Little Plate of Soup” (Harry Delf); “Fantasie”
(Frances White); Finale (Company)
Jimmie was another early effort by Oscar Hammerstein II, and like Tickle Me, which had opened three
months before Jimmie’s premiere, the book was by Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel, the lyr-
ics were by Hammerstein and Harbach, and the music (and the musical direction) were by Herbert Stothart.
Arthur Hammerstein was again the producer, and Bert French and Joseph Physioc returned as the respective
choreographer and scenic designer. Unfortunately, Jimmie didn’t replicate the long run of its predecessor and
lasted just two months on Broadway. After the New York closing, the show embarked on a five-city tour that
played for a little over three months. Like The Rose Girl, which two months later was the inaugural produc-
tion at the Ambassador Theatre, Jimmie was the first show to be presented at the Apollo.
Depending on the source, there are variations of the basic story line. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact
Book reports that Jimmie (Frances White) has been raised by Vincenzo Carlotti (Paul Porcasi), who secretly
knows she’s the missing daughter of millionaire Jacob Blum (Ben Welch) and attempts to pass off his own
daughter Beatrice (Hattie Burks) as the heiress. But The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II indicates
that the widower Blum (who has a long-lost daughter) has taken an interest in Jimmie and intends to make her
his heir. However, Madame Gambetti (Dee Loretta) tricks Blum into claiming her daughter Beatrice instead.
But everyone agrees that the stars align for Jimmie: she becomes a cabaret star, has a faithful boyfriend (and
1920–1921 Season 43
lawyer) in Tom (Don Burroughs), and in one way or another (as his daughter or as his unofficially adopted
daughter) is united with Blum.
The New York Times said Jimmie was a “characteristic” musical, a “lavishly gowned” and “splashy piece”
with a “nearly humorless” book. But the “pert” White elevated the production to the level of “good entertain-
ment,” and the show had been “cunningly contrived” as a vehicle that enabled her to adopt many a pose (as
a ragamuffin, waitress, cabaret star, and popular vaudevillian) and allowed her to “exhibit as many tricks as
possible.” Overall, the musical was “spirited” and the chorus girls and the songs were “pretty.” As for the new
Apollo Theatre, it offered a “broad and commodious auditorium” and was “attractive throughout.”
The New York Tribune said the program referred to the production as a “musicomedy” but it was re-
ally an “olio” that provided opportunities for White, Ben Welch, and other cast members to do their stuff.
Stothart’s score was “tuneful” and offered “several melodies that purse the lips to whistle,” and there was in
particular a “scenic novelty” that was quite “interesting” because designer Joseph Physioc avoided “the usual
box and wing” settings and instead used “triangular” images for the interior scenes, which gave “a pleasing
sense of stage depth.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World noted that Jimmie was “cut to measure” for White
who “was given a lift to stardom” by the production. The evening was “enlivened” by Stothart’s “somewhat
familiar tunes,” and generally the musical was “entertaining but by no means dazzling.” Darnton found the
new theatre “big” and “tastefully decorated,” and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported the venue was of “ample
size,” boasted an “exceptionally handsome” lounge, and the overall “decorative scheme of green, tan and
gold [was] soft and pleasing to the eye.” Otherwise, the “lavish” musical was lacking in good voices and one
enjoyed it “more through the eye than through the ear.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the book “casts its
shadow over the whole enterprise,” and while there was “some decidedly awful lyrics” there was also “some
decidedly charming music.”
White may have been the nominal star of Jimmie, but it was eccentric dancer Rita Owin who stole the
show. The Times said she was “built on the Charlotte Greenwood order” and was “nearly as funny.” Darnton
praised the “engagingly awkward” performer who “walked off with the audience by taking steps so extraordi-
nary that she had the house with her.” This “thoroughly original creature” was “gawky beyond words,” was
“too tall to be graceful,” and had a face that looked “simple to the degree of serene stupidity,” all of which
ensured that no one could doubt her “skill” because she was “inimitable.” The New York Tribune said the
evening’s dances were “wholly” Owin’s, whose appearance was “a stop signal to the show,” and the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle said one of her dances was “decidedly the hit of the evening.”
During the tryout, a number of songs were deleted: “Try Me,” “Cabaret Girl,” “Clothes,” “Tum-Tiddly-
Tum-Tum,” “Tu Carissimo,” “Ming Poo,” “Up Is a Long, Long Climb,” “Dig, Sisters (Sister), Dig,” and
“Rickety-Crickety” (late during the Broadway run, the latter was reinstated into the score).
LADY BILLY
“A Musical Romance”

Opening Date: December 14, 1920; Closing Date: May 21, 1921
Performances: 188
Book and Lyrics: Zelda Sears
Music: Harold A. Levey
Direction: John McKee; Producer: Henry W. Savage; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery: Arnold A. Kraushaar;
Costumes: Bergdorf Goodman & Company; Frances, Inc.; Lighting: Joseph Wilson; Musical Direction: Harold
A. Levey
Cast: The Billy Four (later known as the Tip Top Four): Harry Lang (Tom), Lawrence Lee (Dick), Harry R. Web-
ster (Harry), and Ted Weller (George); Mack Kennedy (Joe), Beatrice Constance (Anastasia Kosiankowski),
Sydney Greenstreet (Bateson), Jean Newcombe (Mrs. Wallingford-Butler-Deventry), Josephine Adair (Eloise);
Octette of Singing Girls: Marion Barton (Lucia), Billie Wedgewood (Elsie), Harriet Arnold (Gladys), Willa
Renard (Helen), Helen Halpren (Mildred), Betty Diggett (Muriel), Estella Birney (Mildred), and Gwendoline
Lamb (Edith); Arthur Uttry (Manuel Montijo), Beatrice Collenette (Mlle. Vicrica); Dancing Quartette: Babe
Stanton (Slavaka), Eleanor Livingston (Gaska), Anita Monroe (Mariaska), and Helen Paine (Vaska); Mitzi (aka
Mitzi Hajos) (The Countess Antonia-Celestina-Elizabeta-Selana-Wilhelmina of Pardove, aka Master Billy),

Boyd Marshall (John Smith), Charles Gay (Alphonse)
The action takes place during the present time in Roumania and Greenwich Village.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (The Billy Four, Mack Kennedy); “That’s All He Wants” (Arthur Uttry, The Octette, The
Quartette, Beatrice Collenette); “Just Plant a Kiss” (Mitzi, The Quartette, The Octette); “The Legend”
(aka “The Girl I Can’t Forget”) (Mitzi, Boyd Marshall)
Act Two: “Greenwich Village” (Jean Newcombe, Josephine Adair, The Billy Four, The Octette, The Quar-
tette, Beatrice Collenette); “Love Comes Like a Butterfly” (Josephine Adair, Boyd Marshall); “The Futur-
ist Rag” (Beatrice Constance, The Billy Four, The Octette, The Quartette); “Come to Arcady with Me”
(Mitzi); “The Worm’s Revenge” (Sydney Greenstreet); “Historic Huzzies” (Mitzi, Sydney Greenstreet,
Arthur Uttry, Boyd Marshall, The Billy Four); “Good-Bye” (Mitzi, Boyd Marshall)
Act Three: “If” (Mitzi); “The Tune They Play” (Josephine Adair, Jean Newcombe, Boyd Marshall, The Billy
Four, The Octette, The Quartette)
Lady Billy (Mitzi, aka Mitzi Hajos) is the otherwise down-on-her-luck Countess Antonia-Celestina-
Elizabeta-Selana-Wilhelmina of Pardove, who becomes Master Billy when she dresses like a boy and pretends
to be her gardener’s son on the days when her Roumanian castle is open to the public. She dons the disguise
because she doesn’t want to be recognized as the mistress of Pardove who is now reduced to earning income
by opening her home to sightseers, and she also masquerades as the ghost of one of her female ancestors in
order to give tourists the thrill of seeing a “vision” in a haunted castle.
When visiting American John Smith (Boyd Marshall) hears the “boy” singing, he encourages the lad to go
to New York and pursue a singing career, and soon the scene shifts to Greenwich Village, where Lady Billy
is now a famous soprano. And, of course, by this time John has realized the deception, and he and Lady Billy
have fallen in love.
The New York Times said that for Lady Billy the “accomplished” Mitzi was in a “characteristically
Mitzian entertainment” which was a “tailor-made vehicle” for her talents. She seemed “better” than “ever
before,” she extracted “a bit of humor from slender material,” and she possessed “a clear, birdlike voice.”
The plot includes many “alarms and excursions” of “escape and discovery”; there were “humorous touches,”
including Sydney Greenstreet’s participation as a butler; Harold Levey had composed “some pleasantly sen-
timental” songs; and the result was an “entertaining” evening.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World found Mitzi “bewitching” and “entrancing.” Green-
street did well by his servant role, Mack Kennedy “inimitably” performed a “long-legged” dance, and Levey’s
score “had the charm of Victor Herbert.” As for the Greenwich Village setting in the second act, Darnton
decided “the old village is being sadly overworked”; the locale was “nearly played out” in the current crop of
New York shows (note that the locales of choice for the era were Greenwich Village and Long Island, with a
touch of Florida on the side).
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Lady Billy was “the sort of thing of which Mitzi is always the star,” and
one’s liking for the show depended “on whether you like Mitzi, and mostly everybody does.” The “unusually
good” lyrics were by Zelda Sears, and Levey composed some “decidedly pleasant tunes.” The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said Mitzi did “everything that she always does in her usual clever way,” Levey’s music was reminis-
cent of Arthur Sullivan, and, if one ignored the “absurdity” of the basic plot device, the book and lyrics were
“better than the average.”
Brooklyn Life proclaimed that Lady Billy was “the most exciting role” of Mitzi’s career, the supporting
cast was “one of the most unusual ever assembled in a musical play,” the score was “stirring,” and the plot
“complications” offered “merriment and romance” and plenty of opportunities for dance. The New York
Tribune praised the “exceedingly nice and comfortable musical romance,” which was “bright with melody,
dressed in quite the freshest and prettiest gowns of the season, and built up around the fascinating personality
of Mitzi.” Further, the décor was “excellent,” the book “bright,” the lyrics “intelligent,” and the song “If”
allowed the star to kid various modes of popular songs and dances.
1920–1921 Season 45
“The Matchless English Language” was published in sheet music format, but doesn’t seem to have been
heard in the New York production.
Note that later film character actor Sydney Greenstreet appeared in the production and had one solo (“The
Worm’s Revenge”). Among his memorable films are The Maltese Falcon (1941; his film debut), Casablanca
(1942), and Christmas in Connecticut (1945). He also appeared in the original Broadway production of Jerome
Kern’s Roberta (1933) and two Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas by Robert E. Sherwood, Idiot’s Delight (1936)
and There Shall Be No Night (1940).
SALLY
“The Musical Comedy”
Theatre: New Amsterdam Theatre

Opening Date: December 21, 1920; Closing Date: April 22, 1922
Performances: 570
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: Clifford Grey; additional lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Anne Caldwell, and P. G. Wodehouse
Music: Jerome Kern (music for “Land of Butterflies Ballet” by Victor Herbert)
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: (most likely Edward Royce); Scenery:
Joseph Urban; Costumes: Alice O’Neill; Lucile, Inc.; Baron de Meyer; Pascaud (of Paris); Cohen & Gentle-
men; Clemon’s; Eaves Costume Co.; Nat Lewis; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer (for
the opening night, Victor Herbert conducted the “Butterfly Ballet”)
Cast: Alfred P. James (“Pops”), Mary Hay (Rosalind Rafferty, later maid to “Mme. Nookerova”), Jacques Re-
biroff (Sascha), Walter Catlett (Otis Hooper), Dolores (Mrs. Ten Broek), Marilynn (later, Marilyn) Miller
(Sally Green, later “Mme. Nookervova”), Leon Errol (Connie), Agatha Debussy (Miss New York), Phil
Ryley (Admiral Travers), Irving Fisher (Blair Farquar), Stanley Ridges (Jimmie Spelvin), Alta King (Alta),
Betty Williams (Betty), Barbara Dean (Barbara), Vivian Vernon (Vivian), Mary McDonald (Mary), Emily
Drange (Emily), Frank Kingdon (Richard Farquar); The Six Foundlings: Miss Kingsley (Miss Rhinelander),
Miss Otis (Miss Vanderbilt), Miss Maide (Miss Worth), Miss Henderson (Miss Bryant), Miss Vreeland
(Miss Audubon), and Miss S. Vernon (Miss Bowling Green); Wade Boothe (Billy Porter), Jack Barker (Harry
Burton); Children: Baby Dot, Dolly Tigue, Rita Murphy, Minerva Bartz; Frank Bages (Boy); Ensemble:
Mary McDonald, Barbara Dean, Alta King, Emily Drange, Vivian Vernon, Betty Williams; also (most first
names unknown) Winifred Hunter, Agatha Debussy, Hanson, Platt, Wilson, Orville, LeRoy, Bowie, Lyle,
Shand, Donley, Mayer, Oliphant, Stanfield, Kingsley, Collings, Akers, Fenron, Otis, Parks, Closs, Maide,
S. Vernon, Vreeland, Ford, and Braham; Note: Two performers with the last names of Megrew and Peairs
may have been in the opening-night chorus (otherwise, they joined the company almost immediately after
the New York premiere).
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (“The Nighttime”) (Ensemble); Violin Solo (Jacques Rebiroff); “Way Down East” (Mary
Hay, Ensemble); “On with the Dance” (Walter Catlett, Mary Hay, Betty Williams, Jack Barker); “This
Little Girl” (Dolores, Alfred P. James; The Foundlings: The Misses Kingsley, Otis, Maide, Henderson,
Vreeland, and S. Vernon); “You Can’t Keep a Good Girl Down” (aka “Joan of Arc”) (Marilynn Miller, The
Foundlings); “Look for the Silver Lining” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva) (Marilynn Miller, Irving Fisher); Dance
(Marilynn Miller, Leon Errol); “Sally” (Irving Fisher, Ensemble); Dance (Marilynn Miller); Finale (Mari-
lynn Miller, Leon Errol, Mary Hay, Walter Catlett, Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Social Game” (aka “In Society”) (Stanley Ridges, Ensemble); “(The) Wild Rose” (Marilynn
Miller, Diplomats); “(The) Schnitza Komisski” (Leon Errol, Ensemble); “Schnitza Dance” (“Pzcher-
katrotsky”) (Leon Errol); “Whip-poor-will” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva) (Marilynn Miller, Irving Fisher);
“(The) Lorelei” (lyric by Anne Caldwell) (Walter Catlett, May Hay, Stanley Ridges); “The Church ’Round
the Corner” (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Mary Hay, Walter Catlett); “Slavic Dance” (Marilynn Miller);
Finale (Company)
Act Three: “The Ballet: Land of Butterflies” (aka “Butterfly Ballet”) (music by Victor Herbert) (Butterflies:
Misses McDonald, Dean, King, Drange, V. Vernon, Williams, Hunter, Debussy, Hanson, Platt, Wilson,
Orville, LeRoy, Bowie, Lyle, and Shand; Moths: Misses Donley, Mayer, Oliphant, Stanfield, Kingsley,
Collings, Akers, Fenron, Otis, Parks, Closs, Maide, S. Vernon, Vreeland, Ford, and Braham; The Bat: Do-
lores; Premiere Danseuse: Marilynn Miller); “The Wedding Day” (The Happy Pairs: Marilynn Miller and
Irving Fisher, Dolores and Leon Errol, Walter Catlett and Mary Hay; The Bridesmaids: The Misses Alta
King, Drange, V. Vernon, McDonald, Williams, and Dean; The Little Bridesmaids: The Misses Vreeland,
Otis, Henderson, Maide, S. Vernon, and Kingsley; The Boy: Frank Bages
Jerome Kern’s Sally was one of the era’s most popular Cinderella musicals, and at 570 performances was
the longest run of the season and the third-longest-running book musical of the decade.
The title character was played by Marilynn Miller, who during this era spelled her first name with two
n’s. Sally is a foundling who washes dishes in New York’s Alley Inn, where she dreams of a better life. By
chance she meets young millionaire Blair Farquar (Irving Fisher), and later through the machinations of the
Alley Inn’s waiter Connie (the exiled Duke of Czechogovia, played by Leon Errol), she attends a Long Island
society party given by Blair’s father. There she masquerades as the exotic Mme. Nookerova, a famous bal-
lerina. Of course, the rules of musical comedy ensure that our Sally of the Alley becomes both the star of the
Ziegfeld Follies and the wife of the young and handsome and eligible and millionaire bachelor who has the
good sense to know that all young and handsome and eligible millionaire bachelor musical comedy heroes
live on Long Island.
Kern’s score yielded the evergreen “Look for the Silver Lining” (which in 1949 served as the title of
Warner Brothers’ film version of Marilyn Miller’s life). Other songs that enjoyed popularity were “The Wild
Rose,” “Whip-poor-will,” and “The Church ’Round the Corner.” If “Look for the Silver Lining” was Sally’s
demure and yearning song of hope, her feisty “You Can’t Keep a Good Girl Down” (aka “Joan of Arc”) was a
spirited anthem of optimism. Leon Errol scored with his fond memories of the old country and its river “The
Schnitza Komisski,” and a few years later in Tell Me More B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva (who was one of Sally’s co-
lyricists), Ira Gershwin, and George Gershwin spoofed the song with “In Sardinia.”
Two of Kern’s songs (“Look for the Silver Lining” and “Whip-poor-will”) had been heard in Zip Goes a
Million (1919), which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout; “The Lorelei” had been cut from The Night Boat
during its pre-Broadway tryout; and the title song had been heard as “Catamarang” in the 1910 musical King
of Cadonia.
The critics were dazzled by Miller, and her performance in Sally guaranteed her place in the Broadway
pantheon. She had appeared in a number of revues, and headlined the 1918 and 1919 editions of the Ziegfeld
Follies (in the former she introduced Louis A. Hirsch’s “When I Hear a Syncopated Tune,” and for the latter
Irving Berlin’s “A Syncopated Cocktail”). Sally was her second book musical (in between a series of Broadway
revues, she had appeared in the 1918 show Fancy Free).
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the “spirited and beguiling” Miller was the musical’s
“jewel.” She had previously “enchanted” everyone with “sprightly dancing and tonic freshness,” and it
seemed she had “gone searching about and returned with a voice” and was “singing now as never before.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s stated Miller danced “more charmingly than ever and really sings this time.”
Brooklyn Life said the “fair-haired and fairy-footed” Miller “twinkles and shines.” And Charles Darnton in
the New York Evening World found Miller “captivating” and said the “crowning triumph” of her performance
was the “rare beauty” of the “Butterfly Ballet.”
Heywood Broun in the New York Tribune noted that Miller’s dancing was “an exceptional experience in
the theatre,” and while her ballet number was “good,” she wasn’t a “great artist” in this sequence. But she
raised “lesser forms” of dance “to the levels of loveliness,” and at times was like “tinsel paper darting here
and there at the whim of some Olympian who moves the string with a wrist more dexterous than that of
mortals.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Miller was “at her best when she exhibits eccentric dancing steps,
yet she sings attractively if rather weakly, reveals herself as a bit of an actress also, and does some classic
dancing which, while always graceful, makes one wish she would stick to the eccentric.”
As for the musical itself, the consensus was that Ziegfeld had outdone himself and that Sally was even
more lavish than the producer’s annual Follies revues. Woollcott said the production offered “a splendor of
1920–1921 Season 47
curtains and settings and costumes as few theatres in the world dare dream of,” and when one thought of Sally
it was Ziegfeld himself who came to mind because “he is that kind of producer” and “there are not many of
them in the world.”
Brooklyn Life praised the “magnificent” scenery and “vivid and elaborate” costumes; “only in fairy
tales” could there be such a vision as the second act garden scene at the Long Island estate of the Farquars,
but even that was surpassed by the “Butterfly Ballet,” in which “myriad gorgeous and brilliant butterflies
emerge from a grove of graceful white birches and raise great, dazzling wings to the gaze of a delighted and
gasping audience.” Further, Kern provided “lively and convincing” music (the critic predicted that “Look for
the Silver Lining” was “the song hit of the evening, perhaps of the season”), Errol stumbled and tumbled in
his inimitable “droll manner,” there were “naughty but clever quips,” and thus the entire evening was “a riot
of color, melody and fun.”
Broun said the show was “gay, spirited and unusually decorative” and deserved “to rank as the best, or
thereabouts, of the season’s musical shows.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “very delectable settings,”
the “suave” direction, the “more than passable jokes,” the “more than ordinarily clever” lyrics, and Kern’s
“agreeable melodies.” And Darnton said the show was “nothing less than idealized musical comedy.”
Early titles for the musical were The Little Thing, Sally of Our Alley, and Sally in Our Alley (Kern’s bi-
ographer Gerald Bordman notes that in preproduction some sources spelled the heroine’s name as “Salley”).
Almost immediately after the Broadway opening, “Way Down East” was cut and replaced with “Song and
Dance,” and “This Little Girl” was succeeded by an untitled dance sequence. At least two songs were dropped
during the tryout, “Nervous Wrecks” and “At the Play.”
Miller brought Sally back to Broadway when the musical played at its original home, the New Amster-
dam Theatre, on September 17, 1923, for twenty-four performances.
The musical was revived on Broadway at the Martin Beck (now Al Hirschfeld) Theatre on May 6, 1948,
with Bambi Lynn (Sally), Robert Shackleton (now Mickey instead of Blair), and Willie Howard (Connie).
Unfortunately, the critics found the musical a disappointment, and the production lasted for just thirty-six
performances. Brooks Atkinson in the Times said the “hand-me-down” revival was “colorful” but its book
and performance style were now “counterfeit.” William Hawkins in the New York World-Telegram found the
evening “lackadaisical” with no “imagination” and “punch.” Joseph Mackey in the New York Sun noted the
production was an uneasy combination of “streamlined nostalgia and dubious topicality.” And John Chap-
man in the New York Daily News said the show was “rather dull.” But Robert Coleman in the New York
Daily Mirror had a “delightful” time, and Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune said the musical
was “as fresh and captivating as ever.”
The revival retained four songs from the original (“Look for the Silver Lining,” “The Wild Rose,” “Whip-
poor-will,” and “The Church ’Round the Corner”), and one (“Dear Little Girl”) was probably a reworked
version of “This Little Girl.” Otherwise, the production borrowed a number of generally obscure Kern songs
(such as “Looking All Over for You” from Kern’s hit 1921 London musical The Cabaret Girl and “Dear
Old-Fashioned Prison of Mine” from 1924’s Sitting Pretty). Surprisingly, the revival omitted “The Schnitza
Komisski,” a number that seems virtually tailor-made for Willie Howard’s unique brand of comic hijinks.
The London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 10, 1921, for a healthy 387
performances. The cast included Dorothy Dickson, Leslie Henson (Connie), and Gregory Stroud (Blair), and
members of the company recorded songs from the show (see below for more information). Kansas City–born
Dickson quickly became a West End favorite and starred in two more Broadway musicals that made the
crossing to London, the Gershwins’ Tip-Toes and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Peggy-Ann. She also
headlined Kern’s The Cabaret Girl (which never played in New York), and in the 1936 London revue she in-
troduced the enduring standard “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You).”
A second London production opened on August 6, 1942, at the Prince’s Theatre for 205 performances. The
title role was played by Jessie Matthews, who a few months earlier had abruptly left the Broadway musical
The Lady Comes Across just days before its January 9 opening night, reportedly because of a nervous condi-
tion.
In 1925, First National released a silent film version of the musical with Colleen Moore in the title role
and Leon Errol in a reprise of his Broadway performance. In 1929, Warners-First National released a Tech-
nicolor film version of Sally in both sound and silent versions. Miller re-created her Broadway role, and the
supporting cast included Alexander Gray, Joe E. Brown, and Pert Kelton. The film retained three songs from
the stage production (“Look for the Silver Lining,” “The Wild Rose,” and the title number), and included two
new songs (“All I Want to Do-Do-Do Is Dance” and “If I’m Dreaming, Don’t Wake Me Up,” both with lyr-
ics by Al Dubin and music by Joe Burke). The sound version of the film was released on DVD by the Warner
Brothers’ Archive Collection, and while the color print appears lost, a Technicolor fragment of “The Wild
Rose” exists and is included in the DVD set.
The original London cast recorded a generous sampling of the score: “You Can’t Keep a Good Girl Down,”
“Look for the Silver Lining,” “On with the Dance,” “Sally,” “The Wild Rose,” “The Schnitza Komisski,”
“The Lorelei,” “Whip-poor-will,” “The Church ’Round the Corner,” and “The Butterfly Ballet” (the latter
includes “Introduction & Entrance of Butterflies,” “Entrance of the Bat,” “Entrance of the Moths,” and “Valse
& Galop”). A 2005 concert recording of the score by the Comic Opera Guild (located in Ann Arbor, Michigan)
was released on an unlabeled and unnumbered CD by the Guild with singers accompanied by two pianists
(the recording includes songs from the original production, interpolations from other Kern musicals, and the
song “Nerves,” which is probably a variation of “Nervous Wrecks,” which had been dropped during the origi-
nal production’s tryout). The collection The First Rose of Summer (Music Box Recordings CD # MBR-04003)
includes “The Schnitza Komisski.”
In 2016, Albany Records (CD # TROY-1638) released a CD of the musical’s revival by the Light Opera of
New York. Conducted by Gerald Steichen, the cast includes Emma Grimsley (Sally), Alex Corson (Blair), and
Bryan Elesser (Connie), and the recording includes both songs and abridged dialogue sequences. The numbers
on the album are: Opening (Overture), “The Nighttime,” “On with the Dance,” “You Can’t Keep a Good
Girl Down,” “Look for the Silver Lining,” “Sally,” “Sally’s Eccentric Dance,” First Act Finale, “The Social
Game,” “The Wild Rose,” “The Schnitza Komisski,” “Whip-poor-will,” “The Lorelei,” “The Church ’Round
the Corner,” Second Act Finale, “The Butterfly Ballet,” and Third Act Finale. Sally had two solo dances in
the original production, the first act’s “Dance” and the second act’s “Slavic Dance.” The Albany recording
places a dance sequence titled “Sally’s Eccentric Dance” in act one, but for the original production there was
no such dance with this title; it may be that “Sally’s Eccentric Dance” is the second-act “Slavic Dance.”
In 1947, Till the Clouds Roll By, MGM’s biographical musical of Jerome Kern’s life and career, was re-
leased with Robert Walker as the composer and Judy Garland as Miller, who sang “Look for the Silver Lin-
ing.” Two years later, Warner Brothers released the above-mentioned Look for the Silver Lining in which June
Haver portrayed Miller; the film included three songs from Sally (“Look for the Silver Lining,” “The Wild
Rose,” and “Whip-poor-will”).
HER FAMILY TREE

Theatre: Lyric Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre)
Opening Date: December 27, 1920; Closing Date: March 19, 1921
Performances: 90
Book: Al Weeks, Arthur “Bugs” Baer, and Julius Tannen
Lyrics and Music: Seymour Simons
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Nora Bayes; Choreography: Carl Randall; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Costumes: Shirley Barker; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Arthur Gutman
Cast: Nora Bayes, Julius Tannen, Frank Morgan, The Randall Sisters, Al Roberts, Florence Morrison, Thelma
Carlton, Jerome Bruner, Marguerite Daniels, Una Fleming, Alan Edwards, Tom Bryan, Donald Sawyer,
Henriette Wilson; Ensemble: Cecil Harrington, Helen McCarthy, Millie Oertel, Florence Brady, Evelyn
Sintae, Grace Russell, Dorothy Morrison, Edith Rook, Betty Stewart, Ray Vance, Dudley Wilkinson, Polly
Bowman, Cecile Lee, Estelle Nesbit, Grace Rivers, Earl Mossman
The action takes place at Nora Bayes’s home in New Jersey during the present time as well as in the past and
in various locales, including California in 1849, England during the Georgian era, in ancient China, and
in biblical times for a sequence depicting Noah’s Ark.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Ouija Board” (Nora Bayes, Company); “The Gold Diggers” (Alan Edwards, Thelma Carlton, En-
semble); “Tango” (Una Fleming, Tom Bryan); “No Other Gal (Girl)” (Nora Bayes); “The Light of Vishnu”;
1920–1921 Season 49
“The Elevator Gavotte” (Thelma Carlton, Ladies); “Boom Whee!” (Tom Bryan, Ladies); “Trio” (Thelma
Carlton, Evelyn Sintae, Donald Sawyer); “Waltz” (Una Fleming); “Where Tomorrow Begins” (Nora Bayes,
Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Sacrificial Ballet”; “Oranges” (Tom Bryan); “Silks” (Thelma Carlton); “What Lies around the
Corner”; “A Romantic Knight” (Alan Edwards, Una Fleming, Thelma Carlton, Ensemble); “As We Sow
So Shall We Reap” (Nora Bayes, Alan Edwards); “I Love You” (Una Fleming, Tom Bryan, Nora Bayes, Ray
Vance); “The Heart of Scrya”; “Why Worry?” (Nora Bayes); “The Story” (Nora Bayes)
Nora Bayes was both star and producer of Her Family Tree, a revue-like book musical in which at a party
in her home overlooking New Jersey (“but not overlooking it altogether”) she and her guests indulge in a bit
of time travel in order to unravel the history of Bayes and her background. The show managed almost three
months on Broadway, and closed after ninety performances.
Bayes played a variety of roles, including a girl of the Wild West, a Chinese heroine, and Japhet’s wife in
the Noah’s Ark sequence (which was dropped during the Broadway run). The New York Times said the show
was “ambitious” and “generally entertaining” if a bit “overlong,” the score was “unusually tuneful,” the
book was “broadly amusing” even if one could sometimes anticipate the jokes, and the work was “elaborately
staged and costumed.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World seems to have been of two minds about the star. If
she had dangled from a Christmas tree, Bayes couldn’t have been more “ornate” as she “glitter[ed] through
the ages in razzle-dazzling style.” But when she “jauntily” stepped off Noah’s ark in an expensive dress she
seemed to be a first-class passenger leaving her suite on an ocean liner, and her song (“Why Worry?”) had no
connection with the time and place. Then, in a scene laid in ancient China, she “sacrifice[ed] everything but
the center of the stage”; and in an English garden, her “billowy” dress made her look “no less than matronly.”
But the evening was “resplendent,” Bayes was “tireless in her various efforts” to make the show entertaining,
and Seymour Simons’s music was “always tuneful” if somewhat “reminiscent.” The best sequence depicted
the days of the California gold rush and included the “jolly good” song “No Other Gal.”
The New York Tribune noted that Bayes wondered if she’d been “a goldfish, or a bluebird, or a bluefish, or
a Goldberg” in her previous existence (Bayes’s real name was Elenora Sarah Goldberg). The show’s story was
“tenuous,” but the “lavish and tasteful” evening was “as novel and as welcome as some Burbanked Christmas
tree.” The décor and costumes were of “rare beauty and richness,” and the sequences were accompanied by
“appropriate” music.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the writers had originally envisioned an “ambitious” story, but that
kind of entertainment wouldn’t “please the fancy of Miss Bayes,” whose “mind runs along channels similar
to George M. Cohan.” As a result, the show morphed into a burlesque that was “entirely too long-winded and
not particularly bright.” The evening brought forth “a good deal of laughter” from the audience, but “in the
main the piece was dead.” However, it was “hard to remember a more lavish production,” and the sequences
“just have to be seen to be appreciated,” including the “exceptional” costumes. The score wasn’t “particularly
good,” with the “possible exception” of “When Tomorrow Begins” (which incidentally was dropped during
the run), and overall the evening required “a good deal of pruning.”
Brooklyn Life said the musical about reincarnation offered “beautiful” décor and a “light” and “tuneful”
score, of which the “real big song hits” were “No Other Gal,” “As We Sow,” “Boom Whee!,” and “A Roman-
tic Knight.”
During the run, “When Tomorrow Begins” was dropped and replaced by “Remember the Rose” (lyric
by Sidney Mitchell and music by Seymour Simons), and “Why Worry?” was dropped in favor of a medley of
popular songs.
During the previous season, Broadway had offered another time-travel musical when the Paris and London
import As You Were opened.
THE ROSE GIRL

“A Play with Music”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre

Performances: 99
Book and Lyrics: William Cary Duncan

Music: Anselm Goetzl
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Goetzl Theatrical Enterprises, Inc.; Choreography: Michel Fokine; Scen-
ery: William Weaver; Costumes: Ralph Mulligan; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: David Andrada (Filipard), Marjorie Gateson (Fleurette), May Boley (Mme. Donay), Beatrice Darling (Co-
lette), Elizabeth Darling (Denise), Helen Lyons (Felice), Virginia Wynn (Suzette), Fred Hillebrand (Filipe Teli-
cot), Stewart Baird (Count Henri de Guise), Marcella Swanson (Adelle La Flamme), Beatrice Swanson (Jeanne
Du Verne), Shep Camp (Ambrose Lollypop), Louis Simon (Oswald Pettibone), Charles Purcell (Victor Marquis
de la Roche), Mabel Withee (Mignon Latour, aka The Rose Girl), Zoe Barnett (Nadine Bankoff), Rose Rolando
(Gypsy Dancer), Aleta (Louise), Florence Gast (Marie), Lydia Lopokova (Ballerina); Flower Girls: Charlotte
Lowery, Lillian Sanger, Viola Allen, Helen Lockhart, Jean Woods, Marion Phillips, Thelma Parker, Alice
Monroe, Billy Wagner, Constance Brady, Jean Goddard, Gladys Strother; Guests and Visitors: Rita Tracey,
Elba Woods, Vivian Kelley, Helen O’Day, Dorothy Schaefer, Edith Scott, Florence Brandie, Marie Woods
The action takes place during the present time on the Riviera and in Paris.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “The Proteges” (May Boley, Beatrice Darling, Elizabeth Darling, Helen
Lyons, Virginia Wynn); “Beauty’s Candy Shop” (Stewart Baird, Marcella Swanson, Beatrice Swanson, Visi-
tors); “When Our Sundays Are Blue” (Marjorie Gateson, Fred Hillebrand); “There Comes a Some Day”
(Mabel Withee, Charles Purcell); “Flirtation Quartette” (Zoe Barnett, May Boley, Stewart Baird, Fred
Hillebrand); “Wondrous Midnight Eyes” (lyric by Kay Reese) (Rose Rolando, Ensemble); “The Spanish Se-
norita” (Fred Hillebrand); “That’s Me” (Mabel Withee, Marjorie Gateson, Zoe Barnett, Ensemble); Finale
Act Two: “The Ballet des Perfumes” (choreographed by Michel Fokine) (ballet includes waltz music by Jo-
hannes Brahms and “There Comes a Some Day” by Anselm Goetzl) (Lydia Lopokova, Corps de Ballet);
“Quarrel Number” (Marjorie Gateson, Fred Hillebrand); “When That Somebody Comes” (Marjorie Gate-
son, Girls); “The Hour with You” (Charles Purcell); “May and September” (Mabel Withee, Stewart Baird);
“My Old New Jersey Home” (lyric by Ballard MacDonald, music by Nat Vincent) (Marjorie Gateson, Fred
Hillebrand); “The Rose Girl Blues” (Marjorie Gateson, Fred Hillebrand); “Lingerie” (Zoe Barnett, Girls);
“Rose Girl Waltz” (Mabel Withee, Charles Purcell); Finale
The Rose Girl was the premier attraction at the Ambassador Theatre, but otherwise the show had little in
the way of distinction, save perhaps “The Ballet des Perfumes,” which was choreographed by Michel Fokine.
As of this writing the Ambassador is still with us, and one is grateful it still retains its original name.
The commonplace plot of The Rose Girl dealt with the title character, Mignon LaTour (Mabel Withee),
who resists marriage to a factory foreman and happily finds herself pursued by Victor, a titled aristocrat
(Charles Purcell).
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said there were two types of libretti, those that “do not refer
to ‘The Tales of Hoffman’ as ‘The Shirt-tails of Hoffman’, and those that do.” The book of The Rose Girl was
decidedly in the latter category, and the evening’s “high spirits” reached their “zenith” when a “portly far-
ceuse” fell into the arms of a “little farceur” and both crashed to the floor. And one could also “derive more
amusement” from the “earnest efforts of one of the show-girls to pronounce the word ‘Monsieur.’” Anselm
Goetzl’s score was “engaging,” “pleasing,” and “infectious,” there was an “uncommonly comely” chorus,
there were dancers “of varying fame and agility” (one named Rose Rolando was “an uncommonly spirited
dancer” who won the evening’s “most enthusiastic and spontaneous approval”), and leading man Charles
Purcell was “agreeable.” But “pulling grimly in the other direction” was a book that could be “crushingly
described as of a rather lower caliber than the run of musical comedy libretti during the last ten years.”
Brooklyn Life praised the “very sweet and entertaining” musical with “tuneful” melodies (the critic
singled out six songs), “clever” acting (Charles Purcell in particular was lauded for his “pleasing voice, good
looks and clever dancing”), “wonderful” choreography, and “elaborate” décor. Heywood Broun in the New
York Tribune said the music was satisfactory, but the book was not, and “practically all of the quips and
cranks are old” and were even “feeble” when new. And Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World
1920–1921 Season 51
found the score “tuneful” if “somewhat familiar,” said May Boley “did her usual clowning by falling upon
helpless victims,” and Purcell sang when there was “nothing else to do.”
As for Fokine’s ballet, the reaction was mixed. Woollcott said the sequence “didn’t matter much,” and
if Fokine and ballerina Lydia Lopokova hadn’t been associated with it, the number wouldn’t “arrest atten-
tion at all,” and Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s noted there was a ballet “if you go for that sort of thing.” Broun
said the sequence was “too crowded in design and too conventional in spirit” and utilized “some crude and
theatrical devices such as the ascent and descent of a group of ballerinas through a trap door.” But Brooklyn
Life enjoyed the “gorgeous” ballet, and Darnton noted the choreography “carried with it the impressive tag”
of Fokine, and Lopokova’s dancing made the ballet “exquisite.”
In regard to the new theatre, Woollcott said it was “wide and wealthy-looking” with “more red plush to
the square foot than any theatre in the Western Hemisphere.” Parker said it seemed “cruel” that “so attrac-
tive a playhouse got off to such a bad start” with a musical like The Rose Girl. Brooklyn Life praised the new
venue and said the rose-colored velvet seats and hangings were “effectively” contrasted with the “pale gold
and silver of the walls and ceiling.” And Darnton liked the “beautiful” theatre with its “gold-and-red and
Italian marble with a spacious triangular floor affording novelty as well as comfort.”
Note that the post-Broadway tour credited Louis Simon as coauthor of the musical’s book (Simon also
directed the tour and in the Broadway production had played a featured role). The Boston program’s title page
credits Kuy Kendall as the creator of the “Oriental Dance,” but no such dance is mentioned in the program’s
list of musical numbers (but the program for the Washington, D.C., run lists a number titled “Kendall Blues”).
During the Broadway run, “The Ballet des Perfumes” and “The Hour with You” were respectively re-
placed by “Toe Dance” and “The One Girl Boy.” For the tour, six numbers were cut (“When Our Sundays
Are Blue,” “There Comes a Some Day,” “That’s Me,” “The Ballet des Perfumes,” “When That Somebody
Comes,” and “The Hour with You”). One number (“Rose Girl Waltz”) seems to have been performed during
part of the tour, and four songs were added (“Some Sweet Day,” “Wana,” “The Heart of a Crimson Rose,”
and “Come On, Girls, Let’s Go”). For part of the tour, “Gypsy Dance,” “Kendall Blues,” and “Whirlwind
Dance” were performed, and at one point during the tour there may have been two different title songs. The
program for the tour’s engagement in Washington, D.C., lists no less than five songs with the word “rose” in
their titles: “The Heart of a Crimson Rose,” “Rose Girl,” “Rose Girls,” “Rose Girl Waltz,” and “The Rose
Girl Blues.”
BLUE EYES
“A New Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre)
Opening Date: February 21, 1921; Closing Date: April 10, 1921
Performances: 56
Book: Leon Gordon and Le Roy Clemens
Lyrics: Z. Myers (aka Meyers)
Music: I. B. (Isidore Benjamin) Kornblum
Based on the play Let Tommy Do It by Leon Gordon and Le Roy Clemens (the play closed during its pre-
Broadway tryout during the 1919–1920 season).
Direction: Staged by Clifford Brooke and “entire production under personal direction” of Morris Rose; Pro-
ducer: Morris Rose and Lew Fields; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Uncredited (but production
“built” by Samuel Friedman and “painted” by Dodge & Castle); Costumes: Andre Sherri, Inc.; Nardi;
Madame Frances; Brooks; Lighting: Uncredited; Effects: “devised” by Horace Goldin; Musical Direction:
Eugene Salzer
Cast: Andrew Tombes (Dawson Ripley), Dorothy Tierney (Fifi), Philip White (Steinberg), Lew Fields (Peter
Van Dam), Mollie King (Dorothy Manners), Ray Raymond (Bobby Brett), Delyle Alda (Kitty Higgins), Carl
Eckstrom (Mr. Manners), Jessemine Newcombe (Mrs. Manners), Leo Frankel (Stranger); Specialty Danc-
ers: Inez Courtney, Aline McGill, and Harry Pearce; Artists, Models, Show Girls, Guests, Others: Inez
Courtney, Florence Courtney, Laurette Stanley, Gypsy Mooney, Lucille Arden, Gertrude McDonald, Mar-
garet Finlay, Mabel Grete, Clare K. Taylor, Helen Gates, Grace Hall, Gladys Langdon, Helen Rich, Eunice
Barrington, Doris Marquette, Nancy Vaughn, Harry Pearce, Ted Wheeler, Ralph Robbins, Jacques Stone

The action takes place during the present time in Gramercy Square and Great Neck, Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “In ze Park” (Dorothy Tierney, Ensemble); “Baby Walk” (Helen Gates, Inez
Courtney, Lucille Arden, Gertrude McDonald, Girls and Boys); “Blue Eyes” (Mollie King, Ray Raymond);
“Just Suppose” (Delyle Alda, Andrew Tombes); “Danger Ahead” (Ray Raymond, Andrew Tombes, En-
semble); “Without a Girl Like You” (Mollie King, Delyle Alda, Ray Raymond, Andrew Tombes); Finale
(Company)
Act Two: “Just Suppose” (reprise) (Ensemble); “So Long, Jazz” (Andrew Tombes, Aline McGill, Harry Pearce,
Inez Courtney, Ensemble); “When Gentlemen Disagree” (Andrew Tombes, Ray Raymond, Lew Fields);
“When Gramercy Square Was Uptown” (Mollie King, Ray Raymond, Ensemble); “Wanting You” (lyric by
Irving Caesar, music by George Gershwin) (Andrew Tombes, Delyle Alda, Ensemble); Specialty (Mollie
King); Finale (Company)
The critical reception for Blue Eyes was quite cool, and probably the only reason the show lasted seven
weeks was because it headlined Lew Fields, one of Broadway’s favorite clowns.
The slight story found a rather novel if unromantic way for the hero Bobby Brett (Ray Raymond) and
heroine Dorothy Manners (Mollie King) to meet cute: in this case, her car accidentally runs him down and
romance blooms during his recuperation. To add to the would-be merriment, each tries to impress the other
by pretending to be a wealthy highborn.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times noted the “ordinary” if not “subnormal” musical was based
on a “frayed stencil” farce (Let Tommy Do It) that had collapsed on the road the previous season during its
pre-Broadway tryout. True, the songs were “catchy enough” if not all that “beguiling,” but Fields had to ne-
gotiate such lines as “Every cloud has a silver nitrate” and in the main was left to his own devices. The show
was an “excuse” for Fields’s presence, and if the excuse wasn’t “a very good one,” it was probably “better than
none.” As a result, the clown brought his shtick of “aggrieved comedy” to a show where the authors had “not
done much” to help him. At various times he posed as a sculptor, a cook, a butler, and a chambermaid, all the
while swooning and falling and in general keeping himself “pretty busy.” Perhaps the most unusual aspect
of the evening was the musical’s depiction of Long Island: the chorus girls were “variously attired” for polo,
skiing, and swimming, a “fine tribute” that touted Long Island “as an all-year pleasure resort.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s reported that Fields tried to extract all he could from the material, but it was
a “losing fight.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World liked the cast but said the show lasted until
almost midnight and “should be cut to a shorter measure” because “there’s a lot in knowing when to stop.”
The New York Tribune said the evening lacked “distinction” and “inspiration,” was only “fair to middling,”
was “wholesome and pleasant without being exciting,” gave Fields “over-thin material,” and offered a score
that was just “all right.” And the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the production “tepid” with “very ordinary”
book, lyrics, and music and complained that the stars were given “no great opportunity to entertain bril-
liantly.”
Earlier in the season George Gershwin had contributed a song to The Sweetheart Shop, and for Blue Eyes
his “Wanting You” (with a lyric by Irving Caesar) was interpolated into I. B. Kornblum’s score.
Blue Eyes’ librettists Leon Gordon and Le Roy Clemens took part in the era’s fad for dramas set in such
“exotic” locales as Africa and the South Sea Islands. Gordon’s White Cargo (1923) was a sensation that ran
for 685 performances (and few could forget its memorable line “I am Tondeleyo”), and Clemens and John
B. Hymer’s Aloma of the South Seas (1925) played for sixty-six showings. The ur-play in this genre was
probably Richard Walton Tully’s The Bird of Paradise (1912), which starred Laurette Taylor and ran for 112
performances (and was later adapted by Rudolf Friml for his flop 1930 musical Luana). But the best-known
play of this type was John Colton and Clemence Randolph’s Rain, which opened in 1922 and played for 648
performances; Jeanne Eagels played the prostitute Sadie Thompson and spoke the famous line “I’m sorry
for everybody in the world,” and over the decades Sadie’s sad story enjoyed numerous film and musical
adaptations.
Blue Eyes shouldn’t be confused with Jerome Kern’s hit 1928 London musical of the same name.
1920–1921 Season 53
LOVE BIRDS
Opening Date: March 15, 1921; Closing Date: June 11, 1921
Performances: 103
Book: Edgar Allen Woolf
Lyrics: Ballard MacDonald
Music: Sigmund Romberg
Direction: Edgar MacGregor, Frank Smithson, and Julian Alfred; Producers: Max R. Wilner and Sigmund
Romberg; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery and Lighting: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Mme. Gil-
man; Musical Direction: J. Frank Cork
Cast: Richard Bold (Arthur Harwood), Betty Mack (Shopper), Evelyn Cavanaugh (Violet Morely), Barrett
Greenwood (Hal Sterling), Elizabeth Murray (Jennie O’Hara), Edna Luce (Shopper), Grace Ellsworth
(Mrs. Bronson Charteris), Elizabeth Hines (Allene Charteris), James E. Sullivan (Mr. Bronson Charteris),
Marion Bent (Mamie O’Grady), Vincent Lopez (Mr. Johnson), Pat Rooney (Pat), Tom Gott (Porter), Emilie
Lea (Mme. Delaunois, Velouka), Ramsey DeMar (Monsieur Champvallon), Harry Mayo (Emir Nehmid
Duckin), Patsy Delany (Maid), Harold Gieser (Attendant), Tom Dingle (Warrington Knight), Eva Daven-
port (Fatima), Sylvia Ford (Saki); Palace Guards: Tom Gott, Bill Hamilton, Tom White; Vincent Lopez
and the Kings of Harmony: Vincent Lopez (Piano), Bill Hamilton (Clarinet), Tom Gott (Cornet), Harold
Geiser (Trombone), Tom White (Drums); Dancers and Singers: Betty Mack, Betty Warlow, Lucille Prather,
Betty Hamilton, Bobby Reed, Louise Segal, Lucille Gordon, Edna Luce, Marie Cattell, Patsy Delany, Peggy
Dolan, Helen Johnson, Beverly Maude, Anna Hunkle, Rose Desmon, Wayne Dorel, Irma Coigne, Nerene
Swinton, Celene Craven, Edna Coigne
The action takes place during the present time, in New York City and Persia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Let’s Pretend” (Evelyn Cavanaugh, Barrett Greenwood); “The Trous-
seau Incomplete” (Elizabeth Hines, Girls); “Can Macy Do without Me?” (Pat Rooney, Marion Bent, Girls);
“Two Little Love Birds” (Richard Bold, Elizabeth Hines); First Scene Finale (Pat Rooney, Marion Bent,
Elizabeth Murray, James E. Sullivan, Richard Bold, Elizabeth Hines, Ensemble); “Debutante Chorus”
(lyric by Edgar Allen Woolf) (Grace Ellsworth, Guests); “Specialty Dance” (Emilie Lea); “Fat-Fat-Fatima”
(Harry Mayo, Guests); “Is It Hard to Guess?” (Elizabeth Hines, Richard Bold, Evelyn Cavanaugh, Barrett
Greenwood); “Girl Like Grandma” (Pat Rooney, Marion Bent, Betty Mack, Bobby Reed, Celene Craven,
Lucille Gordon); “Murrayisms” and “Down around the River” (Elizabeth Murray); “Rooneyisms” and
“Molly O’Malley and Me” (lyrics and music by Pat Rooney, Jay Kendis, and A. Brockman); Finale (Grace
Ellsworth, Emilie Lea, Pat Rooney, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Persian Fantasy” (lyric by Clarence Marks and Jack Stern) (Emilie
Lea); “When the Cat’s Away” (Tom Dingle, Harem Ladies); “A Little Dream That Lost Its Way” (Harry
Mayo, Elizabeth Hines); “I Love to Go Swimmin’ with Wimmin” (Pat Rooney, Harem Girls); “Bokhara”
(Elizabeth Murray); “Two Little Love Birds” (reprise) (Richard Bold, Elizabeth Hines); “Love Will Always
Find a Way” (Richard Bold); “Carnival Night” (Evelyn Cavanaugh, Barrett Greenwood, Emilie Lea, Tom
Dingle, Ensemble); Specialty; Finale (Pat Rooney, Marion Bent, Ensemble)
Both Sigmund Romberg’s Love Birds and The Right Girl opened on the same night, and while the former
received better notices than the latter, both had almost identical runs. At 103 performances Love Birds edged
out The Right Girl by just five showings. Both featured well-received comedians who stole the spotlight,
Robert Woolsey in The Right Girl and vaudevillian and comic dancer Pat Rooney in the Romberg show.
Love Birds focused on the romantic conundrum of heroine Allene Charteris (Elizabeth Hines), whose
parents forbid her to marry the man of her dreams because they have another suitor in mind. In order to defy
Mom and Dad, Allene shows them: she takes off for Persia and joins the harem of Emir Nehmid Duckin
(Harry Mayo). But all is not lost, and her innocence and reputation remain intact when her beloved travels to
Persia and rescues her. Perhaps all this stark realism turned off prospective ticket-buyers who instead focused
on how to procure ducats for the sold-out Sally.
As noted, the hit of the show was vaudevillian and comic dancer Pat Rooney (who appeared with his
partner Marion Bent). His role was essentially a secondary character in the story, but for the post-Broadway
tour the musical was revised as a vehicle for him and Bent. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times
praised Rooney as an “amazing phenomenon” and “indestructible dancer.” The New York Herald Tribune
said Rooney had “developed a style all his own” to the point where vaudeville and cabaret performers im-
personated him in their acts. Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World reported how Rooney could
dance “with the best of them,” was “light as a feather on his feet,” and looked “young enough to be his own
son.” And Brooklyn Life noted that Rooney was “just as full of fun and dancing as his thousands of admirers
want him to be.”
Woollcott said Romberg’s score was “full of catchy songs,” including Rooney’s “snappy” number “I Love
to Go Swimmin’ with Wimmin,” and the critic reported some first-nighter “chit-chat” in which someone
mentioned to Irving Berlin that he was “very fond” of the show’s title song, to which Berlin replied, “Yes, it’s
a good one. I haven’t written it for some time.” Darnton found the score “pleasing,” but noted that “humor”
and “good taste” were sometimes “lacking” in Edgar Allan Woolf’s book. The New York Tribune liked the
“pretty tunes” but said that in many respects the show was a “glorified” revue (in Sigmund Romberg, the
composer’s biographer William A. Everett mentions that the “clever” songs “reside squarely in the revue
tradition”). The Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “pretty songs” but felt the evening offered “nothing highly
original in either plot or book.” And Brooklyn Life said Romberg’s score was “jingling” and “catchy,” the
chorus was “corking” and wore “amazingly beautiful” costumes, and the “well-staged” show would probably
“run well into next winter” (the Daily Eagle also predicted a healthy run and said the musical would “nest
for a fair length of time on the Great White Way”).
Two songs from the show were included in Deep in My Heart, MGM’s 1954 musical biography of Rom-
berg (who was portrayed by José Ferrer), “I Love to Go Swimmin’ with Wimmin” (performed by brothers Gene
and Fred Kelly in their only screen dance together) and “Fat-Fat-Fatima.”
THE RIGHT GIRL

Theatre: Times Square Theatre
Performances: 98
Book and Lyrics: Raymond Peck
Music: Percy Wenrich
Direction: Walter Wilson; Producer: Gleerich Productions, Inc.; Choreography David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery:
Selwyn Studio; Costumes: Helen; Meyers; Bert French; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: J. Albert
Browne
Cast: Earle Benham (Anthony Stanton), Robert Woolsey (Henry Watkins), Frank Munnell (John Freeman), Ra-
pley Holmes (Barry Darcy), Carolyn Thomson (Dera Darcy), Dolly Connelly (Molly Darcy), Harry Redding
(Arthur Cadman), Helen Montrose (Valera Valador), Louis F. Spaulding (Bootlegger), Elma Decker (Friend
of Anthony), Frank Hope (Messenger); Friends, Guests, Others: Gertrude Bond, Leslie Grey, Ursula Ward,
May Rushing, Mildred Mayo, Hazel Mack, Lucille Darling, Miriam Malloy, Jerry Trevor, Devah Worrell,
Jean Farrell, Lela Norton, Beulah Clinton, Harriet Leslie, Mignon Reed, Moravia Loustanau, Bud David-
son, Albert Barren, Jerry Child, Galem Graves, Joe Carey, Kenneth Smith, James Healy
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Palm Beach.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Cocktail Hour” (Girls and Boys); “Things I Learned in Jersey” (Robert Woolsey, Girls); “You’ll Get
Nothing from Me” (Dolly Connelly); “Girls All Around Me” (Earle Benham, Girls); “Call of Love” (Caro-
lyn Thomson); “We Were Made to Love” (Girls); “Old Flames” (Earle Benham, Girls)
1920–1921 Season 55
Act Two: “Rocking Chair Feet” (Girls and Boys); “A Girl in Your Arms” (Carolyn Thomson, Boys); “Love’s
Little Journey” (Dolly Connelly); “Harmony” (Carolyn Thomson, Dolly Connelly, Earle Benham, Robert
Woolsey); “Look for the Girl” (Robert Woolsey, Girls); Finale (Company)
Act Three: “Aladdin” (Dolly Connelly); “Lovingly Yours” (Carolyn Thomson, Earle Benham); “Oriental Ser-
enade” (Dolly Connelly, Carolyn Thomson)
The Right Girl and Sigmund Romberg’s Love Birds opened on the same night, but the imprimatur of a
Romberg score didn’t help the latter all that much and both musicals had runs of just under three months.
The title heroine, Dera Darcey (Carolyn Thomson, who later enjoyed success as the leading lady in one of
the era’s most successful operettas, Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond King), loves rich-then-poor-then-rich-again
Anthony Stanton (Earle Benham). Hers is true love, because no matter Anthony’s financial status, he’s loved
by the right girl.
For the evening’s comedy, Robert Woolsey played Anthony’s friend Henry Watkins, a judge who occasion-
ally pretends to be an office boy and a lawyer. Woolsey later appeared in Rio Rita, in which he and comedian
Bert Wheeler teamed up for the first time. Their partnership was so successful that the duo starred in more
than twenty films, including a reprise of their stage roles for the 1929 film version of Rio Rita. They also
appeared in the Hollywood adaptations of The Ramblers (which was titled The Cuckoos for the 1930 film
version) and the first (1932) film version of Girl Crazy.
The New York Times singled out Percy Wenrich’s “lively tunes” (and noted “Love’s Little Journey”
was “good for half a dozen encores” on opening night) and Woolsey’s performance, which was “the life of
this somewhat dead party.” The comedian accomplished “a great deal” with “about two jokes,” and his
“amusing legs and comic effervescence” carried him to “triumph.” Otherwise, it was “difficult to view this
newest musical comedy with anything resembling enthusiasm” because it was burdened with “an air of
semi-professionalism,” an “indifferent” cast, and “far from expert staging.”
Heywood Broun in the New York Tribune said the “inoffensive and ruggedly mediocre” show made sure
“every rule in the musical comedy primer was slavishly followed.” As a result, the evening was “strikingly
dull and orthodox,” the cast “commonplace,” and Wenrich “succeeded in making even the jazz numbers
seem as decorous as hymn tunes.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the musical was “more effort than plea-
sure,” and while the book, lyrics, and music “tried hard to be original” and to avoid “the hackneyed most of
the time,” there was “very little to offer in place of the old jokes and tunes save jokes and tunes which, while
newer, [were] no better.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the evening had “several pleasant tunes,” but she
wasn’t taken with Woolsey, who “ingeniously combines the worst features of Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor, and
Johnny Dooley.”
Variety said the costumes “showed no lavish expenditure of money” and the sets were “tasteful” but
not “extravagant.” The book was “extremely weak,” and the manner in which the hero regains his financial
solvency was “never clearly defined, but it’s announced as such and as such you take it.”
IT’S UP TO YOU
“A New Musical Girlicomedy” / “A New Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: March 28, 1921; Closing Date: April 16, 1921
Performances: 24
Book: Douglas Leavitt and Augustin McHugh
Lyrics: Harry Clarke and Edward A. Paulton
Music: Manuel Klein and John L. McManus
Direction: Frank Stammers; Producer: William Moore Patch; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery:
Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Almerin Gowing; Lighting: Lighting effects by Sears; Musical Direction:
John L. McManus
Cast: Charles King (Ned Spencer), Douglas Leavitt (Dick Dayton), Harry Short (Jim Duke), Ray George (Freddy
Oliver), Albert Sackett (Colonel Stephen Forrest), Frank Michel (A Collector), Royal Cutter (Sheriff
McCabe), Betty Pierce (Harriet Hollistar), Ruth Mary Lockwood (Ethel Hollistar), Florence Earle (Mrs.
Van Lando Hollistar), Norma Brown (Lotta DeVere), Florence Hope (Hortense Gessitt), Madeline Dare
(Suzanne); Russian Dancers: Sacha Piatov, May Kitchen, and Suzanne Rossi; Guests: Pamela Bradford,
Lorraine Garrison, Thea Thompson, Ruby Hart, Marcia Byron, Belle Maycliff, Dorothy Selfridge, Gladys
Dore; People at the Sale: Marjory Grant, Claire Daniels, Patricia Mayer, Violet Lobell, Madeleine Dare,
Susanne Chase, Peggy Ellis, Phylis Reid; Guests, Escorts, Clerks: Thomas Dawber, Jack Andrews, Law-
rence New, Harry Levoy, Leonard Mooney, George Carpentier, Almerin Gowing, Jack Clubly
The action takes place in Long Island during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Company); “I Will, I Won’t” (Ruth Mary Lockwood, Ray George, Ensemble); “Havana”
(lyric and music by John L. McManus) (Douglas Leavitt, Charles King); “A Visualization” (Norma Brown,
Ensemble); “Love Me” (lyric and music by Ray Perkins) (Charles King, Betty Pierce)
Act Two: “I Want a Bungalow” (Suzanne Rossi, May Kitchen, Ensemble); “When I Dance Alone” (lyric by
Edward A. Paulton, music by John L. McManus) (Florence Hope, Harry Short, Ensemble); “Bee-Deedle
Dee-Dum Dey” (lyric by Harry Clarke, music by John L. McManus) (Norma Brown, Sacha Piatov, May
Kitchen, Ensemble); “Castles in the Air” (lyric by Harry Clarke and John L. McManus, music by John L.
McManus) (Charles King, Betty Pierce); “A Country Wife” (Betty Pierce, Ensemble); “I Want a Home”
(lyric by Edward A. Paulton, music by Manuel Klein) (Ruth Mary Lockwood, Douglas Leavitt, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Dream Girl” (Betty Pierce, Ensemble); “Adagio Classique” (Sacha Piatov, May Kitchen); “Pas
de Trua” (Sacha Piatov, Suzanne Rossi, May Kitchen); “After My Ship Comes In” (lyric by Edward A.
Paulton, music by John L. McManus) (Charles King, Girls); “I’ll Tell the World” (lyric by Edward A.
Paulton, music by John L. McManus) (Ruth Mary Lockwood, Douglas Leavitt); “Those Oriental Blues”
(lyric by Harry Clarke, music by John L. McManus) (Norma Brown, Florence Hope, May Kitchen, Suzanne
Rossi, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
In a program note for the Boston tryout program, producer William Moore Patch wrote that the “girlicom-
edy” It’s Up to You was “an argument for optimism at a time when optimism is sorely needed.” The world
had gone through “rough times” in recent years, but “panics and hard times” were “largely a state of mind,”
and so when capitalization for the musical wasn’t forthcoming, the show’s backers “went out and got the
capital bit by bit.” It wasn’t “bankers” who gave show people a “living,” it was “you, the public-at-large.”
But for all that, the “public-at-large” didn’t support It’s Up to You, and the show went down after twenty-four
New York performances.
Perhaps the musical’s capitalization was a challenge because prospective investors became skittish when
they remembered that an earlier version of the show closed on the road in 1919 (as Hi and Dri, the book
was by Douglas Leavitt, Augustin McHugh, and Edward A. Paulton, the lyrics by Paulton, and the music by
Manuel Klein).
The plot dealt with Ned Spencer (Charles King) and Dick Dayton (Douglas Leavitt), who pretend to be
wealthy in order to impress the mother of their sweethearts, but a lucky break in real estate speculation
brings them both riches and the mother’s blessing for her daughters to marry. Real estate and property in
general were emphasized in the score by three songs (“I Want a Bungalow,” “Castles in the Air,” and “I Want
a Home”) and by a title for each of the three acts (“Laying the Foundation,” “Building,” and “The House
Warming”).
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the “fair-to-middling” show was “tricked out” with
songs, dances, jokes, and a “modest” cast, and he mentioned that a program note from producer Patch made
it “unusually clear that all the ingredients” of the musical were “sternly guarded by a copyright and that any
raids upon its treasures will be mercilessly avenged.”
Heywood Broun in the New York Tribune also used the term “fair-to-middling” to describe the musical,
and noted that despite a song titled “Umpty-Gumty Goo” (perhaps the critic meant “Bee-Deedle Dee-Dum
Dey”?) the show managed to live “this down in a measure.” However, the production came “perilously close
to being the worst musical show of the season” until dancer Florence Hope perked things up, and so “on a
scale with A as excellent and E for failure,” the show “lies some place between C plus and B minus” and is
“in other words a safe pass.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the musical was a “decid-
1920–1921 Season 57
edly good dancing show,” Hope was a “remarkably clever and comic dancer,” and the score was “lively and
youthful.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show sometimes “amusing” but not “especially amusing” and oth-
erwise “pretty hackneyed,” and Variety picked up on producer Patch’s “heated warning” to “menial burglars,
second-story men and cutthroats that they must not steal any of the play’s stuff, but he should worry.”
During the tryout, the married team of Joseph Santley and Ivy Sawyer were succeeded by Charles King and
Betty Pierce. Songs cut during the tryout were: “Every Time I See You, Dear,” “Smoke Dreams,” and “Umpty
Goo” (which may have been a variant title for “Bee-Deedle Dee-Dum Dey”).
JUNE LOVE
Opening Date: April 25, 1921; Closing Date: June 4, 1921
Performances: 48
Book: Otto Harbach and W. H. Post
Lyrics: Brian Hooker
Music: Rudolf Friml
Based on the play In Search of a Sinner by Charlotte Thompson (produced circa 1911, but didn’t play on
Broadway).
Direction: George Vivian; Producer: Sherman Brown; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Uncred-
ited; Costumes: Bertha A. Fields; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gene Salzer
Cast: Lois Josephine (Tiny Golden), Martha Mayo (Mrs. Martia Golden), Clarence Nordstrom (Bobbie Foster),
James Billings (Geoffrey Love), W. B. Davidson (Jack Garrison), Johnny Dooley (Eddie Evans), Else Adler
(Mrs. June Love), Bertee Beaumonte (Belle Bolton), Lionel Pape (Thompson), Billie Shilling (Miss Sum-
mers, Billie), Constance Madison (Miss Elisman, Constance), Doris Landy (Polly Smith, Doris), Alice Gor-
don (Kitty Smith, Alice), Robert Heft (Butler); Ensemble: Rita Frederick (Rita), Dorothy Irving (Dorothy),
Irma Irving (Irma), Nancy Bateman (Nancy), Winifred Gibson (Winifred), Betty Campbell (Betty), Dorothy
Tosbelle (Dot), Bobby Renys (Bobbie), Martha Wood (Martha), Lotta Corri (Lotta), Goldie Foley (Goldie),
Mabel Grete (Mabel); Sopranos: Caroline Cali, Eve Hackett, Mabel Taylor, Ann Greenway; Tenors: Tom
Rice, Ralfe Manning, Paul Logan, Robert Heft, Leon Chrystal, Louis Laub; Baritones: Harold Abbey, Harry
Miller, Norman Williams; Basses: Boris Scott, Fred Grod, Sam Goodman
The action takes place during the present time in the country “somewhere near” New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Lois Josephine, Ensemble); “Runaway Little Girl” (Lois Josephine, Clarence Nordstrom,
Ensemble); “Keep Your Eye on the Ball” (Johnny Dooley, assisted by Dorothy Irving, Irma Irving, Con-
stance Madison, Betty Campbell, Winifred Gibson, Mabel Grete); “Dear Love, My Love” (Else Adler,
Ensemble); “Don’t Call Them Dearie” (Bertee Beaumonte, Clarence Nordstrom); “I’m Not in Love with
You” (Else Adler, W. B. Davidson); “Be Careful” (Lois Josephine, Bertee Beaumonte, Clarence Nordstrom,
Johnny Dooley); Finale (Else Adler, Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Harvest Moon” (Caroline Cali, Ensemble); “The Egyptian Dance” (Bertee Beaumonte); “The
Spider’s Webb” (Else Adler, Girls); “With a Woman You Never Can Tell” (Johnny Dooley, The Specialty
Six); “Someone (Somebody) Like You” (Lois Josephine, W. B. Davidson, Martha Wood, Bobby Renys,
Ensemble); “The Flapper and the Vamp” (Bertee Beaumonte); “June Love” (Else Adler, W. B. Davidson);
“Comme ci, comme ça” (Lois Josephine, Clarence Nordstrom, Ensemble); Finale
The title character and widow June Love (Else Adler) sets her sights on bachelor Jack Garrison (W. B. Da-
vidson), who somehow assumes she’s married to his best friend and thus shows no interest in a relationship.
But when he discovers she’s single, it’s wedding bells for the two of them. Critics and audiences weren’t all
that enthusiastic about the show, and it closed after six weeks.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the musical was “just about like every musical comedy you ever saw,”
and in truth was “not so bad.” On the other hand, it wasn’t “so good, either,” and Rudolf Friml’s score was
“rather shopworn.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the telling of the story wasn’t “achieved with any show
of brilliance” and comic Johnny Dooley “made a show of being funny without having much material for the
making.” But Friml’s music was “catchy” and Brian Hooker was “miles ahead of most lyricists.” Heywood
Broun in Vanity Fair was unimpressed and said that “for the life of me I can’t remember a single detail” about
the show, and “after great and painful deliberation I seem to see a choral number in which all the girls swing
golf clubs” (he probably did, if the song “Keep Your Eye on the Ball” is any indication). Despite his lack of
memory, Broun decided June Love must have been “perfectly harmless.”
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the musical was “a little above the average” and Brian
Hooker’s lyrics were “skillful.” Friml’s score was “tuneful and agreeable,” and Else Adler belonged to a small
group (which included Eleanor Painter and Tessa Kosta) who held “the revolutionary notion that the prima
donna of a musical comedy should be able to sing and act a little.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World liked the musical’s “tuneful charm” and “engaging”
cast, and he noted the chorus was “charming” and sang and danced “delightfully.” The score was “tuneful,”
and Hooker’s “clever” lyrics proved he hadn’t “forgotten” W. S. Gilbert. But the book had “little” in the way
of humor. Brooklyn Life said the show was “considerably above the average, whatever that may be,” and “the
only thing” which “pull[ed] down the average was the thinness and obviousness” of much of the humor. But
Friml’s music was “lilting, tuneful, [and] sprightly,” and the critic also mentioned that Hooker’s lyrics were
“suggestive” of Gilbert. Variety stated the book didn’t “make enlivening entertainment” and the show was
“lacking in effective comedy.” Otherwise, the score offered “many catchy, tuneful melodies,” “delightful”
and “colorful” stage pictures, and “exhilarating dancing girls.”
TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE

“New Musical Comedy Production” / “The New Musical Comedy” / “New Musical Comedy Hit”
Theatre: Cohan’s Theatre

Opening Date: May 3, 1921; Closing Date: August 27, 1921
Performances: 135
Book: Fred Jackson
Lyrics: Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin)
Music: Paul Lannin and Vincent Youmans
Direction: Ned Wayburn; Producer: A. L. Erlanger; Choreography: Uncredited (most likely Ned Wayburn);
Scenery: H. Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Shirley Barker; Iverson & Henneage; Brooks Uniform Com-
pany; Lighting: Electrical effects by Tony Greshoff; Musical Direction: Charles Previn
Cast: Madeline Fairbanks (Dolly Sartoris), Marion Fairbanks (Polly Sartoris), Oscar Shaw (Robert Barker, aka
Bobby), Fred Santley (Jerry Lloyd), Olin Howard (Morgan Atwell), Emma Janvier (Hariette Neville), Julia
Kelety (Ninon La Fleur), Stanley Jessup (Captain Morrow), Jack Tomson (Jennings), Tommy Tomson (Ken-
nedy), Fred Hall (Newton Canney, Sammy Snipe), Vanda Hoff (Maid o’ the Mist, Orienta, Cecile), Evelyn
Law (Margie), Ophelia (Patricia Clarke), Edith Decker (Mary Bird), Beulah McFarland (The Bride); The
Personality Contingent: Beulah McFarland, Muriel Lodge, Caroline Erwin, Jacqueline Hunter, Margery
Morrison, Kay Harrison, Rose Taylor, Edith Kessler, Helen Gates, Leonore Lukens, Rosemary Sill, Daisy
Daniels, Dorothy Harrison, Jobyna Ralston, Ray West; Ensemble of Male Soloists: Otis Harper, Fred Rog-
ers, Harold Thompson, Frank Hall, Ellwood Gray, Paul Porter, Gayle Mays
The action takes place during the present time aboard the S.S. Empress and off the Indian shore.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Paul Lannin; (**) = music by Vincent Youmans
Act One: “We’re Off on a Wonderful Trip” (**) (Stanley Jessup, Stewarts, Passengers); “Wonderful U.S.A.” (*)
(Olin Howard, Chorus); “When I’m with the Girls” (**) (Oscar Shaw, Chorus); “Two Little Girls in Blue”
1920–1921 Season 59
(**) (Madeline Fairbanks, Marion Fairbanks); “The Silly Season” (**) ( Emma Janvier, Oscar Shaw, Fred
Santley, Evelyn Law, [Olive], Chorus [Note: The New York opening night program indicates that a charac-
ter named Olive was one of the singers, but no such character is actually listed in the cast of characters for
the pre-Broadway tryout, New York opening night, and post-Broadway tour programs]); “Oh Me! Oh My!”
(aka “Oh Me, Oh My, Oh You”) (**) (Oscar Shaw, Marion Fairbanks); “You Started Something (When You
Came Along)” (**) (Fred Santley, Madeline Fairbanks); Finale: “We’re Off to India” (**) (Ensemble; this
sequence included the ballet “Maid o’ the Mist” which featured Vanda Hoff)
Act Two: “Here, Steward” (**) (Jack Tomson, Tommy Tomson, Patricia Clarke, Chorus); “The Gypsy Trail”
(*) (lyric by Irving Caesar) (Julia Kelety, Male Chorus); “Dolly” (aka “Dolly Dear”) (**) (lyric by Arthur
Francis and Schuyler Greene) (Oscar Shaw, Fred Santley, Chorus); “Who’s Who with You?” (**) (Oscar
Shaw, Marion Fairbanks); “Just Like You” (*) (Fred Santley, Madeline Fairbanks, Edith Decker, Vanda
Hoff, Jack Tomson, Tommy Tomson); “There’s Something about Me They Like” (**) (lyric by Arthur
Francis and Fred Jackson) (Olin Howard, Evelyn Law, Girls); “Rice and Shoes” (**) (lyric by Arthur Francis
and Schuyler Greene) (Oscar Shaw, Fred Santley, Chorus); Finale: “She’s Innocent” (**) (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Honeymoon (When Will You Shine on Me)” (*) (Julia Kelety, Fred Santley, Chorus; this sequence
included a dance by Evelyn Law); “I’m Tickled Silly” (*) (Olin Howard, Oscar Shaw, Fred Santley);
“Orienta” (lyricist unknown; probably Irving Caesar) (**) (Oscar Shaw, Chorus; this sequence included
“Nautch Dance” by Vanda Hoff); Finale (Ensemble)
Two Little Girls in Blue marked the Broadway debut of Vincent Youmans. His first Broadway-bound show
was Piccadilly to Broadway, which closed on the road during the previous year and included lyrics by Arthur
Francis (aka Ira Gershwin). In fact, Two Little Girls in Blue was for all purposes Ira Gershwin’s Broadway
debut. He had written the occasional lyric for Broadway or Broadway-bound shows, but Two Little Girls in
Blue was the first time his full set of lyrics was heard in a Broadway musical.
The girls in the show’s title are the twins Dolly and Polly Sartoris (played by the Fairbanks Twins, Mad-
eline and Marion). They’re stranded in New York but are determined to reach India in order to claim an in-
heritance. To that end, they book passage on the S.S. Empress under one name, ensure that they’re never seen
together, and alternately make appearances on board as the same person. They soon find shipboard romance,
Dolly with Jerry Lloyd (Fred Santley) and Polly with Bobby Barker (Oscar Shaw), but of course both young
men don’t know they’re courting twins and soon come to believe they’re rivals for the same girl. To add to
the confusion, two jewel thieves pursued by a Scotland Yard detective are on board.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s couldn’t remember “a single funny line” from the show, but the production
was “decidedly easy to watch.” And whenever the book began “to get a little too dull,” a dance was intro-
duced to enliven the proceedings. Heywood Broun in Vanity Fair said the music was “pleasant” with “little
individual distinction,” and the evening wasn’t “overwhelmingly funny.” But like Parker he noted that a
dance would begin “whenever the conversation lags.” Brooklyn Life liked the “good” songs, most of the
“catchy sort” that “everybody in town will be whistling.” The critic was especially impressed by a scenic ef-
fect in which the ship “is supposed to be nearing a landing, when by clever stage mechanics the entire stage
turns slowly, making the scene most realistic.”
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the book was “no laughing matter,” but producers usu-
ally surmounted “the difficulties which are presented by a mirthless libretto” by hiring comedians to provide
the laughs. Unfortunately, the “world supply of Leon Errols” was not “unlimited” and so in the case of Two
Little Girls in Blue producer A. L. Erlanger “decided to distract attention” from the book’s “weaknesses”
by ensuring that “a dancer [was] always at work somewhere.” The scenic effect that impressed the critic for
Brooklyn Life, however, drew the opposite reaction from Woollcott, who said the staging created “an uncom-
fortable and striking illusion of being a ship coming up to its pier.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World commented that the Fairbanks Twins played twins
who were “so impoverished” they “had nothing to wear but simple frocks” which cost between $500 and
$1,000 each, and this “pitiable condition” forced one of them to be a stowaway “in the best cabin” on the
ship. Darnton decided that not since The Two Orphans (the French melodrama that first opened on Broadway
in 1874) had “there been anything like the hardships of these heavenly-looking twins.” He also noted that in
one scene when the twins’ cabin is investigated, Dolly stood inside a frame while Polly stood outside it, and,
voila, there was the old “mirror trick.” Youmans’s score had a “familiar strain” to it, but was “happily free
from jazz,” and the lyrics by Arthur Francis included “Oh Me! Oh My! Oh You!” and “similarly appealing
numbers, simple, yet popular.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show wasn’t a “perfect specimen” because it wasn’t “quite funny
enough,” but it had “speed and spirit and polish,” and director Ned Wayburn was “the star of the production.”
The music wasn’t “revolutionary in its brilliance,” but “much of it will win popularity,” and the sets and
costumes were “fetching.” Variety also said Wayburn was “the star of the production” with his “resource-
fulness” with the chorus. The score was “agreeable,” and the “stage pictures” provided “ingenious effects
galore,” including “a neat, quick change of scene with a capital surprise for the second act finale” when the
curtain “goes to the top of the proscenium arch and the bridge of the ship is shown high above the cabin in-
terior” and a “multi-colored chorus” was seen along the rail. Here was a “novel effect and a good surprise.”
Another effect showed the ship heading right “into the audience” (this was the effect that Woollcott described
as “uncomfortable”).
During the tryout, the following songs were cut (* = music by Lannin; ** = music by Youmans): “Utopia”
(**), “Win Some Winsome Girl” (**), “Happy Ending” (*), “Mr. and Mrs.” (**), and “Little Bag of Tricks” (*);
and the “Honeymoon” sequence included two dances, “The Albatross” and “Nautical Acrobatics.” For the try-
out, “Rice and Shoes” (**) was titled “Sweetest Girl.” Cut in preproduction were “Make the Best of It” (**) and
“Summertime” (*). The above-referenced Piccadilly to Broadway included two songs that eventually found
their way into the score for Two Little Girls in Blue: “Who’s Who with You?” (which had originally been intro-
duced by Clifton Webb, Anna Wheatley, and the chorus) and “Mr. and Mrs.” (first introduced by Clifton Webb,
Helen Broderick, and others), and as noted, the latter was dropped during the tryout of Two Little Girls in Blue.
“Wonderful U.S.A.” was cut during the New York run, and wasn’t included for the post-Broadway tour. For
No, No, Nanette, “You Started Something” was reworked as “I’m Waiting for You” (lyric by Otto Harbach).
The Times reported that for the matinee performance on May 18, 1921, 109 pairs of twins were given
complimentary tickets to the production, an occasion said “to have brought together the largest number of
twins ever gathered under one roof.” A prize of ten dollars was given to the oldest twins, who turned out to be
two brothers from Brooklyn who were eighty-seven years old. The Fairbanks Twins presented the award, and
after the performance all the twins were invited on stage to personally meet the Fairbanks and the Thomsons
(Jack and Tommy), another set of twins who appeared in the musical.
The collections Through the Years with Vincent Youmans (Evergreen Records two-LP set # 6401/02)
include “Oh Me! Oh My!” and “Dolly” and The Carioca: Songs of Vincent Youmans (Arabesque CD #Z-
692) includes “You Started Something.” All of Gershwin’s lyrics are included in the hardback collection The
Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin.
The British Musical Theatre reports that in 1927 a production of Two Little Girls in Blue was headed for
London but “expired on the road.”
PRINCESS VIRTUE
Performances: 13
Book, Lyrics, and Music: B. C. Hilliam and Gitz Rice
Direction: Leon Errol; Producer: Gerald Bacon; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman Stu-
dios; Costumes: Hickson of New York; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Jules Epailly (Gautier), Allen Fagan (Pierre), Alice Maison (Francine), Sarah Edwards (Mrs. Demarest),
Anne Page (Miss Leadbeater), Hugh Cameron (Bourbon), Bradford Kirkbride (Bruce Crawford), Earl A. Fox
(Carre), Frank Moulan (Hiram Demarest), Sylvia Elias (Maxine), Robert G. Pitkin (Baron Transky), Tessa
Kosta (Lane Demarest, aka Princess Virtue), Frank Greene (Sir Arthur Gower), Zella Rambeau (Claire Mo-
rin), Charles Jerome (Francois), Grady Miller (Charlot), Leroy Montesanto (Chic), Harold Goulden (Pois-
son); The Eight Little Nobodies: Penny Rowland, Sally Berry, Beth Meakins, Bessie Gross, Wilma Bruce,
Marie Benedict, Grace Russell, Margaret Finley; Shop Girls and Customers: Jessie Howe, Eleanor Wallace,
Frances Stone, Arden Benlawin, Beth Carpenter, Alma Montefiore, Lucille Wallace, Hazel Mack, Eliza-
beth Cline, Jean Forsythe, Vera Rossander, Clare Burton, Katherine Valentine, Josephine Doane, Yvonne
LaGrange, Dorothy Stokes, Opal Essent, Betty Palmer
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Deauville.
1920–1921 Season 61
Musical Numbers
Act One: “When My Lady Goes in Quest of Finery” (Jules Epailly, Chorus); “Dear Sweet Eyes” (Bradford Kirk-
bride); “Waltz” (Allen Fagan, Alice Maison); “Eight Little Nobodies” (Earl A. Fox, The Eight Little Nobod-
ies); “The Modern Village Blacksmith” (Frank Moulan, Quartette); “There’s Something Irresistible about
Me” (Robert G. Pitkin, Girls); “Princess Virtue” (Tessa Kosta, Ensemble); “Life Is All Sunshine with You”
(Earl A. Fox, Zella Rambeau, Ensemble); Dance (Allen Fagan, Alice Maison); “Quartette” (Grady Miller,
Leroy Montesanto, Harold Goulden, Charles Jerome); “Smoke Rings” (Tessa Kosta, Bradford Kirkbride);
“Seeing Paris” (Zella Rambeau, Frank Moulan); “Perfect Song of Love” (Company)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Voices of Youth” (Sarah Edwards); “Cane Dance” (Alice Maison, Allen Fa-
gan); “While My Wife’s Away” (Frank Moulan, The Eight Little Nobodies); “Clothes” (Frank Moulan,
Robert G. Pitkin, Earl A. Fox, Hugh Cameron, Jules Epailly); “Little Red Riding Hood” (Zella Rambeau,
Frank Moulan, Chorus); “When I Meet Love” (Tessa Kosta, The Eight Little Nobodies); “Quarreling Duet”
(Tessa Kosta, Bradford Kirkbride); First Scene Finale (Company); “Front Scene” (The Eight Little Nobod-
ies); “Moonlight” (Sylvia Elias, Quartette, Ensemble); “Pierrot Dance” (Allen Fagan, Alice Maison); “Bac-
chanale” (Ensemble); “Toddling Along” (Company); Finale (Company)
Princess Virtue was the shortest-running musical of the season with just thirteen unlucky performances.
The heroine, Lane Demarest, aka Princess Virtue (Tessa Kosta), is from New York, and she’s now in Paris and
Deauville searching for true love. After meeting several young men, she eventually finds romance with boy-
from-home Bruce Crawford (Bradford Kirkbride), and the musical’s lesson is that one needn’t travel to Paris,
France, Europe, to find love when it’s more than likely right there in your own backyard.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said you kept thinking Princess Virtue would eventually get better, and so
you stayed “trustingly on to the end.” But, of course, “you lose.” The “lukewarm” evening offered music that
was “never more than not so bad,” lyrics that were “innocuous,” and “such a lavish amount of plot” that “to
this day, I haven’t got it straightened out” and “I never expect to have it cleared up for me.” Heywood Broun
in Vanity Fair gave the princess a one-sentence-review kiss-off by noting that Kosta had a “beautiful” voice
and the evening itself didn’t offer “much else worth remembering.”
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the musical opened on a warm night and was received
by “a somewhat soggy and gradually diminishing audience.” He suggested that “a good half hour” or “perhaps
a bad half hour” be cut from the show, and maybe encores should be allowed only “when the audience seems
insistent.” There was one good song (“Eight Little Nobodies”), but otherwise one “derived more amusement
from listening to the musical comedy French” which was “quite mannafeek as one of the actors would, and
in fact did, say.”
Variety found the plot one of the “oldest in musical comedy,” and it was “remarkable” only because the
musical’s producer was willing to pay “royally” for such a story. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical
proved “there are many things money cannot buy” and thus it was impossible to brew “humor in the brains
of authors who have no sense of the humorous.” The show was “poverty-stricken” with a “deadly” first act
(the second was “not so bad”), songs which were “commonplace,” and three “over-dressed” young men in
pursuit of the heroine.
Brooklyn Life said the plot mattered “very little” and in fact got “almost lost in the shuffle,” and overall
the show was “hardly commensurate with the amount of talent expended upon it.” The critic noted that in
the second act a performer named Zella Rambeau (who played a dancer from the Moulin Rouge) wore “noth-
ing above the waist that could be called clothing,” and if “she wore as little below as some of the dancers, she
would be in the almost altogether,” a matter “perhaps not worth mentioning nowadays.”
PHOEBE OF QUALITY STREET

Theatre: Shubert Theatre
Performances: 16
Book and Lyrics: English adaptation by Edward Delaney Dunn, based on the original German operetta Drei
alte Schachteln, book by Hermann Haller and lyrics by Rideamus (aka Fritz Oliven)
Music: Walter Kollo

Based on James M. Barrie’s 1901 play Quality Street and the above-cited 1917 operetta Drei alte Schachteln.
Direction: W. H. Gilmore; Producers: The Messrs. Lee and J. J. Shubert; Choreography: Max Scheck; Scenery:
Uncredited; Costumes: Mode Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Dorothy Ward (Phoebe Throssel), Jessamine Newcomb (Susan Throssel), Warren Proctor (Valentine
Brown), Shaun Glenville (Sergeant Terence O’Toole), Gertrude Mudge (Patty), Muriel Tindal (Miss Wil-
loughby), Mary McCord (Fanny Willoughby), Marie Pettes (Henrietta Trumbull), Lucius Metz (Lieutenant
Spier), Joe Tinsley (Ensign Blades), Gertrude Blair (Charlotte), Lillian Wilck (Harriet), Elaine McIntosh
(Isabella), Marie Farrell (Elizabeth), Alfred Little (Georgie), Thomas Victory (William Smith), Uarda Bur-
nett (June); The Glorias, aka Adelaide and Albert DiNovaloff (Dancers); Ladies: Patricia Clifford, Catherine
Frank, Beth Ormby, Florence Pettingill, Irene Gilmore, Kitty Leckie, Ethel Carlin, Elsie Clifton, Nancy
Vaughn; Officers: James Smith, Minor McLain, Oliver Stewart, Arthur Cardinal, Jack Kearns, Ernest Miller,
Dennis Murray, Thomas Manners; Children: Ruth Cloos, Dorothy Kitchen, Grace Durkin, James Coudert
The musical was presented in two acts
The action takes place during the period of the Napoleonic Wars in a small English country town.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue: (1) Opening (Ensemble); (2) “Dream of Joy” (Dorothy Ward); and (3) Finale: “You’ll Find the
Rainbow” (lyric by Mrs. Edward Delaney Dunn) (Warren Proctor); “Gavotte” (Dorothy Ward, Children);
“March Incidental”; “The Autumn Sun” (Warren Proctor); “Dawn Turns (Grows) to Morning” (Dorothy
Ward, Warren Proctor); “Is It Safe to Depend on the Irish?” (Gertrude Mudge, Shaun Glenville); “I Want
to Be Merry” (lyric by Mrs. Edward Delaney Dunn) (Dorothy Ward)
Act Two: Dance (The Glorias); “Little Wallflowers” (Jessamine Newcomb, Four Wallflowers); “O’Toole”
(Shaun Glenville, Girls); “Waltzing Is Passing (Spreading) from Land to Land” (Dorothy Ward, Warren
Proctor, Ensemble); “Let’s Make Up” (lyric by Mrs. Edward Delaney Dunn) (Gertrude Mudge, Shaun
Glenville); Finale
Phoebe of Quality Street was based on James M. Barrie’s 1901 play Quality Street, which starred Maude
Adams, who in 1905 starred in her greatest role in the Broadway premiere of Barrie’s 1904 play Peter Pan.
Quality Street was filmed twice, in a 1927 silent film adaptation that featured Marion Davies and a 1933 film
version which starred Katharine Hepburn, but the musical version was vilified by the critics and lasted just
two weeks on Broadway. Another musical version was Dear Miss Phoebe (London, 1951, 283 performances).
Set in England during the era of the Napoleonic Wars, the slight story centered on the slightly spinsterish
Phoebe Throssel (Dorothy Ward) who pretends to be her niece in order to win the love of Valentine Brown
(Warren Proctor).
Adaptor Edward Delaney Dunn, Ward as the title character, and Shaun Glenville in the role of comic
Irishman Sergeant Terence O’Toole came in for severe criticism. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times
said Barrie’s play was “the least” of his theatre works, and while the lyric adaptation was “sometimes good
to look at and nearly always pleasing to hear” (often Walter Kollo’s score was “uncommonly engaging”),
its efforts to be “amusing” were “not strikingly successful.” As the Irish comic, Glenville came across as
“green and racy from some peat-bog of vaudeville” (Woollcott and other critics quoted one of his worst lines:
when asked about someone’s military experience, the comedian said the person had once been “half-shot”).
Although the publicity mill hailed Ward as “England’s greatest comedienne,” hers was the season’s “most
astonishing bit of casting” and she approached the “dainty” operetta “in the frenzied manner usually reserved
for the mad scenes in Italian opera.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s noted that Ward had been imported to Broadway to play the title role, and
“considering what a first-class passage costs these days, it seems really staggering to think of the money
that could have been saved by the simple means of letting her stay happily at home.” Heywood Broun in the
New York Tribune said a recent (1918) film version of Barrie’s 1902 play The Admirable Crichton was “bad
enough,” but it didn’t begin “to approach the devastation” wrought by Phoebe of Quality Street. If Barrie ever
saw the musical, he wouldn’t recognize it “as any child of his,” not even as a “distant niece.”
The headline in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said “Poor J. M. Barrie Gets Very Badly Treated,” and the re-
viewer went on to suggest that had Barrie seen the musical “he would have wept.” Dunn did his “worst” with
1920–1921 Season 63
the adaptation, and “worst than that” was Ward, who apparently “spent the years of her life collecting all the
affectations in the world” and thus acted the role “to death.” And what she didn’t do to the original play, the
“hackneyed” Glenville did the rest with “a method as old as the hills and almost as old as Mr. Dunn’s jokes.”
But Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World found Ward “charming” and “thoroughly win-
some,” and he noted that Kollo’s score was “charming” and possessed of an “irresistible swing.” Glenville,
however, was “burdened by jokes that must have come over with Columbus.” Jolo in Variety said the musical
was “an occasion for joy and thankfulness” with a story “far removed from the imbecilic plots” that prevailed
on Broadway, and Kollo’s score was “legitimate” and “dignified.” Glenville was “excruciatingly funny, and
as for those who thought Ward overacted, the critic asked “when did one ever encounter any acting in our
musical comedy productions?”
Drei alte Schachteln was recorded on two two-CD sets, one released by BMG/Eurodisc (# 74321-29336-2)
and another by Cantus Classics (# CACD-5-01315).
Dorothy Ward and Shaun Glenville were married, and their son Peter Glenville became a distinguished
film and stage director, mostly of dramas (such as the 1960 play Becket and its 1964 film version). He also
directed the Broadway musicals Take Me Along (1959) and Tovarich (1963).
THE LAST WALTZ

Opening Date: May 10, 1921; Closing Date: October 29, 1921
Performances: 185
Libretto: Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald; English book and lyrics by Harold Atteridge and Edward Del-
aney Dunn (lyrics written only by Dunn are noted in the list of musical numbers); additional lyrics by
Harold Atteridge and Louis Friedman
Music: Oscar Straus; additional music by Ralph Benatzky, Alfred (Al) Goodman, Rudolf Nelson, and A. Werau
Direction: J. C. Huffman and Frank Smithson; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.) and United Plays
Company; Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Jack Mason; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Uncredited;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Oscar Radin
Cast: Clarence Harvey (General Miecu Krasian), Rex Carter (Ensign Orsinsky), John V. Lowe (Captain Ka-
minski), Ted Lorraine (Lieutenant Matlain), Irving Rose (Adjutant Labinescue), Ruth Mills (Mariette),
Timothy Daly (Vladek), Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King) (Lieutenant Jack Merrington), James Barton
(Mat Maltby), Eleanor Painter (Vera Lizaveta), Florence Morrison (Countess Alexandrowna Corpulinski),
Beatrice Swanson (Annuschka), Marcella Swanson (Hannushchka), Gladys Walton (Petruschka), Elea-
nor Griffith (Babushka), Harry Fender (Baron Ippolith), George Evans (Grand Duke Hubenstitch), Isabel
Rodriguez (Carmenina), John Giuran and Marguerite (Dancers), Harrison Broadbank (Prince Paul), Rena
Reynolds (Chochette), Nan Rainsford (Lolo), Helen Herendeen (Sylvette), Carolyn Reynolds (Babette),
Jean Thomas (Francine), Amelia Allen (Zadie); Ladies of the Ensemble: Nan Rainsford, Chase Herendeen,
Helen Herendeen, Virginia Calmer, May Jennings, Betty Walsh, Carolyn Reynolds, Nita Miramar, Ann
Delmore, Aquilla Sharpe, Adolphia Sharpe, Bruzilla Sharpe, Thelma Smith, Yvonne Linnard, Thelma
Turnbull, Rena Manning, Anna May Dennehy, Florence Darling, Marjorie Muir, Ruth Shaw, Marie
LaVon, Mary Kissel, Corine Jackson, Peggy Glendenning, May Beck, Jean Wallace, Bunny Castle, Sybil
Morais, Clio Ayers, Jean Troupman, Jean Thomas, Gladys Davis, Dorothy Laudena, Donna Mobley, Peggy
Brown, Catherine Flynn; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: William Tillet, Alfred Brauning, Harry Rosedale,
John Castle, Max Rosenberg, Murray Minehart, John Miller, George Levoy, Walton Ford, Ben Jackson,
Marc Roselle
The action takes place during the present time in Vandalia, a kingdom in Balkans.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hail to the General” (Officers, Men); “The Next Dance with You” (lyric by Louis Friedman, music
by Alfred Goodman) (John V. Lowe, Rex Carter, Jean Thomas, Ruth Mills); “Live for Today” (lyric by Harold
Atteridge, music by Alfred Goodman and A. Werau) (Walter Woolf, Officers, Men); “The Charming Ladies”
(lyric by Harold Atteridge, music by Alfred Goodman and A. Werau) (James Barton, Chorus); “My Heart Is
Waking” (Eleanor Painter); “Roses out of Reach” (Eleanor Painter); “Polka” (Harry Fender, Beatrice Swan-
son, Marcella Swanson, Gladys Walton); “The Last Waltz” (lyric by Edward Delaney Dunn) (Eleanor Painter,
Walter Woolf, Chorus); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Dance (John Giuran, Marguerite); “Reminiscence” (Eleanor Painter, Walter Woolf); “Ladies’ Choice”
(James Barton, John V. Lowe, Irving Rose, Rex Carter, Beatrice Swanson, Marcella Swanson, Gladys Wal-
ton); “Bring Him My Love Thoughts” (Eleanor Painter, Ensemble); “A Baby in Love” (lyric by Harold At-
teridge, music by Ralph Benatzky and Alfred Goodman) (Eleanor Griffith, Harry Fender); “Fading Golden
Love Dream” (lyric by Edward Delaney Dunn) (Eleanor Painter, Walter Woolf); “Balalaika Dance” (John
Guiran); Finale (Eleanor Painter, Walter Woolf, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Egyptian Dance” (John Guiran, Marguerite); “Dance Espagnol” (Isabel Rodriguez, James Barton);
“The Whip Hand” (lyric by Harold Atteridge, music by Rudolf Nelson) (Harrison Brockbank, Chorus);
“Oo-La-La” (lyric by Edward Delaney Dunn) (Eleanor Painter); Finale (Ensemble)
Oscar Straus’s operetta Der letzte walzer opened in New York five months after its Berlin premiere on
December 12, 1920, at the Berliner Theatre. For Broadway, Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald’s libretto
was adapted and revised by Harold Atteridge and Edward Delaney Dunn, and Straus’s score was supplemented
with new songs by four composers, including Alfred (Al) Goodman. The operetta enjoyed a run of almost six
months on Broadway, and then began a national tour.
Set in the present time in the Balkan kingdom of Vandalia, the plot focused on American naval officer
Lieutenant Jack Merrington (Walter Woolf, aka Walter Woolf King), who because of his interest in Vera Liza-
veta (Eleanor Painter) is imprisoned by the jealous Prince Paul (Harrison Brockbank).
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the “quite extraordinary” work was one of the season’s
“best” with a “beguiling,” “gay,” and “infectious” score. The “handsomely and ambitiously” produced show
was “opulent and costly,” Painter and Woolf were in fine voice, and James Barton was “one of the best clowns
of our time” who added “measurably to the city’s supply of laughter.” He never stopped dancing, and the
show’s creators kept “pushing the libretto out of the way for fear it should trip him up or even annoy him.”
The songs added for the show were “baptized in the East River rather than the blue Danube,” but for all that
“A Baby in Love” was a “jaunty and pursuing tune.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the “lavish” décor and costumes filled the Cen-
tury’s stage with “spectacle,” but noted the program contained “ominous” words when it mentioned “ad-
ditional music” not composed by Straus. Further, a “strenuous orchestra added to the confusion,” and the
original book and lyrics “had undergone changes at the hands” of others. But Straus’s music offered “genuine
melody,” the “fascinating” Painter was “a real prima donna,” Woolf “quite the best of our young baritones,”
and Barton danced “inimitably.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that along with Sally, The Last Waltz was one of the best musicals of the
season. The work was “polished,” and the sets and costumes were “elaborate and colorful” if occasionally “a
trifle gaudy rather than persuasively beautiful.” The score was the season’s best, and Barton was “comedian-
in-chief.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s praised the “charming” score, “good” singers, and the “Heaven-sent”
Barton in the season’s “most gorgeously funny part.” Painter’s voice was “delightful,” Woolf sang even better
than in the previous year’s revival of Florodora, and the production was mounted “with an impressive disre-
gard for expense.” Jack Lait in Variety praised the “rich and gorgeous” production, and found Painter “charm-
ing” and Woolf “manly and handsome.” Further, the musical was “a night of triumph” for Barton. But the
operetta was a Chocolate Soldier “without any ‘My Hero,’” and Straus had failed to provide an outstanding
love duet and waltz. The composer “would be well to put into [the score] at once one great melody”; and as
it stood, the show’s “song hit” was Goodman’s interpolated “A Baby in Love,” which “proved one of those
seven encore-taking jingles.”
During the run, the Times reported that because Eleanor Painter “found herself unequal to the greater
number of performances,” all matinees would be dropped during July and August and thus the production
would play for just six weekly showings.
Painter and Woolf were highly praised by the critics, but it was Barton who walked if not danced away
with the reviews. His was an impressive career in both dramas and musicals, and he created the roles of
Hickey in the original 1946 Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and Ben Rumson
in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon. He also succeeded Henry Hull as
Jeeter Lester in the original (1933–1941) production of Tobacco Road, and reportedly played the role more
than two thousand times.
1920–1921 Season 65
The score was released on a two-CD recording sung in German (Membran Records # 232999). There have
been at least six theatrical and television versions of the operetta, the first a 1927 silent German film; later
film and television adaptations were made in 1934, 1936 (two different versions), 1953, and 1973.
THE THREE MUSKETEERS

“A Musical Costume Play”
Theatre: Manhattan Opera House

Performances: 5
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Richard W. Temple
Based on the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Direction: Richard W. Temple; Producers: Richard W. Temple and the Southern Light Opera Company;
Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Theodore Reisig; Costumes: Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Ernest Knoch
Cast: Charles Angelo (King Louis XIII), Paula Temple (Queen Anne), Edward Emery (Cardinal Richelieu),
Winifred Verina (Lady de Winter, aka Miladi), Jean Wilkins (Constance), B. N. Lewin (George Villiers),
Leo Stark (Comte de Rochefort), Leonard Booker (De Treville), Percy Carr (Athos), John Parsons (Porthos),
J. Humbird Duffy (Aramis), Richard W. Temple (D’Artagnan), Edward Favor (Monsieur Bonacieux), Hed-
ley Hall (De Jassac, Jeweler), Frederick Saunders (Biscarat), Gerald Ewing (Bernajoux), Lionel Langtry (De
Busigny), Hiram Murphy (Cahusac), Elsie Meyer (Madame de Bois-Tracy), Hilda Steiner (Madame de
Surgis), Grace Wood (Madame d’Aigullon), Ethel Cook (Madame de Lannoy), Edith Hughes (Madame de
Estrees), Annabel Grey (Donna Estafania), Beatrice Whitney (Gabrielle), J. H. Kline (Landlord, Patrick), J.
Perloff (Waiter), Sidney Stone (The Spanish Grandee, Secretary), Percy Richards (Agent), Lorenzo Vitale
(Chamberlain), Frank Petell (Monk)
The action takes place during April 1625 in the French village of Meung, Paris, Calais, and London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Sleepy Old Village of Meung” (Chorus); “I’m Going to Join the Musketeers” (Richard W.
Temple); “Paris! Paris!” (Chorus); “Yes, I Am Here” (Percy Carr, John Parsons, J. Humbird Duffy); “Oh!
Friendship!” (Percy Carr, John Parsons, J. Humbird Duffy, Richard W. Temple); “Oh, Lovely Star of
Night” (Ladies’ Chorus); “Venus and Mars” (Paula Temple); “But Put Thy Hand in Mine” (Paula Temple);
“Bold Musketeers”; Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Parisian Sellers); “You’ll Have to Find Another Girl” (Jean Wilkins, Richard W.
Temple); “Now Drink a Glass with Me, My Friends” (Jean Wilkins, Percy Carr, John Parsons, J. Humbird
Duffy, Richard W. Temple); “Riding through the Mist and Mire” (Chorus); “Honour and Glory”; March
(Percy Carr, John Parsons, J. Humbird Duffy, Jean Wilkins, Ladies of the Court, Musketeers); “The Arti-
cles of Toilette for a Lady” (J. Humbird Duffy); “Oh! Who Will Be a Queen!” (Paula Temple, Jean Wilkins,
Percy Carr, John Parsons, J. Humbird Duffy, Chorus)
The decade offered two lyric versions of Alexandre Dumas’s classic 1844 novel of derring-do in the early
1600s. The current adaptation’s book, lyrics, music, and direction were by Richard W. Temple, who also pro-
duced the musical for the Southern Light Opera Company, which the New York Times described as a group
of Atlanta businessmen. In addition, Temple starred as D’Artagnan and his daughter Paula played the role of
Queen Anne. The current adaptation was a short-lived failure that abruptly closed, but the 1928 version (book
by William Anthony McGuire, lyrics by P. G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey, and music by Rudolf Friml) was
a hit that played for 318 performances (see separate entry for this version).
The musical was the premier presentation for the first season of the Southern Light Opera Company,
and the plan was to present various operettas at the Manhattan Opera House over a period of four months.
The work opened on May 19, and the Times reported that it gave its final performance on the 23rd. With the
closing of the musical, it seems the Southern Light Opera Company faded as well, and as far as Broadway was
concerned, the company was never heard from again.
A few days after the opening, the producers announced the run would be “temporarily suspended” due to
Temple being ill, but soon it was disclosed that the actors hadn’t been paid on the 21st and that on May 23rd
the stagehands went on strike after the first act and demanded payment of $200 (the sum was paid, and the
show went on). But on the 24th the company was told that because the backers hadn’t provided enough fund-
ing, the musical would permanently close (but a bond deposited by the producers to Actors’ Equity ensured
that the players were paid in full).
Set in France and England during 1625, the story centered on D’Artagnan and his comrades the Three
Musketeers, Athos (Percy Carr), Porthos (John Parsons), and Aramis (J. Humbird Duffy), all of whom are knee-
deep in royal intrigues, including the recovery of Queen Anne’s diamonds. D’Artagnan is also romantically
involved with Constance (Jean Wilkins), the queen’s married lady-in-waiting.
The Times’ opening night review noted that the New York premiere had been postponed three times
because the singers in the Southern Light Opera Company “were not invulnerable to April climate in the
North.” The critic singled out such songs as “Venus and Mars,” and suggested the evening revived “the man-
ner of old-time operetta.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World also mentioned the postpone-
ments of the “somewhat labored” musical, which “lacked dash.” Temple was “rather hoarse” for the opening
performance, and while he “started off well enough” there were times when “his acting and singing were no
better than the wig he wore.” The score “seemed studied rather than inspired”; when D’Artagnan and the
three musketeers sang “Oh! Friendship!” they “sounded as though they were bitter enemies”; the chorus
“sang well, but looked otherwise”; and the scenery was “on its bad behavior and stage hands were much in
evidence.” But the song “The Articles of Toilette for a Lady” was a “really clever” number, and one “strange
and confusing” sequence (titled “Riding through the Mist and Mire”) offered a “movie ‘effect’” that depicted
a rough going for D’Artagnan as he trod through rain in order to recover the elusive diamonds. In fact, “this
incident served to make the play.”
SHUFFLE ALONG
“A Musical Mélange”
Theatre: 63rd Street Music Hall

Opening Date: May 23, 1921; Closing Date: July 15, 1922
Performances: 504
Book: Flournoy E. Miller and Aubrey L. Lyles
Lyrics: Noble Sissle
Music: Eubie Blake
Based on the vaudeville sketch “The Mayor of Jimtown” (aka “The Mayor of Dixie”) by Flournoy E. Miller
and Aubrey L. Lyles.
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: The Nikko Producing Company (John Jay Scholl, Al Mayer, Flournoy E.
Miller, Aubrey L. Lyles, Noble Sissle, and Eubie Blake; Burns Mantle reported that Harry Cort, the son of
theatre manager John Cort, was also a backer of the musical); Choreography: Charles Davis and Lawrence
Deas; Scenery, Costumes, and Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Eubie Blake
Cast: Eubie Blake (Pianist), Paul Floyd (Jim Williams), Lottie Gee (Jessie Williams), Gertrude Saunders (Ruth
Little), Roger Matthews (Harry Walton); The Board of Aldermen: Richard Cooper, Arthur Porter, Arthur
Woodson, and Snippy Mason; Mattie Wilks (Mrs. Sam Peck), Noble Sissle (Tom Sharper), Flournoy E.
Miller (Steve Jenkins), Aubrey L. Lyles (Sam Peck), Lawrence Deas (Jack Penrose), C. Wesley Hill (Rufus
Loose), A. E. Baldwin (Soakum Flat), Billy Williams (Strutt), Charles Davis (Uncle Tom), Bob Williams
(Old Black Joe), Ina Duncan (Mayor’s Secretary); The Jazz Jasmines: Goldie Cisco, Mildred Brown, Theresa
West, Jennie Day, Adelaide Hall, Lillian Williams, Beatrice Williams, and Evelyn Irving; The Happy Hon-
eysuckles: Ruth Seward, Lucia Johnson, Marguerite Weaver, Bea Freeman, Marion Gee, Mamie Lewis,
and Marie Roberts; The Syncopating Sunflowers: A. E. Baldwin, Charles Davis, Bernard Johnson, Robert
Lee, Snippy Mason, Miles Williams, Arthur Woodson, and Bob Williams; The Majestic Magnolias: Edna
Battles, Ina Duncan, Lula Wilson, Hazel Burke, and Paula Sullivan
The action takes place during the present time in Jimtown, located in Dixieland (specifically, Mississippi).
1920–1921 Season 67
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Election Day” (Company); “I’m Simply Full of Jazz” (Gertrude Saunders, The
Syncopation Steppers); “Love Will Find a Way” (Lottie Gee, Roger Matthews); “Bandana Days” (Arthur
Porter, Company); “Sing Me to Sleep, Dear Mammy” (Roger Matthews, The Board of Aldermen); “In Hon-
eysuckle Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be Mine)” (Noble Sissle); “Gypsy Blues” (Lottie Gee, Gertrude
Saunders, Roger Matthews); Grand Finale (The Jimtown Population)
Act Two: “Shuffle Along” (The Jimtown Pedestrians, Traffic Cop); “I’m Just Wild about Harry” (Lottie Gee,
The Jimtown Sunflowers); “Jimtown’s Fisticuffs” (Flournoy E. Miller, Aubrey L. Lyles); “Syncopation Ste-
nos” (The Mayor’s Staff); “Good Night, Angeline” (The Board of Aldermen); “If You Haven’t Been Vamped
by a Brownskin, You Haven’t Been Vamped at All” (Flournoy E. Miller, Aubrey L. Lyles, The Jimtown
Vamps); “Uncle Tom and Old Black Joe” (Charles Davis, Bob Williams); “Everything Reminds Me of You”
(Lottie Gee, Roger Matthews); “Oriental Blues” (Noble Sissle, The Oriental Girls); “I’m Craving for That
Kind of Love” (aka “Kiss Me”) and “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (Gertrude Saunders); “A
Few Minutes with Sissle and Blake” (song medley, including “Love Will Find a Way”; “Low-Down Blues”
with lyric by Noble Sissle and James Reese Europe and music by Blake; and “How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em
Down on the Farm after They’ve Seen Paree?” with lyric by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young and music by
Walter Donaldson); “Baltimore Buzz” (Noble Sissle, The Jimtown Jazz Steppers); “African Dip” (Flournoy
E. Miller, Aubrey L. Lyles); Finale (Company)
Shuffle Along was a groundbreaking musical written and performed by blacks, and when it closed after
504 performances (some sources cite 484 showings), it was the longest-running black musical ever seen on
Broadway. The book was by Flournoy E. Miller and Aubrey L. Lyles, the lyrics by Noble Sissle, and the music
by Eubie Blake, and all four appeared in the production (the story was inspired by Miller and Lyle’s vaudeville
sketch “The Mayor of Jimtown,” aka “The Mayor of Dixie”). Keep Shufflin’ was a sequel of sorts to Shuffle
Along.
In his liner notes for an archival re-creation of the score (see below), Robert Kimball mentions that the
performance schedule included midnight showings on Wednesday nights, a clever ploy that allowed theatre
insiders to see the production and recommend it to others. Soon celebrities, politicians, and “society” types
took the trip uptown to see the new show everyone was talking about, and Shuffle Along became a sensation
(after Sally it was the season’s second-longest-running musical).
The story took place in Jimtown, located somewhere in Dixieland and specifically in Mississippi. It’s
election time, and three candidates are running for mayor, Steve Jenkins (Miller), Sam Peck (Lyles), and Harry
Walton (Roger Matthews). Jenkins and Peck are co-owners of a grocery store and steal money from the till in
order to finance their respective campaigns, and each one promises that if elected he’ll name the other one
chief of police. Both Steve and Sam hire a private detective to spy upon the other, and of course they hire the
same detective, Jack Penrose (played by Lawrence Deas). The underhanded Jenkins wins the race, but Harry
ultimately saves Jimtown by exposing the questionable tactics of Jenkins and Peck and thus becomes the
mayor.
The plot served to introduce a number of irresistible songs by Sissle and Blake, and from the perspective
of almost a full century later it’s fascinating to note how the score all but defines the musical mood of the
1920s. There was even a song about vamps, a term derived from the then-popular word vampire, which was
used to define the kind of woman who seduces and exploits men. Vamps were the rage in the era’s movies and
musicals, and theatre programs even carried advertisements for “vamp shoes.” The show’s unquestionable hit
was the mayoral campaign song “I’m Just Wild about Harry,” which along with “Charleston” from Runnin’
Wild and “I Wanna Be Loved by You” from Good Boy, has come to define the musical sound of the decade.
But note that a survey of six contemporary newspaper reviews doesn’t yield even one mention of the number.
The score reflects the jazz, syncopation, blues, shimmies, and shuffles of the era (“I’m Simply Full of
Jazz,” “Syncopation Stenos,” “Gypsy Blues,” “Oriental Blues,” and the title song), and there was also a
“mammy song” (“Sing Me to Sleep, Dear Mammy”), a look at the old days of Dixie (“Bandana Days”), and
a dance craze (“Baltimore Buzz”), There were also many love songs, all of them providing different views of
romance, from the gentle to the jaunty to the low-down: “Love Will Find a Way” (which became the show’s
second standard), “In Honeysuckle Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be Mine),” “Everything Reminds Me of
You,” “I’m Craving for That Kind of Love,” and “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” As noted, there
was a salute to vamps (“If You Haven’t Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven’t Been Vamped at All”).
On May 23, the New York Times reviewed the May 22nd performance of Shuffle Along, and noted this
performance was by invitation only and that the first New York public performance would take place “to-
night” on May 23. The Times was quick to note that the musical had the “distinction of being written, com-
posed and played entirely by negroes” and that Blake’s music was “swinging and infectious.” Otherwise, the
script, direction, and performances were on the “crude” side (but “here and there a broad comedy scene” was
“effective”), and the “limited stage facilities” gave a “general effect” of a “fair-to-middling amateur entertain-
ment.” Except for their burlesque of a boxing match (“Jimtown’s Fisticuffs”), Miller and Lyles “revealed no
marked comic talents,” but there was a “good” male quartet and often “entertaining” dances.
On the morning after the first public performance, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that the “crowded”
audience was about half black and half white. The dances and the boxing burlesque were hits, but in their
“serious moments” the performers were “tiresome.” The New York Herald said the “fitfully amusing” show
really got “going” when the principals and chorus members danced and made the world “a brighter place to
live in” as they wriggled and shimmied “in a fashion to outdo a congress of eels.” Blake’s music was “an ag-
gravation for those with sore feet,” and his melodies had a “riotous side” (the critic singled out “Love Will
Find a Way” and “Bandana Days”). The evening was “clean” and its “humor more antiseptic than some regu-
lar Broadway shows,” and thus Shuffle Along “puts its best foot forward.”
James Whittaker in the Chicago Tribune praised the “gorgeous” score, which was “as insidious and heady
as absinthe,” and warned that “you may resist Beethoven and Jerome Kern, but you surrender completely”
to Blake’s music. Burns Mantle in the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal found the show a “clean, melodious,
frequently amusing entertainment,” and he noted that blacks “always” danced better than whites and “usu-
ally” could sing better, too.
The black critic Lester A. Walton in the New York Age reported that he’d seen the musical during one of
its tryout stops (at the Dunbar Theatre in Philadelphia), and he was curious to see it again with a primarily
white audience in attendance. He referred to the “strange workings of the Caucasian mind,” and wondered if
whites would accept the show on its own terms and not bring “absolute notions of what the average white
American thinks of the Negro of today.” Usually, blacks “of the old mammy and Uncle Joe variety,” comedi-
ans in blackface, and the “dandy darkey” type with a “grin and strut” were “perpetually tolerated.” But what
about a representation of “the Negro as nice-looking young men and women, well dressed and using plain
United States language”? If such blacks were represented on stage, most theatre managers would tell them to
“get back to plantation stuff or bill yourself as” Indians, Puerto Ricans, or Cubans.
Walton was curious if Shuffle Along would ultimately find its place as a so-called “white folks’ show”
(and time seems to have proven that the production was one that both whites and blacks enjoyed together).
As for the show itself, the songs were “original, tuneful and worthy of a place in a Broadway musical show,”
and “speaking as a colored American” Walton thought the musical would “shuffle along . . . for a long time.”
In 1976, a lavish archival re-creation of the score was issued by New World Records (LP # NW-260) that
includes lyrics, essays, and photographs. The selections include: “Bandana Days” and “I’m Just Wild about
Harry” (Eubie Blake and the Shuffle Along Orchestra); “In Honeysuckle Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be
Mine)” (Noble Sissle and His Sizzling Syncopaters); “Love Will Find a Way” (Sissle with Blake at the piano);
“Bandana Days” (Sissle with Blake at the piano); “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (Gertrude Saun-
ders and Tim Brymm with His Black Devil Orchestra); “Baltimore Buzz” and “In Honeysuckle Time (When
Emaline Said She’d Be Mine)” (Eubie Blake at the piano); “Gypsy Blues” (Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra);
“I’m Craving for That Kind of Love” (Gertrude Saunders and Tim Brymm and His Black Devil Orchestra);
“Baltimore Buzz” (Noble Sissle and His Sizzling Syncopaters); and other selections, including Miller and
Lyles’ dialogue sequence “The Fight” (which seems to be a variation of “Jimtown’s Fisticuffs”), which was
recorded in 1924 and provides the flavor of their comic routines.
Harbinger Records (CD # HCD-3204) released Sissle and Blake Sing ‘Shuffle Along’, mostly with vocals
by Sissle and piano accompaniment by Blake (and with occasional other vocals), many taken from demo
recordings from a proposed production Shuffle Along of 1950: “Election Day,” “Election Day in Jimtown,”
“I’m Simply Full of Jazz,” “Love Will Find a Way,” “Bandana Days,” “In Honeysuckle Time (When Emaline
Said She’d Be Mine),” “Gypsy Blues,” “Shuffle Along,” “I’m Just Wild about Harry,” “Jimtown’s Fisticuffs,”
“If You Haven’t Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven’t Been Vamped at All,” “Oriental Blues,” “I’m
1920–1921 Season 69
Craving for That Kind of Love,” “Baltimore Buzz,” “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?,” two medleys,
and other numbers.
ArkivMusic/Masterworks Broadway Records (CD # 88697-96188-2) reissued studio cast recordings of
Shuffle Along and the revue Blackbirds of 1928, which had originally been released on a ten-inch LP set by
RCA Victor (# LPM-3154).
In 2015, a generally complete script of the musical was issued in paperback by Theatre Arts Press as part
of their invaluable Historical Libretto Series.
There were two more Shuffle Along musicals. Shuffle Along of 1933 opened on December 26, 1932, at the
Mansfield Theatre for seventeen showings with a book by Miller (Lyles had died five months earlier), lyrics
by Sissle, and music by Blake. Like Fine and Dandy (1930), the musical presaged the later The Pajama Game
(1954) in its look at blue-collar life with factory workers, office boys, shipping clerks, stenographers, and tele-
phone operators (even the song titles were redolent of workday life: “Labor Day Parade” and the store clerks’
“Saturday Afternoon” as well as the cut numbers “Waiting for the Whistle to Blow” and “We’re a Couple of
Salesmen”).
The third Shuffle Along opened on May 8, 1952, at the Broadway Theatre for four performances (Paul Ge-
rard Smith and Miller wrote the book, Sissle’s lyrics were supplemented with ones written by Floyd Huddle-
son, and Blake’s score was augmented with additional music by Joseph Meyer). The cast included Avon Long
and Thelma Carpenter, and the first act took place in the postwar Italy of 1945 and the second the following
year in New York City’s garment district.
The 1952 production interpolated “I’m Just Wild about Harry” and “Love Will Find a Way,” and “Here
’Tis” was from the 1932 Shuffle Along. 1952’s “Swanee Moon” and “Falling” may have been the respective re-
vised versions of 1932’s “Arabian Moon”/“Harlem Moon” and “Falling in Love”; and 1921’s “Bandana Days”
may have been 1932’s “Bandana Ways.” Note that late in the second acts of the 1932 and 1952 musicals Sissle
and Blake appeared as themselves in a “Reminiscing” sequence where they sang a medley of songs, a sequence
which mirrored “A Few Minutes with Sissle and Blake” from the 1921 production.
Shuffle Along, or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed seemed poised to
become one of the hits of the 2015–2016 season, but it floundered after 100 performances and reportedly lost
most of its $12 million investment. It opened on April 28, 2016, at the Music Box Theatre with a cast that
included Brian Stokes Mitchell (as Miller), Billy Porter (Lyles), Joshua Henry (Sissle), Brandon Victor Dixon
(Blake), and Audra McDonald (Lottie Gee). The production retained “I’m Simply Full of Jazz,” “In Honey-
suckle Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be Mine),” “Love Will Find a Way,” “If You Haven’t Been Vamped
by a Brownskin, You Haven’t Been Vamped at All,” “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?,” “I’m Just
Wild about Harry,” “Shuffle Along,” “I’m Craving for That Kind of Love,” and “Broadway Buzz” (the latter
probably a revamped version of “Baltimore Buzz”). With the show’s cast and pedigree, a cast album seemed a
given, but unfortunately the show wasn’t recorded and a terrific opportunity was lost to provide new record-
ings and interpretations of the score.
The tribute revue Eubie! opened on September 20, 1978, at the Ambassador Theatre for 439 performances
and included eleven songs from Shuffle Along (* denotes the number was recorded for the Eubie! cast album,
which was released by Warner Brothers Records LP # HS-3267-0898): the title number (*), “In Honeysuckle
Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be Mine)” (*), “I’m Just Wild about Harry” (*), “Baltimore Buzz,” “Daddy,
Won’t You Please Come Home?” (*),” “Low-Down Blues” (*), “I’m Simply Full of Jazz,” “If You Haven’t
Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven’t Been Vamped at All” (*), “Oriental Blues,” “I’m Craving for That
Kind of Love” (*), and “Goodnight, Angeline” (*). The Broadway revue Bubbling Brown Sugar opened on
March 2, 1976, at the ANTA Theatre for 766 performances and included two songs from Shuffle Along, “In
Honeysuckle Time (When Emaline Said She’d Be Mine)” and “Love Will Find a Way,” the first of which was
recorded for the Broadway cast album released by H & L Records (LP # HL-69011-698).
1921–1922 Season
THE WHIRL OF NEW YORK

“The New York Winter Garden Production”
Theatre: Winter Garden Theatre

Opening Date: June 13, 1921; Closing Date: September 17, 1921
Performances: 124
Book and Lyrics: Hugh Morton (aka G. M. S. McLellan) and Edgar Smith; additional lyrics by Cliff Friend,
Sidney D. Mitchell, and Cyrus Wood
Music: Gustave Kerker; additional music by Alfred (Al) Goodman and Lew Pollock
Based on the 1897 musical The Belle of New York.
Direction: Lew Morton; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Carl Judd (Twiddles), Al Martin (Fricot), Florence Rayfield (Fifi), J. Harold Murray (Harry Bronson), Dorothy
Ward (Cora Angelique), Grace Keeshon (Maid of Honor), Teddy Webb (Doc Sniffkins), Frank Purcella (Count
Rattsi), Raymond Purcella (Count Tattsi), Louis Mann (Karl Bauer), Joe Keno (Blinky Bill), Kitty Kelly (Kissie
Fitzgarter), John T. Murray (Ichabod Bronson), Joe Smith (I. Ketchum), Charles Dale (U. Cheatham), Mlle.
Adelaide (Mingtoy), Johnny Hughes (Ching Foo), Kyra (The Spirit of the Vase), Nancy Gibbs (Violet Gray),
Al Martin (John Blinkerton), Maxa McCree (Maxa), Rosie Green (Mamie Clancy); Bridesmaids: Charlotte
Sprague (Miss Whyte), Florence Elmore (Miss Gray), May Dealy (Miss Black), Bobby McCree (Miss Wilson),
Dorothy Bruce (Miss Jones), Claire Hooper (Miss Frances), Mariam Seeley (Miss Rivers), Louise Whyte (Miss
Lake), Fay Wayne (Miss Henry), Helen Fox (Miss Walters), Florence Schubert (Miss Page), and Mildred Soper
(Miss Brooks); Miriam Batistta (Mamie Clancy Jr.), Junior Tiernan (Blinky Bill Jr.); Ensemble: Edith Pierce,
Ruby Howard, Hermosa Jose, Orilla Smith, Ethel Bryant, Dolores Russelle, Flo Worth, Juliet Strahl, Viola
Votruba, Beatrice Reiss, Poppy Morton, Benna Odear, Florence Wilde, Flore Moore, Pauline Dakla, Sid-
ney Nelson, Beatrice Jackson, Lucille Mendez, Louise Stark, Grace Langdon, Edna Richmond, Georgia
Empey, Dorothy Wegman, Mary Preston, Helen O’Brien, Anna A. Berry, Jule J. Berry, Marlyn Yates, Edna
E. Stark, Irene Pierre, Louise L. McGovern, Irene I. McGovern, Emma James, Madaline M. Smith, Olive
Clark, Anna Buckley, Margaret Menges, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Wilson, Nina Klau, Belle Mazelle,
Maude Satterfield, Grace Hamilton, Gypsy Norman, Elizabeth Reynolds; Chinese Children: Alice Wong,
Edward Low, Margaret Low, Doris Lee, Catherine Lee, Evelyn Lee, Nellie Hor, and Henry Chew; Specialty
Performers: Johnny McCree, The Rath Brothers (George and Dick)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and environs.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (J. Harold Murray, Men); Dance (Kyra); “The Queen of Musical Comedy” (lyric by
Sidney D. Mitchell, music by Lew Pollock) (Dorothy Ward, Bridesmaids); “Dancing Fools” (Kitty Kelly,
71
Joe Keno, Frank Purcella, Raymond Purcella, Shaun Glenville); “Teach Me How to Kiss, Dear” (Florence
Rayfield, J. Harold Murray); “From Far Cohoes” (John T. Murray, Ensemble); “Just One Good Time” (lyric
by Cyrus Wood, music by Lew Pollock and Alfred Goodman) (J. Harold Murray, Florence Rayfield, Cho-
rus); “My Little Baby” (John T. Murray, Dorothy Ward); “The Spirit of the Chinese Vase” (Kyra); “Chinese
New Year’s Ballet” (Dancers); “Dance Divertissement” (Mlle. Adelaide and Johnny Hughes); “Follow On”
(Nancy Gibbs, Salvation Army Girls); “Mandalay” (J. Harold Murray); “The Belle of New York” (Rosie
Green, Joe Keno, Chorus); “Molly, Molly” (Dorothy Ward, Girls); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Tiffin, Tiffin” (Ensemble); “Dance, Dance, Dance” (Johnny McCree); “Whistling It All Over
Town” (Dorothy Ward, Chorus); “When We Are Married” (Florence Rayfield, J. Harold Murray); “Chain
Dance” (Frank Purcella and Raymond Purcella); “The Purity Brigadiers” (Nancy Gibbs, The Purity Brigade
Girls); “I Know That I’m in Love” (lyric by Sidney D. Mitchell, music by Lew Pollock) (Nancy Gibbs, J.
Harold Murray); “I Do, So There!” (Nancy Gibbs, John T. Murray, Chorus); The Rath Brothers; “La Belle
Parisienne” (Florence Rayfield, Girls); Dance (Mlle. Adelaide and Johnny Hughes); “Gee, I Wish I Had a
Girl Like You” (lyric by Cliff Friend, music by Lew Pollock and Alfred Goodman) (Nancy Gibbs, J. Harold
Murray); Finale (Company)
The Whirl of New York was a revised version of The Belle of New York, one of the most beloved mu-
sicals of the late nineteenth century. It opened on September 28, 1897, for a then healthy run of fifty-six
performances at the Casino Theatre (and later played return engagements in 1898 and 1900), and made a star
of Edna May, who created the role of Violet Gray, a Salvation Army worker (performed by Nancy Gibbs in
the current production). Wealthy young Harry Bronson (Harry Davenport in the original, J. Harold Murray in
the new version) is engaged to marry showgirl Cora Angelique (Ada Dare/Dorothy Ward), otherwise known
as the “Queen of Comic Opera,” but his bluenose father Ichabod (Dan Daly/John T. Murray), who runs an
anti-cigarette league, objects to Harry’s involvement with someone in show business and decides to leave his
money to Violet. When Violet and Harry meet and fall in love, Violet decides to mend fences between father
and son by attending a family party and purposely singing a risqué song that she knows will shock Ichabod.
Sure enough, Ichabod decides it might be better to leave his fortune to Harry, and soon Harry and Violet are
headed for the altar.
The production (which offered tickets in the range of fifty-cents to two-dollars) dazzled the critics with
its lavishness, and so it’s somewhat surprising the musical managed just three months on Broadway. Besides
the principals, the cast included two members of the comic quartet the Avon Comedy Four with Joe Smith
and Charles Dale in the roles of two bumbling Yiddish detectives, I. Ketchum and U. Cheatham. Of course
the team of Smith and Dale soon became a legendary twosome, a comic partnership that lasted on Broadway
until Bright Lights of 1944, a wildly optimistic title that played for four performances in September 1943.
Smith and Dale were of course the two comics who were the inspiration for Neil Simon’s comedy The Sun-
shine Boys (1972).
The company also included Dorothy Ward and her husband, the comedian Shaun Glenville, both of whom
had received harsh notices when they appeared in the two-week debacle Phoebe of Quality Street, which had
closed three weeks before the premiere of The Whirl of New York (for their new show, Ward received glow-
ing reviews, but Glenville still didn’t overwhelm the critics). Another performer in the production was Louis
Mann (who specialized in German dialect and related shtick) as the “polite lunatic” and murderer Karl Bauer
(Karl von Pumpernick in the original) who’s always in search of a victim while he eludes the two incompetent
detectives. Many reviewers gave Mann thumbs-down notices, and soon after the opening he was replaced.
The show also featured the acrobatic dancers Frank and Raymond Purcella as the respective Count Rattsi and
Count Tattsi, described in the program as “Two Brazilian Nuts.”
The new production retained at least seven songs from the original (“Teach Me How to Kiss, Dear”; “My
Little Baby”; “Follow On,” aka “They All Follow Me”; “The Belle of New York”; “When We Are Married”;
“The Purity Brigade”; and “I Do, So There!”), and perhaps an eighth (the unnamed first act opening chorus for
the new production might have been the same as the one heard in the original production, which was titled
“When a Man Is Twenty-One”). The revised versions included new songs by such lyricists and composers as
Cliff Friend, Sidney D. Mitchell, Cyrus Wood, Alfred (Al) Goodman, and Lew Pollock, and the updated script
now referred to Salvation Army worker Violet as having volunteered in Europe during the Great War (one or
two critics were surprised the musical still dwelt upon the elder Bronson’s anti-cigarette campaign and didn’t
address Prohibition instead).
1921–1922 Season 73
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said The Belle of New York had been revived on a “grand
scale” and that Dorothy Ward played “with enough verve for two or three people and was a huge favorite”
with the audience. But Glenville didn’t “help in the least,” and Louis Mann’s performance, or maybe just
his character, was “not funny.” Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Ward and Glenville had “escaped with only
superficial injuries from the ruins of” Phoebe of Quality Street and both were “enthusiastically present” in
the new show. The stage of the Winter Garden provided more room for Ward’s “vivacity,” and perhaps one
day if she’d be allowed to play “where she has enough space” (like the Yale Bowl or Grand Central Terminal)
she might be “perfectly great.” She was the “hardest working” comedienne on the Broadway stage and it was
a “colossal waste that something more cannot be done with all that energy” because “properly directed” that
energy could “supply light and power to an entire city.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the “gay and dazzling” production offered “un-
commonly attractive” sets and costumes, “delightful” music by Kerker, “lively” new songs by others, and a
“knockabout” dance or two. There was a “captivating dash” to Ward’s performance, Mann was “thoroughly
amusing,” and there were children in the Chinatown scene who appeared on an illuminated runway and
handed out souvenirs to audience members. Darnton also reported that in one scene, dancer Rosie Green was
“so swift with her feet that she may have kicked the trousers off a chorus girl who hastily sought shelter in
the wings, but on this delicate point I am somewhat uncertain.”
Brooklyn Life praised the “big” and “great” show, and noted the Shuberts had “spared no expense to
make this revival with its embellishments a grand success.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked
the “attractive” musical but commented that some of the humor fell “with a heavy thud, especially on Mr.
Mann,” and although “his was a good enough characterization it wasn’t funny in the least.” And the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch said the show was “engulfed and swept away in a swirling, gorgeously mounted spectacle” and
that Ward put “zest and sparkle in the show with her singing and incessant activity.”
Variety noted that the pre-Broadway engagement was an “atrocious hodge-podge,” but the musical was
retooled and could now “be set down as a big Winter Garden success.” However, the evening was far too long
and had “too much entertainment to offer,” and three-and-one-half hours of the “brilliantly kaleidoscopic”
musical was “too much of a good thing” (the critic noted the overture began at 8:32, the curtain fell at 11:59,
and “a goodly portion of the audience left the house between 11 and 11:30, apparently satisfied they had
enjoyed their money’s worth”).
During the run, various musical numbers were cut and others added, a few specialty acts were dropped,
and, as noted, Louis Mann as the “polite lunatic” was succeeded by another performer.
The Belle of New York had been popular in New York, but was a sensation in London when it opened
at the Shaftesbury Theatre on April 12, 1898, for a marathon run of 697 performances with May, Davenport,
and Daly reprising their Broadway roles. At least two members of the company (including May) recorded a
few numbers, and in 1929 the Columbia Light Opera Company recorded eight songs from the show. A 1959
studio cast album of the score was issued on LP by HMV Records.
A 1919 silent film version of The Belle of New York was released by Marion Davies Film Corporation and
Select Pictures Corporation. The cast included Davies, Etienne Giradot, and Rogers Lytton, and was directed
by Julius Steger.
A later in-name-only 1952 MGM film version of The Belle of New York was directed by Charles Walters
with Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen in the leading roles. The new story retained the nineteenth-century New
York City locale and the characters included a playboy and a Salvation Army worker, but otherwise the plot
was completely revamped. No songs from the original production were retained, and new ones with music
by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer were substituted (the most memorable song in the new score
was “I Wanna Be a Dancin’ Man,” which was a highlight in Bob Fosse’s 1978 revue Dancin’). The film was
released on DVD by Warner Brothers on a two-DVD set that includes Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane’s Royal
Wedding.
TANGERINE
“An Original Musical Comedy” / “A Musical Comedy Satire” / “The Smart Musical Comedy of the Tropics”

Opening Date: August 9, 1921; Closing Date: August 26, 1922
Performances: 361
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: Howard Johnson
Music: Monte Carlo and Alma M. Sanders
Based on an unproduced play by Philip Bartholomae and Lawrence Langner.
Direction: George Marion and Bert French; Producer: Carle Carlton; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Lee
Simonson and P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Dorothy Armstrong; Pieter Myer; Mme. Francis; Stein &
Blaine; Lighting: Electrical effects by N. Sanders & Co.; Musical Direction: Gus Kleinecke
Cast: P. A. Leonard (A Warden), Harry Puck (Jack Floyd), Allen Kearns (Lee Loring), Joseph Herbert Jr. (Fred
Allen), Frank Crumit (Dick Owens), Julia Sanderson (Shirley Dalton), Martha Lorber (Kate Allen), Becky,
aka Rebekah, Cauble (Elsie Loring), Gladys Wilson (Mildred Floyd), Jeannetta Methven (Noa), Wayne
Nunn (Clarence), John E. Hazzard (Joe Perkins, aka “The Easy Boss” and King Home-Brew), The Califor-
nia Four (The Tangerine Police Force); Native Dancers: Anna Ludmilla and Frank Holbrook; Eight Little
Wives: Mary Collins (Akamai), Victoria Miles (Huhu), Helen Frances (Kulikuli), Nerene Swinton (Pilikia),
Carolyn Hancock (Ukola), Ruth Rollins (Polihu), Hazel Wright (Aloha), and Grace DeCarlton (Aloha Oe)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and on the island of Tangerine.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “It’s Great to Be Married” (Joseph Herbert Jr., Allen Kearns, Harry Puck);
“Love Is a Business” (Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit, Joseph Herbert Jr., Allen Kearns, Harry Puck); “Isle
of Tangerine” (Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit); Dance: “The Sea of the Tropics” (Frank Holbrook and
Anna Ludmilla); “Ode” and “Sun Dance” (lyric by Howard Johnson, music by Monte Carlo, Alma Sand-
ers, and Carle Carlton) (Jeannetta Methven, The California Four, The Eight Little Wives); “Listen to Me”
(Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit); “In Our Mountain Bower” (Jeannetta Methven, The California Four, The
Eight Little Wives); “There’s a Sunbeam for Every Drop of Rain” (Allen Kearns, Rebekah Cauble); “Man
Is the Lord of It All” (music by Jean Schwartz) (Julia Sanderson, Gladys Wilson, Martha Lorber, Frank
Crumit, Joseph Herbert Jr., Allen Kearns, Harry Puck); Finale (Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit)
Act Two: “South Sea Island Blues” (The California Four); “Tropic Vamps” (The Eight Little Wives); “Sweet
Lady” (lyric by Howard Johnson, music by Frank Crumit) (Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit); “Civilization”
(John E. Hazzard, The Eight Little Wives); “It’s Your Carriage That Counts” (Julia Sanderson, The Eight
Little Wives); “She Was Very Dear to Me” (lyric and music by Ben, aka Benjamin, Hapgood Burt) (John E.
Hazzard); “Dance Tangerine” (Martha Lorber); “We’ll Never Grow Old” (Rebekah Cauble, Allen Kearns);
Finale
Tangerine underwent a rocky tryout (see below), but even its New York opening night and its successful
run of almost a full year on Broadway seems to have been a confused roundelay in which there were constant
song and cast changes, not to mention the question of who actually wrote the show’s book.
The opening night program and the cast list for the opening night review in the New York Times indicate
Billy Rhodes played the character Lee Loring and Edna Pierre was Kate Allen, but the text of the reviews in
the Times and other newspapers and magazines reference Allen Kearns and Martha Lorber in the roles for
the premiere (at least one source indicates the Times “reviewed” Rhodes in the role of Loring, but the Times
only listed his name in the cast credits at the beginning of the review [Kearns’s name wasn’t given in the
cast credits], and in the text of the review itself the Times wrote that “a youth named Allen Kearns distin-
guished himself with the best legitimate performance of the evening.” The same source indicates Pierre was
“reviewed” by the Times on opening night, but her name appears only in the cast listing and nowhere is she
mentioned in the review itself.
One might assume the small company of less than two-dozen performers would have been glad to settle
into a long-running successful musical, but within a few months half the original cast (or at least those who
were listed in the opening night program) were gone and other performers had succeeded them. Allen Kearns
remained in the show (and apparently Billy Rhodes was never seen in the musical during the Broadway run),
but James Gleason succeeded Joseph Herbert Jr. in the role of Fred Allen; Jeanette MacDonald followed Edna
Pierre and Martha Lorber as Kate Allen; Audrey Maple succeeded Gladys Wilson as Mildred Floyd; Hansford
1921–1922 Season 75
Wilson followed John E. Hazzard as Joe Perkins (aka “The Easy Boss” and King Home-Brew); Dorothy Brown
succeeded Mary Collins as Akamai; Beryl Halley replaced Helen Frances as Kulikuli; Florence Moore followed
Nirene Swinton as Pilikia; Lee Martin succeeded Ruth Rollins as Polihu; and Helen Francis took over Grace
DeCarlton’s role of Aloha Oe. Further, the leading dancers Frank Holbrook and Anna Ludmilla were suc-
ceeded by Ted Andrews and Kathryn Andrews. In fact, of the twenty-two original cast members (not counting
the players in the quartette, who weren’t named and were probably played by four men in the company), a full
50 percent of them weren’t in the production just a few months after the opening.
As the run progressed, two numbers were cut (the “Ode”/“Sun Dance” sequence and “We’ll Never Grow
Old”) and three were added (“Old Melodies,” “You and I, Atta Baby,” and the “Dance Samoan”).
The title page in later New York programs clearly stated the book was by Guy Bolton and was adapted
by him from a play written by Philip Bartholomae and Lawrence Langner, but one or two opening night re-
views, including the Times, credited both Bolton and Bartholomae with the book (note that the credits in
the tryout program read “Book by Philip Batholomae [sic] and Lawrence Langer in collaboration with Guy
Bolton”). A week into the Broadway run, Bolton wrote a letter to the Times and stated he wanted “to correct
an impression that I was in some way responsible for Mr. Lawrence Langner’s name being left off the program
of Tangerine.” He wrote that the basis of the story for Tangerine was “Mr. Langner’s and Mr. Bartholomae’s,
and I want them to have full credit for it.” He noted that he believed “the misunderstanding which caused
[Langner’s] name to be omitted from the program has now been cleared up.”
Most of the music for Tangerine was written by the team of Monte Carlo and Alma M. Sanders, who usu-
ally collaborated on both the lyrics and music for their shows. But the programs were either incorrect or par-
simonious about their names, and their first ones were never given. The tryout program gave the impression
that one person wrote the songs (“Carlo Sanders”), and later New York programs credited “Carlo-Sanders.”
The New York program credited the direction to George Marion and Bert French (with a note that the
show was “under the personal direction” of the musical’s producer Carle Carlton). For the tryout, Robert
Milton and Julian Alfred were the directors of record, and the following tryout performers weren’t in the
Broadway run: Vivienne Segal (who played Shirley), Florence McGuire (Kate), Reed Hamilton (Warden), Harry
C. Power (Jack), Douglas Stevenson (Dick), Herbert Corthell (as King Malihine, who for the Broadway run was
known as Joe Perkins, aka “the Easy Boss” and King Home-Brew), Florence O’Denishawn (Elsie), and Gertrude
Selden (Mildred). And for the tryout King Malihine had six (not eight) wives known as the “Six Wahine” (as
opposed to the “Eight Little Wives” for Broadway), and all six of them were replaced for New York (replaced
by the producer, not by the King).
Curiously, Allen Kearns and James Gleason performed the roles of Lee Loring and Fred Allen for at least
part of the tryout, and for one reason or another weren’t scheduled to open the musical on Broadway. As noted
above, Billy Rhodes was set to play the role of Loring for opening night, but it was Kearns who performed
the role; and while Joseph Herbert Jr. played Fred Allen on opening night, during the Broadway run Gleason
succeeded him.
During the tryout, at least seven musical numbers were cut: “The Voice at the End of the Wire,” “Mul-
tiplied by Six,” “Idle Hours,” “The Point to Bear in Mind,” “Honeymoon Home,” “Variety Is the Spice of
Love,” and “Give Me Your Love.” The tryout included a second act opening titled “Knit, Knit, Knit,” and it
may have been an early version (or at least an early title) of “South Sea Island Blues,” which opened the second
act of the Broadway production.
For the tour, Frank Tours was the show’s musical director; for New York it was Gus Kleinecke; and during
the Broadway run, future celebrated film composer Max Steiner stepped up to the podium.
So, after this brief background about Tangerine, just what was the show about? First and foremost, like
Florodora the title wasn’t the heroine’s name but was instead an island (here located in the South Seas), and
the sly story began in New York City where single Dick Owens (Frank Crumit) is temporarily in an alimony
jail where three of his cronies are also incarcerated because of nonpayment (the situation brings to mind Cy
Coleman’s 1989 “alimony jail” musical Welcome to the Club). Dick and his girl Shirley Dalton (Julia Sander-
son) quarrel, and soon the two of them along with Dick’s three friends and their former wives find themselves
on the island of Tangerine, where King Home-Brew (John E. Hazzard), who was once a former member of New
York’s alimony club, and his eight wives live.
We learn that on Tangerine all the women go to work while the men stay home. But the men grow tired
of the easy life, and although the women are successful in business (where they open bars, tea rooms, and
dance studios), they decide they don’t like the daily grind. Soon all the women rebel, including King Home-
Brew’s eight wives. The King loses his harem, but Dick and Shirley are now headed for the altar, and Dick’s
friends have reconciled with their wives. The musical enjoyed a hit song in ”Sweet Lady,” which wasn’t by
the show’s main lyricist (Howard Johnson) and main composers (Monte Carlo and Alma M. Sanders), but was
instead written by Dave Zoob and cast member Frank Crumit, and it was Crumit and Julia Sanderson who
introduced the ballad during the second act.
The New York Times said the show was “high above the musical comedy average” with “sprightly” songs,
“respectable” singers, a “considerable seasoning of good comedy,” and a “general freshness of appearance.” As
for the musical’s authorship, the critic commented that “by all accounts” the story was “begun” by Langner,
was “then taken vigorously in hand” by Bartholomae, and “subsequently rewritten” by Bolton. Dorothy Parker
in Ainslee’s said the authors managed to get “about four times as much” fun from the show’s comic premise by
the simple expedient of “repetition.” As for Allen Kearns, he wasn’t all that distinctive and remarkable, but hap-
pily he didn’t act as if he were “extremely good” in the manner of most “musical-comedy juveniles.” Because of
his “willingness to please” and his hope that he was “good enough” for the audience to like him, he alone was
“responsible for making you think that Tangerine is an above-average musical comedy.”
The New York Evening World said the “tuneful” and “well-costumed” Tangerine was “a tasty musical
cocktail with Julia Sanderson as the cherry,” and Crumit (with his ukulele and the assistance of Sanderson)
“stopped the show” with “Sweet Lady,” a song destined to be “sung and whistled for many a moon.” The
Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that despite some “dull moments” the show gave “the appearance of being 100 per-
cent bright.” The evening was “cozy and alluring and free from the brass that tries to glitter like gold,” and the
result was a show of “intelligence, taste and witty playfulness” in which Kearns was “the hit of the evening.”
Heywood Broun in the New York Tribune liked the “amusing” show for its “speed and precision,” and
he found Kearns “youthful” and “beautiful,” an F. Scott Fitzgerald lookalike who was “the freshest feature of
the evening.” The critic noted that Kearns was given the recurring line “That ’a baby,” a phrase which clearly
inspired the songwriters to add to the score the song “You and I, Atta Baby” for Kearns’s character. Brooklyn
Life said “Sweet Lady” was “easily the tune hit of the show” and Kearns had the “rare dancing ability that
reminds one of George M. Cohan.”
Allen Kearns enjoyed a lengthy career on Broadway and the West End, and is probably best remembered for
creating roles in no less than three Gershwin musicals, where he introduced a number of standards in duets
with such leading ladies as Adele Astaire and Ginger Rogers: Tip-Toes (“That Certain Feeling”), Funny Face
(“’S Wonderful,” “He Loves and She Loves”), and Girl Crazy (“Could You Use Me,” “Embraceable You”). In
Rodgers and Hart’s Betsy he introduced the quirky “Sing,” and in 1928 created the title role in Here’s Howe!
The songwriting team of Monte Carlo and Alma M. Sanders never had much luck on Broadway. Tangerine
was of course an undisputed success, but its hit song “Sweet Lady” wasn’t written by them. Their second
musical, Elsie (which included songs by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle), managed 40 performances, and from
there and throughout the decade they were associated with a string of disappointments: The Chiffon Girl (103
performances), Bye, Bye, Barbara (16), Princess April (24), Oh! Oh! Nurse (32), and The Houseboat on the
Styx (which managed 103 performances and at least gets credit for a bizarre plot). The team also contributed
a song to the 1926 edition of Earl Carroll Vanities. In 1930, their musical Mystery Moon played for just a
single performance and tied with Hummin’ Sam (1933) as the decade’s shortest-running musical. The team
tried just one more time, but their 1947 musical Louisiana Lady crashed after four showings (John Chapman
in the New York Daily News said it was “so undistinguished in music, lyrics, plot, dances and acting that it
must have been done on purpose,” and Robert Garland in the New York Journal-American described the show
as “a mild mixture of muck, music and magnolias”).
SONNY (aka SONNY BOY)

“A Melody Play”
Theatre: Cort Theatre

Opening Date: August 16, 1921; Closing Date: September 10, 1921
Performances: 31
Book and Lyrics: George V. Hobart
Music: Raymond Hubbell
Direction: George V. Hobart; Producers: Arch Selwyn and Edgar Selwyn; Choreography: Carl Randall; Scen-
ery: Clifford F. Pember; Costumes: Bergdorf Goodman; Caroline Nunder; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Mario Agnolucci
1921–1922 Season 77
Cast: Carl Randall (Buddy), Russell Medcraft (James), Berta Donne (Florence), Georgie Laurence (Nora), Richie
Ling (Harper Craig), Emma Dunn (Mrs. Crosby), Ernest Glendinning (Charlie Crosby, Joe Marden), Estelle
Howard (Madge), Bert Melville (Jasper), Horace James (Henry), Mabel Withee (Alicia), James Kilpatrick
(Thomas), Jack Fox (Zeke), Joseph Evans (Zach), Robert Pollock (Dick), William Meredith (Harry), Fred
Grod (Martin), Nate Goodwin (Donald), Violet Gray (Rose), Dorothy Clark (Rosemary), Bird Millman
(Specialty Dancer)
The action takes place during the years 1917–1919 in Pelham Manor and Granby, Michigan, in France, and
aboard a ship.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I’m in Love, Dear” (Carl Randall, Berta Donne, Russell Medcraft); “Dream” (Ernest Glendinning,
Mabel Withee, Ensemble); “Madelon” (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Sonny” (Mabel Withee, Ensemble); “My Chum” (Ernest Glendinning, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Peaches” (Carl Randall, Ensemble)
Broadway had perhaps never seen a show quite like Sonny, and no doubt was glad it hadn’t. Here was a
corny story, an impossibly overwrought melodrama chock full of coincidences and sentimental characters,
and interspersed throughout were irrelevant vaudeville numbers, including a blackface routine, a piano re-
cital, and some old-fashioned Broadway hoofing. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times was certain
that one day even the Dolly Sisters would join the cast in order to add “musical accompaniment” for a “tear-
drenched” scene.
Although most critics were nonplussed if not speechless, they nonetheless managed to file their reviews.
One or two notices were encouraging, but audiences would have none of it and Sonny closed after thirty-one
showings.
In 1917, young Charlie Crosby (Ernest Glendinning) leaves his home in Pelham Manor, Michigan, and
goes off to war, leaving behind his sweet, blind, and all-knowing mother (Emma Dunn) who seems to be on
intimate terms with God and knows exactly what He wants done in this world (Arthur Pollock in the Brook-
lyn Daily Eagle supposed she had six if not eight senses). In France, Charlie is mortally wounded, but before
he dies he meets fellow American soldier Joe Marden (also played by Glendinning) who looks exactly like
him. (Is it possible these two are identical twins?) Charlie asks Joe to go Pelham Manor and take his place
in his mother’s heart; she’ll never know Charlie died, and will believe she still has a son. Joe apparently does
not have much of a life, as he willingly agrees to the deception.
But the wise and all-knowing Mother Crosby comes to realize that Joe isn’t Charlie. No, you can’t fool
Mother Crosby, and when Joe trips up and doesn’t know if an old family pet named Waggles was an Airedale
or a canary, the jig is up. Mother Crosby goes along with Joe’s impersonation, but soon discovers that Joe is
actually her long lost other son, a son she believed had died in a shipwreck on Lake Michigan as an infant.
In fact, it was his premature death that caused her to go blind with grief in the first place. Yes, her boys are
identical twins, and unbeknownst to all, Joe survived the drowning, lived in the general neighborhood of Pel-
ham Manor, and prior to the war was the proud manager of his very own garage. Mother Crosby never told
Charlie about his twin brother, and now the previously and presumably dead Joe has materialized from the
past and has taken the place of Charlie, who is really dead.
On the sidelines of the story is the pretty but ambitious minx Madge (Estelle Howard), who according to
Bide Dudley in the New York Evening World is a “small town girl with Broadway ideas.” She’s after Joe be-
cause she thinks he’s Charlie, who had promised to marry her one day, and although Joe doesn’t love Madge
he decides to marry her in order to fulfill his promise to Charlie. Meanwhile, and in a wild coincidence, Alicia
(Mabel Withee), the nurse in France who attended Charlie during his last days, turns out to be from Pelham
Manor, and she returns there to help Joe, who has fallen in love with her.
If all this weren’t enough, there were musical interludes strewn throughout the evening, seemingly com-
ing out of nowhere. There were clog dances by a dancing duo in blackface, a piano solo by Dorothy Clark, a
wire dance by Bird Millman, a singing quintet, and Broadway-styled showmanship by singer and dancer Carl
Randall, who later appeared in the 1924 Music Box Revue, The Third Little Show (1931), and the Gershwins’
1933 musical Pardon My English, where he introduced “The Lorelei” and “I’ve Got to Be There.”
The night before Sonny’s premiere, a Polish play titled Sonya was unveiled at the 48th Street Theatre,
just across the street from the Cort, where Sonny opened. Clearly, the coincidence of two shows with similar
titles playing directly across the street from one another was enough to cause angst among befuddled ticket
buyers. Imagine the uproar if someone with a ticket for Sonya showed up at Cort and got Sonny instead!
Theatergoers were naturally outraged over the Sonya-Sonny similarity, and no doubt took to the streets in
protest. And so, a few days after its premiere, Sonny obligingly changed its name to Sonny Boy, thus calming
the bewildered masses who heretofore had aimlessly roamed about on West 48th in utter bafflement.
If his readers thought Sonny’s plot was “implausible,” Woollcott brought the “gladdening reassurance”
that musical numbers were “sandwiched” between the mother’s “sweet” and “choked utterances” and the
son’s “noble gestures.” The evening’s “honors” went to Raymond Hubbell’s “tuneful” score (“Madelon” was
singled out) and Randall, who was “the rescuer of the third act,” but many would “weep copiously after each
of the simple assaults which the practiced Emma Dunn commits on the emotions.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s referred to the title mix-up of Sonya and Sonny, but assured her readers that
once they’d seen Sonny “there was little danger of your ever confusing it with anything else.” It “had every-
thing” (including tears, songs, “war stuff,” and “thick clots of plot”) and she wouldn’t have been surprised if
the evening had included “an ice ballet or a troupe of whirling Bedouins.” She mentioned the long-lost baby
who survived the shipwreck and had somehow managed to reach shore and was “brought up by a wolf or
something,” and decided the show was proof that we live in a “small world,” after all.
Pollock said the “ridiculous” Sonny had “a little bit of every kind of theatrical junk” and was “as outland-
ish a conglomeration as Broadway ever saw,” and by calling the show a “melody play” the author seemed to
offer an excuse for the “asininity” of the plot. Percy Hammond in the New York Tribune decided the evening
was “one of those so-so things, a yes-and-no show, pleasing you here and there, and suggesting languors and
ennui in other places.” Dunn’s role was a “difficult assignment,” but she succeeded in “divesting” the part
“of many of its irritations,” and two songs (“Dream” and “Peaches”) would become “an important part of our
musical life.” Bide Dudley in the Evening World suggested if you didn’t try to “dissect” Sonny you’d “get a
world of enjoyment out of it.” Had the role of Mother Crosby not been in Dunn’s “excellent hands it might
have been absurd”; moreover, the songs were “delightful” and Carl Randall was a favorite of the audience. If
the ticket prices had been $4.00, Sonny would have been “a minnow in the sea of Broadway stage entertain-
ment, but at $2.50 it’s a whale.”
Brooklyn Life said “the long arm of coincidence” was “severely strained” by the story, but Dunn’s perfor-
mance had “appealing power” and there was “every reason to believe that Sonny will prove popular, regard-
less of whether its popularity will be evidence of bad taste on the part of the public or not.”
BLOSSOM TIME
“Greatest Musical Hit of Ages!!”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Jolson’s 59th Street and Century The-
atres)
Performances: 516 (see below)
Book and Lyrics: Dorothy Donnelly
Music: Franz Schubert (music originally adapted by Heinrich Berte, and for Blossom Time was adapted and
augmented by Sigmund Romberg)
Based on the 1916 operetta Das Dreimaderlhaus (libretto by Alfred M. Willner and Heinz Reichert with
Schubert’s music adapted by Berte), which in turn had been based on the 1912 novel Schwammerl by
Rudolf Hans Bartsch.
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Frank M. Gillespie;
Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Mode Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Oscar Radin
Cast: Olga Cook (Mitzi), Zoe Barnett (Bellabruna), Dorothy Whitmore (Fritzi), Frances Halliday (Kitzi), Ethel
Branden (Mrs. Kranz), Emmy Niclas (Greta), Howard Marsh (Baron Franz Schober), Bertram Peacock
(Franz Schubert), William Danforth (Kranz), Roy Cropper (Vogl), Paul Ker (Kupelweiser), Eugene Martinet
(Von Schwind), Lucius Metz (Binder), Perry Askam (Erkman), Yvan Servais (Count Sharntoff), Irving Mels
(Hansy), Robert Payton Gibbs (Novotny), Mildred Kay (Rose), Erba Robeson (Mrs. Colburg), Howard A.
1921–1922 Season 79
Berman (Waiter), Burtress Deitch (Dancer), The Gotham City Four (Four Guests); Ladies of the Ensemble:
Norma Gould, Marie Gary, Juliet Strahl, Billy Williams, Dorothy Jackson, Mildred Soper, Bobbie McCree,
Florence Elmore, Lyola Whyte, Dorothy Newell, Claire Hooper, Edith Holloway
The action takes place in Vienna during 1826.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Emmy Niclas, Paul Ker, Eugene Martinet, Roy Cropper, Chorus); “Melody Triste” (Zoe
Barnett); “Three Little Maids” (Olga Cook, Dorothy Whitmore, Frances Halliday, Chorus); “Serenade”
(Howard Marsh, Bertram Peacock, Roy Cropper, Paul Ker, Eugene Martinet, Irving Mels); “My Springtime
Thou Art” (Howard Marsh, Bertram Peacock, Roy Cropper, Paul Ker, Eugene Martinet, Girls); “Song of
Love” (Bertram Peacock, Olga Cook); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Moment Musicale” (Bertram Peacock, Irving Mels, Burtress Deitch); “Love Is a Riddle” (Howard
Marsh, Lucius Metz, Perry Askam, Olga Cook, Dorothy Whitmore, Frances Halliday, Girls); “Let Me
Awake” (Zoe Barnett, Howard Marsh); “Tell Me, Daisy” (Olga Cook, Bertram Peacock); “Only One Love
Ever Fills the Heart” (Olga Cook, Howard Marsh); Finale (Olga Cook, Bertram Peacock, Howard Marsh)
Act Three: Opening (Emmy Niclas); “Keep It Dark” (Zoe Barnett, Roy Cropper, Eugene Martinet, Paul Ker);
“(Peace to My) Lonely Heart” (Olga Cook, Dorothy Whitmore, Frances Halliday, Emmy Niclas, Bertram
Peacock); Finale (Ensemble)
If Blossom Time hadn’t existed it would have been invented as a convenient definition for the kind of
show that’s always playing somewhere on tour. When the operetta opened in 1921, it was a huge hit, toured
season after season, and years later wags joked that a forgotten company of Blossom Time was surely out there
in the hinterlands dutifully playing one-night stands as the cast members grew older and older and the sets
and costumes became shabbier and shabbier.
At one point there were no less than six touring companies on the road, and the musical returned to
Broadway seven times. In 1923, two return engagements opened on the night of May 21, at the Shubert and
44th Street Theatres (for twenty-four and sixteen respective performances); the third opened at Jolson’s 59th
Street Theatre on May 19, 1924, for twenty-four performances; and the fourth also played at Jolson’s, this time
for sixteen performances beginning on March 8, 1926.
On March 4, 1931, a revival played for twenty-nine performances at the work’s first Broadway home, the
Ambassador, and by now was part of theatrical lore as the eternal operetta. In fact, the New York Times ran
a special story (titled “Still This Persistent Blossom Time”) concerning the work’s enduring appeal and how
in less than ten years it had become a theatrical phenomenon. The December 26, 1938, visit played at the
46th Street Theatre for nineteen showings, and the seventh and most recent revival, like the original produc-
tion and the fifth revival, played at the Ambassador, where it opened on September 4, 1943, for forty-seven
showings.
Blossom Time became the longest-running musical of the season with 516 performances, and when it
closed was the seventh-longest-running book musical in Broadway history following Irene (1919; 670 perfor-
mances), A Trip to Chinatown (1891; 657 performances), Adonis (1884; 603 performances), the revue-like A
Society Circus (1905; 596 performances), Sally (1920; 570 performances), and the London import Florodora
(1900; 553 performances). Note that most sources don’t agree on the exact number of Broadway performances
given on Broadway by Blossom Time: one source gives 592 showings, Best Plays gives 576, at least two
sources cite 516 showings, and one plays it safe by stating the operetta played “over” 500 performances.
The production opened at the Ambassador on September 29, 1921, and played through Saturday July 1,
1922, when it took a summer break. Assuming the show played eight performances a week during this seg-
ment of the run, the number of showings would total 316. It reopened at the Ambassador on August 7, 1922,
and played there for a few weeks before transferring to Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre and then to the Century,
and closed on January 27, 1923, for a total of 200 showings (again assuming an eight-performance week). As
a result, the likely number of performances given by the production is 516.
The operetta is a fictionalized account of Austrian composer Franz Schubert (Bertram Peacock) and his
unrequited love for Mitzi (Olga Cook), who falls in love with his best friend Baron Franz Schober (Howard
Marsh). Ah, the heartbreak of it all! But the piffle of a story was mainly an excuse to hear Schubert’s music.
The work employed the trappings of old-time operetta, even down to Operetta Rule No. 438(c) which de-
crees that groups of girls must have rhyming first names. In this instance, Mitzi, Fritzi, and Kitzi were the trio
(for London, they were known as Tilli, Willi, and Lilli). And let’s not forget the Maxim girls from The Merry
Widow (Zo-Zo, Fi-Fi, Lo-Lo, Do-Do, Jou-Jou, Frou-Frou, Clo-Clo, Margot, Zu-Zu, and Sappho) and Lili, Franzi,
Tini, Mali, Sini, Mitzi, Nini, and Betti from The Great Waltz. And of course Rule No. 579(g) proclaimed that
an elderly fuddy-duddy type must always make merry with wheezy comedy: Blossom Time didn’t disappoint
with Kranz (William Danforth), the constantly tipsy father of Mitzi, Fritzi, and Kitzi.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the “veritable bouquet of songs” was “the musi-
cal treat of the season” with “rich” melodies performed by “uncommonly fine singing.” The musical was an
“artistic hit,” and the plot “didn’t matter beyond making us feel sorry for Schubert.” But, after all, when the
handsome tenor Schober wins Mitzi from Schubert, the latter must realize that when “genius” is “short and
fat” it “can’t expect everything.” As for Mitzi, Fritzi, and Kitzi, it all sounded pretty “frisky” to Darnton, and
Danforth’s would-be comic character was like a “human siphon” in a part that was “hopelessly old-fashioned.”
As Schober, March’s voice was the “delightful surprise of the night” and the young singer would no doubt “get
himself talked about if he isn’t careful”; the baritone of Peacock’s Schubert was “of such excellent quality that
it roused enthusiasm second only to that created by Mr. March”; and Cook’s Mitzi had a voice of “occasional
harshness” but overall was “as fresh and pleasing as her personal charm.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was happy that “at last a musical comedy is musical”
with “exquisite melodies,” and if you could “close your ears to bad comedy” you would find the work
“delightful.” The songs were “well sung” by Marsh and Peacock and “pretty well sung” by Cook (who,
along with Frances Halliday, who played Kitzi, “smirk[ed] at the audience incontinently”). In regard to
Danforth, the performer made “the business of being a comedian a matter of manual labor” with his “gri-
maces and hisses and gurgles,” and although he “lubricates and perspires,” he “occasionally gets a titter
from the audience.”
The New York Tribune said the evening was “opulent in music and pictorial quality” and would “lin-
ger in the mansions of memory like fragrant keepsakes.” In fact, “such fine” music hadn’t “been heard in
operetta in some years,” and here was a “rich” and “charmingly orchestrated” score in which “melodies
were introduced with an appreciation of dramatic relation to the action on the stage.” The production’s one
“blemish” was Danforth’s “inevitable comic relief,” and “instead of being applied deftly and painlessly” it
was “smeared on with a burlesque stencil.” The critic noted that the opening-night lobby talk jested about
how “Franz Schubert had been brought down from Syracuse by his big brothers Jake and Lee [Shubert] for a
chance to make good on Broadway,” and now and then the music may have “forsook the great Viennese and
junketed pleasantly into something of Irving Berlin.”
The Times said the songs illuminated the operetta “like pictures in a Christmas book,” and it was a
“novelty” for the audience to hear dialogue spoken in a “quiet tempo.” And it seems the operetta had to fol-
low Rule No. 244(f) for Great Composer Operettas, for there was indeed a bit of the beloved game of name-
dropping: The Times reported that a character asked a young woman, “Who is Mr. Beethoven—your lover?”
And the coquettish reply was “Oh, no, dearie—not yet.”
In a later review for the Times, Alexander Woollcott said the adaptation was “adroit” and the Shuberts
had “produced it without stint.” In fact, they had augmented the number of musicians in the pit, and if you
sat in the first row you “either have to hold the oboe player on your lap or run the risk of trampling him to
death in your outward rush between the acts.” The “sledge-hammer coquetry” of Cook was “pretty bad,”
and although Peacock’s baritone was “excellent” his acting was “terrible” and he generally gave the impres-
sion that Schubert was a “moron.” But the score was so drenched in melody “that you forgive and forget”
some of the performances. Variety predicted that Blossom Time would “remain at the Ambassador for a
long stay” because of its “musical score of surpassing beauty” and a production that combined “elaborate-
ness with the best of taste.” Marsh brought “brilliancy and dash” to his character, and for looks he scored
“100 percent”; Peacock was an actor of “artistic perceptions” and was an “uncommonly good singer”; and
Cook was shown to “excellent advantage.” But Danforth had the evening’s “comedy burden—and it was a
burden.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s summed up the show in one sentence: it had a “charming score” and “very
little outside of that.”
The work had premiered in Vienna on January 15, 1916, as Das Dreimaderlhaus, and for that production
Schubert’s music was adapted by Heinrich Berte and the libretto was by Alfred M. Willner and Heinz Reichert
(who based their story on the 1912 novel Schwammerl by Rudolf Hans Bartsch).
1921–1922 Season 81
Another version of the material was Lilac Time, which opened in London at the Lyric Theatre on Decem-
ber 22, 1922, for 626 performances; this production utilized Berte’s musical adaptation for the 1916 Austrian
premiere.
The most complete recording of Blossom Time is from an Ohio Light Opera Company production that
was recorded on a two-CD set by Albany Records (# TROY-1401/02). An instrumental version of the score
played by the Vienna Pops and conducted by Domenico Savino was issued by Twentieth-Century-Fox Records
(LP # 3056), and a 1961 studio cast recording of Lilac Time was released by Angel Records (LP # 35817).
There was another version of the operetta that was also titled Blossom Time. The libretto was adapted by
Sidney Box, the lyrics were by G. H. Clutsam, John Drinkwater, and H. V. Purcell, and the musical adapta-
tion was by Clutsam. This version seems to have been partially adapted from Lilac Time and was produced
in Britain in 1936; its script was published in paperback by Samuel French (London) the following year.
Blossom Time was the granddaddy of Great Composer Musicals so beloved by Broadway and Hollywood
in later years, including the stage productions of Song of Norway (1944; Edvard Grieg), Mr. Strauss Goes to
Boston (1945; Johann Strauss), and Music in My Heart (1947; Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky) and the films A Song
to Remember (1945; Fredric Chopin) and Stars and Stripes Forever (1952; John Philip Sousa). And Blossom
Time was also the forerunner of Dead Composer Musicals, perhaps best exemplified by those of Robert Wright
and George Forrest wherein they adapted music by dearly departed composers into a Broadway-friendly pop
mode, shows such as, yes, Song of Norway (the double-crown winner for both the Great Composer and Dead
Composer genres), Kismet (1953; Alexander Borodin), and Anya (1965; Sergei Rachmaninoff).
Note that Howard Marsh, who created the role of Baron Franz Schober, not only got the girl but many
of the score’s best numbers (“Serenade” and “My Springtime Thou Art”), and his presence in the Broadway
musicals of the 1920s is impressive. Besides Blossom Time, he appeared in two other hits of the decade. In
1924, he created the role of Prince Karl in The Student Prince in Heidelberg, the decade’s longest-running
musical, where he sang Sigmund Romberg’s “Serenade” (aka “Overhead the Moon Is Beaming”); with Ilse
Marvenga introduced “Deep in My Heart, Dear”; and with Greek Evans the operetta’s theme song “Golden
Days.” In 1927, he starred as Gaylord Ravenal in Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s Show Boat. With
Norma Terris, he introduced three classic ballads (“Only Make Believe,” “You Are Love,” and “Why Do I
Love You?”) and also sang “Where’s the Mate for Me?” and “Till Good Luck Comes My Way.”
THE O’BRIEN GIRL

“The New American Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: October 3, 1921; Closing Date: February 18, 1922
Performances: 164
Lyrics: Frank Mandel
Music: Louis (Lou) A. Hirsch
Direction: Julian Mitchell; Producer: George M. Cohan; Choreography: Uncredited (George M. Cohan); Scen-
ery: Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes; Costumes: Alice O’Neil; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Charles J. Gebest
Cast: Finita DeSoria (Mrs. Hope), Elizabeth Hines (Alice O’Brien), Alexander Yakovleff (Joe Fox), Edwin Fors-
berg (Lawrence Patten), Robinson Newbold (Humphrey Drexel), Georgia Caine (Mrs. Drexel), Ada Mae
Weeks (Eloise Drexel), Truman Stanley (Larry Patten), Andrew Tombes (Wilbur Weathersby), Carl Hem-
mer (Gerald Morgan), Kitty Devere (Minerva), Vera O’Brien (Lucille), Kathleen Mahoney (Aline), Gretchen
Grant (Estelle), Harry Rose (Wolf), George Page (Bear), Lou Lesser (Eagle), George Hurd (Owl), M. Cun-
ningham (Mickey), Hazel Clements (Dickey); Ladies of the Ensemble: Irene Regan, Alberta Tuttle, Kitty
Devere, Vera O’Brien, Henrietta Morin, Marie Messier, Ethel Lyons, Louise Lyons, Helen Mann, Sylvia
Carol, Florence Doherty, Dorothy Fuller, Lucille Wallace, Madeline Bailey, Gertrude Healey, Helen Men-
the, Cecil Baisel, Abbie Harvey, Betty Wilson, Melba Pelleau; Gentlemen of the Ensemble (the program
didn’t provide first names): The Messrs. Ellison, Burke, Murray, Galivan, Cole, Rush, Vaughn, Downing,
Ford, Drake, Stevens
The action takes place during the present time at a fashionable hotel in the Adirondacks.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Pantomimic Opening”: “Curiosity” (Ensemble); “Give, Give” (Georgia Caine, Ada Mae Weeks,
Chorus); “I’ll Treat You Just Like a Sister” (Ada Mae Weeks, Andrew Tombes); “I Wonder How I Ever
Passed You By” (Elizabeth Hines, Truman Stanley); “Indian Prance” (Alexander Yakovleff, Chorus);
“Learn to Smile” (Finita DeSoria, Elizabeth Hines, Carl Hemmer); “My Little Canoe” (Ada Mae Weeks,
Andrew Tombes, Chorus); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Entrance of Dancers” (Gretchen Grant, Alberta Tuttle, Kitty Devere, Vera O’Brien);
“Grotesque Dance” (Alexander Yakovleff); “I’m So Excited” (Elizabeth Hines, Andrew Tombes, Boys);
Specialty: “Murder” (Robinson Newbold); “The Conversation Step” (Ada Mae Weeks, Andrew Tombes,
Chorus); “The O’Brien Girl” (Elizabeth Hines, Truman Stanley, Carl Hemmer); “Partners” (Ada Mae
Weeks, Andrew Tombes, M. Cunningham, Hazel Clements); “Partners” (reprise) (Elizabeth Hines); “To
Keep You in Your Seats” (Company); Finale (Company)
The O’Brien Girl was a lighter-than-air musical that received good reviews, ran over four months on
Broadway, and then toured. Prior to the Broadway premiere, it had been a hit in Boston, where it opened dur-
ing the previous summer and played four months. The musical was a popular follow-up to the hit Mary, and
most of that show’s creative team returned, including librettists Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, lyricist
Mandel, composer Louis A. Hirsch, and producer (and uncredited choreographer) George M. Cohan.
Alice O’Brien (Elizabeth Hines) is a stenographer for a publishing house who inherits $800 and decides to
treat herself to a luxurious vacation at a fashionable hotel in the Adirondacks, but to her shock discovers that
her married employers Lawrence Patten (Edwin Forsberg) and Humphrey Drexel (Robinson Newbold) are also
staying there, an unhappy coincidence sure to create gossip. But all ends well: Patten’s son Larry (Truman
Stanley) is also a guest at the hotel, the youngsters fall in love, and soon wedding bells are in the air.
The New York Times said the evening was a “hilarious and acrobatic” affair with a “good old-fashioned
bit of romance thrown in” and “abundant pegs to hang the dances on in kaleidoscopic variety.” The George
M. Cohan production utilized his trademarks (an Irish colleen and “jazz”-styled dancing), and the musical
highlights included Hines’s “shadow-blue” waltz by a lake which later morphed into a “twelve-partner affair”
in a ballroom, Indian numbers (“Indian Prance” and “Grotesque Dance”), a canoe novelty (“My Little Ca-
noe”), the would-be hit song “Learn to Smile,” and for M. Cunningham and Hazel Clements a dance “wilder”
than anything seen all evening (“Partners”). The musical also seems to have attempted a dance craze, but
“The Conversation Step” didn’t sweep America by storm.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s liked the “very pretty” songs, “whole-hearted” dancing, and the “lovely”
Hines, but noted the show’s comedians (Andrew Tombes and Newbold) didn’t have “a funny moment be-
tween them.” The New York Tribune said the “diverting” and “intriguing” show owed much to the “first
rate” leading performers because the music and “verbal patter” weren’t “very good,” the jokes weren’t “tick-
lers,” and the décor wasn’t “arresting” (but Alexander Yakovleff as an Indian guide danced with “abandon”
and “fine grace,” and “alone was worth the price of admission”). Brooklyn Life praised the “gay color riot”
of costumes and the “very beautiful” scenery, and the critic surmised that “Geo. M. himself” was the “real
daddy of this cute little Irish girl” because you “can’t get away from that Cohan ‘pep’ that is evident from
curtain to curtain.” And Variety liked the “clean” and “fast” musical, and noted it was “chock full of fun”
and “many leaps ahead” of Mary.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World suggested the musical was “written by Mr. Cohan with
his feet” because “the marks of those feet are all over the piece—and there’s the charm of it.” There was “no
one in this country” (“or in any other country for that matter”) who could “put on dancing numbers as the
one and only George M. stages them.” The dancers had “remarkable skill and precision” and danced “like
clockwork with the wheels well oiled,” and even props such as canoe paddles were integral to their move-
ment. The “tuneful” songs turned into “better dancing,” and the Cinderella story proved that “God not only
protects the working girl but looks out for her financial interests.”
For the pre-Broadway Boston run, James Marlowe played the role of Humphrey Drexel, and for New York
was succeeded by Newbold, who performed the specialty “Murder.” Variety noted that “Murder” was “good”
but didn’t compare with Newbold’s “always infectious comedy assignments.” For the post-Broadway tour, Joseph
Allen played Drexel, and “Murder” was cut and replaced by “Happy Family,” a quartet for Allen and three Broad-
way cast members who toured with the company (Edna Whistler, Oscar Figman, and Kay Carleton).
1921–1922 Season 83
THE LOVE LETTER

Opening Date: October 4, 1921; Closing Date: October 29, 1921
Performances: 31
Book and Lyrics: William LeBaron
Music: Victor Jacobi
Based on the 1912 play A Farkas (The Wolf) by Ferenc Molnar; the play was later produced in New York in two
different translations, as The Phantom Lover, aka The Phantom Rival (1914), and A Tale of the Wolf (1925).
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Uncredited, but probably Edward
Royce; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: Lichtenstein Miller Company (for act one), Alice O’Neil (for
act two), and Gilbert Clark, Inc. (for act three); Lighting: Uncredited, but probably Edward Royce; Musical
Direction: William Daly
Cast: Townsend Ahern (Michael), Henry White (Julien), Charles Lawrence (Head Waiter), Will West (Eugene
Bernard), Marjorie Gateson (Countess Irma), Carolyn Thomson (Miriam Charlot), Katharine Stewart (Ma-
dame Charlot), Fred Astaire (Richard Kolnar), Adele Astaire (Aline Moray), John Charles Thomas (Philip
Delmar), Elliott Roth (Waiter), Roger Davis (Bus Boy), Alice Brady (Marie), Irma Irving (Gina), Dorothy
Irving (Zena), Jane Carroll (Betty Parker), Tom Fitzpatrick (Ambassador); Ladies of the Ensemble: Peggy
Brady, Sophie Brenner, Gene Fleming, Kathleen Erroll, Lucille Darling, Betty Darling, Alma Drange, Hazel
Donnelly, Marjorie Tooney, Jill Middleton, Dorothy Brown, Nancy Griffith, Mildred Morgan, Lorraine
Sherwood, Muriel Cort, Margaret Morris, Marie Francis, Marguerite Draper, Gwendolyn Gordon, Lillian
Kent, Marion Donnelly, Maida Harries, Pearl Eaton, Helen Halperin; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Roger
Davis, Lester Ostrander, Donald Rowan, William Murray, Joe McGurgan, Drake Smith, William Freeman,
Elliott Roth, Eugene Elliott
The musical takes place in Europe (probably Hungary) during an unspecified period.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “To the Girl You Dance With” (Townsend Ahern, Henry White, Ensemble); “Any Girl” (Marjorie
Gateson, Ensemble); “I’ll Say I Love You” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Ensemble); “I’ll Return for You”
(John Charles Thomas, Carolyn Thomson); Finale
Act Two: “First Love” (Carolyn Thomson); “The Only Girl” (John Charles Thomas, Ensemble); “Scandal
Town” (Marjorie Gateson, Will West); “We Were in Love” (John Charles Thomas, Carolyn Thomson);
“Upside Down” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); “Canzonetta” (John Charles Thomas); “Rainbow” (Jane
Carroll); “Dance” (Irma Irving, Dorothy Irving, Pearl Eaton)
Act Three: “You’re Mine” (Jane Carroll, Ensemble); Dance (Irma Irving, Dorothy Irving); “Man, Man, Man”
(Marjorie Gateson, Male Ensemble); “Dreaming” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Ensemble); “My Heart
Beats for You” (John Charles Thomas); “Twiddle Your Thumbs” (lyric and music by Will West) (Will
West, Ensemble); “Reminiscence” (John Charles Thomas, Carolyn Thomson); “Cotillion” (John Charles
Thomas, Carolyn Thomson, Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Marjorie Gateson, Will West, Katharine Stewart,
Ensemble)
Like his previous musical The Half Moon, Victor Jacobi’s The Love Letter was a quick failure. The former
had managed forty-eight showings, but the latter lasted less than a month, and some six weeks after its clos-
ing the thirty-seven-year-old composer was dead of what the New York Times reported was a “short” (and
unspecified) illness. The Times also noted that the Hungarian composer had applied for U.S. citizenship, and
mentioned that music critics had “remarked on his versatility [and] his refusal to descend to the tricks of
composition and his abstention from jazz and syncopation.”
The musical was based on the 1912 play A Farkas (The Wolf) by Ferenc Molnar, which had been adapted
for Broadway in 1914 as The Phantom Lover (aka The Phantom Rival). In 1925, another adaptation opened in
New York, and this time around was titled A Tale of the Wolf. (A later 1928 drama also titled The Phantom
Lover wasn’t based on Molnar.)
The Charles Dillingham production followed the general lines of its source material. Miriam Charlot
(Carolyn Thomson) is engaged to a man she doesn’t love, and so in her dreams rhapsodizes over her former
flame Philip Delmar (John Charles Thomas). In Molnar’s original play, Miriam meets Philip again and realizes
he’s not really all that interesting: he’s now a farmer, and likes to gab about the farmyard and his swine. But
for the musical Philip emerges as a stalwart businessman, and while he may not be particularly romantic,
Miriam decides he’s the man for her.
The musical’s centerpiece was a ballroom fantasy, a Dream Ball which comprised the entire second scene
of the second act. Here Miriam encounters the Dream Philip, who keeps materializing under a number of dif-
ferent guises, such as a soldier, diplomat, singer, and waiter, and it was in this sequence that Thomas stopped
the show with the Italian-styled aria “Canzonetta.” Joseph Urban’s décor depicted an ornate ballroom with
surreal dream-like touches so that part of the stylized set included normal objects now oversized and incon-
gruously shaped. For this sequence, all the male performers wore maroon-colored dress suits, and according
to the New York Times there was “a welcome touch of burlesque in the feminine apparel.”
The Times praised the “highly enjoyable entertainment” and “first-rate musical piece” as well as Thom-
as’s “rich and ringing” baritone, and said Jacobi’s score offered a first-act dance that “sets the feet tapping”
as well as a waltz that “takes hold” in the Dream Ball; and Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World
found the production “slow but tuneful,” and although Thomas had “a lot to learn as an actor” he had “the
best baritone outside of grand opera.” Variety found the story “trivial” with an especially “laborious begin-
ning,” but said the show was a “success” with a “gorgeous production of ultra-modern scenic environment.”
The trade paper praised Thomas, and said he was “probably quite the most romantic figure of our musical
stage today,” a “personable and likable” hero with a voice of “liquid quality” that “is rarely heard outside of
the Metropolitan.”
Brooklyn Life said the musical was“in a class by itself,” and the combination of décor, costumes, lighting,
and movement created the most “harmonious blending” the critic had ever seen on a stage. The “rather thin”
score was “bright and catchy” and there were “several uncommonly effective songs and some airs that will
be extremely familiar before the new year sets in.” Thomas was a singer and actor “worthy of grand opera”
and had “outstanding merits” in both departments.
Along with Thomas, the distinct hits of the evening were Fred and Adele Astaire. Brooklyn Life said their
“synchronization of movement” proved there was “no pair of dancers who have attained such perfection.”
The Times praised their dancing and natural sense of comedy and said the dream sequence gave “their sense
of nonsense full scope.” Darnton said the “inimitable” duo brought “fantastic fun” to “Upside Down”; their
dancing was “the best of its kind” and was “so good” it “should carry them to the head of a company before
they are many years older,” and they saved the show “from the pace that kills.” And Variety said the “delight-
ful” team with their “engaging personalities” managed to score “in every spot allotted to them,” including
“Upside Down,” which brought forth “the lion’s share of the encores.”
Besides The Love Letter, another failed lyric adaptation based on a play by Molnar was Make a Wish,
which played on Broadway for 102 showings in 1951 and was based on The Good Fairy (1931). But Molnar’s
Liliom (1921) was the source for one of Broadway’s classic musicals when Richard Rodgers and Oscar Ham-
merstein II’s Carousel opened in 1945. Molnar’s The Guardsman (1924) was adapted as Enter the Guards-
man, a musical that premiered in London at the Donmar Warehouse in 1997 (the U.S. premiere took place
at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival in 1999, and a limited engagement of the musical was presented Off
Broadway at the Vineyard/Dimson Theatre for fifteen performances in 2000). The 1941 MGM musical The
Chocolate Soldier was based on The Guardsman, not on Oscar Straus’s 1909 operetta The Chocolate Soldier
(which had been based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1894 play Arms and the Man). But the film appropriated
the title and a few of the songs from Straus’s operetta.
BOMBO
“A Musical Extravaganza” / “Jolson’s Best Show”
Theatre: Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre

Performances: 218
Book and Lyrics: Harold Atteridge
1921–1922 Season 85

Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster;
Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Mode Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: (Note: The musical took place in 1921 and 1492, and following the names of the performers are the
names of their 1921 and 1492 characters.) Franklyn A. Batie (Paul Marcus/Alonzo), Vera Bayles Cole (An-
nabel Downing/Annabella), Frank Holmes (Jenkins/Roderigo), Russell Mack (Wilson/Demendozo), Mil-
dred Keats (Hazel Downing/Hazella), Forres Huff (Christopher/Christopho Colombo), Gladys Caldwell
(Patricia Downing/Princess Isabella), Fred Hall (Count Garibaldi/Prince Don), Fritzi Von Busing (Mrs.
Downing/Queen Isabella), Grace Keeshon (Inez/Lady Ynes de Cordoba), Janet Adair (Mona Tessa/A Sooth-
sayer), Harry Turpin (Red/King Ferdinand), Ernest Young (Louis/The Courier), Jack Kearns (Guiseppo/
Guiseppo); Banditti/Indian Chiefs: Ernest Miller, Dennis Murray, Walter White, Harry Sievers, and
Edward Pooley; Butlers/Sailors: Thomas Ross (John) and Theodore Hoffman (James); Pirates: Irene Hart
(Adele) and Bernice Hart (Estelle); Janette Dietrich (Lois/Luello), Frank Bernard (Alfred, Alfredo), Sam
Critcherson (Charles Masterson), Al Jolson (Gus/Bombo), Vivienne Oakland (Rosie); Ladies of the Ensem-
ble: Dorothy Bruce, Charlotte Sprague, Charlotte Schuette, Diana, Jeane Voltaire, Loreene Pullinger, Bon-
nie Belle, Corynne Baker, Virginia Wilson, Thelma Turnbull, Edna Starck, Louise Darcy, Dixie O’Neil,
Dorothy Wegman, Freddie Bond, Kitty Kane, Rose Gallagher, Dorothy Stone, Mary O’Shaugnessy, Alice
Rohey, Evelyn Richmond, Lois Syrell, Helen O’Brien, Lebanon Hoffa, Mae Laroux, Gypsy Norman, Maud
Satterfield, Belle Madulla, Orilla Smith, Edith Pierce, Ethel Bryant, Loralda Poppenay, Florence Wild, Pau-
line Dakla, Poppy Morton, Sidney Wilson, Marion Mooney, Alice Monroe, Billie Wagner, Marion Davis,
Elsie Dunn, Lucille Mendez, Beatrice Jackson, Sonia Field, Florence Field, Dolores Russelle, Nan Phillips,
Mary Brean, Lena Keefe, Florence Darling, Evelyn Mead, Kay Carlin, Bobby Boles, Beulah Rubens, Carroll
Miller, Louise Starck
The action takes place during the present time in Genoa, Italy; during 1492 in both Cordova, Spain, and on
the island of San Salvador; and occasionally at sea in 1921 and 1492.
Musical Numbers
Note: For each act, Jolson performed a specialty sequence of songs, including “April Showers” (lyric by B. G.
DeSylva, music by Louis Silvers) and “Give Me My Mammy” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva, music by Walter
Donaldson), neither of which were listed in the opening night program but were sung by Jolson at that
performance.
Act One: “Life Is a Gamble” (Guests, Teetotum Girls); “In the Land Off There” (Jean Adair, Mildred Keats,
Forrest Huff, Sam Critcherson, Fritzi von Busing); “The Horse Trot” (Mildred Keats, Dancers); “Sleepy
Little Village” (lyric and music by Pete Wendling) (Irene Hart, Bernice Hart); “The Globe Trot” (The Globe
Trotters, Mildred Keats, Janette Dietrich, Frank Bernard, Others); Some Songs (medley) (Al Jolson); “In Old
Granada” (Franklyn A. Batie, Beauties of Spain); “Jazza-da-dada” (Jazza-da-dada Girls, Mildred Keats); “No
One Loves a Clown” (Vera Bayles Cole, Frank Bernard, Clown Girls); “Rose of Spain” (Theodore Hoffman,
Vera Bayles Cole, Castilian Beauties); “I’m Glad I’m Spanish” (Janet Adair, Spanish Beauties); “In a Curio
Shop” (Janette Dietrich, Frank Bernard, Curio Girls); “Wait until My Ship Comes In” (Franklyn A. Batie,
Sailor Girls)
Act Two: “A Girl Has a Sailor in Every Port” (Sailor Girls); “Bylo Bay” (Irene Hart, Bernice Hart); “Wetonia”
(Theodore Hoffman, Vera Bayles Cole, Indian Boys and Girls); Songs (medley) (Al Jolson); “The Daffodil”
(Mildred Keats, Strutters); “The Glide Deluxe” (Dance Duo)
Al Jolson returned to Broadway in the title role of Bombo, which was the inaugural production for the
new Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre, which the Shuberts named in honor of the star (the venue was actually on
West 58th Street and Seventh Avenue). Bombo was a hit, ran for most of the season, then took to the road,
and later returned to Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 14, 1923, for an additional thirty-two
performances.
Most of the score was written by lyricist Harold Atteridge and composer Sigmund Romberg, but the eve-
ning included many interpolations, three of which became standards forever identified with Jolson. At one
time or another, during either the New York run or the post-Broadway tour, Jolson introduced “California,
Here I Come” and “Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo’Bye!).” One reference source states that “April Showers,” the
show’s third standard, was added during the run, but the song was definitely heard on opening night and at
least three critics singled it out, one even mentioning that the song wasn’t listed in the program. For all the
success of Bombo, Jolson never again appeared at the theatre that bore his name.
Jolson played his role in blackface as his popular character Gus who lives in Genoa, Italy, during the pres-
ent time of 1921 and who becomes Bombo when the show travels back in time to Old Italy. The miracle of
time travel was popular in musical comedy, and other shows and films that utilized the notion were Richard
Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s 1927 A Connecticut Yankee, Cole Porter’s 1939 DuBarry Was a Lady, and Kurt
Weill and Ira Gershwin’s 1945 film Where Do We Go from Here?
Gus finds himself transported to the Spain of 1492, and as Bombo he meets Christopher Columbus and be-
comes the explorer’s Man Friday. The loosely constructed plot provided numerous excuses for songs, dances,
and comedy in a lavish production for which the Shuberts spared no expense, and of course the vehicle gave
Jolson free rein, including a chance for him to sing a new “mammy” number (here, “Give Me My Mammy,”
another song not listed in the program but performed on opening night). When Jolson had starred at the Win-
ter Garden, he often performed on a runway that circled the orchestra pit, and for Bombo a special walkway
was built that extended over the pit and into the auditorium and thus provided the customers (especially
those in the first few rows) a chance for a more intimate view of Jolson.
The critics praised the lavishness of the show’s sets and costumes, but said they wished some of the
capitalization had been diverted from décor to better jokes. According to Alexander Woollcott in the New
York Times, much of the humor was “as old as Methuselah,” including the one about a hotel that always
sends the restaurant bill to the patron’s room rather than giving it directly to him in the dining room (in this
way, the restaurant can avoid dealing with those guests who die of shock when they see their bill). And then
there was the one about hot weather in the South: Jolson reported that he watched a dog chase a rabbit, and
both animals were walking. But the audience came to see Jolson, and in his new show they got a “liberal
allowance” of their favorite troubadour. Woollcott reported that during the curtain calls, baskets of flowers
were delivered onstage to Jolson, and the star singled out one of them, which was in the shape of a silver
horseshoe. Its oblique inscription stated, “From one stableman to another”; for those in the know, it referred
to the Central Park Riding Academy, a building that used to stand at least partially on the site of the new
theatre, and the fact that Jolson’s old haunt the Winter Garden was located on the site of what had been the
American Horse Exchange.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Bombo “would be a perfectly great show, if only they would cut out
everything” but Jolson, but give him “some good songs,” because she hated to see him waste his time with
numbers like “April Showers” and the “peculiarly uninspired” “Give Me My Mammy.” But Charles Darnton
in the New York Evening World said “Give Me My Mammy” was “the best ‘mammy’ song he has ever given
us.” Bombo was the “indefatigable” Jolson’s “most glorious success,” and the “comic genius [could] do no
wrong” in an “exhilarating performance” that found him “dancing like mad and singing with an ecstasy of
spirit.” Further, the costumes were “charming,” the sets turned the show into an “extravaganza de luxe,” and
the chorus girls were “uncommonly pretty and graceful.” Three teams of dancers were particularly impressive
in “The Horse Trot,” a dance that “put all the pony ballets of bygone days completely out of the running.”
The opening-night tickets cost the unheard-of price of $11 apiece, and Jolson informed the audience this was
“Jake’s [J. J. Shubert’s] idea” because the producer wanted to recoup the costs for both the theatre and the
show in one night.
Percy Hammond in the New York Tribune said Jolson was the “hit” of the evening and “wrought comic
and melodious wonders” in a “costly chaos of pretty women, pretty clothes, doggerel, hanky-pank, nursery
tales and droll stories.” Prior to his stage entrance, the other performers “spread the red carpet of the plot pre-
liminary” to Jolson’s appearance, and when the star finally arrived on stage he had “to wait a long, long time
before the uproar ceased.” After receiving the audience’s “plaudits,” he walked to the edge of the stage and
then explained the reason for the high admission price of $11 per ticket. Hammond noted that “April Show-
ers” (“a pretty song and lucidly rendered”) went over well with the audience although he could at no time find
the song listed in the opening night program. The critic also provided another sample of the evening’s jokes:
Why didn’t they play pinochle on Noah’s Ark? Because Mrs. Noah was sitting on the deck.
1921–1922 Season 87
Hammond said the “dreamy pilgrimage” of Bombo offered “dances, ballets, parades, pageants, evolutions
and tableaux, all of them inhabited by comely women in colorful and barbarious vestments.” Here was a “big,
rich, gorgeous, ramshackle and routine mess” and Jolson was “the most effective entertainer of his time.”
Variety said “Jolson is the show at the Jolson,” but noted the evening should have included other comedi-
ans and more in the way of female presence. The lyric of “April Showers” was “exceptionally fine,” Jolson’s
rendition of “The Barber in Seville” (lyric by Harold Atteridge and music by Con Conrad, and which was per-
formed during one of Jolson’s two specialty sequences) “tickled the house,” “The Horse Trot” was a “corking
good novelty,” and the comic business included a scene in which Jolson meets an Indian chief, offers to trade
a pair of scissors for Brooklyn, and suggests the chief use the scissors to cut out Flatbush. Ultimately, Jolson
was “as great an entertainer as he ever was—greater, in fact.”
Jolson recorded a number of songs from the production (some of which were added to the Broadway run
or the national tour), including “April Showers” (see song list above), “California, Here I Come” (lyric and
music by Al Jolson, Joseph Meyer, and B. G. DeSylva), “Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo’Bye!)” (lyric and music by
Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman, and Dan Russo), “Give Me My Mammy” (see song list above), and “Who Cares?”
(lyric by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager).
Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre had a checkered history during which it underwent various name changes
and at times was used as a movie theatre and a television studio. In 1924, the theatre hosted Romberg’s The
Student Prince in Heidelberg, which at 608 performances made it the longest-running musical of the 1920s.
As the Venice, the theatre had an important role in the history of the American musical when in 1937 Marc
Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock played an impromptu opening-night performance because the doors of its
own theatre (the Maxine Elliott) were locked (depending on the source, either from government censorship
or from the fact that the Works Progress Administration was in the process of winding down its producing
activities).
The venue was later known as the New Century Theatre, and hosted a number of hits, including the
original productions of Follow the Girls (1944), Up in Central Park (1945), High Button Shoes (1947), and
Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which at 1,077 performances was the playhouse’s longest run (with the caveat
that Kate eventually transferred to another Broadway theatre in order to make way for Porter’s Out of This
World, which opened at the New Century in 1950).
Besides hosting a number of hits, the theatre also saw many legendary flops, including Louisiana Lady
(1947), Buttrio Square (1952), and the venue’s final musical Carnival in Flanders (1953; despite its six-
performance run, the show’s leading lady Dolores Gray won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a
Musical). The two final productions to play at the theatre were a revival of Sherlock Holmes in 1953 with
Basil Rathbone (three performances) and a 1954 limited run of the Azuma Kabuki Dancers and Musicians.
Once the dance troupe’s engagement closed, the theatre never again hosted a Broadway production and so
its theatrical life lasted for just thirty-three years. The playhouse soon became a television studio, and then
in 1962 was demolished to make way for an apartment house.
LOVE DREAMS
“A Melody Play”
Theatre: Times Square Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Apollo Theatre)
Opening Date: October 10, 1921; Closing Date: November 12, 1921
Performances: 40
Book: Anne Nichols
Lyrics: Oliver Morosco
Music: Werner Janssen
Direction: Oliver Morosco and John McKee; Producer: Oliver Morosco; Choreography, Scenery, Costumes,
and Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Mario Agnolucci
Cast: Tom Powers (Larry Pell), Maurie Holland (Billy Parks), Orrin Johnson (Doctor Duncan Pell), Harry K.
Morton (Cadillac Packard), Vera Michelena (Renee d’Albret), Charles Yorkshire (Stage Manager), Maude
Eburne (Hildegard), Marie Carroll (Cherry O’Moore), Amelia Allen (Premier Dancer), Pauline Maxwell
(Pauline), Grace Culvert (Grace), Irene Novotney (Irene), Joan Warner (Joan), Ann Pauley (Ann), Grace El-
liott (Grace), Maude Lydiate (Maude), Charmine Essley (Charmine)

The action takes place during the present time in New York City and in the country.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd” (Tom Powers, Maurie Holland, Girls); “Entre Nous” (Tom
Powers, Maurie Holland, Harry K. Morton, Girls); “(Any Time Is) Love Time” (Vera Michelena, Tom
Powers)
Act Two: Specialty Dances (Pauline Maxwell, Amelia Allen); “The Toddle Top Whirl” (Tom Powers, Maurie
Holland, Girls); “Here and There and Everywhere” (Harry K. Morton, Girls); “The World Owes You This,
My Dear” (Vera Michelena); “Reputation” (Maude Eburne, Harry K. Morton); “Love Dreams” (Vera Mi-
chelena); “(I’m Just Looking for a) Lonesome Boy” (Marie Carroll)
Act Three: “Ensemble Dance” (Dancing Girls); “Oriental Dance” (Amelia Allen); “Pity Me” (Marie Carroll,
Tom Powers); “My Dream of Love Is You” (Orrin Johnson)
Is Broadway star Renee d’Albret (Vera Michelena) really a shockingly notorious and voluptuous European
vamp (who according to Alan Dale in the Washington Times wears just “a few snatches of clothes—just as
snatchy as the law permits”), or just your ordinary everyday American country-girl homebody who wears or-
gandie dresses and likes to bake pies? Thank the stars she’s the latter, and her naughty reputation stems from
the imagination of her publicity agent Cadillac Packard (Harry K. Morton). You see, Renee works in show
business only to make money to pay the medical bills for her lame sister Cherry (Marie Carroll). Such was the
plot of the soap opera cum melodrama Love Dreams, which played five weeks on Broadway before shuttering.
The New York Times said the self-described “melody drama” was “a rather ingenious combination of mu-
sical comedy and sentimental drama” that moved along “obviously but smoothly.” The New York Tribune
decided the show lacked “continuity” and was more in the nature of “a series of burlesque skits running all
the way from burlesque to melodrama, with a very good plot lost somewhere between the first and second
acts.” What Love Dreams needed was “a rude awakening and a fresh start.” But the sets were “elaborate,” the
costumes “effective and discreet,” the choreography “startling,” and the lyrics “good.” The critic singled out
four musical numbers: “Reputation” (an interpretive dance), “(Any Time Is) Love Time,” “The World Owes
You This, My Dear,” and the title song.
There are wildly variant interpretations of the musical’s ending. The Times classified the show as a
“tragedy” with an “unhappy ending,” but another source indicates that by the finale Cherry is cured of her
ailment and both she and Renee find husbands. Because the musical underwent minor tinkering during its
short Broadway life (the title song was cut), maybe the ending was altered, but that doesn’t quite account for
the different opening-night accounts of the show’s denouement.
Librettist Anne Nichols didn’t have much luck with Love Dreams, but later in the season she struck
pay dirt with the little comedy that could. Her much vilified Abie’s Irish Rose opened later in the season,
and despite harsh reviews, audiences turned it into one of Broadway’s greatest successes. It ran for 2,327 per-
formances and holds the record as Broadway’s third-longest-running nonmusical (after Life with Father and
Tobacco Road). And Marie Carroll, the suffering sister in Love Dreams, created the title role of Rose Mary
Murphy (whom Abie tries to pass off as Rosie Murpheski).
GOOD MORNING DEARIE

“The Newest Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: November 1, 1921; Closing Date: August 26, 1922
Performances: 347
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: (most likely) Edward Royce; Scenery:
Frank Gates and Edward A. Morange; Costumes: Herman Patrick Teppe; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Victor Baravalle
1921–1922 Season 89
Cast: Ruth Williamson (Florrie), Lilyan White (Cherry), Patricia, aka Patrice, Clark (Pat), Pauline Hall (Mar-
gie), John Price Jones (George Mason), Peggy Kurton (Ruby Manners), Ada Lewis (Madame Bompard),
Oscar Shaw (Billy Van Cortlandt), John J. Scannell (Gimpy), Louise Groody (Rose-Marie), Harland Dixon
(Chesty Costello), William Kent (Steve Simmons), Marie Callahan (Cutie), Raymond Moore (Kirby),
Otis Harper (Sing Lee), Irving Jackson (Hoi Fat), Edouard LeFebvre (Lim Ho), Joseph Viau (Pierre), Daniel
Sparks (Gigi), Roberta Beatty (Mrs. Greyson Parks), Ingrid Zanders (Miss Hetherington), Bebee (possibly
Hebe) Halpin (Pauline), Miriam Miller (Dorothy), Muriel Harrison (Muriel), Spaulding Hall (Winters),
The Darling Twins (Sylvia and Harriet); Specialty Acts: Dancers—Maurice, Leonora Hughes; Onstage
Band: Leo Reisman’s Band; The Sixteen Sunshine Girls: Mary Read, Dorothy Sabin, Dolly Mosley, Ida
Mosley, Chrissie Staller, Doris Smith, Josie Jones, Ida Berry, Sibyl Rowland, Elsie Hellewell, Phyliss
(aka Phylis) Brown, Edith Harvey, Norine Callon, Florrie Stack, Alice Pitman, Muriel Curl; Ladies of
the Ensemble: Helen Allan, Marie Berno, Evelyn Combes (aka Coombs), Lucille Cassidy, Lola Curtiss,
Peggy Dana, Consuelo Flowerton, Margery Flynn, Gertrude Feeley, Carol Flower (aka Flowers), Jessie
Howe, Ida Howe, Ona Hamilton, Bebee (possibly Hebe) Halpin, Alice Hitchcock, Beatrice Hughes,
Aileen Hamilton, Dorothy Harrigan, Doris Landy, Laura McClure, Lillian Mackenzie, Lydia Scott, Mil-
dred Sinclair; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Sidney Ayers, Bill Bailey, Joe (aka Joseph) Carey, Conway
Dillon, Jack Hughes, Otis Harper, Edouard LeFebvre, Raymond Moore, Dan (aka Daniel) Sparks, Francis
Schultz, Joseph Viau, Irving Jackson
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Every Girl” (Oscar Shaw, John Price Jones); “Way Down Town” (Louise Groody, Harland Dixon);
“Musical Scena”: (1) “Rose-Marie” (Louise Groody) and (2) “Didn’t You Believe” (Oscar Shaw); First Scene
Finaletto; “Coolie Dance” (The Sixteen Sunshine Girls); “The Teddy Toddle” (Girls and Men); “Sing Song
Girl” (William Kent, Six Fan-Tan Girls); “Musical Scena”: (1) “Entrance of Sailors” (aka “When the Guns
Are Booming”) (Men); (2) “Blue Danube Blues” (Louise Groody, Oscar Shaw); (3) “Blue Danube Waltz”
(Maurice, Leonora Hughes); (4) “Easy Pickins” (Harland Dixon, William Kent, John J. Scannell); and (5)
Finale
Act Two: “Melican Papa” (William Kent, Sylvia and Harriet Darling); “Niagara Falls” (Louise Groody, Oscar
Shaw); “Pas de Deux” (Harland Dixon, Marie Callahan); “Toddle Quartette” (Louise Groody, Peggy Kur-
ton, William Kent, John Price Jones); “Dance du Fragonard” (The Sixteen Sunshine Girls); “Kailua” (aka
“Ka-Lu-A”) (Oscar Shaw, Girls); “Good Morning Dearie” (Louise Groody, Men); Dance (Harland Dixon,
Marie Callahan); “Dance Specialty” (Maurice, Leonora Hughes); “Le Sport American” (The Sixteen Sun-
shine Girls); Reprise (song unknown; possibly “Good Morning Dearie”) (Louise Groody, Oscar Shaw);
Finale
Jerome Kern’s comma-challenged Good Morning Dearie was the third-longest-running book musical of
the season, following Blossom Time and Tangerine. Kern, book writer and lyricist Anne Caldwell, producer
Charles Dillingham, and performers Louise Groody and Ada Lewis had joined forces for the earlier hit The
Night Boat, which played for 331 performances and started the fad for the inclusion of a blues number in
what seemed to be every other Broadway musical during the first half of the decade (in this case, “Left All
Alone Again Blues”). Good Morning Dearie ran even longer (347 showings) and it too featured a blues (“Blue
Danube Blues”).
Good Morning Dearie received glowing notices, and those songs that have surfaced from the score are
melodic and appealing, including the airy and irresistible title number, the Hawaiian-flavored “Ka-Lu-A,” and
the clever “Blue Danube Blues,” which offers jazz-inflected Strauss.
The story didn’t amount to much, and one or two critics noted the show’s title was completely mean-
ingless (but it served as a great title song). The plot followed in the tradition of such Cinderella musicals as
Irene (1919) and Kern’s Sally. Louise Groody played errand-girl Rose-Marie (not to be confused with another
1920s leading character of the same name, whose show was named after her), and like her musical-theatre
cousin Irene, she works in a dress establishment (here called the Toddle Shop). Young millionaire Billy Van
Cortlandt (Oscar Shaw) falls for Rose-Marie, but her past involvement with crook Chesty Costello (Harland
Dixon) threatens to derail, or at least detour, the romance, especially now that Chesty is out of the slammer
and back in town to resume his criminal activities. But all ends well when Billy and Chesty engage in an out-
and-out fight at the Hell’s Bells Dance Hall. Billy is the winner, and extracts a promise from Chesty to leave
Rose-Marie alone. Which he does, because this is a musical comedy.
Variety said the musical was a “dizzy daze of dance.” There was specialty after specialty number, includ-
ing “singles, doubles, quartets, sixteen wonderful girls, twelve smoothly rehearsed boys, comedy dances,
acrobatic dances, story dances, class dances [probably classic dances]—it was a dancing carnival.” The dances
“worked up a pyramid of enthusiasm which more than any other ingredient of this well-balanced show will
make it talked about by heartily pleased audiences.” The New York Times said the evening was “generally
superior” to the typical musical comedy and was “probably as entertaining a musical piece as has drifted
this way since Sally.” Here was a “lavish” production with the “extremely cute” Groody, who was “a joy to
watch when dancing and is seemingly possessed of endless energy.” However, the critic said Kern’s score was
“satisfactory” but not “remarkable.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Good Morning Dearie came “well within the bounds of being one of
the best musical shows you ever saw in your life,” and “every few minutes somebody obliges with a dance
or a song, which has ever been our idea of the way things should be in a musical comedy.” Arthur Pollock
in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “suave presentation that ought to delight theatergoers.” The work
was “the sort of thing that never gets itself done better than in the American theatre,” and the “fascinating
musical entertainment” included “charming” music and an “attractive story with any amount of graceful
trimmings.”
Pollock noted that the fight between Shaw and Dixon was a “good” one, and the critic for the New York
Tribune said he’d “been led to believe” that this sort of fight “occurred only in the movies,” but here it was
“real” onstage with Shaw the “victorious party” against the “tough as they come” Dixon. The musical itself
was “one of the best we ever saw,” and Ada Lewis delivered “incomparable bon mots” (she pronounced the
last two words as they are spelled) and she referred to the “Italian resonance.” Further, the décor was “mar-
velously beautiful.” Kern’s score was “so good” it was impossible “to select any one song and predict that it
will win popularity” because “one catchy tune followed another.” But the title song and a dance performed
by Dixon and Marie Callahan perhaps received the greatest amount of applause by the opening night audience
(either their “Pas de Deux” or their late second-act number titled “Dance”).
During the tryout, “My Lady’s Dress,” “Rosy Ruby,” and “Green River Glide” were cut; “Dance du
Fragonard” was titled “Fragonard Fancies”; “Le Sport American” was titled “Sports Dance”; and “Toddle
Quartette” was also known as “Wedding Bells Are Ringing.” During the Broadway run, there were consider-
able changes in the musical’s numbers. Dropped were “Sing Song Girl,” “Blue Danube Waltz” (but not “Blue
Danube Blues”), “Melican Papa,” and Maurice and Leonora’s second-act dance specialty, and added was
“Dance Eccentrique” (which was later cut and replaced by “Radium Dance”).
“Ka-Lu-A” was dropped during the New York run because Fred Fisher alleged that part of it had been lifted
from “Dardanella,” a song for which Fisher owned the copyright. (Note that Fisher and Kern had written at
least one song together as far back as 1907 when Fisher wrote the lyric and Kern the music for “Right Now”
from Fascinating Flora.) Kern’s biographer Gerald Bordman in Jerome Kern: His Life and Music reports that
when the case came to trial the judge asserted that if part of the song was unconscious plagiarism on Kern’s
part, it certainly hadn’t caused Fisher to suffer any injury. Ultimately, Kern was ordered to pay Fisher the sum
of $250 in damages. Because “Ka-Lu-A” had been cut from the show, it was later added to the run of Kern’s
hit London musical The Cabaret Girl, which had opened about six weeks before the New York premiere of
Good Morning Dearie.
As noted above, Harland Dixon and Marie Callahan (as Cutie) were singled out by Pollock for their danc-
ing. The Times said that Callahan was “pinch-hitting” for Violet Zell, but it seems Callahan had been with
the musical for a considerable time prior to the Broadway premiere, and during the show’s second tryout stop
during mid-October in Washington, D.C. she’s listed in the program as Cutie.
The Comic Opera Guild’s recording of the score (CD # CGD06P-2C) includes virtually the entire score
along with the cut song “My Lady’s Dress.” The collection The First Rose of Summer (Music Box Recordings
CD # MBR-04003) includes “Niagara Falls,” “Ka-Lu-A,” and the cut song “My Lady’s Dress,” and the first
volume of Jerome Kern Revisited (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-113) includes the title song (sung by
Barbara Cook and Harold Lang) and “Blue Danube Blues” (Cook and Bobby Short).
1921–1922 Season 91
SUZETTE
“Best Musical Comedy in Town!”
Theatre: Princess Theatre

Opening Date: November 24, 1921; Closing Date: November 26, 1921
Performances: 4
Book and Lyrics: Roy Dixon
Music: Arthur H. Gutman
Direction: Charles D. Pitt; Producer: Suzette Producing Company; Choreography: Larry Ceballos; Scenery:
Golding Studios; Costumes: Brooks and Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Arthur H. Gutman
Cast: John Cherry (Armand), Frank Lalor (Tony), Marie Astrova (Suzette), Marjorie Booth (Dora Dolores),
Victor Morley (Max Kalman), James R. Marshall (Paul Huntley), Carola Parson (Mme. Bimboula); Mont-
martre Models: Ann Roos (Adele), Bernice Ackerman (Betty), Peggy Paulson (Cheri), Beatrice Savage (Ju-
lie), Polly Mayer (Liane), Viola Frass (Mitzi), Genevieve Markham (Peggy), and Carmen Johnston (Sonya);
Artists: Tom Maynard (Andre), John Grieves (Boris), Austin Clark (Josef), and Norman Jefferson (Marco)
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Deauville.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (John Cherry, Ensemble); “No, No” (Marie Astrova, John Cherry); “Oh, Waiter” (Victor
Morley, Marjorie Booth, Frank Lalor); “Dreams of Tomorrow” (Marie Astrova, James R. Marshall); “A
Modern Diplomat” (Frank Lalor, Girls); “Suzette” (James R. Marshall, Boys); “Gypsy Rose” (Marie As-
trova, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “A Forest Legend” (Victor Morley, Marie Astrova, Marjorie Booth); “Bagdad”
(Frank Lalor, Girls); “Honey-Love-Moon” (Marie Astrova, James R. Marshall, Ensemble); “Saturday Eve-
ning Post” (Frank Lalor, Carola Parson, Victor Morley); “Sweetheart” (Marie Astrova); Finale (Ensemble)
The Sally wannabe Suzette was clobbered by the critics and its four-performance run was the shortest of
the season. Set in Paris and Deauville, the Cinderella story featured all the requisite types of the genre, includ-
ing Cinderella herself (Marie Astrova played the title role), an eligible American Millionaire in Paris (James
J. Marshall as the hero Paul Huntley), a theatre impresario (Victor Morley played Kalman, whose first name
is—what else?—Max), a tempestuous prima donna (Marjorie Booth was Dora Dolores), and (in what might
be termed the Leon Errol role from Sally) a comic and kindly waiter known as Tony (Frank Lalor). And the
musical offered certifiable proof that it took place in the authentic Montmartre of ooh-la-la Paree because the
habitués of a local café include members of the demimonde with models named Cheri, Liane, and Mitzi, and
artists named Andre and Marco.
Poor little flower seller Suzette attracts the attention of millionaire Paul and gets a marriage proposal,
and, of course, when Dora refuses to “go on” for a performance, Suzette comes to the rescue as her replace-
ment. Suzette and Sally (not to mention Irene, Sunny, My Fair Lady, Bells Are Ringing, and about 1,267 other
Cinderella musicals) may have been cut from the same cloth, but the differences are in the telling of the story
and the singing of the songs (not to mention a dancing star like Marilyn Miller). And that’s why Sally played
for 570 performances and Suzette for four.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the “modest,” “commonplace,” and “unassuming” mu-
sical was a “half-portion” and “home-made” show of the “sort that seldom ventures into the fierce competi-
tion of Broadway.” And it was perhaps foolhardy of the producers to open the musical when the “splendors
and gaieties” of Sally were still on the boards. The jokes were “poor but honest,” the cast tried “their best at
a hard job,” and the “cheerful” and “tinkly” songs were “intended chiefly for dancing purposes.” In the title
role, Marie Astrova was “plump” with “a heavy overseas accent,” and when she sang “Gypsy Rose” it came
out sounding like “Jeepsy Raws.”
Percy Hammond in the New York Tribune said the book and music were “older than the most adult of the
pyramids,” and the usually humorous Lalor was “funereal.” But Astrova was “plump and pretty,” Marshall
was “mellow as to voice and manner,” and Morley brought “gayety not warranted by his role.” Arthur Pol-
lock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said there wasn’t “a bright line in the whole affair,” the music was “hardly
worth mentioning,” and poor Lalor “worked hard trying to put exceedingly old wine into new bottles.” In a
later article for the same newspaper, Pollock said the authors of Sally wouldn’t “for a moment” think of suing
the authors of Suzette because Suzette was “a monument to the ability of the authors and producers” of Sally.
Suzette wasn’t related to the 1917 London musical of the same name which starred Gaby Deslys and
Stanley Lupino and ran for 255 performances.
THE WILD CAT

Theatre: Park Theatre
Performances: 74
Libretto and Music: Manuel Penella; English libretto by Marie B. Schrader
Direction: Manuel Penella; Producers: John Cort in association with Alex Aaronson; Scenery: Beaux Arts
Studio; V. Sanchiz Lazar; F. Gras; Costumes: Julio Perez; Ripolles and Martin; Senorita Matilde Lopez;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Manuel Penella
Cast: Dorothy South (Solea), Vera Ross (Sena Frasquita) Grace Hamilton (Loliya), W. H. Thompson (Father
Anton), Sam Ash (Rafael), Carlos Villarias (Hormigon), Max Gonzales (Caireles), Louise Barnolt (Gipsy),
Marion Green (Juanillo, aka The Wild Cat), Conchita Piquer (Gypsy Dancer, Flower Seller), Pilar Tor-
ralba (Gypsy Dancer), Russell Ash (Shepherd), Oliver T. McCormack (El Pezuno), Fred Rogers (Alguacil);
Ensemble: Andalusian Peasant Girls, Gipsy Girls and Boys, Bullfighters, Picadores, Bandits, Rural Police-
men, Bull Ring Attendants, Sand Throwers, Guards, Stable Boys, Others
The opera was presented in three acts.
The action takes place in Seville and environs.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program for the opera didn’t list individual musical sequences.
The world premiere of Manuel Penella’s opera El gato montes took place on February 23, 1916, at the
Teatro Principal in Valencia, and by the time of its first New York presentation as The Wild Cat it reportedly
had received 2,700 performances in various productions throughout Spain. The New York version was pre-
sented in an English adaptation by Marie B. Schrader and enjoyed a healthy run of two months during which
the composer was the musical director.
The story was essentially a love triangle. Solea (Dorothy South) and Juanillo (Marion Green) were once
sweethearts, but when a man unfairly insulted Solea, Juanillo had no choice but to defend her honor and kill
the upstart. Juanillo was imprisoned for the murder, but has now escaped and become the leader of a group
of bandits in a mountain hideout. He hopes to be reunited with Solea, but during the intervening years she’s
fallen in love with the renowned bullfighter Rafael (Sam Ash). The two men essentially circle one another
in an uneasy rivalry, and while Solea still loves Juanillo her heart belongs to Rafael, more in gratitude for his
kindness than for romantic reasons. When Rafael is fatally gored in the ring, Solea literally dies of grief but
Juanillo mistakenly believes she died for him. He takes her body to his hideout, and there he orders one of
his cohorts to shoot him. As the final curtain falls, the dying Juanillo embraces the body of his beloved Solea.
With a story set in Spain about fiery passions, bullfights and bullfighters, gypsies, flower sellers, and
death, the opera of course brought to mind Carmen, but the work wasn’t a mere carbon copy of Bizet’s clas-
sic, and Penella’s melodic and atmospheric score carried the somewhat predictable plot forward. Although it’s
never been produced by the Metropolitan Opera Company, El gato montes occasionally surfaces in regional
companies, and a 1996 revival by the Washington National Opera showed that the libretto and music make
a viable, exciting, and melodic opera.
The New York Times reported that the first American audience was often “thrilled” by the “wholly mu-
sical and tragic” opera, an “admirable” performance which boasted a score of dancers who “lent the artistic
touch of original color throughout,” authentic toreador outfits for the men, and “towering” combs and man-
tillas for the women. During the bullfight scene, “a shouting chorus added all the realism of a ‘world series’
game to the big scene,” and as a flower girl Conchita Piquer “brought down the house.”
1921–1922 Season 93
Percy Hammond in the New York Tribune said the opera offered “luscious hip-melodies,” and the New
York production was an “earnest” and “melodious” evening with “seductive qualities of color, flounces
and melody,” and even Rafael’s death in the bull ring inspired “gorgeous mortuary music.” Hammond also
commented on the flower girl’s “gay” and “pretty” song which demanded “many, many encores.” The basic
problem with the current production was that it was given in English, and the work “might have been more
eloquently related had it been left in the mystery of its original language.” Previously, only Puccini’s The Girl
of the Golden West had occupied “the top notch of absurdity” with its English presentation, but now El gato
montes “transcends in its ridiculous ingenuity all previous endeavors of its kind.” As a result, when Rafael
sings an “impassioned obbligato of Mr. Penella’s large band of strings, woodwinds, drums and basses,” it turns
out the subject of his song is the “whereabouts” of his collar buttons.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World praised the “uncommonly well sung” and “dazzling
musical spectacle” in which the composer’s conducting “put fire into an excellent singing company that
included a resounding chorus.” At times there seemed to be “no end” of recitative, but as the somewhat
“burdensome plot” moved on to the bullfight sequence the music became “lively and melodious.” The flower
girl’s song engendered the “greatest enthusiasm of the night,” Dorothy South sang “charmingly,” Sam Ash
“justified” his presence as the toreador, and Marion Green in the title role was “convincing.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily News wondered who was the intended audience for the opera be-
cause it was “too Spanish to attract Americans and too American to satisfy the Spanish population.” Such a
work couldn’t “quite compete successfully” with the Met, and the leading singers had voices “of the qual-
ity heard in the largest and best of film emporiums” and thus they sang “better than the average singer of
musical comedy.” But they were “amusing” when they tried to act, and Green was “stiff and ridiculous.”
But “several” moments in the score were “decidedly pleasing” even if “as a whole the music” was “hardly
significant.” Pollock noted that the opera was “apparently” sung in English.
The critics were particularly impressed with a scenic effect that Brooklyn Life described as “one of the
most beautiful curtains ever seen in New York.” It was a reproduction of a Spanish shawl and was forty-five
feet in length, thirty-five feet in height, and embroidered with silk roses with a ten-foot fringe. Hammond
reported that the “extravagant” and “rosy” shawl was lowered as a curtain between the second and third acts,
and had been presented to the composer by the King of Spain.
The opera was recorded in Spanish by Deutsche Grammophon (two-CD set # 435-776-2) with Placido
Domingo in the role of Rafael, and the recording includes the libretto in both Spanish and English.
HANKY PANKY LAND

Theatre: The Century Roof
Opening Date: December 26, 1921; Closing Date: December 31, 1921
Performances: 10
Book and Lyrics: McElbert Moore
Music: J. Fred Coots
Producer: Emily Louise
Cast: Elsie Vokes and Miss Russell (Esther Time’s Daughters), Mr. Horton (Father Time), Olivette (Mary),
Yvette Rolland (The Fairy Queen), Fred Helder (Hanky Panky), Alfred Latel (Dog), The Misses Crompton,
Davis, and Goldstein (Witches), Alfred Latte (Laddie), Byron Russell (Santa Claus), Margaret McKee, Clark
and Behan, Horton and La Trisca, Small’s Misses (Dancers); Ensemble: Alice Brennan, Irene Taylor, Kath-
lene Small, May Taylor, Charlotte Willis, Sadie Levine, Anita Goldstein, Muriel Mackay, and M. Manzi
Note: The titles of the musical numbers and the complete cast and creative team credits are unknown.
The title of the obscure musical Hanky Panky Land seemed to promise a perhaps naughty musical com-
edy, maybe something on the order of a bedroom farce of the Continental variety. But the show was instead
a well-received fantasy for children presented at the Century Roof (located atop the Century Theatre) for a
limited run of ten performances during Christmas Week, including morning showings.
The story was about a little girl named Mary (Olivette) and her dog Laddie (Alfred Latel), who journey
to Hanky Panky Land, a wondrous world of elves, fairies, and nymphs (story book nymphs, to be sure) and
a magical place where all the Christmas gifts of dolls and toys reside. Mary and Laddie also meet the local
celebrities: Santa Claus and his reindeer, the Man in the Moon, and Mother Goose characters (such as Jack
Frost, Little Bo Peep, and Little Boy Blue).
The New York Times said the “youthful” cast members “sang and danced the holiday spirit into the
hearts of the audience.” The New York Tribune reported that the children in the audience were “enthusias-
tic,” and their parents, who through a “sense of duty” attended the show, “remained to chuckle and applaud
with the little ones.” The critic noted that one of the “most effective” numbers was a dance by the team of
Horton and La Trisca, the latter of whom portrayed a doll.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said those with “sense enough” to believe in Santa Claus and who “still” love
Mother Goose “must” see the musical, and at the matinee attended by the critic he noted the eyes of the
children in the audience “shone” and “their little voices shouted their approval of the show.” One of the
“best” features of the performance was an unnamed “dainty little lady” who played a rag doll and resolutely
refused to smile “no matter how hard the audience tried to break her glassy stare.”
Variety reported that business was “somewhat off” for evening performances, but “strong” for the mati-
nees. The critic noted that Latel’s performance as the dog Laddie would no doubt give the audience its “great-
est delight,” and the performer offered a “corking bit” of “character work inside the skin and provided the
outstanding individual effort” in the production.
J. Fred Coots was the composer of Hanky Panky Land, and perhaps his association with the musical
inspired him to later write one of the most popular of all Christmas songs. In 1934, his “Santa Claus Is
Comin’ to Town” (lyric by Haven Gillespie) became an instant hit, and over the years it’s sold millions of
copies and seems to have been recorded by almost every singer in the world (well, at least two hundred and
counting).
UP IN THE CLOUDS
“An American Musical Play” / “A New Musical Play of Youth, Humor, Beauty and Romance” /
“Sensational Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Lyric Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 44th Street Theatre)
Performances: 89
Book and Lyrics: Will B. Johnstone
Music: Tom Johnstone
Direction: Lawrence Marston; Producer: Joseph M. Gaites; Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Max Scheck;
Vaughn Godfrey; Scenery: H. Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Anna Spencer, Inc.;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Hal Van Rensselaer (Archie Dawson), Walter Walker (Curtis Dawson), Florence Hedges (Betty Dawson),
Mark Smith (Ferdie Simpson), Page Spencer (Jeffreys), Gertrude O’Connor (Ruby Airedale), Gladys Coburn
(Millicent Towne), Richard “Skeets,” aka “Skeet,” Gallagher (Bud Usher), June Roberts (Louise), William
M. Bailey (J. Herbert Blake), Grace Moore (Jean Jones), Dorothy Smoller (Gypsy Venus), Angelo Romeo
(Gerald), Van J. Melino (William Tuttle), John J. Weis (Will Tuttle), Roy Alexander (Willie Tuttle), June
Roberts (Premiere Danseuse), Arthur Corey (Character Dancer), Melissa Ten Eyck (Classical Dancer), Max
Weily (Classical Dancer); Ladies of the Ensemble: Ann Lemau, Mary Welsh, Elsie Young, Adrienne Hayes,
Elsie Westcott, Tyra Babcock, Betty Soule, Inez Foster, Grace Hall, Phyllis Millar, Laura Gaynelle, Agnes
Hall, Beverly Millar, Josephine Hurley, Thelma Holliday, Kathryn Valentine
The action takes place during the present time in Long Island and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Movie Lesson” (Florence Hedges, Society Girls, Dancers); “Registering Love; Registering
Laughter; Registering Jazz”; “Look-a-Look” (Gertrude O’Connor, Society Girls); “Friends” (Hal Van
Rensselaer, Mark Smith, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); “A Movie Incident” (Director: William M.
Bailey; Camera Man: Richard “Skeets” Gallagher; The Villain: Mark Smith; The Villainess: Dorothy
1921–1922 Season 95
Smoller; Gerald: Angelo Romeo; Dawson: Walter Walker); “It’s a Great Life If You Don’t Weaken”
(Dorothy Smoller, Mark Smith); “Up in the Clouds” (Hal Van Rensselaer, Grace Moore); “The Last
Girl Is the Best Girl” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, June Roberts, Gertrude O’Connor, Girls); “At the
Fountain” (Melissa Ten Eyck, Max Weily); “Jean” (Hal Van Rensselaer, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher,
Grace Moore, Mark Smith); Finale
Act Two: “Ballet of Wealth” (Elf of Riches: Florence Hedges; Dutch Ancestor: Max Weily; Indian Girl: Ann
Lemau; Page Spencer (Colonial Ancestor); Elsie Westcott (Colonial Ancestor); Private Ancestor (the name
of the performer is unknown); Melissa Ten Eyck (Slave), Angelo Romeo (Georgian Ancestor); Mary Welsh
(Georgian Ancestor); Arthur Corey (Acquisition of Gold); Elsie Young (Penny); Betty Soule (Nickel); Adri-
enne Hayes (Quarter), Tyra Babcock (Gold Eagle); June Roberts (Flight of Gold); Silver Coins: Josephine
Hurley, Agnes Hall, Thelma Holliday, and Kathryn Valentine; Gold Coins: Grace Hall, Beverly Millar,
Laura Gaynelle, and Phyllis Millar; “The Girl I Marry” (Hal Van Rensselaer, Grace Moore); “Nobody
Knows” (Mark Smith, Melissa Ten Eyck, Gertrude O’Connor, Girls); “Betsy Ross” (Grace Moore, Girls);
“Rum Tum Tiddle” (Van J. Melino, John J. Weis, Roy Alexander, Grace Hall, Phyllis Millar, Agnes Hall);
“Happiness” (Grace Moore); “Passing of Six Months” (Spirits of the Months: June Roberts and Florence
Hedges; January: Elsie Westcott; February: Grace Hall; March: Phyllis Millar; April: Adrienne Hayes; May:
Betty Soule; June: Elsie Young); “Birth of American Fantasy” (Melissa Ten Eyck, Max Weily); Finale
Up in the Clouds ran eleven weeks, and is chiefly distinguished today by the presence of its star, Grace
Moore. The brothers Will B. Johnston (book and lyrics) and Tom Johnstone (music) created the musical, which
for the most part didn’t impress critics and audiences.
The show seems to have been an uneasy mixture of Hollywood satire and patriotic pageant in a story
where film star Jean Jones (Moore) goes incognito to an acting school in order to brush up her talents and find
out more about the school and its director J. Herbert Blake (William M. Bailey), who has appropriated her
name to tout the academy. She also meets aspiring screen writer Archie Dawson (Hal Van Rensselaer) who
hopes to see his patriotic screenplay Birth of America produced. Along the way we meet a number of “types,”
including comic cameraman Bud Usher (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher), the “faded society bud” Ruby Airedale
(Gertrude O’Connor), movie villainess Gypsy Venus (Dorothy Smoller), and society girl Millicent Towne
(Gladys Coburn). Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World suggested Towne must have “bought” her
society accent “at a bargain sale on Fifth Avenue.”
A few of the musical numbers depicted scenes from Dawson’s vision for Birth of America, including
“Betsy Ross,” “Birth of American Fantasy,” “Ballet of Wealth,” and a tableau that showed the marriage of
Capital and Labor.
L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said most musicals had too little in the way of plot, but Up in the
Clouds “suffered from too much plot” and, more specifically, “suffered from too much of a poor plot.” The
evening became “deadly and tiresome” and there was too much emphasis on the screen writer and his at-
tempt to create a propaganda piece about the United States. In fact, the critic asked for “more pep and a
little less propaganda.” Some of the songs were “as familiar as they are good,” and it appeared the composer
was “very familiar with his esteemed contemporaries.” (The New York Times found the score “catchy” but
“reminiscent.”)
Darnton said the “spectacular and entertaining” musical was “enlivened” by “tuneful” songs, the “Ballet
of Wealth” was “gleaming,” Moore had a “pleasing” voice and an “agreeable” manner, and Smoller (as the
villainess Venus) was the “beauteous queen of the underwear—beg pardon—underworld.”
Variety noted the production had played in such cities as Chicago and Boston since the previous April,
and the critic wondered if the tour’s popularity would translate to success on Broadway. Perhaps a top ticket
price of $2 would work, but otherwise the show’s $3.30 charge was iffy because New York audiences were
“getting funny” about what they’d pay to see a show. The “light” story didn’t have “the best of dialog to aid in
strengthening the plot to make it acceptable,” and at times the action “decidedly slows down to a degree that
comes very near the stop sign.” The music was “tuneful” but “not exceptional,” and was “hardly adequate to
the cause of lifting the piece out of the depths into which the script allows it to descend.”
One of the final numbers in the musical was the “Passing of Six Months” sequence, a title taken just a bit
too literally by the show’s publicists. A flyer distributed for the show’s tour in Philadelphia announced that
the musical had run in New York for “6 months.” But in truth the musical played for a much shorter passage
of time, eleven weeks for the period January 2–March 18, 1922.
THE BLUE KITTEN

“A Musical Comedy” / “The Pousse Café of Musicals”
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Earl Carroll Theatre)
Performances: 140
Book and Lyrics: Otto Harbach and William Cary Duncan
Music: Rudolf Friml
Based on the 1920 play Le Chasseur de chez Maxim’s by Yves Mirande and Gustave Quinson.
Direction: Edgar Selwyn, Leon Errol, and Julian Mitchell; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography:
Uncredited; Scenery: Clifford Pember; Costumes: Madame Frances; C.C. Shayne & Co.; Anna Spencer,
Inc.; Shirley Barker; Lucile, Ltd.; J. M. Giddings; Bergdorf and Goodman; Knox; Brooks Co.; Lighting: Un-
credited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Bill Hawkins (Louis), Victor Morley (Giglais), Joseph Cawthorn (Theodore Vanderpop), George Le Soir
(Durand), Robert Woolsey (Octave), Betty Barlow (Fifi), Marion Sunshine (Cri Cri), Carola Parson (Mar-
celle), Lillian Lorraine (Totoche), Douglas Stevenson (Armand Duvelin), Jean Newcombe (Lucile Vander-
pop), Lorraine Manville (Madeleine Vanderpop), Dallas Welford (Popinet); Dancers: May Cory Kitchen,
Frances Grant, Ted Wing; Habitues of The Blue Kitten, Madeleine’s Friends in Fontainebleu, Others:
Girls—Eleanor Dell, Helen Lewis, Frisco DeVere, Evelyn Plumadore, Blanche Morton, Penny Rowland,
Jeanne Osborne, Gladys Jordan, Grace La Rue, Berenice Ackerman, Peggy Stohl, Violet Lobell, Dorothy
Stokes, Ann Roos, Beatrice Savage, Helen McDonald; Boys—Chester Brown, Joseph Brennan, Boris Scott,
Leo Howe, George Griffiths, William Mack, Robert Hurst, Lester New
The action takes place during June 1921 in Paris and Fontainebleu.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Le Minuet Bleu” (“The Blue Kitten”) (Victor Morley, May Cory Kitchen, Men and Girls); “I Could
Do a Lot for You” (Robert Woolsey, Girls); “Tact” (Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Woolsey); “Cutie” (Lillian
Lorraine, Douglas Stevenson, Robert Woolsey, Victor Morley, Frances Grant, Ted Wing); “(I Found) A Bud
Among the Roses” (Douglas Stevenson, Marion Sunshine, Chorus); Finale
Act Two: “Her Love Is Always the Same” (Lorraine Manville, May Cory Kitchen, Ensemble); “Where the
Honeymoon Alone Can See” (Lorraine Manville, Douglas Stevenson); “The Best I Ever Get Is the Worst
of It” (Joseph Cawthorn); “A Twelve O’Clock Girl in a Nine O’Clock Town” (Robert Woolsey, Marion
Sunshine); Finale; Note: The program stated that during the second act May Cory Kitchen performed
“Dance of the Roses.”
Act Three: “Smoke Rings” (Victor Morley, Frances Grant, Ted Wing, Ensemble) (this sequence included
the “Smoke Ring Dance” performed by Grand and Wing); “The Blue Kitten Blues” (“Meow!”) (Marion
Sunshine, Robert Woolsey, Girls); “Sweet as You Can Be” (Lorraine Manville, Boys); “Sweet as You Can
Be” (reprise) (Marion Sunshine, William Sellery, Ensemble); “When I Waltz with You” (Lillian Lorraine,
Douglas Stevenson); Finale
Rudolf Friml’s The Blue Kitten managed a modest run of four months, and was a toned-down adapta-
tion of an earlier, and racier, French farce. The Blue Kitten is a Parisian restaurant owned and operated by
Theodore Vanderpop (Joseph Cawthorn), and it’s the kind of establishment where chorines named Chi Chi
and Totoche from the Follies Bergères hang out, and where you find such ooh-la-la stereotypes as Giglais,
described in the program as “a Parisian bon vivant.”
Besides being the owner of the restaurant, Vanderpop is a jacques-of-all-trades and serves as head-waiter,
bouncer, money lender, cab finder, and overall discreet confidant to those customers who frequent the Blue
Kitten for a rendezvous. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times remarked that Vanderpop “flourishes
like the green bay tree and prospers like a bootlegger.” In fact, when he’s not overseeing the Blue Kitten, Van-
derpop lives like a country gentleman on his estate in Fontainebleu, where his somewhat snooty wife, Lucile
(Jean Newcombe), and comely daughter, Madeleine (Lorraine Manville), think he’s the editor of a Parisian
newspaper and have no idea that the source of their money emanates from a lowly restaurant, much of it
derived from tips earned by Vanderpop.
1921–1922 Season 97
Matters come to a pretty pass when Vanderpop discovers that Madeleine has become engaged to one of the
Blue Kitten’s most popular playboys, the marquis Armand Duvelin (Douglas Stevenson). Vanderpop knows
all about Armand’s reputation, and Armand knows the truth about Vanderpop’s life in the city, and the two
of them must ensure that the other doesn’t tell tales out of school.
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the musical had been “one of those things that used to be French before
the translators got after it,” and now it was “just like all those other musical shows that they don’t leave in
their native land.” In fact, “you cannot shake off the thought that you have seen it before somewhere.” Parker
also commented that the “most ingenious” event during the entire opening night performance was when a
“generous management” presented the female members of the audience with mechanical tin kittens.
Woollcott recalled a story (a tongue-in cheek rumor designed for Woollcott’s more knowing readers) that
when playwright Avery Hopwood had been approached to adapt the French source material, he promptly
fainted. And when revived, his cheeks were the color of carmine and he stated that never could he translate
“so scabrous a script.” But when Otto Harbach and William Cary Duncan adapted the work it was “so beat
and scrubbed” it was “pretty near as pure as Elsie Dinsmore” because “all the original sin has been washed
away” and replaced by Friml’s “jaunty and fetching” score.
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found the show “fair to middlin’” with a “frisky” Cawthorn
using for comic effect a “Holland Dutch dialect (once called German),” and so the performer reflects that the
shimmy is a “shaky business.” Another example of the show’s humor is when a chorine states that her late
arrival is due to having been “recently vaccinated on the Riviera.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
said Harbach and Duncan “seldom write originally,” and the jokes were “put over as a shot-putter puts his
shot” and are “almost as heavy.” Friml’s score was “neat in spots and inconsequential elsewhere,” and several
songs were “catchy,” including Cawthorn’s lament “The Best I Ever Get Is the Worst of It,” which garnered
“many encores.” The dancing was “clever,” the show was “costly” and “nicely mounted,” and (as Theodore’s
nephew Octave) Robert Woolsey gave his “customary impersonation of a ladylike man.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the humor wasn’t “exactly dazzling” but the score
was “tuneful and spirited,” the décor and costumes were “lavish” as well as “gorgeous and lively,” and be-
cause the chorus girls were “merry and bright” and “handsomely dressed” The Blue Kitten was a “beauty
show” which took “the blue ribbon.” As the chorine Totoche, Lillian Lorraine all but stole the show as she
“vibrated with righteousness” and “imperiously” called for champagne. And when she set her sights on one
of the Blue Kitten’s rich patrons, she announced, “I’m going to marry him—God help him.”
Variety noted that while on opening night the show didn’t quite establish itself as a “blue ribbon winner,”
there was a “thoroughbred in its make-up.” The critic mentioned that co-librettist and lyricist Harbach’s
Tickle Me had run into trouble with Prohibition agents when little bottles of a questionable liquid were
distributed as souvenirs during the show’s opening night performance, and now the advertisements for The
Blue Kitten “aroused attention” when they referred to the chorines not as “playful kittens” but as a related
(and pejorative) noun.
The London production opened on December 23, 1925, at the Gaiety Theatre for a few months with a cast
that included Bobby Howes, Ethel Levey, and Roy Royston, and additional songs were composed by Howard
Carr, the show’s musical director. HMV Records issued a number of songs heard in the Broadway produc-
tion that were performed by London cast members as well as by non-cast members, and these songs include:
“When I Waltz with You,” “I Found a Bud Among the Roses,” “Blue Kitten Blues,” “I’m Head Over Heels
in Love with You,” “Where the Honeymoon Alone Can See,” “A Twelve O’Clock Girl in a Nine O’Clock
Town,” “Cutie,” and “Smoke Rings.”
MARJOLAINE
“The New Musical Play”
Theatre: Broadhurst Theatre

Performances: 136
Book: Catherine Chisholm Cushing
Music: Hugo Felix
Based on the 1910 play Pomander Walk by Louis N. Parker.
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Russell Janney; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Joseph Wickes; Cos-
tumes: William H. Matthews; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Numbers: Milan Roder
Cast: Albert G. Andrews (Admiral Sir Peter Antrobus), Royal Cutter (Jim), Daisy Belmore (Mrs. Pamela Po-
skett), Colin Campbell (The Reverend Jacob Sternroyd, D.D.), E. L. DeBrocq (The Eyesore), Paul Warren
(The Punch and Judy Man), Mary Hay (Miss Barbara Sternroyd), Maurice Holland (Basil Pringle), Lennox
Pawle (Jerome Brooke-Hoskyn, Esq.), Marle Stevens (Jane), Nellie Strong (Madame Lucie Lachesnais), Olga
Treskoff (Nanette), Irving Beebe (Lieutenant The Honorable Jack Sayle), Irving S. Finn (Tom), Addeson
Youngs (Joe), Worthe Faulkner (John Sayle The Tenth Baron Otford), Peggy Wood (Marjolaine Lachesnais);
Seminary Girls: Eleanor Post, Joan Warner, Edith Slack, Grace Culbert, Pauline Maxwell, Madeline Dare,
Grace Angelau, Elizabeth Page, Doris Green, Maida Harries, Florence Ashton, Bert Alden, Jane Raulette,
Grace Elliott, Edna Coigne, Eunice Sizer; Sailor Boys: Addeson Young, Bland O’Connell, Irving S. Fine,
Fred Grod, Malcolm Hicks, Robert Wells, Ted Wheeler, Conway Dillon, Horace Milleron
The action takes place during 1805 in London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (Peggy Wood); “Punch and Judy” (Paul Warren, Albert G. Andrews, Daisy Belmont,
Girls); “Song of a Sailor” (Irving Beebe, Sailor Boys); “If He Should Come” (Peggy Wood); “I Want You”
(lyric by Anne Caldwell) (Mary Hay, Maurice Holland, Girls); “I’d Like You to Like Me a Little Bit More”
(Irving Beebe); “Marjolaine” (Peggy Wood, Irving Beebe); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Woman-Woman” (Lennox Pawle, Girls); “Don’t-Don’t-Don’t” (Peggy Wood, Mary Hay, Girls);
“Ducks and Geese” (Olga Treskoff, Boys); “Old Brown Coat” (Mary Hay, Maurice Holland, Ensemble);
“Syringa Tree” (Worthe Faulkner); “Oh, Dr. Sternroyd” (Peggy Wood, Colin Campbell, Irving Beebe); Fi-
nale (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Nocturne” (Maurice Holland); “Barcarole” (“Stars of Your Eyes”) (Worthe Faulkner, Nellie
Strong); “In the Park” (Lennox Pawle, Company); “Music Box” (Peggy Wood, Edith Slack, Pauline Max-
well, Joan Warner, Grace Culbert, Madeline Dare, Grace Angelau); Finale (Ensemble)
Marjolaine was Hugo Felix’s third Broadway musical within twenty months, and like Lassie and The
Sweetheart Shop it ran its modest course and was soon forgotten. He had contributed a song or two to earlier
hits by other composers (such as Karl Hoschna’s Madame Sherry in 1910), but his own shows failed to find
wide popularity and his final musical Peg o’ My Dreams lasted just four weeks.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World praised Felix’s “beautiful” score (and singled out “Song
of a Sailor,” “Syringa Tree,” and “Stars of Your Eyes,” aka “Barcarole”) but complained that when Peggy
Wood and Irving Beebe sang the title song, they both were “sadly out of harmony”; James Whittaker in the
Chicago Tribune said the work’s source Pomander Walk was now “quickened” with “the magic of pleasant
music,” and Felix had “piped forth a cycle of friendly melodies” that were “intimate with the vernal mood of
the play and fill out its lyric moments like so many perfectly new Mendelssohn’s spring songs”; and Alexan-
der Woollcott in the New York Times said the musical was“gay with pretty tunes.”
The romance took place in London’s Pomander Walk, “out Chiswick way.” In this neighborhood live
the title heroine (Wood) and Jack Sayle (Beebe), whose love is frowned upon by his widowed father (Worthe
Faulkner) because years earlier he had been jilted by Marjolaine’s mother, Lucie (Nellie Strong). When Jack’s
father discovers Lucie is now a widow, their old romance blossoms, and by the finale there are wedding bells
for both the older and the young couples.
Woollcott said the “gentle music romance” was the kind of show you’d “find yourself going back for refresh-
ment off and on throughout the season” for “about once a week, say.” Like many of the critics, he was happy
to report that the musical adaptation retained a great deal of the source material’s story and charm, and as a
result there were “felicitations all around” for the “daintily and intelligently managed” production. Whittaker
was also glad to report that the lyric version hadn’t undergone “violent restoratives” and was “fragrant again”
with “new grace.” Darnton said the mood of the original play had been preserved but suggested it went on too
long, was “as slow as the Thames,” and needed to be pruned by a full hour. But the “lavender romance” offered
“doorstep intimacy,” “innocent curiosity,” and “gentle humor” with its “quaint charm” and “beautiful music.”
The cast was strong, and it was good to see Lennox Pawle re-creating his original role from Pomander Walk.
1921–1922 Season 99
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that in many ways the musical was a revival because
it preserved the “whole framework” and all the characters from the original play, and thus the old “charm”
and atmosphere were present in the musical version. Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the
“delightful” musical with its “thoroughly charming” cast, and concluded that Marjolaine was representative
of “the best type of musical play.” But Heywood Broun in Vanity Fair said the “agreeable” show was “just a
trifle too sweet.”
Variety said the musical had “the marks of a substantial hit,” and noted the lyrics were “excellent” and
the music “always dainty and in keeping with the story.” But it seemed “odd” to hear the heroine tell us that
Pomander Walk is a “secluded” neighborhood where “nobody young ever comes,” and then see “oodles of
chorus maidens appear and make merry.” And despite the audience’s “insistent demands for encores, which
carried through to 11:45 on the opening night,” the score wasn’t “likely” to yield any hit songs. The critic
asked, “Did you ever look around to see who does this applauding at a metropolitan premiere?” It was “a
reasonably safe wager three-fourths of them came by invitation.”
The musical underwent a great deal of tinkering during the tryout, Broadway run, and tour. “River of
Dreams” was cut during the tryout, and “If He Should Come,” “I’d Like You to Like Me a Little Bit More,”
“Don’t-Don’t-Don’t,” “Nocturne,” and “In the Park” were added; during the New York run, “If He Should
Come,” “Ducks and Geese,” and “Nocturne” were cut, and “Dream Melody” and “Wonderland” were added;
and for the post-Broadway tour, “Wonderland,” “In the Park,” and “Music Box” were cut and “Nesting
Place,” “On the Deep Blue Sea,” and “Blind Man’s Bluff” were added.
THE BLUSHING BRIDE

Theatre: Astor Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 44th Street Theatre)
Opening Date: February 6, 1922; Closing Date: June 10, 1922
Performances: 144
Based on the 1914 play The Third Party, which was adapted by Mark Swan from a British farce by Jocelyn
Brandon and Frederick Arthur, which in turn had been adapted from an earlier French farce. The musical
was also based on a libretto by Edward Clark, who during the tryout of The Blushing Bride was, along
with Cyrus Wood, credited with the musical’s book.
Book and Lyrics: Cyrus Wood
Direction: Frank Smithson; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Jack Mason; Scen-
ery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: (probably) Watson Barratt; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
George A. Nichols
Cast: Robert O’Connor (Paul Kominski), Violette Strathmore (Flower Girl), Kitty Flynn (Cigarette Girl), Har-
old Gwynne (François), David Belbridge (Schwartz), George Craig (Cazazza), Tom Lewis (Christopher Pot-
tinger), Clarence Nordstrom (Alfred), Edythe Baker (Rose), Beatrice Swanson (Justine), Marcella Swanson
(Lorraine), Cecil Lean (Coley Collins), Cleo Mayfield (Lulu Love), Harry Corson Clarke (Judge Redwood),
Jane Carroll (Doris Mayne), Gertrude Mudge (Mrs. Pottinger); Specialties were performed by The Glorias
(aka Adelaide and Albert DiNovaloff); Ladies of the Ensemble: Alice Brady, Mabel Blake, Eva Cassanova,
Clara Carroll, Virginia Calmer, Georgia Empey, Gene Gray, Clair Hooper, Anabelle Lewis, Margaret Mor-
ris, Rena Manning, Thelma Percy, Betty Ross, Louise Strong, Jean Woods; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
David Belbridge, Fred Blyler, George Luman, Charles Layton, John Muccia, John Barrott
The action takes place during the present time, presumably in and around New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Opening Dance” (The Glorias); “Love’s Highway” (Clarence Nordstrom, Edythe Baker); “I’ll Bet
on Anything but Girls” (Cecil Lean, Girls); “A Regular Girl” (Cleo Mayfield); “The Tick, Tick, Tick of
the Ticker” (Clarence Nordstrom, Robert O’Connor, Beatrice Swanson, Marcella Swanson, The Glorias,
Ensemble); “Good-Bye” (Cleo Mayfield, Cecil Lean); “Cazazza” (Cecil Lean, Robert O’Connor, Ensemble);
“Mr. and Mrs.” (Cleo Mayfield, Cecil Lean, Ensemble)
Act Two: Piano Specialty (Edythe Baker); “The Silver Wedding” (Tom Lewis, Gertrude Mudge, Jane Carroll,
Edythe Baker, Clarence Nordstrom, Robert O’Connor, Beatrice Swanson, Marcella Swanson, Harry Cor-
son Clarke); Specialty (The Glorias); “Bad Little Boy and Good Little Girl” (Cleo Mayfield, Cecil Lean);
“That’s the Way It Goes” (Robert O’Connor, Marcella Swanson, Beatrice Swanson, Kitty Flynn, Violette
Strathmore); “Rosy Posy” (Edythe Baker, Clarence Nordstrom, The Glorias, Chorus); “Springtime” (Cecil
Lean, Jane Carroll, Cleo Mayfield, Chorus); “Patter” (Cecil Lean); “Different Days” (sequence written and
directed by Cecil Lean) (Cecil Lean, Cleo Mayfield, Tom Lewis, Gertrude Mudge, Harry Corson Clarke,
Robert O’Connor); Finale (Company)
Sigmund Romberg’s The Blushing Bride played four months on Broadway, and brought back Cecil Lean and
Cleo Mayfield, the husband-and-wife team who had most recently appeared in Look Who’s Here, which had
managed eighty-seven performances in New York before embarking on a successful national tour. The musical
is most remembered for Lean and Mayfield’s performances and for “Different Days,” a late second-act sequence
written and staged by Lean. Romberg’s score offered a few pleasant numbers, and one of them (“Mr. and Mrs.”)
surfaced in Deep in My Heart, MGM’s 1954 musical biography of Romberg in which José Ferrer played the
composer (for the film, “Mr. and Mrs.” was performed by Ferrer and his then wife Rosemary Clooney).
The slighter-than-slight story looked at both employees and customers at a cabaret where Lean is a guest
and Mayfield the hat-check girl, and of course wedding bells are soon in the offing for the twosome. The New
York Tribune reported that the evening offered “a good many tints” with “a tinge of vaudeville, a shade of
revue, a color of burlesque, a hue of musical comedy, a suggestion of concert and a tincture of the devil him-
self.” Romberg’s score had “a lilt and sprightliness” that “not only got them over the footlights, but even out
upon the sidewalk and into the subways.” Percy Hammond in the St. Louis Star and Times said the “orna-
mental romance” was “decorated with considerable taste and with great cost,” the tunes were “pretty,” and
Lean was “saucy” and “insouciant.”
The New York Times liked the “tuneful thing” and singled out several numbers (“Springtime,” “Love’s
Highway,” and “A Regular Girl”). As for “Different Days,” the sketch “roused appreciation” in its contrast of
restaurant dining. In the old days, it was “possible to dine and sup with courteous service and modest prices,”
but “the present Broadway era” was one of high prices, headwaiters, and hat-check girls. The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said the book was “stingy” with its humor, and the satire of “Different Days” was “all the fun discov-
erable.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said The Blushing Bride was “as a conservative estimate” one of “the least
entertaining musical comedies you ever saw in your life.” But Lean and Mayfield were the show’s “leading
lights,” and there were “several tunes” in Romberg’s score that were “mildly pretty.”
Variety said Lean and Mayfield worked “conscientiously and industriously to keep the entertainment up
to tempo” and to make “the best of what has been given them.” The show was “up to standard” both “sceni-
cally” and “musically,” but with a running time of almost three hours the musical could “stand the knife”
by about twenty minutes. Further, the evening needed “strengthening” in its comic portions. The critic noted
that “Different Days” was “a wow and deservedly so,” and the production’s “outstanding applause” went to
an unnamed chorine who “did the wiggliest sort of wiggle seen since” Two Little Girls in Blue. The “little
wiggler” was “bare-legged to the thighs and wore an abbreviated gold shredded-wheat Hawaiian skirt,” and
her show-stopping dance was part of “Rosy Posy,” a number that managed to combine elements of jazz, blues,
and Hawaiian song. Whoever the dancer was now seems lost to theatrical history, but this book salutes the
“little wiggler” and her show-stopping moment.
For part of the tryout, the musical was known as Who Is Cazazza?
FOR GOODNESS SAKE

Theatre: Lyric Theatre
Performances: 103
Book: Fred Jackson
1921–1922 Season 101
Lyrics: Arthur Jackson; additional lyrics Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin)
Music: William Daly and Paul Lannin; additional music by George Gershwin
Direction: Priestly Morrison; Producer: Alex A. Aarons; Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Scenery: P. Dodd
Ackerman; Costumes: Paul Arlington; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Daly
Cast: Fred Astaire (Teddy Lawrence), Adele Astaire (Suzanne Hayden), Marjorie Gateson (Vivian Reynolds),
Harry R. Allen (Joseph), Charles Judels (Count Spinagio), John E. Hazzard (Perry Reynolds), Helen Ford
(Marjorie Leeds), Vinton Freedley (Jefferson Dangerfield); House Party Guests: Violet Vale, Ann Poulson,
Kitty Gray, Helen Paine, Lorraine Sherwood, Lenore Lukens, Doris Hyde, Phyllis Reynolds, Sylvia Joc-
elyn, Muriel Lodge, Peggy Mitchell, Bebe LaVelle, Jack Goeirs, Fred Packard, Dana Mayo, James Herold,
Russell Swann, Roger Buckley
The action takes place during the present time in Lake Content, New York.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Opening Chorus” (Ensemble); “All to Myself” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Ensemble); “Someone”
(lyric by Arthur Francis, music by George Gershwin; number staged by Julian Alfred) (Helen Ford, Vinton
Freedley, Ensemble); “Tra-La-La” (lyric by Arthur Francis, music by George Gershwin; number staged by
Julian Alfred) (Marjorie Gateson, John E. Hazzard, Charles Judels, Ensemble); “When You’re in Rome”
(Fred Astaire, Marjorie Gateson, Charles Judels, Ensemble); “Every Day” (music by William Daly; staged
by Julian Alfred) (Helen Ford, Vinton Freedley, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Twilight” (Ensemble); Dances: Waltz and Tango (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); “Greatest Team of
All” (Helen Ford, Vinton Freedley, Charles Judels, Ensemble); “Oh, Gee! Oh, Gosh!” (lyric by Arthur Fran-
cis, music by William Daly) (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); “In the Days of Wild Romance” (John E. Haz-
zard, Violet Vale, Helen Paine, Bebe LaVelle, Peggy Mitchell); “When Somebody Cares” (Vinton Freedley,
Helen Ford); “The French Pastry Walk” (lyric by Arthur Jackson and Arthur Francis, music by William
Daly and Paul Lannin) (Charles Judels, Fred Astaire, Vinton Freedley, Ensemble); “The Whichness of the
Whatness” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); Finale (Company)
Earlier in the season, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire had walked away with love letters from the critics
for their efforts in the one-month failure The Love Letter. And so they did again with For Goodness Sake,
which did a little better than their previous outing and played for three months on Broadway. The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch praised the team’s “exquisite” dancing, and Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the show could
never be dull as long as it maintained the services of the Astaires (and Parker noted that Adele was now “a
decidedly engaging comedian”). The New York Times said that most of the evening’s “entertaining power”
stemmed from the “ingratiating” team, and although they’d previously “proven their skill at dancing” they
were now developing into “delightful” comedians. The critic noted that the team’s “most successful” rou-
tine from The Love Letter (or at least “one so close to it that you can hardly tell them apart”) was reprised
in For Goodness Sake, and this number (the Astaires’ trademark runaround dance) was a “burlesque well
worth repeating, and it did all but halt the entertainment last evening.” L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
said the Astaires carried off “the major honors of the evening” and would “carry off even more honors if
they forgot to sing.” They had “nimble feet” and were “delightful dancers both in an eccentric and in an
artistic manner.”
The slight story sounds amusing enough. Vivian Reynolds (Marjorie Gateson) mistakenly assumes her
husband, Perry (John E. Hazzard), is cheating on her, and thus she pretends to be cheating on him. In order to
make Vivian regret what he believes are her infidelities, Perry pretends to commit suicide by drowning, but
Vivian is on to his tricks, acts completely indifferent to his supposed demise, and infuriates him with her
blasé attitude.
Besides the Astaires, the cast included Helen Ford (who later in the decade created title roles in Rich-
ard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s musicals Peggy-Ann and Chee-Chee) and future Broadway producer Vinton
Freedley, who appeared as a lawyer named Jefferson Dangerfield. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Ford sang
“pleasingly” and was “apparently as yet uninformed as to how pretty she is,” and Freedley, who didn’t have
“much of a voice,” wore “his tuxedo and hair tightly and handsomely.”
Alex A. Aarons was the producer of For Goodness Sake, and soon he and Freedley formed a producing
partnership that included two musicals that starred the Astaires (Lady, Be Good! and Funny Face). The score
of For Goodness Sake included two interpolations by George Gershwin (with lyrics by his brother Ira, who at
this time went by the pen name of Arthur Francis), and later Aarons and Freedley produced seven musicals
with lyrics and music by the Gershwins (the Astaires’ Lady, Be Good! and Funny Face as well as Tip-Toes,
Oh, Kay!, Treasure Girl, Girl Crazy, and Pardon My English). In 1927, Funny Face was the opening attrac-
tion at their own theatre (the venue’s name was borrowed from the first syllables of Alex and Vinton’s first
names), and for fifty-eight years the playhouse was known as the Alvin Theatre (until early 1985 when it was
renamed the Neil Simon).
L. de C. of the Eagle said the show was “either very, very good or horrid,” but the opening night audience
“decided there was more good than bad.” The musical would never “be heralded as an epoch-making musical
comedy,” the book was “thin” and only in “spots” was funny, and the score was “neither better nor worse
than music in similar entertainments.” Ultimately, it was the cast who made the show, and so For Goodness
Sake was “a triumph of cast over matter.” The Times found the show “agreeable if not brilliant” in a “briskly
produced” evening with “singable” songs and a “good-looking production,” but noted “the thread of the thing
is so terribly thin that the opportunities for comedy are not many.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the score
was “couched in a galloping tempo” and the chorus was “youthful and skipping if not Ziegfeldishly stunning.”
Variety suggested the musical’s “weaker points” were a lack of comedy and “love appeal.” But the show
had “speed, looks and dancing aplenty,” and if “speed and pep make a musical comedy, then Alex Aarons
owns a gold-getter that will roll in sweaty summer shekels—provided the chorus lives that long.”
During the run, “Hubby” (lyric by Arthur Francis and music by William Daly) was added, and three
numbers were dropped (the first-act opening chorus, “In the Days of Wild Romance,” and “When Somebody
Cares”).
The Astaires reprised their roles for the London production, which was titled Stop Flirting! (one source
inexplicably gives the London title as Follow Through). The show opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on May
30, 1923, for 418 performances and included two interpolations: a revised lyric for “The Best of Everything”
(lyric by Arthur J. Jackson and B. G. DeSylva) from La-La-Lucille! (1919) and “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise”
(lyric by Arthur Francis, aka Ira Gershwin, and DeSylva) from the 1922 edition of George White’s Scandals.
A number of songs were recorded from the London production and released on HMV Records, including
two by the Astaires (“Oh, Gee! Oh, Gosh!” and “The Whichness of the Whatness”); other songs recorded in-
clude “All to Myself,” “Someone,” “The Best of Everything,” and “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise.” The Lon-
don cast recording of Funny Face (later released by WRC/World Record Club Records LP # SH-144) includes
bonus tracks of the Astaires’ recordings of “Oh, Gee! Oh, Gosh!” and “The Whichness of the Whatness.”
THE ROSE OF STAMBOUL

“The Most Dazzling Musical Comedy Ever Seen on the New York Stage” / “L’Operette des Mille Enchantements” /
“The Most Lavish Production in the History of the American Theatre”

Performances: 111
Book and Lyrics: Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald; English adaptation by Harold Atteridge
Music: Leo Fall and Sigmund Romberg
Based on the 1916 operetta Die Rose von Stambul (libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald and mu-
sic by Leo Fall).
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster; Scen-
ery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al)
Goodman
Cast: Henry Warwick (Kemel Pasha), Tessa Kosta (Kondja Gul), Marion Green (Achmed Bey), Jack McGowan
(Howard Rodney Smith), James Barton (Bob), Mabel Withee (Midili), Elizabeth Reynolds (Desiree), Lon
Hascall (Abdul), Rapley Holmes (Rodney Smith), Elmira Lane (Bul-Bul), Ottilia Barton (Saada), Sibylla
Bowhan (Maada), Emma Wilcox (Baada), Maude Satterfield (Guzela), Belle Mazelle (Fatima), Lillian Wag-
1921–1922 Season 103
ner (Durlane), Marjorie Wayne (Emire), Zita Lockford (Haidee), Naro Lockford (Hassan), John V. Lowe
(Neidjal), Mlle. Desha (Desha), Felicia Sorel (Felicia), Helen Nelidova (Helen), Jack Scott (Jack); Young
Women of the Ensemble: Dorothy Addison, Violet Anderson, Irma Ansell, Olive Brown, Betty Brown, Al-
ice Burns, Bunny Castle, Marion Courtney, Alice Curry, Jeanne Danjou, Leonore Darcy, Margot Dawson,
Ann Delafield, Mary Dunne, Katherine Duffy, Rae Fields, Hazel Frisbe, Jenee Gibson, Alice Harris, Peggy
Hofmann, Corinne Jackson, Thelma Johns, Kitty Kane, Margaret Kearns, Monica Keefe, Mary Kissel,
Fraun Koski, Alice Mack, Margaret Mackay, Katherine Manion, Truda Marr, Kay MacCausland, Myrtle
McCloud, Dalores Mendez, Alla Nova, Helen O’Brien, Edna Richmond, Madeline Soisson, Renee Theo-
rine, Jean Thomas, Sally Wagner, Elizabeth Wash, Peggy White; Men: Irving Arnold, Sol Feldman, William
Brandt, Harry Howell, Oscar Martin, John O’Hanlon, Clifton Randall, R. B. Marwick
The action takes place during the present time in Stamboul, Turkey, and on the Riviera.
Musical Numbers
Note: When known, the names of the composers are listed after the song titles; (*) = music by Leo Fall; (**) =
music by Sigmund Romberg; and (***) = music by Fall and Romberg.
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “The Ladies from the Cultured West” (*) (Mabel Withee, Ensemble); “My
Heart Is Calling” (**) (Tessa Kosta, Ensemble); “Lovey Dove” (**) (Jack McGowan, Mabel Withee); “A
Blue Book of Girls” (*) (James Barton, Ensemble); “The Rose of Stamboul” (*) (Marion Green, Male Oc-
tette); Duet (Marion Green, Tessa Kosta)
Act Two: Opening (Mabel Withee, Ensemble); “Ding-a-Ling” (aka “Ting-a-Ling”) (***) (James Barton, Jack
McGowan, Mabel Withee, Ottilia Barton); “Ballet Oriental” (Zita Lockford, Naro Lockford, Ensemble);
“The Wedding March” (Marion Green, Tessa Kosta, Ensemble); “With Papers Duly Signed” (Marion
Green, Tessa Kosta); “Why Do They Die at the End of a Classical Dance?” (lyric by William Jerome and
Alex Gerber, music by Jean Schwartz) (James Barton, Dancers); Waltz Duet (Marion Green, Tessa Kosta)
Act Three: “The Love Test” (Zita Lockford, Naro Lockford, Ensemble); “Mazuma” (**) (James Barton, Girls);
“Waltz Song” (“A Waltz It Should Be”) (***) (Marion Green, Tessa Kosta)
In the entire history of the Broadway and Hollywood musical, it’s the name of Jule Styne that suffers the
most at the hands of misspellers, and so the composer’s first name is often given as Jules or Julie, and his last
as Stein. And surely Broadway singer Tessa Kosta was just about his equal: the opening night reviews of The
Rose of Stamboul identified her as Tesa Kosta (Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s) and Tessa Costa (Brooklyn Daily
Eagle). For Lassie, the New York Times gave her name as both Tessie Kosta and Costa, and for Princess Virtue
the Eagle identified her as Tessa Costa.
As Die Rose von Stambul, Leo Fall’s operetta premiered in Vienna in 1916 with a libretto by Julius Bram-
mer and Alfred Grunwald. For the New York production, the Shuberts hired Sigmund Romberg to write
supplemental songs for the adaptation by Harold Atteridge, who wrote the new book and lyrics. In addition,
Jean Schwartz wrote a song for the show, and there may have been other unacknowledged contributors.
The story focused on a romantic situation known only to those who live in operetta kingdoms. The hero-
ine Kondha Gul (Kosta) is forced by her father Kemel Pasha (Henry Warwick) to marry Achmed Bey (Marion
Green), a man she loves not, because she has seen a poet from afar and has fallen deeply in love with him. Oh,
how she hates Achmed, and how she bitterly resents the loss of the one man in the world she adores! And so
one can only imagine the heady joy and overwhelming happiness when Kondha discovers that Achmed and
the poet are the very same man!
Alexander Woollcott in the Times said the evening was “part operetta, part burlesque show and part fash-
ion parade,” and the Shuberts made every scene “ornate” and “festoon[ed] it with more yards of silk per note
of music than any show of the season.” And the stage was “populous on a scale that must have materially
reduced the current unemployment problem.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World praised the
“perfectly cast” show, which was a “blooming success” and “the season’s most beautiful musical produc-
tion,” one “notable for the gorgeousness and good taste of its costumes and settings.” Further, Fall’s songs
were “lilting” and “melodious,” Romberg’s were “lively,” and the “spectacular” “Oriental Ballet” was headed
by the Parisian team of Zita and Naro Lockford, who were gymnasts and dancers “of uncommon grace.”
The Eagle said the operetta was “the best thing of its kind in Manhattan today” with “gorgeous and deli-
cate” décor and the “muscular and graceful” Lockfords, who made a “big hit” and proved that “nothing” was
“impossible” in their dances. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch praised the “intoxicating loveliness” of the mu-
sic, the “Oriental splendor” of the scenery, and the “rich and beautiful” costumes. The musical was clearly
mounted “without any apparent scruple as to cost” and the Shuberts “have never offered a production more
lavish and esthetic.”
Brooklyn Life reported that the operetta was “elaborately and sumptuously staged,” and if the colors were
“crude and garish” and were seen in “too great a profusion,” no doubt “those keen on interior decorating” and
who follow “the latest turns of the wheel of fashion” would want to note the color of the third-act stair carpet,
which was “in a deep shade of what the new and smart decorators are styling ‘Zozodont Pink.’” Moreover,
the Lockfords were “remarkably spectacular” athletic dancers, and their second-act apache dance (“The Love
Test”) struck “an entirely new note.”
Variety noted that both Romberg’s songs and his adaptation of Fall’s score were “beautiful.” Romberg’s
“Lovey Dove” with “its four-four fox trot rhythm would astonish the Viennese if Fall’s name were connected
with it,” and “frankly” the song didn’t belong in an operetta. But it was the evening’s most “plugged” number
and would “soon become a ballroom and phonograph-disk favorite” destined to become as big a hit as Mary’s
“Love Nest.” The Shuberts were “no pikers on the production end,” and at times the large chorus seemed
part of a “lavish fashion display of exotic sartorial creations.” In fact, sometimes it looked as if all the chorus
did was “exit, re-dress, and enter.” The critic predicted that The Rose of Stamboul “ought to bloom in New
York for many months.”
The hit of the evening was James Barton as Bob, the valet of a visiting American. As he did in The Last
Waltz, Barton stole the show (it’s likely “Why Do They Die at the End of a Classical Dance?” was among his
many showstoppers). He was “the most negotiable asset” who is “the rose of Stamboul,” a “genuine clown
who can dance with the best of them and who is really a bit of a genius from the feet down” (Woollcott); the
show would be just “another of those things” but for Barton’s presence, and while he was given “practically
nothing to be funny about” he was “gorgeously funny just the same” (Parker); “funny from head to foot, he
danced like mad as only he can dance and had to pay for his extraordinary cleverness by doing things over and
over again” because “try as he would, he couldn’t get away from encores” (Darnton); and “after all is said and
done Barton is the show” (Variety).
Among the recordings of the score is a two-CD set issued by Naxos Opera Records (# 8-660326-27) by the
Chicago Folks Operetta Company and conducted by John Frantzen. The English translation is by Hersh Gla-
gov and Gerald Frantzen, and was edited by Bill Walters (with libretto credited to Ralph Bodanzky). This re-
cording is based on the original European production and doesn’t include the songs by Romberg and Schwartz
that were added for the Broadway version.
As Die Rose von Stambul, a German film version was released in 1953.
THE HOTEL MOUSE

“A Play with Music”

Performances: 88
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: Clifford Grey
Music: Armand Vecsey and Ivan Caryll
Based on the apparently then-unproduced play Le souris d’hotel by Marcel Gerbidon and Paul Armont (but
which seems to have been later produced in 1928).
Direction: John Harwood; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Max Scheck; Scenery
and Costumes: Watson Barratt; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ira Jacobs
Cast: Barnett Parker (Burroughs), Lois Wood (Tiny), Al Sexton (Bob Biddle), Fay Marbe (Lola), Stewart Baird
(Don Esteban), Taylor Holmes (Wally Gordon), Richard Temple (Caesar), Frances White (Mauricette),
1921–1922 Season 105
Frank Green (Detective), Ted Stevens (Victor), Francis Lieb (Marquis de Santa Bella), Elliott Taylor (Al-
bert), Cynthea Perot (Adele), Violet Duval (Suzanne), Edna Duval (Marie), Marison Phillips (Jeanne), Amy
Frank (Iote); Guests at the Hotel: Edith Kessler, Kathleen Errol, Josephine McMahon, Nan Rainsford, Re-
nee Hughes, Irene McGovern, Ruby Aguillar, Mary Van Pelt, Marie Kane, Teddy Piper, Helen Lockhart,
Millie Dupree, Rose Nelson, Betty de Grasse, William McGurn, Louis Laub, Eugene Frazer, Armand King,
Joe McGurgan, Harold Abbey, Louis Brown, Bob Gebhardt
The action takes place during the present time in Monte Carlo.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Armand Vecsey; (**) = music by Ivan Caryll; (***) = music by Vecsey and Caryll
Act One: Opening (*) (Cynthea Perot, Ensemble); “Why Do the Girls” (**) (Al Sexton, Girls); “Nearly True
to You” (**) (Fay Marbe, Stewart Baird, Al Sexton); “Quintette” (*) (Frances White, Richard Temple, Al
Sexton, Cynthea Perot, Fay Marbe, Ensemble); “Romance” (***) (Taylor Holmes, Fay Marbe); “I’ll Dream
of You” (*) (Taylor Holmes, Frances White); Finale (*)
Act Two: “Ouzey Woozey” (*) (Fay Marbe, Lois Wood, Al Sexton, Barnett Parker, Elliott Taylor, Cynthea Pe-
rot, Ensemble); “Mauricette” (*) (Frances White, Men); “One Touch of Loving” (*) (Frances White, Taylor
Holmes, Ensemble); “Rhyming” (*) (Taylor Holmes, Barnett Parker); Finale (*)
Act Three: “Where Lanterns Gleam” (*) (Stewart Baird, Ensemble); Dance (Cynthea Perot, Elliott Taylor);
“Little Mother” (***) (Frances White, Taylor Holmes); “Everything I Do Goes Wrong” (*) (Frances White);
“Round on the End and High in the Middle” (aka “Ohio”) (lyric by Alfred Bryan, music by Bert Hanlon)
(Frances White); Finale (*)
Composer Ivan Caryll died in November 1921, just a few months before the Broadway premiere of The
Hotel Mouse, which had been titled Little Miss Raffles during the tryout. Caryll had barely begun composing
the show’s music when he died, and so the Shuberts hired Armand Vecsey to augment the score; for the final
tally, two songs were by Caryll, two by Caryll and Vecsey, and twelve by Vecsey, all of them with lyrics by
Clifford Grey. In addition, a specialty number for Frances White was by the team of lyricist Alfred Bryan and
composer Bert Hanlon.
The plot took place in Monte Carlo with most of the action set at the Hotel des Anglais, where the young
and rich Wally Gordon (Taylor Holmes) is staying. Monte Carlo is beset by a string of cat burglaries by a ho-
tel mouse known as Mauricette (White), who is actually a kleptomaniac. She makes the mistake of trying to
burgle Wally’s room, but he catches her. And this being a musical comedy, he falls in love with her, teaches
her the error of her ways, and marries her.
The New York Times found Guy Bolton’s first act “somewhat languorous,” and overall his book was
“less humorous” than usual, but it sufficed once the first act was “safely passed.” The score was “pleasantly
tinkling,” the show looked “fresh,” the chorus was “good-looking,” and audience favorite White stole the
show. The audience “was never quite able to get enough of her,” and her riddle song (“Round on the End and
High in the Middle,” aka “Ohio,” lyric by Alfred Bryan and music by Bert Hanlon) prompted the spectators to
demand six or seven encores. Variety reported that the number was the evening’s favorite and had first been
introduced “some seasons ago,” but Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it was a “new” song
(note that for both 1917’s Hitchy-Koo and 1918’s Let’s Go, White had performed “M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I,” with
lyric by both Hanlon and Benny Ryan and music by Harry Tierney, and perhaps the Variety critic confused
the two state songs). Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s suggested you see the show only if you were “rabidly fond”
of White, and even then “there are some sacrifices too great to ask.”
L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said all the “honors of the evening” went to White, whose role gave
her opportunities to appear in such guises as a proper country girl, a boy, a young lady, and in her trademark
character of a little girl in rompers. The score was of the “jazz type” and had “plenty of pep.” Charles Darnton
in the New York Evening World noted Bolton’s book was “not so bright as the tunes,” and thus there were
“dull stretches, especially in the second act.” And Mantle said the evening was “neither riotously amusing
nor as dull as the average.” White’s audience was both “curious” and “interested” in her, and she was always
“entertaining” with her “amusing” song delivery and her “graceful” dancing.
Variety noted the first-night tickets sold for $5 apiece, but after the opening the regular scale reverted
to $2.50. The critic mentioned that the show had “names and brightness,” but “a little snapping up would
help.” The critic also referred to a “little tune” about a “truth tree,” a legend that explains that a tree drops
its fruit each time a lie is told. Throughout the evening, and with “no trick apparatus used,” the set came
forward several times to depict a tree and its fallen fruit. (The song “Tree of Truth” was heard during the
tryout, and although the program didn’t list the number, it appears that some of it must have been performed
in New York.)
For the post-Broadway tour, “One Touch of Loving” was cut from the score, and White and Holmes re-
prised their New York roles.
JUST BECAUSE
Theatre: Earl Carroll Theatre
Performances: 46
Book: Anna Wynne O’Ryan and Helen S. Woodruff
Lyrics: Helen S. Woodruff
Music: Madelyn Sheppard
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Just Because, Inc.; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: H. Robert Law Stu-
dios; Costumes: Anna Spencer, Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Priscilla Paul (Mrs. Briggs), Ruth Williamson (Bluebell), Queenie Smith (Syringa), Jean Merode (Wiste-
ria), Nellie Graham-Dent (Mrs. Bennett), Frank Moulan (Mr. Cummings), Jane Richardson (Mignonette),
Charles Trowbridge (Claude Wellington), Mary Hotchkiss (Susan), Ann Dale (Sarah), Olin Howland (Foster
Phillips), Edgar Nelson (Leonard Wall), Charles Froom (Reverend Doctor Bombig); The Cummings Girls:
Violet Mack (Daisy), Betty Broughton (Fuschia), Ethel Duffield (Clematis), Florence Kingsley (Magnolia),
Gwendolyn Gordon (Marigold); The Orphans: Lillian Hazel (Ruth), Blanche Terrell (Elizabeth), Claire
Martin (Sophia), Maud Lydiat (Martha), Jeanette Dix (Kate), Isabelle Bennett (Nora), Naomi Johnson (Ann),
Dawn Wolfe (Matilda); The Hikers: H. M. Arden (Francis Savage), Jean Barney (John Brown), Gayle Mays
(Peter Dale), William Wilson (Philip Duke), Charles Froom (William Benton), John Daly (Joseph Crown),
Harold Wheeler (Albert Stone)
The action takes place during the present time in and around the environs of the Wellington and Cummings
estates.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Cummings Girls, Orphans); “Oh, Dad” (Frank Moulan, Girls); “Love—Just Simple Love”
(Jane Richardson, Girls); “Chop Sticks” (Jane Richardson, Jean Merode, Edgar Nelson); “Orphans’ Drill”
(Orphans, Hikers); “Oh, Those Jazzing Toes” (Queenie Smith, Olin Howland); “Pep Up Your Step” (Girls,
Hikers); “Just Because” (Jane Richardson)
Act Two: “The Line Is Busy” (Ruth Williamson, Jean Merode, Queenie Smith, Girls); “It’s Hard to Be a Lady”
(Queenie Smith, Hikers); “I’ll Name My Dolly for You” (Jane Richardson, Girls); “Widow’s Blues” (Nellie
Graham-Dent, Frank Moulan); “Daisy, Tell Me Truly” (Jane Richardson); “Day Dream Bay” (Jane Richard-
son, Girls); “Eloping” (Queenie Smith, Olin Howland); “Music Scena” (Ensemble); “Associated Press” (Olin
Howland, Ensemble); “Here’s to the Bride” (Jane Richardson, Girls, Boys); Dance (Queenie Smith); Finale
The short-running Just Because was the second production (and the first musical) to play at the new Earl
Carroll Theatre (located at 753 Seventh Avenue at West 50th Street, the playhouse was demolished in 1930
to make way for a second Earl Carroll Theatre on the same spot, and the new venue opened its doors with the
1931 edition of the Earl Carroll Vanities).
The New York Times noted that despite sometimes “tinkling” music and the presence of Queenie
Smith and Olin Howland in the leading roles, Just Because was “patently” not the show for such a “lav-
1921–1922 Season 107
ishly equipped” playhouse. The story was concerned with “love, love, love,” and the book and lyrics were
“feeble.”
But the production was unusual because it was written and composed by three women, Anna Wynne
O’Ryan (librettist), Helen S. Woodruff (librettist and lyricist), and Madelyn Sheppard (composer).
Although Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s found the evening hard to bear, there was a silver lining. After all,
had she not attended Just Because she would have missed some vital information in the program, such as
“the Boyduroy draperies were given a special sheen and refinishing through the kind offices of Mr. W. B. An-
drews of the John S. Boyd Company, Inc., of Williamstown, Massachusetts.” Further, the program informed
her that an orchestra lift permitted the audience to both hear and see the musicians, and the presidents of the
Otis Elevator Company and the Elevator Supplies Company “evinced a great personal interest” in the lift’s
“successful construction.”
The story concerned the folks living on two adjoining estates. Mr. Cummings (Frank Moulan) lives in
one with his nine daughters, all of whom are named after flowers, including Syringa (Smith). Next door
lives Claude Wellington (Frank Trowbridge), a confirmed bachelor who lives with a group of young or-
phaned women whom he teaches (one or two critics indicated the young ladies were more in the nature
of “flappers”). One of Cummings’s daughters disguises herself as an orphan and soon she and Claude are
headed for the altar.
J.V.A.W. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “futile” musical was a “sweet, sticky confection” about “as
nourishing and as subtle as a lollypop.” The critic noted that lyricist Woodruff had been asked to help with the
book in order “to ward off a superfluity of saccharine, but apparently the dirty work with the sugar-scoop had
already been accomplished.” Olin Howard had to speak such lines as “Hot potato! I’m the cat’s puppy!” And for
one song, the lyric ran “Twinkle, twinkle, little nightie / Made to cover Aphrodite” (and Charles Darnton in the
New York Evening World shared part of another lyric: “Little shirty / Once all dirty”). But the Daily Eagle noted
that choreographer Bert French brought “ingenuity” to the “maudlin” songs by conveying “an impression of star-
tling novelty to each one,” and his devices brought a “resourcefulness and effectiveness seldom seen on the musi-
cal comedy stage.” Smith was a hit with the audience, and the critic trusted she would “soon shed her vaudeville
idea of leering at the audience” (Darnton also complained of her “bad habit of winking” at the audience).
James Whittaker in the Chicago Tribune decided Just Because might be “the sort of show that must be
tremendous fun from anywhere in the theatre but the seats.” The jokes were paltry (“My name is Doctor Bom-
big” / “Ah, Doctor Big Bum”), and Whittaker reported that the show’s creators were “amateur contrivers” who
wrote “private Follies” for “the best families,” but for this their “seriously commercial effort” they had “will-
ingly” descended “to the low and remunerative hokum of Broadway.” The score was “post-graduate” music
“quite a bit better than those of the average girl school graduate class musical comedy without being quite as
good as those of the average” Broadway show, and the rhymes kept the “vocabulary down to the words dove,
blue, rose, croon, and sigh.” Whittaker concluded that if the authors were “blackballed by the Lambs and their
opus by the tired business man,” it was “the fault of nothing but their early upbringing.”
Variety said the “light” book compared “favorably” with other musical comedy scripts, and “winsome-
ness” was its “outstanding feature.” The evening offered “several novelty numbers which lyrically have
value,” and the chorus girls were “comely” and “energetic workers.” But the musical wasn’t “advantageously
placed” in the Earl Carroll because the show wasn’t “big enough.” As a result, the box office would “suffer
accordingly” because the “chances of a run are meager where situated.”
Darnton found the book “heavy” and humorless, but decided the “bright and pleasing” if not “original”
score and the dances helped make Just Because an “entertaining” show. The staging for one number (“I’ll
Name My Dolly for You,” the evening’s “most ingenious song”) utilized walking dolls and managed to be-
come a “delightful novelty.” And an unnamed but “good-natured” cast member of the canine persuasion
“barked himself into popularity.”
LETTY PEPPER
“A Musical Comedy Gem”
Theatre: Vanderbilt Theatre

Performances: 32
Book: Oliver Morosco and George V. Hobart

Lyrics: Leo Wood and Irving Bibo
Based on the 1911 play Maggie Pepper by Charles Klein.
Direction: George V. Hobart; Producer: Oliver Morosco; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery: Uncredited;
Costumes: Frances; Joseph; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Harry James (not the later noted
band leader)
Cast: Jane King (Hattie), Paul Burns (Abe Greenbaum Jr.), Mary King (Imogene), Josie Intropodi (Mrs. Hatch),
Thomas Walsh (James Van Ness), Hallam Bosworth (Hutchinson), Ray Raymond (Joseph Colby), Char-
lotte Greenwood (Letty Pepper), Master Gabriel (Billy), Vera Halare (Caroline Van Ness), Frances Victory
(Margery), Stewart Wilson (Tony Barrillobatso), William Balfour (Mack); Ensemble: Emily Stead, Effie
Shelley, Phyllis Hooper, Charline Essley, Lispa Taft, Claire Wegmen, Jean Wegmen, Lillian Hoffman,
Margaret Leonia, Olive King, Delphine Deery, Virginia Taylor, May Mixon, Dorothy Clark, Florence
Barry, Charlotte Starbuck, Beth Ormby, Myrtle Murray
The action takes place in Colby & Company’s Store.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Yes, Yes” (Chorus); “From the Bottom to the Top” (Ray Raymond, Chorus); “You Teach Me”
(lyric by Ballard MacDonald, music by James F. Hanley) (Charlotte Greenwood, Master Gabriel); “Ray of
Sunshine” (Charlotte Greenwood, Ray Raymond); “Blue Bird Blues” (Charlotte Greenwood); “Every Little
Miss” (Jane King, Mary King, Chorus)
Act Two: “I Love to Dance” (Master Gabriel, Jane King, Chorus); “Dope Song” (Stewart Wilson, Vera Halare,
Chorus); “Coo-ee-Doo” (lyric by Leo Wood, music by James F. Hanley and Werner Janssen) (Jane King,
Mary King); “Lavender and Old Lace” (Charlotte Greenwood, Ray Raymond); “Paul Poiret Number”
(Ensemble); “Sittin’ Pretty” (Ray Raymond, Chorus); “Long, Lean, Lanky Letty Pepper” (Charlotte Green-
wood); Finale (Company)
Letty Pepper was based on Charles Klein’s hit 1911 play Maggie Pepper, which starred Rose Stahl in the
title role and in 1919 was made into a successful film with Ethel Clayton (note that in 1917 Klein died in the
sinking of the Lusitania). Popular comedienne Charlotte Greenwood had starred in two successful Letty Pep-
per musicals (So Long, Letty in 1916 [which was filmed in 1929 with Greenwood] and Linger Longer, Letty in
1919), both based on the Maggie Pepper character but not on the original play itself.
Variety reported that prior to the production of Letty Pepper, Greenwood had appeared on tour in the
musical Let ’Er Go, Letty, which did “profitable” business in 1921. The book was by George E. Stoddard, and
the score was mostly by lyricist Ballard MacDonald and composer James F. Hanley. While MacDonald and
Hanley’s song “You Teach Me” was heard in Letty Pepper, it doesn’t seem to have been part of their score for
Let ’Er Go, Letty, but at least one song from Let ’Er Go, Letty was retained for Letty Pepper, “Coo-ee-doo”
(lyric by Leo Wood, and music by Werner Janssen and by Hanley).
When Greenwood put a final “thumbs down” on Let ’Er Go, Letty, it was “put aside,” and George V.
Hobart was “immediately commissioned” to adapt the original Maggie Pepper as a musical vehicle for the
star (Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s noted that the title of Klein’s play Maggie Pepper had now been “daringly
changed” to Letty Pepper). The new musical (with the book credited to both Hobart and to Oliver Morosco)
became the third and final of Greenwood’s Letty series to play on Broadway.
The musical had a disappointing Broadway run of four weeks and soon embarked on a national tour. Letty
Pepper is a clerk in Colby’s department store, and although she has many ideas about marketing the store and
its products, her suggestions aren’t well received and the manager fires her. One day she tells a stranger that
she was terminated from Colby’s because of her ideas, and it turns out the listener is none other than Joseph
Colby (Ray Raymond), the store’s owner. He likes what she has to say and brings her back to the company
with a promotion, and soon she’s on her way to becoming Mrs. Colby.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times said the musical offered “songs, dances, fashion shows,
elderly vaudeville jokes, personable chorus girls and other ingredients,” but, of course, the most memorable
aspect of the evening was that “grand gawk of a clown” Greenwood, who had to deal with the “dire libretto
1921–1922 Season 109
which has been flung around her.” And those “elderly vaudeville jokes”? Woollcott provided a few samples,
including: “Aren’t you too young a girl to marry an octogenarian?” / “Oh, he isn’t an octogenarian. He’s a
Presbyterian.” Another nifty was: “How large the teacher of your eye is! Oh, excuse me, I mean the pupil.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s noted that whenever Greenwood appeared on stage you always knew she was
a performer you would rate among your favorites. For Letty Pepper, she was surrounded by an “excessively
dull entertainment,” and she clearly knew what “poisonous” lines she was forced to speak. But she “deftly
[made] fun of each one, just as a little joke between you and her.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said Letty Pepper sometimes cramped Greenwood’s
“free-and-easy style,” but by the second act “she kicked the plot in the face” and to the “great relief” of the
audience “got into violent action with her incredibly long arms and legs.” The star danced “in her amusing
way, with all her old ridiculous steps,” and watching her cavort in her “happy-go-lucky way” proved she was
the one who “furnished the only real amusement” in the show.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the evening “none too funny and not very musical”
with a “not very good book” and a score that didn’t “amount to anything at all,” but he granted that perhaps
one or two of the songs might occasionally be whistled. However, Greenwood was “decidedly likeable,” she
managed to make the “lame” jokes “sound quite funny,” and the production’s dances were at their “most
engaging” when she took over. Brooklyn Life said the musical offered “good singing and dancing and a whole
lot of fun.” Greenwood was supplied with a number of “good” songs (including “Blue Bird Blues”), and her
eccentric dances earned numerous encores. The sets were “tasteful,” the gowns “beautiful,” Werner Janssen
supplied “many pleasing tunes,” and Letty Pepper was “a good spring tonic.” Variety said that like Irene
(1919) and Sally, the musical had “a tinge of the Cinderella story,” but Letty Pepper wasn’t a “contender for
the honors” of those earlier shows. Greenwood shone in such numbers as “Lavender and Old Lace,” “Long,
Lean, Lanky Letty Pepper,” and “Blue Bird Blues,” and given that the latter was the score’s “prettiest” song,
the critic was surprised it wasn’t featured more often with an occasional plug or two.
Janssen never had much luck on Broadway. Like Letty Pepper, many of his book musicals played in New
York with runs varying from one to three months, such as Love Dreams (which had opened earlier in the
season), Luckee Girl, and Boom-Boom. His revue Nic-Nax of 1926 lasted just thirteen performances, but Lady
Butterfly managed four months on Broadway. He contributed one song for the summer edition of the 1925
Ziegfeld Follies, which played for eighty-eight showings.
GO EASY, MABEL
“The Musical Comedy Different”

Performances: 16
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Charles George
Direction: Bertram Harrison and Julian Alfred; Producer: The Hudson Production, Inc.; Choreography: Un-
credited; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Tappe; Bendel; Lucile Ltd.; Milgrim; Mahieu; Bulger;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ross Mobley
Cast: Will J. Deming (Ted Sparks), Estelle Winwood (Mabel Sparks), Ethel Levey (Mabel Montmorency), James
C. Marlowe (Edward Drenton), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Edward Drenton), Russell Mack (Bruce Drenton),
Arthur Aylesworth (George Macdonald), Eileen Van Biene (Tessie Claire); The Girls: Grace Duncan,
Lucille Constante, Evelyn Gerald, Sonya Ivanoff, Sue Wilson, Beatrice Wilson, Victoria White, Virginia
Roche, Eileen Adair
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Love Is King” (Eileen Van Biene); “Girls, Girls, Girls” (Will J. Deming, Girls); “A Lapse of Time”
(Girls); “I Want a Regular Man” (Ethel Levey, Will J. Deming, Arthur Aylesworth); “Go Easy, Mabel”
(Russell Mack, Ethel Levey, Girls)
Act Two: “Honey, I Love You” (Eileen Van Biene, Girls); “The Unveiling of a Broadway Girl” (Russell Mack,
Girls); “Oh, Papa” (Ethel Levey, James C. Marlowe)
Act Three: “An Old-Fashioned Man Is Hard to Find” (Estelle Winwood, Girls); “When You Dance with the
Girl You Love” (Russell Mack, Ethel Levey); “Ethel Levey’s Smile Song” (Ethel Levey); Finale (Ensemble)
They asked for it when they gave Go Easy, Mabel the tag line “The Musical Comedy Different” while
Dorothy Parker was in the room. At first blush, she found it “The Musical Comedy Indifferent,” but soon she
decided it was “The Musical Comedy Terrible.” (Her comments bring to mind her classic pronouncement
about a 1931 play that she reviewed for the New Yorker: “The House Beautiful is the play lousy.”)
The big excitement surrounding Go Easy, Mabel was Ethel Levey’s return to Broadway after a period of
thirteen years on the London stage. But the vehicle for George M. Cohan’s first wife was a shaky one, and the
show didn’t survive beyond two weeks. And Levey’s next and final two Broadway musicals didn’t fare much
better: Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg’s Sunny River (1941) lasted for just thirty-six perfor-
mances and Emmerich Kalman’s Marinka (1945) played for 165 showings and closed at a loss.
There was much talk about the identity of Charles George, the musical’s librettist, lyricist, and composer,
and some suggested this was a composite name for a number of unidentified writers and composers. Charles
Darnton in the New York Evening World noted that on opening night Levey “merely” mentioned his name
as an “afterthought” and perhaps because of “modesty.” Clearly, the “mysterious Mr. George remained im-
penetrably obscure,” and his show was “the sort of musical comedy George M. Cohan could write if it were
a good deal better.”
The story focused on two Mabels. The marriage of Mabel Sparks (Estelle Winwood in her only musical)
and her playwright husband, Ted (Will J. Deming), has drifted into indifference, and their friends suggest
that each indulge in innocent affairs to make the other jealous. To that end, Ted enlists stenographer Ma-
bel Montmorency (Levey) to pretend to vamp him, and Mabel Sparks flirts with George Macdonald (Arthur
Aylesworth) although he’s completely uninterested in her and is in fact in love with her best friend Tessie
Claire (Eileen Van Biene).
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that except for Levey the unexceptional musical was
“flat and stale in the extreme.” The story utilized one of the “oldest” of plots, the would-be humor was on
the order of “Not on your tintype!,” a line of “clever badinage” back in the 1890s, and the songs were “weak.”
Deming seemed “uncomfortable” as the husband, Winwood “fortunately” didn’t sing very often, and when
Levey performed “I Want a Regular Man,” the orchestra didn’t believe her and proceeded to successfully
“drown her out.”
Percy Hammond said librettist Charles George had done an “unfriendly” and “grievous mischief” to
Levey by writing the show, but at least the evening gave her occasional opportunities for dancing, and it was
during these interludes she seemed “happiest.” But the story was “old-fashioned” and “cumbersome,” and,
like Pollock, Hammond grew weary of such “frayed ejaculations” as “Not on your tintype!” and “That takes
the cake!” But the girls and the songs were “pretty,” and Levey had a good moment with her best song (“Oh,
Papa”) when she flirted with the married Edward Drenton (James C. Marlowe) and tickled him under his
lower chin, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Drenton (Groucho Marx’s later and eternal foil, Margaret Dumont),
who played “a suspicious wife of the usual type.”
Darnton said that when Levey danced, the musical became a “lively entertainment,” but otherwise it
was “naïve,” “quite innocent,” and “rather dull.” The score was “more than occasionally familiar,” the lyr-
ics were better than the dialogue, and the music was “pretty.” As for Winwood, her role was “silly,” and this
being a musical, she was in a “strange field.” But she was often her “charming self” and “managed to keep
her pretty face straight.” Parker noted that Winwood’s presence in the cast was a “curious misplacement.”
The New York Times said Levey could make a “poor line sound a good deal better,” could sing “persua-
sively,” and do kicks “exceedingly high in the air,” but her show was “too much for a battalion to carry,” let
alone a single actress. As for Charles George’s identity, it probably didn’t matter anymore, and while his book
was “nothing to get vastly annoyed about,” it was nonetheless “perfectly pointless.” However, his music was
“better” than the rest of the evening and had a “fine swing.” Next to Levey, the production’s “honors” went
to an unidentified chorus girl, “the one who wore black and white in the opening number.” She was “by all
odds the prettiest chorus girl of the season.”
Variety found the musical “really secondary” to Levey’s talents because there was nothing in the eve-
ning that offered “singular originality.” The show lacked “that necessary something to make them talk and
1921–1922 Season 111
to guarantee the Broadway requisites,” and while Levey’s name would “undoubtedly draw them in,” it was
“doubtful” she could “do that delicate task for any length of time.” The production was clearly a “triumph”
for the performer, but Mabel would “not only go easy,” it would “probably go slow, possibly too slow for a
lengthy walk.”
RED PEPPER
“The Most Gorgeous and Most Sensational Musical Comedy Extravaganza in Years”

Performances: 24
Book: Edgar Smith and Emily M. Young
Lyrics: Howard E. Rogers and Owen Murphy
Music: Albert Gumble and Owen Murphy
Direction: Frank Smithson; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster;
Scenery, Costumes, and Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Vernon Bestor
Cast: James McIntyre (Juniper Berry), Thomas Heath (Jimpson Weed), Mabel Elaine (Lilly Rose), Vivian Holt
(Nokomis), Lillian Rosedale (Wah Letka), Dan Quinlan (Colonel Shelby Bright), Florence Rayfield (Sally),
Barrett Greenwood (Richard Pitney), Ferne Rogers (Dolly Pitney), Charles Brown (Lord Gathe-Coyne), Bob
Nelson (Scotty), Gladys Fooshee (Babe Stringer), Sybil Fooshee (Billie Bull), Dan Brennan (Jimmy Swift),
Hal Sands (Tommy Dodd), Bee Ho Gray (Lariat Ike), Ada Summerville (Nan), George Youngman (R. R.,
Rembrandt), Escamillo (Ramonda); Ladies of the Ensemble: Lottie Bell, Winifred Duffy, Grace Conrad,
Loretta Duffy, Myrtle Stuart, Jean Weber, Norma Battle, Nell Pennington, May Barry, Lillian Dunning,
Anna Maywood, Vivian Bartlett, Marie Dow, Marion Dowling, Sherry Demerest, Marie Frawley, Cele
Murray, Caroline Warner, Estelle Raywood, Nan Henderson, Billie Lee; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Eddie Scanlon, John Bauman, Gene Collins, Lovette Wilder, Fred McGregor, Armand Kane, Larry Mack,
Tom Turner, Harry Brom, Charles Adams
The action takes place during the present time in Havana, Arizona, and Georgia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Hal Sands, Dan Brennan, Ensemble); “Strong for Girls” (Gladys Fooshee, Sybil
Fooshee, Bob Nelson, Ensemble); “It Must Be You” (lyric by Howard E. Rogers, music by Albert Gumble)
(Florence Rayfield, Barrett Greenwood, Ensemble); “Boys, Boys, Boys” (Ferne Rogers, Boys); “Butterfly”
(Ferne Rogers, Charles Brown); “Senora” (Bob Nelson, Ensemble); “Strut Your Stuff” (Mabel Elaine, Hal
Sands, Dan Brennan, Ensemble); Specialty (Gladys Fooshee, Sybil Fooshee); “Mississippi Cradle” (Vivian
Holt, Lillian Rosedale); “Bugaboo” (Mabel Elaine, Hal Sands, Dan Brennan, Ensemble); “Ginger” (Sybil
Fooshee, Gladys Fooshee, Hal Sands, Dan Brennan, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Hiawatha’s Melody of Love” (lyric by Alfred Bryan and Artie Mehlinger, music by George W.
Mayer) (Vivian Holt, Lillian Rosedale); “Lasso Queen” (Sybil Fooshee, Gladys Fooshee); Specialty (Bee Ho
Gray, Ada Summerville); Dance (Hal Sands, Dan Brennan); “In the Starlight” (Florence Rayfield, Barrett
Greenwood); “Game of Love” (Ferne Rogers, Charles Brown); “Chickens” (Bob Nelson, Sybil Fooshee,
Gladys Fooshee, Ensemble); “Levee Land” (Mabel Elaine, Ensemble); “Wedding Day” (music by Vernon
F. Bestor) (Ferne Rogers, Florence Rayfield, Charles Brown, Barrett Greenwood); Specialty (Performer: Bob
Nelson; Pianist: Herbert Hewson); “Wedding Bells” (Florence Rayfield, Ferne Rogers, Barrett Greenwood,
Charles Brown, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Like Honey Girl, the title character of Red Pepper was a race horse, and the action in the first act revolved
around the world of horse racing in Havana. But for the second act, the slender and almost nonexistent plot
somehow found its way to Arizona and Georgia, and one or two critics never quite figured out why the loca-
tion changes were deemed necessary. Despite generally indulgent reviews, the musical closed in three weeks
(but toured extensively, which no doubt resulted in a financial hit for the producers). The flyers proclaimed
that the show included “a jubilee cast of 75 song and dance favorites” and a “gorgeous garden of girls,” and
confidently stated that “never before” had the stage offered “such an opportunity to laugh.”
The stars were the blackface team of McIntyre and Heath (James McIntyre and Thomas Heath), who
played the respective roles of Juniper Berry and Jimpson Weed, both of whom hope to get-rich-quick from the
proceeds of Red Pepper’s genius on the racetrack.
The New York Times said the musical “lagged lazily” through the first act but “picked up speed” in the
second, and the story was “something about” a race horse, an “entirely irrelevant” matter that didn’t “fig-
ure much in the proceedings.” In fact, the show wasn’t “about anything in particular” and merely served as
a means for the stars and the specialty acts to strut their stuff. Mabel Elaine was the “liveliest” performer
and stood out with various “song-and-dance eccentricities” such as “Bugaboo” and, yes, “Strut Your Stuff.”
Others in the company included rope-twirler Bee Ho Gray who despite comparisons with Will Rogers proved
“diverting.” But McIntyre and Heath were handicapped with poor material, and their comedy belonged in an
“old-jokes home.” However, Heywood Broun in the New York World found the team “funnier than ever” and
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said they were the “two bright ebony spots in the long and variegated performance.”
The Eagle’s critic said the musical was a “hybrid concoction” of “burlesque, vaudeville, circus, Cheyenne
round-up, Winter Garden extravaganza and high grade cabaret” and wouldn’t “startle the natives of Broad-
way by its pep or originality.” But it was entertaining enough and served as a viable vehicle for McIntyre
and Heath. Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World noted that “the whole show went with a rush,
even though there was too much of it.” The plot was “terrible,” and unfortunately one had to endure “some
very old jokes,” but the evening was a “novelty” that combined minstrel and Wild West shows. Bee Ho Gray
was an “expert” with the lariat, Mabel Elaine “danced like mad and behaved amusingly,” Gladys and Sybil
Fooshee sang and danced “pleasingly,” Vivian Holt and Lillian Rosedale were “softly melodious,” and a cake-
walking chorus “figured effectively” in a “lively” number.
Variety reported that the show had been on tour since the previous November, and its Broadway engage-
ment was set for a two-month run or “a bit longer if possible.” But the critical odds were against the musical
and it lasted for just twenty-four performances.
1922–1923 Season
SUE, DEAR
“The New Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Times Square Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Bijou Theatre)
Opening Date: July 10, 1922; Closing Date: September 30, 1930
Performances: 96
Book: Bide Dudley, Joseph Herbert, and C. S. Montanye
Lyrics: Bide Dudley
Music: Frank H. Grey
Direction: Joseph Herbert; Producer: Bide Dudley; Choreography: Jack Mason; Scenery: Beaux Arts Studio;
Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Frank H. Grey
Cast: Maxine Brown (Minerva West), Maurice Holland (Dave Craig), Madeline Grey (Aunt Mildred), Douglas
Cosgrove (Blithers), Ruth Gray (Dolly), Lucile Godard (Polly), Eileen Shannon (Molly), Bradford Kirkbride
(Phillip West), Olga Steck (Sue Milligan), John Hendricks (Le Comte Emile Pouchez), Bobby O’Neil (Chick
O’Brien), Alice Cavanaugh (Zoe); Guests: Irma Coign (Mary), Edna Coign (Louise), Ruth Gray (Dolly),
Lucile Godard (Polly), Eileen Shannon (Molly), Honor Tattersall (Fay), Emmey Tattersall (Doris), Greta
Warburg (Catherine), Rose Courtney (June), Bobby Kane (Nell), Mercedes Demordant (Gloria), Kay Carlin
(Florence), Bobby Culbertson (Billy), Ted Wheeler (Lester), Norman Nicholson (George)
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Principals, Ensemble); “Love’s Corporation” (Maxine Brown, Maurice Holland); “Lady Lin-
gerie” (Maxine Brown, Girls); “Smile and Forget” (Olga Steck); “That Samson and Delilah Melody” (John
Hendricks, Olga Steck, Ensemble); “Dance Me, Darling, Dance Me” (Bobby O’Neil, Alice Cavanaugh);
“Lady of Dreams” (Bradford Kirkbride); “Smile and Forget” (reprise) (Olga Steck); “My Little Full-Blown
Rose” (Bradford Kirkbride)
Act Two: Opening (John Hendricks, Ensemble); “Riverside Drive” (Bobby O’Neil); “Key to My Heart” (Max-
ine Brown, Maurice Holland); “Hiram Skinner’s Comb” (Bobby O’Neil, Girls); “Smile and Forget” (re-
prise) (Olga Steck, Ensemble); “Pidgie Widgie” (Alice Cavanaugh, Bobby O’Neil); “Foolishment” (Bobby
O’Neil, Bradford Kirkbride, John Hendricks, Maurice Holland); “Smile and Forget” (reprise) (Olga Steck);
“Lover’s Lane with You” (Olga Steck, Bradford Kirkbride); Finale (Company)
Despite mixed reviews, the season’s first book musical, Sue, Dear, managed to run almost one hundred
performances. With two dozen in the cast and two acts with one setting apiece (the first a living room in an
apartment on Riverside Drive and the second a garden attached to the apartment house), the musical was
113
more intimate than most of the era, but the modest presentation (and its inherent lower production costs)
didn’t help place the show in the winner’s circle.
The musical was another Cinderella story, and this time around the heroine is named Sue (Olga Steck),
a lonely man hater who works in a chic jewelry store and whose job (with the aid of delivery guard Chick
O’Brien, played by Bobby O’Neil) is to deliver the expensive purchases directly to the homes of the store’s
wealthy clients. Upon her arrival at the Riverside Drive apartment of Minerva West (Maxine Brown) to deliver
a pearl necklace from Minerva’s intended, Dave Craig (Maurice Holland), chaos reigns. That evening Minerva
is hosting a society party in honor of her best friend and bridesmaid, Lorraine (or Lorayne) Lawrence, who,
strangely enough, has never met any of Minerva’s friends.
At the last minute, Lorraine sends a telegram with the news that she can’t attend the affair, and Minerva
asks Dave what she should do. Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s knowingly suggested that Dave must have been to
“many musical comedies” because he offers the perfect solution. Since the guests have never seen Lorraine,
why not ask the delivery girl from the jeweler to impersonate her? Minerva’s frocks will “fit her, of course,
perfectly,” and what a joke if the girl wins the heart of Minerva’s brother Phillip (Bradford Kirkbridge), whom
everyone knows is a “confirmed woman hater”!
The New York Times praised the “merry” score and singled out “Love’s Corporation,” “Smile and Forget”
(clearly the musical’s hoped-for hit, the song was reprised three times during the evening), “That Samson
and Delilah Melody,” and “Dance Me, Darling, Dance Me.” And the critic was especially taken with “Fool-
ishment” (which “really [made] things merry”) and “Lover’s Lane with You” (the show’s “musical peak”).
Overall, there wasn’t much of a story, but the show was a “pleasant” vehicle for the performers and offered
becoming costumes and “well arranged” and “agreeably executed” dances. And composer and musical direc-
tor Frank H. Grey gave the musical “more reason for being than anyone else.”
The New York Evening World said “pleasing” was the word that best defined the show, and noted that
“especial mention must be made” of the songs because “seldom has a musical show been offered on Broad-
way with such a wealth of ‘whistly’ tunes.” The “delightfully refreshing” plot was “full of humor” and
“fraught with comedy,” and “Lover’s Lane with You” was a “musical gem such as Broadway has not heard
for months.” Burns Mantle in the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal liked “several pretty tunes” and “several
snappy jokes,” and noted that the “woman-hater” brother was a baritone, and “nobody sings better duets at
the party than Sue and the baritone.”
Quinn Martin in the New York World mentioned the evening was suggestive of Irene and Sally and thus
was “a pretty Cinderella theme.” The musical was “piquant and refreshing and [a] not too sophisticated little
melody play” that “really ought to go romping through the summer.” The critic noted that when Sue deliv-
ered the parcel, she fell “smack into the plot,” and he commented that while the show made “no claim for
revue honors,” the second-act opening burlesqued the revue Chauve-souris (which had opened earlier in the
year) and John Hendricks impersonated the Russian revue’s master-of ceremonies Nikita Balieff.
Charles Pike Sawyer in the New York Post said the evening gave the impression of “amateur night.” The
performers frequently stumbled over their lines and bits of business, and “while everybody on the stage ap-
peared to be having a good time,” they never “passed that good time over the footlights.” The New York Sun
said it took “much palavering” to get the plot in gear, and while Steck was a “colorful and fluent soprano”
and Alice Cavanuagh and O’Neil had “some very happy moments bouncing around in dances and conversa-
tion,” there were many in the company who “seemed to be on a still hunt for their lines—sometimes very
still.” Nunnally Johnson in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the “plot, humor, tunes, [and] players” were
“so-so, and not very so-so at that,” and Variety said the musical “could serve for the annual summer outdoor
festival of the Monmouth County Community Dramatic League of Little Theatre Players,” and while the
story brought man-hater Sue and woman-hater Phillip together, who knows what happened because why
would anyone “wait for the second act after seeing the first?”
During the run, “Lady of Dreams” and “Riverside Drive” were cut, and “Da, Da, Daddy, Dear” was added.
Six songs were dropped during the tryout: “Bet on the Jockey,” “By Radiophone,” “The Key to Lorayne,” “The
Love Ship,” “Men, Men, Men,” and “Tell Us, Handsome Man.”
DAFFY DILL
“A Musigirl Comedy”

1922–1923 Season 115
Performances: 71
Book: Guy Bolton and Oscar Hammerstein II
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Direction: Julian Mitchell; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: (most likely Julian Mitchell);
Scenery: Clifford Pember; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert
Stothart
Cast: Marion Sunshine (Estelle), Genevieve Markam (Teacher), Irene Olsen (Lucy Brown), Ben Mulvey (School
Inspector), Frank Tinney (Himself), Harry Mayo (Dan Brown), Guy Robertson (Kenneth Hobson), Jacque-
lyn Hunter (Lucy’s Grandmother in 1867), Lynne Berry (Lucy’s Grandfather in 1867), Imogene Wilson (Lu-
cy’s Mother in 1899), Rollin Grimes (Harry Jones), Georgia O’Ramey (Gertie); Specialty Dancers: Frances
Grant and Ted Wing; Mary Haun and Galdino Sedano; Margaret and Elizabeth Keene; Frederick Renoff;
Ladies of the Ensemble: Jacqueline Hunter, Bernice Ackerman, Peggy Stohl, Grace LaRue, Fern Oakley,
Violet Lobel, Imogene Wilson, Irene Anderson, Violet Andrews, Jessie Howe, Marjorie Clements, Grace
Culbert, Marion Philips, Genevieve Markam (possibly Markham), Yvette DuBoise, Beatrice O’Connor,
Ethel Kinley, Joane Warner, Carolyn Maywood, Eleanor Dell; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Lynne Berry,
Charles Townsend, Harry Rocca, Harry Miller, Alfred Milano, Victor Kenfield, Marius Rogate, Samuel
Vean
The action takes place during the present time in such locales as New York City and California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Let’s Play Hookey” (Marion Sunshine, Girls); “Kindergarten Blues” (Marion Sunshine, Girls);
“Prince Charming” (Irene Olsen); “Fantasy: Cinderella Meets the Prince” (Irene Olsen, Margaret and
Elizabeth Keene); “Two Little Ruby Rings” (Irene Olsen, Guy Robertson, Harry Mayo); “My Boy Friend”
(Irene Olsen, Chorus; danced by Frances Grant and Ted Wing); “I’m Fresh from the Country” (Georgia
O’Ramey, Chorus); “I’ll Build a Bungalow” (Frank Tinney, Georgia O’Ramey, Guy Robertson, Irene
Olsen); “A Coachman’s Heart” (Frank Tinney, Marion Sunshine); “Adagio” (danced by Mary Haun and
Galdino Sedano); “Fair Enough” (Guy Robertson, Rollin Grimes, Harry Mayo, Margaret and Elizabeth
Keene, Chorus)
Act Two: “My Little Redskin” (Margaret and Elizabeth Keene, Frances Grant, Girls); “Chinky Chink”
(Marion Sunshine, Mary Haun, Margaret and Elizabeth Keene, Bernice Ackerman, Grace Culbert, Yvette
DuBoise); “Doctor” (lyric by Kenneth Keith) (Georgia O’Ramey, Chorus); “Fantasy: “At the Stroke of
Twelve . . .”) (Irene Olsen, Margaret and Elizabeth Keene, Violet Lobel); “Pianologue” (Frank Tinney,
Jacqueline Hunter, Imogene Wilson, Fern Oakley, Bernice Ackerman, Peggy Stohl); “Pantomime: Pirate’s
Gold” (dance) (Frances Grant and Ted Wing with Frederick Renoff); “Captain Kidd’s Kids” (Harry Mayo,
Marion Sunshine, Margaret and Elizabeth Keene, Chorus); Finale
Lyricist and co-librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, composer Herbert Stothart, producer Arthur Hammer-
stein, and comedian Frank Tinney enjoyed a hit with Tickle Me, which played over two-hundred perfor-
mances in New York and in two separate national tours ran for a total of seven months in seventeen cities.
But Daffy Dill wasn’t so lucky: its New York run lasted just nine weeks and the national tour played for one
month in two cities.
Daffy Dill was technically a book musical that looked at two couples, one the Cinderella-story twosome
of poor lingerie-shop worker Lucy Brown (Irene Olsen) and millionaire Kenneth Hobson (Guy Robertson), and
the other, comics Frank Tinney (as himself) and man-hungry Georgia O’Ramey (Gertie), a spinster determined
to hook a man and who in “I’m from the Country” announces she’s a rube and a hayseed who is rural, rustic,
and provincial, and wears flannels so she doesn’t “sneeze and freeze” in “chiffon chemise.”
But the evening frequently verged into revue territory with dance and comic specialties, and the loosely
constructed plot was all over the map, from the city to the country, from New York to California. There was
a skit that depicted the rehearsal of a play called The Coachman’s Heart, and Nunnally Johnson in the Brook-
lyn Daily Eagle said a “funnier” song than “A Coachman’s Heart” was “hard to imagine” and was “burlesque
of the highest order.” The New York Herald said the skit and song were “clever,” and the lyric “succeeded in
getting entirely away from the prevalent lyrics of one syllable words” and thus “gave the intellect a chance.”
The evening included two dance fantasies that depicted the Cinderella story (the first was titled “Cinder-
ella Meets the Prince” and the second “At the Stroke of Twelve . . .”); a “Pianologue” for Tinney and company
that was apparently comprised of semi-impromptu bits; a pantomime titled “Pirate’s Gold”; and the song
“Captain Kidd’s Kids” (all of whom are now flappers). A scene in a Spanish courtyard in California included
the song “My Little Redskin,” and at a Chinese party “Chinky Chink” was performed (these songs are still
waiting in vain for a chance on the Hit Parade).
The critics always liked Tinney, but this time around one or two noted his shticks were becoming too
familiar and he needed fresh material. His contretemps with a horse was there, he again sparred with the or-
chestra conductor, he briefly reprised his blackface routine, and once again was seen in diverse locales. Burns
Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that although Tinney’s material was “used,” the “Tinney crowd
likes it.” But he cautioned that soon the “laugh-earning genius” but “shiftless student” would need to start
“buckling down to the job and [add] something new and worthy to his repertoire, or run the risk of seeing the
competition pass him by.” Otherwise, “most” of Stothart’s score was “good,” but Bolton and Hammerstein’s
book was “quite bad.”
Johnson agreed that “everybody got just as much fun” out of Tinney’s familiar routines as if they’d been
written “around 6 o’clock yesterday afternoon.” He also reported that the music was “tuneful, too tuneful,
maybe, to be catchy, except for ‘Two Little Ruby Rings’”; that the ladies in the chorus were “shapely and
briefly clad”; and, in regard to the gentlemen in the ensemble, “one of the chief interests of the evening was
in noting that it must have been their voices, and not their crisco hair, which obtained jobs for them.”
The New York Times said the “unrelated scenes” were among the “best of the show” because the plot
itself was “something terrible” and poor Georgia Ramey appeared “to have relied on the librettists for her
material, and it turned out to be misplaced confidence.” But the music was “pleasant enough,” the production
was “good-looking,” the girls “beautiful,” and the men in the chorus were a “remarkable collection.” All in
all, Daffy Dill was “mainly Frank Tinney,” and Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the show wasn’t “much of a
show in itself.” In fact, it was “scarcely anything of a show,” but it served as a vehicle for Tinney, and “who
could ask for anything better than that?”
Brooklyn Life said the production was “about as weak in music as it is strong on girls.” The critic men-
tioned that the costumes (or lack thereof) “would [have] undoubtedly scandalized respectable theatre-goers
of an earlier generation,” but now “Dame Fashion has at last deprived show producers of all opportunity to
shock or create a sensation in the way of chorus-girl costuming as well as saving the expense of tights,” and
now “there is practically nothing left to curtail.”
Variety commented that “a lot of money looks to have been spent on the production” and that the musi-
cal was “particularly attractive scenically.” But the humor was the show’s weakest element, and it needed
“much improvement.”
The extant lyrics are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.
During the tryout, the songs “One Flower That Blooms for You,” “Tartar,” and “You Can’t Lose Me” were
cut, and these too are included in the collection.
THE GINGHAM GIRL

“A Musical Comedy” / “A Musical Comedy of Distinction”
Theatre: Earl Carroll Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Central Theatre)
Opening Date: August 28, 1922; Closing Date: June 2, 1923
Performances: 322
Book: Daniel Kusell
Direction: Daniel Kusell and Edgar MacGregor; Producers: Laurence Schwab and Daniel Kusell; Choreogra-
phy: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Uncredited (furniture by The William Birns Co.); Costumes: Lotty and Brice;
Harry Collins; Gilman and Bernstein; Anna Spencer, Inc.; H. Mahieu & Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musi-
cal Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Edgar Hamilton (Gus), James T. Ford (Conductor), Walter F. Jones (Silas O’Day), Russell Mack (Jack
Hayden), Louise Allen (Libby O’Day), Helen Ford (Mary Thompson), Alan Edwards (Harrison Bartlett),
Eleanor Dawn (Mildred Ripley), Eddie Buzzell (John Cousins), Dolly Lewis (Mazie Lelewer), Bertee Beau-
1922–1923 Season 117
mont (Sonya Maison), Amelia Summerville (Sophia Trask), George Henry (Waiter), Helene Coyne (Mimi),
Henri French (Armand), Valdene Smith (Pauline), Dorothy Faye Smith (Paulette), Jack Mosser (Butler),
Mildred Quinn (Rose), Maude Lydiate (Ann); Elsie Lombard (She Who Runs the Pirates’ Den), Lillian
Thomas (She Who Wears Batik), Claire Martin (She Who Loves Mythology), Mildred Quinn (She Who
Wears a Derby), Lucille Moore (She Who Throws Bombs), Maude Lydiate (She Who Hails from Hobohe-
mia), Bernice Goesling (She Who Kisses Fools), Bobbie Breslaw (She Who Makes Tamales), Betsy Walters
(She Who Provides the Puffs), Frank Daniels (He Who Paints), William Sholar (He Who Scribbles), Alfred
Opler (He Who Loafs)
The musical was presented in three acts (the program noted that “sufficient time elapses between acts to al-
low for whatever develops”).
The action takes place during the present time in Crossville Corners, New Hampshire, and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Down East Flapper” (Louise Allen, Girls); “The Twinkle in Your Eye” (Helen Ford, Louise Al-
len); “You Must Learn the Latest Dances” (Eddie Buzzell, Russell Mack, Girls); Specialty (Elsie Lombard,
Bobbie Breslaw, Bernice Goesling); “As Long as I Have You” (Helen Ford, Eddie Buzzell); Finale (“All
Concerned”)
Act Two: “Down Greenwich Village Way” (Bertee Beaumont, Girls); Specialty (Helene Coyne and Henri
French); “Tell Her While the Waltz Is Playing” (Alan Edwards, Girls); “The Wonderful Thing We Call
Love” (Bertee Beaumont, Eddie Buzzell); “A Gingham Girl” (Eddie Buzzell, Louise Allen); “The 42nd
Street and Broadway Strut” (Valdene Smith, Dorothy Faye Smith, Girls); Finale (“All Concerned”)
Act Three: “My Sweet Cookie” (Valdene Smith, Dorothy Faye Smith, Girls); Specialty (Helen Coyne and
Henri French); “Newlyweds” (Russell Mack, Louise Allen); “Love and Kisses” (Helen Ford, Girls); “A
Gingham Girl” (reprise) (Helen Ford, Girls); Finale (“All Concerned”)
The Gingham Girl was both the season’s third book musical and third Cinderella musical (after Sue, Dear
and Daffy Dill). Do you think more Cinderella shows might follow? Well, next up after The Gingham Girl
are Molly Darling and Sally, Irene and Mary, and the suspense is unbearable.
The musical’s title was literally a last-minute one, and up through the week prior to the Broadway open-
ing the show had been known as Love and Kisses, which was also the title of one of the songs. The New
York Times noted that because of the change of title, the producers had the Earl Carroll Theatre’s proscenium
decorated in a gingham design. The “title” song “Love and Kisses” remained in the score for the show’s nine-
month Broadway run, but was dropped for the national tour, and while the “other” title song (“A Gingham
Girl”) was dropped during the New York run, it was reinstated for the national tour.
The Gingham Girl was a surprise hit that played over nine months on Broadway and was the season’s
second-longest-running show (after Wildflower).
The heroine, Mary Thompson (Helen Ford, in the first of five title roles she created during the decade, the
others being Helen of Troy, New York; No Other Girl, and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Peggy-Ann and
Chee-Chee), and hero, John Cousins (Eddie Buzzell), live in the New Hampshire town of Crossville Corners,
where Mary’s dream is to own a bakery to sell her Blue Bird Cookies (a program note warned audience mem-
bers that the trade mark for these cookies had been “duly registered” by the producers). John loans Mary one
hundred dollars for start-up costs, and then takes off for New York where he enjoys a certain degree of success
in show business. When he runs out of money, he applies for a job at Mary’s successful bakery and discovers
his initial capitalization has grown into a large sum because Mary had made him a silent partner. The critic
for Brooklyn Life said “the last we saw of them they were going to be married.”
The Times said the “little” story was “almost pathetic in its simplicity” and its creators weren’t “ex-
traordinary talents.” Yet for all this, the musical was “lively and entertaining” and possessed an “infectious
quality,” and despite its title the show was “a good deal funnier than you’d ever expect.” Ford was “demure,”
“pretty,” and “appealing,” Buzzell was “undeniably funny in rather a Winter Garden manner,” and the score
was “tinkling.”
The New York Evening World found the musical “pleasing enough” but said it got “a bit thick at times
when the author pushes caricature into burlesque” with too much “‘rube’ stuff.” Otherwise, Ford was “nice
and capable,” Buzzell was “good,” and there was “a catchy number or so in the score.” The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle decided the evening was “nothing great, but a rattling good show,” the comedy came “from our best
joke factories,” and Albert Von Tilzer’s score was “catchy, sweet and whistleable” (“with such songs as ‘As
Long as I Have You,’ ‘Newlyweds,’ ‘Sweet Cookies’ and ‘Love and Kisses’, any respectable musical comedy
plot would behave,” and “The 42nd Street and Broadway Strut” included a “flapper chorus” that “supplied
the necessary jazz”).
Brooklyn Life said the “delightful” show was “a sweet little musical comedy with a real plot,” and the
eight chorines were “the hardest working chorus seen on Broadway in several seasons.” Quinn Martin in the
New York World praised the “refreshing” show with its “lovely” score of “daintiness and haunting beauty”
(and “As Long as I Have You” was “a little gem”). Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that
the story “hangs together better than most,” the score had “originality and at least a reflected charm,” and
Buzzell was “frequently amusing.” Variety said that with a top-ticket price of $2.50 the musical was “worth
the money, and being free of the suggestive, ought to have a fling.”
During the run, there were many changes in the score, including deletions, additions, and reordering.
Added were “Libby” and “Plunk, Plunk, Plunk”; deleted were “A Gingham Girl” and both the second and
third act specialties for Helene Coyne and Henri French; and “The 42nd Street and Broadway Strut” became
the opening for the second act. For the national tour, “Libby,” “Love and Kisses,” and “The 42nd Street and
Broadway Strut” were deleted; “When I Step with My Buddy (When My Buddy Steps with Me)” was added;
and “Plunk, Plunk, Plunk,” which had been added for the Broadway run, was dropped. It appears that either
in preproduction or during the tryout the following songs were cut: “Business Is Bad,” “The Flapper Club,”
and “The Them Song.”
A 1927 silent film version was released by R-C Pictures and Film Booking Offices; directed by David
Kirkland, the film’s cast includes Lois Wilson, George K. Arthur, and Charles Crockett.
MOLLY DARLING
“A Musical Comedy” / “The Funniest Musical Comedy Hit in Years”
Theatre: Liberty Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Globe Theatre)
Performances: 101
Book: Otto Harbach and William Cary Duncan
Lyrics: Phil Cook
Direction: Book directed by Walter Wilson, and entire production staged by Julian Mitchell; Producers: Menlo
Moore and Macklin Megley; Choreography: Uncredited (Jack Donahue likely choreographed his own
dance routines); Scenery: Herbert Ward, Art Director; Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Benham & Co.,
Inc.; Brooks Uniform Company; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Company; Musical
Direction: Milton E. Schwarzwald
Cast: Albert Roccardi (Antonio Ricardo), Jack Donahue (“Chic” Jiggs), Billy Taylor (Ted Miller), Billie Taylor
(Trix Morton), Mary Milburn (Molly Ricardo), Catherine Mulqueen (Marivane), Cecil Summers (Oliver),
Emma Janvier (Mrs. Redwing), Clarence Nordstrom (Jack Stanton), Hal Forde (Chauncey Chesbro), Nina
Penn (“Spirit of Eve”), Jay Gould (Archie Ames), Ben Benny (Timmy), Burke Western (Tommy); The Girls:
Esther Morris, Marie Dolan, Betty Stewart, Liana Cloutier, Frances Lyndel, Lillian Mamet, Rhea Norton,
Violet Follis, Mae Friend, Marion Rollins, Marie Pollitt, Yvette Reals, Lillian Downey, Myrtle Gilden,
Dorothy Morris, Ida Miller; The Boys: Harold Bird, Bert McGuinnes, James Martin, Jack Stanley, William
Warren, Charles LaValle, Norman Jefferson, Lester New
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and in Larchmont.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “You Know What to Do” (music by Milton E. Schwarzwald and Tom Johnstone) (Billy Taylor, Billie
Taylor, Mary Milburn, Jack Donahue); “There’s an Eve in Ev’ry Garden” (Hal Forde, Nine Penn, Girls);
1922–1923 Season 119
“Dear Little Gad-About” (Catherine Mulqueen, Jay Gould, Boys); “They Love It” (Hal Forde, Jack Dona-
hue, Billy Taylor, Billie Taylor); “Mellow Moon” (Emma Janvier, Clarence Nordstrom, Hal Forde, Girls);
“Chesbro’s Entertainment for Mrs. Redwing’s Guests”: (1) “Eccentric Dance” (Jack Donahue); (2) “Her
Ballad” (Mary Milburn); and (3) “Stepping Some” (Billy Taylor, Billie Taylor); “When Your Castles Come
Tumbling Down” (lyric by Arthur Francis, aka Ira Gershwin, music by Milton E. Schwarzwald) (Mary
Milburn, Clarence Nordstrom, Ensemble); “Don’t Tag Along” (Jay Gould, Boys); Finale
Act Two: “Syncopate” (Mary Milburn, Jack Donahue, Billy Taylor, Billie Taylor, Ensemble); “Molly Darling”
(Clarence Nordstrom, Mary Milburn, Boys); “Boot Eccentrique” (Ben Benny, Burke Western); “Contrary
Mary” (Catherine Mulqueen, Jay Gould, Nina Penn, Girls); “An Oriental Episode” (Billy Taylor, Billie
Taylor); “Melody Dreams” (Mary Milburn, Ballet Dancers); “Dance of the Disc” (Nina Penn); “An After-
thought” (Jack Donahue, Liana Cloutier); “Spirit of the Radio” (Company)
Yes, Molly Darling was a rags-to-riches Cinderella musical. Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times
reported that the heroine, Molly Ricardo (Mary Milburn), is first seen wearing an apron, and Woollcott noted
that “any apron is always a sign of destitution—nay, of squalor—in a musical comedy.” In this case, poor
Molly is the daughter of violin maker Antonio Ricardo (Albert Roccardi), who lacks money to pay the rent.
Molly has written a waltz that doesn’t interest music publishers, but when her friends syncopate it with jazz
she sells the song for $75,000. Woollcott noted this “makes everything all right and sends the audience home
immensely relieved after all its worry about her.”
But the real excitement about Molly Darling was dancer Jack Donahue, whom the flyer described as
“America’s Champion Funmaker” and “The Man with the Laughing Feet.” He made his mark with critics
and audiences and soon found brief fame opposite Marilyn Miller in the long-running hits Sunny and Rosalie
as well as in his final Broadway appearance in the hit Sons o’ Guns. He died of heart failure in 1930 at the age
of thirty-eight, and became something of a minor legend with his nimble dancing style. The Off-Off-Broadway
musical Mud Donahue & Son was presented at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2007 at the 45th
Street Theatre for seven performances, and the two-character musical explored the testy relationship between
the dancer and his mother, who opposes his dream of becoming a dancer (the work was based on Donahue’s
Letters of a Hoofer to His Ma). As My Vaudeville Man!, the musical was revived by the York Theatre at the
Theatre at St. Peter’s Church where it officially opened on November 17, 2008, for thirty performances (this
production was recorded by Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records CD # 8-4441).
Note that Jack Donahue shouldn’t be confused with the actor and director Jack Donohue and dancer Joe
Donahue. Jack Donohue was once briefly married to Marilyn Miller, and Joe Donahue was Jack’s brother
(Joe played Jack’s stage role in the film version of Sunny which starred Miller). In Look for the Silver Lining,
Warner Brothers’ 1949 film biography of Miller, Jack Donahue was portrayed by Ray Bolger.
Woollcott noted that the “incredibly elastic and comical” dancer had been “loping in and out of musical
comedies for several seasons past,” and in Molly Darling he was “quite the life” of the “festivities”; Dorothy
Parker in Ainslee’s found Donahue an “extravagantly amusing dancer and comedian”; Charles Darnton in the
Evening World said the hoofer was “a whole show in himself,” and while he’d “danced around these parts
before” he’d never previously displayed such “variety and humor”; Nunnally Johnson in the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle praised the “very excellent” and “drollest of dancers,” one who “virtually ran away with the show”
with a “most infectious way” with comedy and with a pair of dancing feet that were “objects of admiration
and awe”; and Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Molly Darling gave Donahue “the best
chance he has ever had to be amusing on Broadway” and “he promptly ran away with the show.”
Otherwise, Woollcott found the plot “uneventful,” but said Clarence Nordstrom (as Molly’s lawyer-
boyfriend Jack Stanton) sang “charmingly and has the distinction of being one of the few” musical-comedy
juveniles who didn’t remind him of a longshoreman or a chorus boy. In fact, you could listen to Nordstrom
“all evening without once thinking that it would be a good idea if someone killed him.” Parker noted that
if you could “get yourself to the point” where you could “stand seeing something with a title like” Molly
Darling, then you could enjoy its “pleasant” music and Donahue’s dancing.
Besides Donahue, Darnton praised the brother-and-sister dance team of Billy and Billie Taylor, who were
“second only to the Astaires in light and fancy stepping,” and said dancer Nina Penn was “up on her toes with
the best of them.” Most of the cast “shook their feet at the faintest suggestion of jazz,” and there was even
a bootblack number (“Boot Eccentrique”) by Ben Benny and Burke Western that was “jazzed.” Darnton also
noted that composer Tom Johnstone had written a “tuneful and lively” score. Johnson mentioned that Molly
Darling was “chiefly a dancing show,” and he too praised the Taylors, who “displayed agility and recklessness
that savored of the cabaret but was not out of place here.” He commented that the scenery had “better than
ordinary prettiness” and he singled out “a cubistic-futuristic-expressionistic” music hall scene that was par-
ticularly “bizarre.” Mantle liked the “pleasantly familiar” music, the “pretty” girls, and the “attractive” décor.
For the post-Broadway tour, three numbers were dropped (“There’s an Eve in Ev’ry Garden,” “Don’t Tag
Along,” and “An Oriental Episode”), and one added (“The Educated Whisk Brooms”).
SALLY, IRENE AND MARY

“The Breezy Musical Comedy Hit” / “Musical Delight Supreme!”
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 44th Street and Century Theatres)
Opening Date: September 4, 1922; Closing Date: June 2, 1923
Performances: 313
Book: Eddie Dowling and Cyrus Wood
Lyrics: Raymond Klages
Direction: Frank Smithson; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster;
Scenery: United Scenic Studios; Costumes: Vanity Fair Costume Company; Paul Arlington, Inc.; Ford
Uniform Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Claude MacArthur
Cast: Eddie Dowling (Jimmie Dugan), Josie Intropidi (Mrs. Dugan), Edna Morn (Mary O’Brien), Maude Odell
(Mrs. O’Brien), Jean (later, Louise) Brown (Sally Clancy), Clara Palmer (Mrs. Clancy), Kitty Flynn (Irene),
Hal Van Rensselaer (Rodman Jones), Winifred Harris (Mrs. Jones), Alfred Gerrard (Clarence Edwards),
Joseph Clark (Mr. Myers), Burford Hampden (Percy Fitzgerald), Stanley Forde (Al Cleveland), D. J. Sul-
livan (Sully), Edward, aka Eddie, O’Connor (Mr. Mulcahey), Gene Collins (Dinty Moore), William Mason
(Frank), Henrietta Byron (First Dresser to Girls, Mrs. Kelly Pool), Louise Arnold (Second Dresser to Girls,
Mrs. Fitzgibbons Conroy), Frank Binns (Hotel Astor Detective), Fred Packard (Carriage Man), Helen
Heller (Kitty Kelly, Mrs. Carter Smith), Mabel Kokin (Mabel Riley, Mrs. de la Croix), Bonna O’Dear
(Tommy, Mrs. Pomeroy Gilbert), Mary Corday (Nellie Smith), Genise Corday (Mrs. Fitzroy); Ladies of
the Ensemble: Tiny Collins, Florence Field, Sonia Field, Milla Bay, Jean Danjou, Hazel Vernon, Gene Ge-
berhart, Malvern Charles, Nora Francis, Alice Monroe, Guenevere Moore, Lillian Dunning, Sherry Gale,
Kitty Leckie; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Lovette Wilder, Richard Opler, Frank Binns, Ainsley Lambert,
George Barnum, Fred Packard, James Miller
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Kid Days” (Ensemble); “Song” (Eddie Dowling, Dancing Girls); Dance (Mabel
Kokin); “Time Will Tell” (Eddie Dowling, Edna Morn, Dancing Girls); “Pals” (Eddie Dowling); “Stage
Door Johnnies” (Burford Hampden, Alfred Gerrard, Kitty Flynn, Eight Dancing Girls, Eight Dancing Boys);
“I Wonder Why” (Edna Morn, Boys and Girls of the Ensemble); “Do You Remember?” (D. J. Sullivan,
William Mason, Henrietta Byron, Louise Arnold, Ensemble); “How I’ve Missed You, Mary” (Eddie Dowl-
ing, Edna Morn); “Right Boy Comes Along” (Edna Morn, Eight Dancing Boys); “Our Home Sweet Home”
(Edna Morn); “Dance of the Ballet” (Jean Brown, Sixteen Ballet Girls)
Act Two: Opening Ensemble: “Peacock Alley” (Ensemble); “Something in Here” (Burford Hampden, Jean
Brown); “Opportunity” (Kitty Flynn, Alfred Gerrard, Dancing Girls); “We Are Waiting” (D. J. Sullivan,
Boys); Dance: “Clouds Roll By” (Jean Brown); “Until You Say Yes” (Hal Van Rensselaer, Edna Morn);
“Time Will Tell” (reprise) (Eddie Dowling); “Wedding Time” (Eddie Dowling, Edna Morn, Burford Hamp-
den, Kitty Flynn, Alfred Gerrard, Jean Brown, Wedding Couples of Ensemble); Finale (Company)
In a season of Cinderella-musical overload, Sally, Irene and Mary tripled the stakes by offering three
New York colleens who go from rags to riches. Although our heroines weren’t directly related to Irene (1919),
1922–1923 Season 121
Mary, and Sally, they were clearly soul sisters with dreams of show business glory and rich husbands. And
the new musical didn’t disappoint the public, who made it a smash that ran over three hundred performances
and became the third longest-running musical of the season. The show was based on a short vaudeville sketch
Eddie Dowling had written for one of the Shuberts’ variety bills during the previous season, and here Dowling
(who also starred in the musical) and Cyrus Wood reworked the sketch into a full-fledged musical comedy
with lyrics by Raymond Klages and music by J. Fred Coots.
We first meet Sally (Jean Brown), Irene (Kitty Flynn), and Mary (Edna Morn) as they and the neighborhood
gang pass the time of day on the pavements fronting their Avenue A tenements. As fate would have it, a
Broadway impresario spots Mary and offers her a job on Broadway, and when Sally and Irene ask for a chance
on the Great White Way, he promptly hires them as well. The threesome head off for Broadway glorifica-
tion, and four years later they’re the toast of the town. In fact, all three are starring in their own shows at the
Vanderbilt, Knickerbocker, and New Amsterdam Theatres (where the respective original productions of Irene,
Mary, and Sally had opened), which, thanks to the magic of musical comedy geography, all converged next
door to one another on the same street (despite the actual theatres being respectively located on West 48th,
West 38th, and West 42nd Streets).
Tenement days are no more, and the décor of the later scenes depicted the Hotel Astor’s Peacock Alley
and a Park Avenue charity bazaar, and of course there are rich stage door Johnnies who vie for the attentions
of the heroines. But Mary’s heart still belongs to Jimmie Dugan (Dowling), a former boyfriend she long ago left
behind when she embarked on the road to stardom. By evening’s end Mary and Jimmie as well as Irene and
Mary and their millionaire Johnnies all head for a triple crown wedding at the Little Church around the Corner.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said when Dowling dropped his vaudeville shtick he
was quite “the real thing”; Sally’s ballet was “the prettiest feature of the show” and provided “momentary
relief from the terrible din raised by the orchestra”; and overall the performances needed “toning down”
(sometimes Dowling yelled “as though the audience were hard of hearing”). G. C. in the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said Jean Brown as Sally was “better than Marilynn Miller ever thought of being” and was “the hit of
the show” in her “twinkle toes ballet number,” which “for a spectacle and pleasing diversion is easily peer
of anything now in the theatre district.” The score was “catchy” with “some good songs” that would make
“good disc records,” and the critic singled out “Do You Remember?”; “How I’ve Missed You, Mary”; “Stage
Door Johnnies”; and “Time Will Tell,” the latter being the show’s “tuneful hit.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had liked Dowling’s original “impudent” and “fresh” vaudeville sketch of
“New York-Irish manners,” but the musical version was somewhat “pretentious.” Although his “Irish dia-
logue” was “worthy of first-class comedies” and his quips quickly turned “into inspired laughter,” Dowling
also piled “the pathos and bombast on with a steam shovel.” The New York Times said the show was “the
first comedy out of the Irish Free State of Old Manhattan in some years,” and besides the ballet the evening’s
best dancing was when “the broiler chorus and Dowling” danced “to the old street piano on Avenue A.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the “acknowledged success” offered “pleasant” music and an “unusually
lavish amount of dancing,” and she hailed Dowling as the show’s “leading spirit.” Variety said the chorus
scored with a rope-skipping dance, and, “if properly handled” with a “smoother” performance style, the “good
entertainment” could “make a bid for popularity.”
A return engagement of the musical opened on March 23, 1925, for sixteen performances at the 44th
Street Theatre.
Sally, Irene and Mary inspired two film versions. The first was a 1925 silent version by MGM directed by
Edmund Goulding and starring Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, and Sally O’Neil
The second film was released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1938 was an in-name-only adaptation that
retained the basic story line of three hopefuls in search of Broadway glory. The film was “suggested” by Dowl-
ing and Wood’s stage production, but otherwise was based on an “original story” by Karl Tunberg and Don
Ettinger with a screenplay by Harry Tugend and Jack Yellen. The plot dealt with three manicurists (Alice
Faye, Joan Davis, and Marjorie Weaver), one of whom inherits a ferry boat, which the three turn into a float-
ing nightclub. Others in the cast were Tony Martin, Jimmy Durante, Gregory Ratoff, Fred Allen, Andrew
Tombes, and Louise Hovack, later known as Gypsy Rose Lee. The score was basically divided between songs
by lyricist Walter Bullock and composer Harold Spina (including “This Is Where I Came In”) and by lyricist
Mack Gordon and composer Harry Revel (including “I Could Use a Dream” and “Half Moon on the Hudson”).
The film was directed by William A. Seiter and choreographed by Nick Castle, and was released on DVD by
Twentieth Century-Fox Cinema Archives.
ORANGE BLOSSOMS
“A Comedy with Music”
Theatre: Fulton Theatre

Opening Date: September 19, 1922; Closing Date: December 9, 1922
Performances: 95
Book: Fred (aka Frederique) de Gresac (alias for Mrs. Victor Maurel)
Lyrics: B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva
Based on the 1902 play La passerelle by Fred de Gresac and François de Croisset, which was produced on
Broadway in 1903 as The Marriage of Kitty (adapted by Cosmo Gordon-Lennox).
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Edward Royce; Choreography: Uncredited (most likely Edward Royce);
Scenery: Norman Bel-Geddes; Costumes: Paul Poiret; Earl Benham; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Gus Salzer (Note: Victor Herbert conducted the orchestra on opening night.)
Cast: Pat Somerset (Lawyer Brassac), Queenie Smith (Tillie, Dancer), Maurice Darcy (Octave), Robert Mi-
chaelis (Baron Roger Belmont), Edith Day (Kitty), Hal Skelley (Jimmy Flynn), Phyllis LeGrand (Helene de
Vasquez), Robert Fischer (Auguste), Nancy Welford (Ninetta, Dancer), Elva Pomfret (Dancer), Mary Lucas
(Dancer); Bressac’s Clients: Evelyn Darville (Cecilia Malba), Alta King (Christiane de Mirandol), Dagmar
Oakland (Julie Bresil), Emily Drange (Yolande DuPont), Fay Evelyn (Paulette de Trevors), Diana Stegman
(Simone Garrick), Eden Gray (Regina Marnac), Vera de Wolfe (Valentina Vendome); Gentlemen in the
Case: Thomas Fitzpatrick, Frank Curran, Oliver Stewart, Denny Murray, Abner Barnhart, Jack Whiting,
Gayle Mays, Clinton Merrill
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Cannes.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Pat Somerset, Ladies); “This Time It’s Love” (Robert Michaelis); “A Kiss in the Dark”
(Edith Day); “New York Is the Same Old Place” (Hal Skelley, Queenie Smith); “Then Comes the Dawn-
ing” (Robert Michaelis, Phyllis LeGrand); “I Can’t Argue with You” (Robert Michaelis, Phyllis LeGrand,
Pat Somerset, Evelyn Darville); “In Hennequeville” (Edith Day); Finale: “A Kiss in the Dark” (reprise)
(Edith Day)
Act Two: “On the Riviera” (Ladies and Gentlemen); “The Lonely Nest” (Edith Day); “I Missed You” (Edith
Day, Robert Michaelis, Pat Somerset, Nancy Welford); “Just Like That” (Hal Skelley, Nancy Welford);
“Orange Blossoms” (Edith Day, Gentlemen); Finale (Company)
Act Three: “Mosquito Ballet” (Dancers); “Way Out West in Jersey” (Hal Skelley, Queenie Smith); “Let’s Not
Get Married” (Ladies and Gentlemen); “This Time It’s Love” (reprise) (Robert Michaelis); Finale (Com-
pany)
Victor Herbert’s Orange Blossoms was based on a French farce about wills, lawyers, marriage, and divorce.
Baron Roger Belmont (Robert Michaelis) is in love with divorcee Helene de Vasquez (Phyllis LeGrand), but the
provisions of his aunt’s will forbid him from marrying a divorced woman. To get around the legal technicali-
ties, there’s nothing to prevent Roger from entering into a marriage of convenience with Kitty (Edith Day).
Once they marry, Roger will come into complete control of his inheritance, he and Kitty will divorce, and
he’ll be able to marry Helene. But of course Roger and Edith fall in love, and so Helene is soon past history.
G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “smooth” and “colorful” evening of “harmless” jokes,
“fine” dancing, and “good” music. The “Mosquito Ballet” was a “real thrill,” and the “sweet-scented” score
included “The Lonely Nest” and “A Kiss in the Dark” (the latter became the musical’s hit number). More-
over, “In Hennequeville” gave Day a “comical interlude,” and the evening’s “biggest laugh” came when
Queenie Smith and Hal Skelley sang “Way Out West in Jersey” (note that Smith and Skelley also performed
“New York Is the Same Old Place,” another topical number).
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World praised the “high class musical comedy” with “a dainty
charm all its own,” and while Herbert’s music wasn’t his “best” it answered “the purpose more than pleas-
1922–1923 Season 123
ingly.” Darnton also mentioned that the book was “rather heavy with plot” but had “a story to tell.” Variety
said the book was “witless,” and in fact “among musical comedy books this was the most unfunny.” But the
title song “saved the day,” and if the musical lasted it was because of this “sprightly bit of melody.”
Gilbert Seldes in the Los Angeles Times reported that Herbert’s score and Day’s “allure” combined to
make the evening “one of the outstanding musical attractions”; the New York Journal said the production
was “musically far and away the best heard along Broadway since the war”; the New York Herald praised the
“Rolls Royce among musical comedies”; and the New York Telegraph exclaimed that the work was “as near
perfection as the musical comedy stage is likely to offer in our day and life.” L.V.A. in Brooklyn Life said Or-
ange Blossoms was “one of the most charming musical plays of this or any other season,” and he found the
newly renovated Fulton Theatre “handsomely decorated.” One of the architectural novelties included sliding
panels on each side of the stage on the balcony level, and in one scene these panels slid upward and disclosed
several chorus girls engaged in telephone conversations (songs and stage business about telephones and the
wireless cropped up in many a musical of the era).
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times noted that Herbert and Day appeared on the stage to take their
bows, and in Day the composer had “a prima donna who could really sing,” a happy event that brought to mind
an “embarrassing memory” when after a first-night performance Herbert once took a bow with “a prima donna
who sang like a slate pencil.” But unlike the critic for Brooklyn Life, Woollcott was unimpressed with the the-
atre’s new look, and he mentioned that the interior was “redecorated past all recognition” and was “probably
the first case on record of a theatre being redecorated” and then “looking worse than it did before.”
The musical closed after three months and failed to recoup its investment, but two days after its Broadway
closing the show began its post-Broadway tour in Boston at the Colonial Theatre for a two-week engagement.
In 2014, the Light Opera of New York revived Orange Blossoms for a brief engagement in a revised edition
by Michael Phillips; the revised lyrics were written by Phillips and by Cynthia Edwards, and the orchestra-
tions were reconstructed by Brian Kerns and Christian Smythe from Herbert’s “autograph score.” Conducted
by Evans Haile, the production was recorded by Albany Records (CD # TROY-1535).
THE LADY IN ERMINE

“The International Musical Success”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Century Theatre)
Performances: 238
Book and Lyrics: Original libretto by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernest Welisch (English book adapted by Freder-
ick Lonsdale and Cyrus Wood, and English lyrics adapted by Harry Graham and Cyrus Wood)
Music: Jean Gilbert; additional music by Alfred (aka Al) Goodman and Sigmund Romberg
Based on the 1919 operetta Die Frau im Hermelin (libretto by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernest Welisch and
music by Jean Gilbert).
Direction: Charles Sinclair; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: dances by Jack
Mason and ballet by Allan K. Foster; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Yvonne Routon; Lighting: Un-
credited; Musical Direction: Oscar Bradley
Cast: Walter Woolf, aka Walter Woolf King (Colonel Belovar), Henry Fender (Count Adrian Baltrami), Ig-
nacio Martinetti (Baron Sprotti-Sprotti), Robert Calley (Count Isolani), Timothy Daley (Major Stogan),
Detmar Poppen (Dostal), Neil Evans (Count Busoni), Murray Minehart (Mirko), Robert Woolsey (Suit-
angi), Marie Burke (Sophia Lavalle), Helen Shipman (Rosina), Gladys Walton (Angelina), Wilda Bennett
(Mariana), Zita Lockford (Dancer), Isabelle Rodriguez (Dancer); Ballet Girls: Wilma Ansell, Marjorie
Lane, Marie Joyce, Virginia Ice, Estelle Mason, Alice Mack, Dorothy Lubow, Jeanne Jurad, June Stone,
Anna Gordon, Ruby Poe, Sabina Loeb, Gladys Bryant, Emily Slater, Lola Fellegi, Irene Comer; Show
Girls: Nan Rainsford, Paula Tully, Peggy Radford, Zella Lenney, Gladys Montgomery, Viola Ford, Lou-
ise Lancaster, Teddy Piper, Irene Vernon, Anita Miramer, Ruth Mills, Lenore D’Arcy, Elmira Lane,
Barbara Walton, Margaret McKay, Virginia Calmer, Jean Gibson, Tara Fellegi; Gentlemen: Charles Hart-
vary, Frank DeNoble, Richard Kimball, Marty Jacobs, John Myrtle, George Elliott, Clair Hart, William
Birdie, Arthur Budd, Larry Mack, George O’Donnell, Wayne Mattson, Leon Bartels, Murray Minehart,
Donald Failes, William O’Neal

The action takes place at the Castle Beltrami in Italy during the Napoleonic era.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Little Boy” (Henry Fender, Gladys Walton); “Lady in Ermine” (lyric by Cyrus Wood, music by
Alfred Goodman) (Henry Fender, Gladys Walton, Helen Shipman); “Silhouette Duet” (lyric by Harry
Graham and Cyrus Wood, music by Robert Woolsey and Helen Shipman); “Childhood’s Days” (Wilda
Bennett, Henry Fender, Robert Woolsey); “When Hearts Are Young” (lyric by Cyrus Wood, music by Sig-
mund Romberg) (Wilda Bennett); “Farewell to Adrian” (music by Sigmund Romberg and Alfred Goodman)
(Wilda Bennett); “Entrance” (Marie Burke, Ignacio Martinetti, Robert Woolsey, Girls); “Land o’ Mine”
(lyric by Cyrus Wood, music by Alfred Goodman) (Walter Woolf); “How Fiercely You Dance” (Walter
Woolf, Marie Burke); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); Ballet (Zita Lockford, Ballet Dancers); “Espagnole” (Isabelle Rodri-
guez); “Play with Fire” (music by Sigmund Romberg and Alfred Goodman) (Helen Shipman, Boys); “Duet”
(Gladys Walton, Henry Fender); “Men Grow Older” (Marie Burke, Ignacio Martinetti, Robert Woolsey);
“Mariana” (lyric by Harry Graham, music by Jean Gilbert) (Walter Woolf, Wilda Bennett)
Act Three: “Catch a Butterfly” (Wilda Bennett, Ensemble); “Follow You All Over the World” (lyric by
Cyrus Wood, music by Alfred Goodman) (Helen Shipman, Marie Burke, Ignacio Martinelli, Robert
Woolsey)
The Lady in Ermine was based on Jean Gilbert’s 1919 German operetta Die Frau im Hermelin. Rudolph
Schanzer and Ernest Welisch’s original German libretto was adapted by Frederick Lonsdale and Cyrus Wood,
and the English lyrics were by Wood and by Harry Graham. Gilbert’s score was supplemented with six new
songs, some by Alfred (aka Al) Goodman and others by Sigmund Romberg, and two were jointly composed
by Goodman and Romberg. Between the German and Broadway productions, the musical enjoyed a fifteen-
month run in London at Daly’s Theatre, where it opened on February 21, 1922, as The Lady of the Rose and
included songs by Leslie Stuart and Sigmund Romberg (including the latter’s “When Hearts Are Young,”
which became the musical’s most well-known song) (the Broadway production didn’t include any of Stuart’s
contributions). A few critics noted that for New York the German and British productions had been somewhat
altered for American tastes and infused with Broadway shtick.
The musical enjoyed a healthy run of well over six months on Broadway, and the post-Broadway tour
headlined Broadway cast members Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King) and Wilda Bennett. Note that The
Lady in Ermine and The Yankee Princess opened on the same night, and that the latter was also an adaptation
of a European operetta; but the theatrical fates gave the long run to the Lady, and the Princess didn’t make
it beyond ten weeks.
Although not specified in the program, the story took place during the Napoleonic era in Italy where
brother and sister Count Adrian Beltrami (Henry Fender) and Mariana (Wilda Bennett) find their castle taken
over by an invading army led by Colonel Belovar (Walter Woolf), who falls in love with Mariana despite his
mistaken belief that she and Count Adrian are husband and wife. Of course, the confusion is straightened out,
and despite political matters Mariana and Belovar are united in love.
The critics raved over the Shuberts’ lavish production, and Walter Woolf walked away with the best no-
tices. The New York Times said his singing and acting “went together” and were “spontaneously cheered—
really cheered,” and Variety said the “personal triumph” of the evening was Woolf’s—he was “theatrical
and irresistible” as a “fiery lover and a fiercely passionate player.” G. C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted
that the performer did “some rare acting” and in his drunk scene “drank more booze in one act than existed
before Prohibition.” Moreover, “his gentlemanly forbearance with Miss Bennett’s melting into his arms was
a tribute to his ability to carry his liquor, even if it was stage liquor.” Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-
Gazette said “the voice with a smile and an appeal to romance” belonged to Woolf, and the musical gave him
opportunities “greater” than his earlier Broadway appearances because his solos were “attractively scored.”
And although Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World suggested the actor could have added “a little
gaiety” to “lift his performance and give the high spirits necessary to musical comedy,” his voice was “so
good he can trust it to take care of itself.”
1922–1923 Season 125
Darnton said the score was “richly melodious” and noted that not until comic Robert Woolsey was “vis-
ibly affected” by the Spanish dancing of the “dangerous looking” Isabelle Rodriguez did he come into his
own with a chance to be “funny” and “amusing.” The Times stated the work was “richly romantic” and
“genuinely musical and dramatic,” and while the evening contained some “inexcusably bad spots,” most of
the musical was “rich and royal entertainment.” The Eagle praised the “sumptuously cast and gorgeously
gowned and uniformed” operetta, and said its score “was easily the most ambitious and nearly the best of the
year.” Quinn Martin in the New York World reported that at the conclusion of the “dramatic and melodious”
second act the audience stood up “and shouted ‘Bravo!’ as it has not been shouted in another Broadway theatre
this season,” and “even to those who did not join in the whooping, this dashing, romantic musical play was a
thing of enchanting beauty.” And Variety said the Shuberts were “the last survivors of the regular production
and presentation of operettas,” and The Lady in Ermine was their “crowning jewel.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said how one felt about operettas was “a purely personal matter,” and as far
as she was concerned “if they never produce another one, I am going to be able to stagger right along and
never even notice the loss.”
When The Lady in Ermine began its pre-Broadway tryout in Atlantic City, it had been scheduled to open
in New York at the Century Theatre with Eleanor Painter in the role of Mariana (the musical instead opened
at the Ambassador, but during the course of its Broadway run transferred to the Century). But Painter abruptly
quit during rehearsals. The Eagle said Painter left “in a huff.” She stated that she didn’t like her lines, that
the show was “built up to support Woolf,” and that “she did not choose to revolve about him as a satellite.”
Variety said Painter claimed “dissatisfaction” with the third act, and if that was her “true grievance” she
“lamentably erred in judgment.” Mantle said she alleged “mistreatment of one kind and another,” and when
Wilda Bennett took over Painter’s role everyone seemed happy “except Miss Painter.” But Mantle suggested
that perhaps Painter was “the happiest of all” because “we know so little of what is really back of these
backstage fights.”
After the Broadway opening, “Childhood’s Days” was cut, and for the post-Broadway tour the entire score
was retained (save “Childhood’s Days”).
Many of the score’s songs were recorded during the time of the London production by Columbia, Decca,
and HMV Records, including original London cast performances and orchestral medleys.
The musical was filmed three times, the first two versions released by First National Pictures and the final
one by Twentieth Century-Fox. The 1927 silent film starred Corinne Griffith and Francis X. Bushman, and the
1930 Technicolor adaptation Bride of the Regiment is presumed lost. The 1930 film was directed by John Fran-
cis Dillon, choreographed by Jack Haskell, and featured Vivienne Segal, Allan Prior, Walter Pidgeon, Louise
Fazenda, Myrna Loy, Lupino Lane, and Ford Sterling. New songs for this version were by Al Dubin, Al Bryan,
and Eddie Ward, and The First Hollywood Musicals reports that just one song from the Broadway production
was retained (“When Hearts Are Young”). The third adaptation was released in 1948 under the slightly altered
title of That Lady in Ermine. Otto Preminger assumed direction when Ernst Lubitsch died before filming was
completed, and the stars were Betty Grable, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Cesar Romero. The screenplay was by
Samson (sometimes given as Samuel) Raphaelson, the new score was by lyricist Leo Robin and composer Fred-
erick Hollander, and the film was released on DVD by Twentieth Century-Fox Cinema Archives.
THE YANKEE PRINCESS

Performances: 80
Libretto: Original German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald; (English book by William LeBaron
and English lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva
Music: Emmerich Kalman
Based on the 1921 Viennese operetta Die Bajadere (libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald and mu-
sic by Emmerich Kalman)
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: Abraham L. Erlanger; Choreography: (probably) Julian Mitchell; Scen-
ery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: Wilhelm; Lighting: Electrical effects by Tony Greshoff; Musical Direction:
William Daly
Cast: Thorpe Bates (Prince Radjami), John T. Murray (Napoleon St. Cloche), Roland Bottomley (Phillipe La
Tourette), Royal Tracy (Manager Trebizonde), Frank Doane (Pimprinette), George Grahame (Colonel
Parker), Lionel Chalmers (Dewa Singh), Mortimer White (The Rajah of Punjab), Colin Campbell (Reg-
gie), Valentine Winter (Chief Usher), Vivienne Segal (Odette Darimonde), Vivian Oakland (Marietta),
Ruth Lee (Fifi), Belle Miller (Marie), Elsie Decker (Yvette), Jane Carrol (Princess Odys), Margaret Morris
(Princess Rao), Violet Vale (Princess Attha), Katherine Errol (Princess Lydana), Evelyn Plumador (Prin-
cess Ranja), Frisco De Vere (Princess Sita), Louise Joyce (Princess Rita), Princess White Deer (Indian
Dancer); Ladies of the Ensemble: Charlotte Sprague, Carmen Larne, Ann Powers, Dolores Suarez, Eliza-
beth Coyle, Niada Kasanova, Marian Elliott, Alice Brady, Bert Alden, Dorothy Caldwell, Loretta Duffy,
Winifred Duffy, Flo Clarke, Berta Savage, Agnes Allen, Sylvia Carrol, Ethelyn Earle, Nida Snow, Criss
Joss, Helen Miller; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Eugene Costello, Irving Finn, H. J. Wilson, Frank Hall,
George Leroy, Phillip Wilcox, Russel Griswold, Paul Porter, Joseph Blair, George McCormick, Charles
Frome
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Lotus Flower” (Ruth Lee, Belle Miller, Elsie Decker); “My Bajadere” (Vivienne
Segal, Thorpe Bates, Ensemble); “Entrance of Odette” (Ensemble, Frank Doane); “Stars of the Stage” (Vivi-
enne Segal); “Roses, Lovely Roses” (Vivienne Segal, Thorpe Bates); “In the Starlight” (Vivian Oakland,
John T. Murray, Ensemble); Finale
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); Dance (Margaret Morris, Violet Vale, Katherine Errol, Evelyn Plumador,
Frisco De Vere, Louise Joyce); Dance (Princess White Deer); “I’ll Dance My Way into Your Heart” (Viv-
ian Oakland, John T. Murray); “I Still Can Dream” (Vivienne Segal, Thorpe Bates); “A Husband’s Only a
Husband” (Frank Doane, Ensemble); “Friendship” (Vivian Oakland, John T. Murray, Roland Bottomley);
“Eyes So Dark and Luring” (Vivienne Segal, Thorpe Bates); Finale
Act Three: Opening Dance (Princess White Deer); “Forbidden Fruit” (Vivian Oakland, Roland Bottomley);
“Can It Be That I’m in Love” (Vivienne Segal, Ensemble); “My Bajadere” (reprise) (Thorpe Bates); “Love
the Wife of Your Neighbor” (Vivian Oakland, John T. Murray, Roland Bottomley); Finale
Emmerich Kalman’s operetta Die Bajadere premiered in Vienna on December 23, 1921, at the Carltheater,
and the following October was presented on Broadway as The Yankee Princess. The work was well-received
in Vienna, and although the New York adaptation received critical raves for Kalman’s score, the public didn’t
respond and the operetta was gone after just ten weeks.
The slight story followed Indian Prince Radjami (Thorpe Bates) in his seemingly hopeless pursuit of
American prima donna Odette Darimonde (Vivienne Segal), who is appearing in Paris in the opera Die Ba-
jadere. Fans of operetta will be comforted to know that by the final curtain all is well on the romantic front
between prince and prima donna.
The New York Times said The Yankee Princess was Kalman’s most “ambitious” work, one that could be
described as “a miniature grand opera” because the word operetta didn’t seem “quite accurate.” The music
was “quite gorgeous and of a character to cause most of our musical comedy composers—all but about two, as
a matter of fact—to blush with shame.” The critic singled out three songs (“My Bajadere,” “In the Starlight,”
and “Can It Be That I’m in Love”), and noted that Segal’s voice “kept full pace” with the melodies. (As for the
musical’s original title and the current production’s song “My Bajadere,” the Times’ critic noted the evening
included a joke about someone “buying a dairy.”) The New York Evening World praised the “gorgeous” show
and its “really good music,” including “In the Starlight,” which “the audience left humming.” But there was
“something to be desired” because the evening was “almost totally devoid of humor,” and if adaptor William
LeBaron “could put a little more sprightly fun into the play it might live longer.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Kalman’s score was “so excellent that one is inclined to think that the
composer had his eye on the Metropolitan rather than the Knickerbocker stage.” The music was “excel-
lent,” “delightful,” “tuneful,” “bright,” and “brilliant,” and among the stand-out songs were “My Bajadere,”
“Roses, Lovely Roses,” “In the Starlight,” and “Stars and Stripes” (the latter wasn’t listed in the program, and
1922–1923 Season 127
the critic probably meant “Stars of the Stage”). And while LeBaron’s book wasn’t “brilliant,” it nonetheless
told “some sort of a story” and didn’t “bore the audience.”
F.T. in Brooklyn Life said it had “been years since such charming music” had been offered to New York
theatergoers. Further, the décor was “lavish and beautiful,” the comedians “amused” the audience “without
overdoing it,” and in the title role Segal used her “fresh and soft” and “unusually sweet soprano voice” with
the “utmost skill.”
Deems Taylor in the New York World said the work had been “written and staged with a consistency
that has been missing on the musical stage hereabouts for a good many seasons,” and while there were the
occasionally “unexplained chorus entrances and specialty numbers,” the musical otherwise “wends its way
logically and rather charmingly.” Variety singled out nine songs for praise, but noted the evening was on the
long side and thus “one or two of the minor numbers would not be missed” if they were dropped, and Burns
Mantle in the New York Daily News said the score was “more or less ravishing,” and the evening’s “song
hits” were “My Bajadere” and “I Still Can Dream.”
A two-CD recording in German was issued by Naxos Records, and a two-CD English version by James
Stuart was released by Newport Classics Records.
QUEEN O’ HEARTS
Theatre: George M. Cohan Theatre

Performances: 39
Book: Frank Mandel and Oscar Hammerstein II
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II; additional lyrics by Sidney Mitchell
Music: Lewis E. Gensler and Dudley Wilkinson
Direction: Ira Hards; Producer: Max Spiegel; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Herbert Ward;
Costumes: Cora MacGeachy; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gene Salzer
Cast: Max Hoffman Jr. (Tom), Norma Terriss (later, Terris) (Grace), Florence Morrison (Isabella Budd),
Franker Woods (Ferdinand Budd), Gladys Dore (Miss Swanson), Georgie Brown (Alabama, aka Al, Smith),
Nora Bayes (Elizabeth Bennett), Harry Richman (Henry Rivers), Edna Hibbard (Myra, aka Mike), Dudley
Wilkinson (Dudley), Lorin Raker (Alfred Armstrong), Arthur Uttry (William Armstrong), Sidney Book
(Policeman), Laura Alberta (Aunt Abigail), Eva Taylor (Georgia), Thomas Bradley (Butler); Ladies of the
Ensemble: Janet Megrew, Consuelo Flowerton, Elza Peterson, Cecille Ann Stevens, Lillian McKenie, Mu-
riel Harrison, Betty Hill, Loretta Morgan, Gladys Dore, Irene Enright
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Fairfield, New Jersey.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Sizing Up the Girls” (Norma Terriss, Max Hoffman Jr., Applicants); “Dreaming Alone” (music
by Dudley Wilkinson) (Arthur Uttry); “My Busy Day” (Nora Bayes, Office Force); “Marriage C.O.D.”
(Lorin Raker, Edna Hibbard); “You Need Someone, Someone Needs You” (music by Lewis E. Gensler)
(Nora Bayes, Arthur Uttry); “Topics of the Day” (lyric and music by Cliff Friend and Harry Richman)
(Harry Richman, Girls); “System” (Nora Bayes, Principals, Office Force); Finale (Nora Bayes, Arthur
Uttry)
Act Two: “Dreaming Alone” (reprise) (Arthur Uttry, Guests); “A Long Time Ago” (lyric by Morrie Ryskind)
(Edna Hibbard, Lorin Raker, Max Hoffman Jr., Norma Terriss); “That’s That” (lyric by Nora Bayes and
Harry Richman, music by Dudley Wilkinson) (Nora Bayes, Edna Hibbard, Arthur Uttry, Lorin Raker);
“Tom-Tom” (music by Lewis E. Gensler) (Harry Richman, Company); “Dear Little Girlie” (lyric by
Nora Bayes, music by Dudley Wilkinson) (Nora Bayes, Edna Hibbard, Girls); “My Highbrow Fling”
(Eva Taylor, Georgie Brown); Specialty (four interpolations not identified in the program) (Nora Bayes);
Finale (Company)
Like the short-running The Sweetheart Shop, Queen o’ Hearts was about a matrimonial agency, and it
too had a brief Broadway stay (in this case, one month). Nora Bayes played Elizabeth Bennett (to be certain,
no relation to Jane Austin’s character), who is the queen of hearts who runs her own match-making agency
just around the corner from Trinity Church in New York City. Much of the plot revolved around her trying
to find wives for two brothers, Alfred and William Armstrong (Lorin Raker and Arthur Uttry), and the entire
second act took place in the brothers’ home in New Jersey.
Oscar Hammerstein II wrote most of the lyrics, and Lewis E. Gensler and Dudley Wilkinson collaborated on
the music (but occasionally one or the other was the sole composer of a song) (see song listing for specific cred-
its). The musical featured Show Boat’s future Magnolia, and here Norma Terris was billed as Norma Terriss.
The New York Times found the “thoroughly conventional” show “equipped with a story whose compli-
cations manage to be even sillier than those things usually are, which is no faint praise,” and sometimes the
evening became “terrifically dull.” But Bayes, Edna Hibbard, the chorus members, and some of the songs were a
welcome “temporary oasis,” and during her second-act specialty of four songs Bayes “particularly pleased” the
audience with a number about Samson and Delilah. The score included “any number of singable songs,” includ-
ing Gensler’s “Tom-Tom,” a “voodoo” number that went over well in no small part because of an “energetic
chorus girl in silver and yellow” (this wasn’t the only time a chorine stopped the show with her shimmy: see
My Golden Girl). (Note too that an unknown “little wiggler” in the chorus also stopped The Blushing Bride.)
G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle also singled out the chorus girl who “put [“Tom-Tom”] over with a
smash,” a girl who “can meet Gilda Gray on even terms.” She shook the “wickedest shimmy in existence,”
and her flirtatious eyes and blonde hair were unmistakable reasons “why respectable married men leave
home.” In order to ensure there would be no mistake about her identity, the critic said his wife informed him
that the girl wore “a cloth of silver dress decorated with orange flappy things and a vampish canary ostrich
fan.” The audience demanded nine encores, and there would have been more except that finally “the manage-
ment called a halt.” “Tom-Tom” was clearly a “jazz hit,” and “My Highbrow Fling” was a “peppy dance hit”
during the “long and rollicking second act.” But except for “Topics of the Day” and “You Need Someone,”
the first act “could have been thrown overboard.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said Bayes “could probably go shopping along Broadway
any afternoon and buy a ready-made musical comedy quite as good as” her current vehicle. For the most part,
the show and its music were “utterly commonplace and also noisy enough to justify a yearning for earmuffs.”
The late second-act specialty numbers performed by Bayes came “as a relief” and seemed “to be in the nature
of private possessions duly prized by Miss Bayes.” Variety said the musical possessed a “frothy lightness” that
resulted in a “pleasing night’s entertainment,” and if the show had “a comedy punch it would be a trump.”
As for “Tom-Tom,” it was “a jazzy number with the chorus jazzing and doing a slow shimmy that wowed.”
During the tryout, the following songs were cut: “Some Fine Day,” “When You’re Only Seventeen,” “Just
a Touch,” “Why Do You Keep Us Guessing?,” “Ev’ry Silver Lining Has a Cloud,” “Stop, Look and Kiss ’Em,”
and “Ding Dong Ding” (music for the latter by Gensler).
The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II reports that most of the lyrics and music for the score are
lost; the collection includes the lyrics for three of Hammerstein’s songs that were heard in the production
(“Dreaming Alone,” “You Need Someone, Someone Needs You,” and “Tom-Tom”) and three of Hammer-
stein’s seven lyrics dropped during the tryout (“Ding Dong Ding,” “Some Fine Day,” and “Ev’ry Silver Lining
Has a Cloud”). The collection also includes the lyric for “I’ve Changed All My Ideas,” and notes that the song
may have had an “association” with Queen o’ Hearts.
SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH
Performances: 68
Libretto: Original German libretto by Rudolf Bernhauser and Rudolph Schanzer (English book by Cyrus Wood
and Matthew C. Woodward; English lyrics by Harry B. Smith and Cyrus Wood)
Music: Walter Kollo; additional music by Sigmund Romberg
Based on the 1918 operetta Sterne, die wieder leuchten (libretto by Rudolf Bernhauser and Rudolph Schanzer,
music by Walter Kollo).
Direction: J. C. Huffman and John Harwood; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography:
Allan K. Foster; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Rollo Wayne; Costumes: Anna Spencer, Inc.; Vanity Fair Cos-
tumes, Inc.; Ford Uniform Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: J. Frank Cork
1922–1923 Season 129
Cast: Grace Hamilton (Mistress Prudence Stokes), Walter J. Preston (Nat Podmore), Zella Russell (Pepita),
Harry McKee (Hiram Baxter), Harry Kelly (Deacon Stokes), Larry Wood (Hopkins), Eleanor Griffith (Polly
Baxter), J. Harold Murray (Richard Stokes), Harry K. Morton (Timothy Gookin), Marie Pettes (Keziah
Hathaway), Olga Steck (Priscilla Alden), Tom Williams (Squire Hathaway), George MacFarlane (Roger
Hathaway), Ben Marion (Mayor); Relatives of Roger Hathaway: Myrtle Lawrence, Charles Peyton, Venie
Atherton, and Gertrude Hillman; Quaker Girls: Mildred Lee, Vivien Nulty, Polly Mayer, Eileen Adair,
Julie Sabath, May O’Brien, Mabel Kern, Gladys Rogers, Loretta Koch, Gladys Struthers, Dorothy Ramesy,
Lillian Wilck, Maude Rider, Mabel Griswold, Marjorie Elise, Patricia Gridier; Navy Officers: Edward Sco-
field, Alan Cochrane, Neil Courtney, Clement Taylor, Willard Fry, Robert Fisher, C. Burnett, Fred Slosson
The action takes place during 1812 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Walter Kollo; (**) = music by Sigmund Romberg
Act One: “Love While You May” (**) (Grace Hamilton, Ensemble); “Love Finds a Way” (**) (J. Harold Mur-
ray); “Pretty Polly” (**) (Eleanor Griffith, Walter J. Preston); “I Knew ’Twould Be So” (*) (Olga Steck);
“Best of Good Friends” (*) (Olga Steck, J. Harold Murray); “A Sailor’s Bride” (**) (Zella Russell, Harry
K. Morton); “Starlight of Hope” (**) (Olga Steck, George MacFarlane); Finaletto (**) (Olga Steck, George
MacFarlane)
Act Two: Opening Ensemble (*); “Si, Si, Senorita” (**) (Olga Steck, George MacFarlane); “Chorus of Wel-
come” (*) (Ensemble); “Just Like a Doll” (**) (Eleanor Griffith, Walter J. Preston); “But in Brazil” (**)
(Zella Russell, Harry K. Morton); “Youth and Spring” (**) (Olga Steck, J. Harold Murray); Finale (**)
(George MacFarlane, Olga Steck, J. Harold Murray)
Act Three: “Our Busy Needles Fly” (**) (Grace Hamilton, Quakeresses); “Won’t You Take Me to Paris?” (**)
(Zella Russell, Harry Kelly); “Find the Right Girl” (**) (Olga Steck, Eleanor Griffith, J. Harold Murray,
Walter J. Preston); “Somewhere in Love’s Garden” (**) (George MacFarlane, Chorus); Finale (**) (Ensemble)
Walter Kollo’s operetta Sterne, die wieder leuchten (Stars that shine again) premiered at the Berliner The-
atre on September 6, 1918, and underwent a drastic sea change when it sailed off to Broadway as a vehicle for
comedians Harry K. Morton and Harry Kelly. The operetta was no longer set in Europe and instead took place
in New Hampshire, and somewhere on the Atlantic all but four of Kollo’s songs were tossed overboard (and
seventeen new ones by Sigmund Romberg were added to the score).
The carefree plot looked at the Baxters and the Stokeses, two warring families in the shipping business
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, during 1812. When the Baxters purchase the Stokes’s outstanding debts, it
looks as though the former has the upper hand. But not quite so fast: the wealthy and middle-aged Roger Ha-
thaway (George MacFarlane) is a distant relative of the Stokeses, and he may be lost at sea (or maybe not!). If
alive, he can help the financially stricken Stokeses. Of course, the outcome was never really in doubt. More-
over, Hathaway intends to marry his young ward Priscilla Alden (Olga Steck), but when he realizes she loves
Richard Stokes (J. Harold Murray), the older man graciously bows out of the picture due to his realization that
naught must stand in the way of youth in springtime.
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star asked, “The story?” Well, it was the “usual operetta sort” and “just
good enough to get over well,” and you left the Broadhurst “with a nice feeling” and might “even feel like
going a second time.” Some of the jokes were “ancient” and demanded an “apology,” but otherwise the show
was “fresh” and “somewhat fine in a musical-comedy way.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said the “funny” musical offered “good entertainment”
with an “unfailingly gay and pretty” and “melodious” score. F.M. in Brooklyn Life praised the “delightful”
songs and enjoyed the “charming” locale of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1812. And Variety liked the
“tuneful,” “really pretty,” and “sure to be liked” score (however, the critic mentioned that “But in Brazil”
was “entirely out of keeping with the spirit of the piece”).
John Corbin in the New York Times said Kollo and Romberg composed “frankly in the Viennese manner”
and their music possessed “more than [the] usual persuasiveness and insinuating charm” and had “clean,
varied rhythm and velvet softness of tone.” The work was a musical comedy that was musical “to the point
of qualifying as operetta” and “moreover [was] genuinely comic.”
As mentioned, Kelly and Morton walked away with the best reviews. Darnton said the portly Kelly was
“funnier than ever” and put “more into the little word ‘bulk’ than you would imagine it could possibly con-
tain.” Page found him “really funny” in his “funeral make-up and whimsies”; Brooklyn Life said he played
his role “perfectly”; and Variety said the performer brought “all the Kelly mannerisms” to a part “that fit
him to perfection.”
Morton was an eccentric dancer whom Darnton praised as “extraordinary” and “uncommonly clever”
and who gave an “amazing exhibition” that caused “surprise and then wonder with his acrobatic twists and
turns.” Page said you were “astonished at the ways the masters of eccentric dancing defy the laws of gravita-
tion while wholly upsetting the laws of gravity”; Brooklyn Life liked the “exceptionally fine” dancer, and
Variety said Morton was “funny in everything” he did and thus was the “real triumph” and “real hit” of the
evening because he “stopped the show completely.” Corbin reported that he “created a small riot of applause
and provoked gales of laughter,” and “in his wildest grotesques he was light as a thistledown.”
UP SHE GOES
Theatre: Playhouse Theatre

Opening Date: November 6, 1922; Closing Date: June 16, 1923
Performances: 256
Book: Frank Craven
Lyrics: Joseph McCarthy
Music: Harry Tierney
Based on the 1914 play Too Many Cooks by Frank Craven.
Direction: Frank Craven and Bert French; Producer: William A. Brady, Ltd.; Choreography: Bert French; Scen-
ery: Uncredited; Costumes: Milgrim; Nat Lewis; Barney; Shanks; Copinger, Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Anton Heindl
Cast: Edward Dano (Simpson), Helen Bolton (Ella Mayer), Richard “Skeets,” aka “Skeet,” Gallagher (Frank
Andrews), Donald Brian (Albert Bennett), Gloria Foy (Alice Cook), Lou Ripley (Mrs. Cook), Martin Mann
(Mr. Cook), Jennie Weathersby (Aunt Louise), Edith Slack (Mary Cook), Conway Dillion (Jerry Cook),
Teddy McNamara (Louis Cook), Richard Sullivan (Uncle Walter), Lucretia Craig (Bertha Cook), Betty
Allan (Stella Cook), William George (Bus Driver), Frederick Graham (Uncle Bob Bennett), Ann LeMeau
(Minnie Spring); Ladies of the Ensemble: Merle Stevens, Ruth Valerie, Virginia Sharr, Riza Royce, Kath-
erine Hurst, Doris Greene, Ruth Hovey, Peggy Matthews, Joan Warner, Madeline Dare, Grace Culbert,
Pauline Maxwell, Edna Coigne, Iris Meier, Mona Dale, Katherine Huth; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Jack Grieves, Leo Howe, Louis Sears, Tom Chadwick, Alfred Oakley, Edward Lefebvre, Irving Jackson,
Perry Davenport
The action takes place during the present time in Pleasantville.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “The Visitors” (Helen Bolton, Edward Dano, Ensemble); “Takes a Heap o’ Love” (Helen
Bolton, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Girls and Boys); “Journey’s End” (Gloria Foy, Donald Brian); “Let’s
Kiss and Make Up” (Gloria Foy, Alice Bolton, Donald Brian, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); “Nearing the
Day” (Gloria Foy, Donald Brian); Finale: “The Mix-Up” (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “At the Club” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ensemble); “Bob about a Bit” (Frederick
Graham, Girls); “Tyup” (Gloria Foy, Donald Bryan, Frederick Graham, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, En-
semble); “Roof Tree” (Company); “The Strike” (Donald Brian, Gloria Foy)
Act Three: “Lady Luck, Smile on Me” (Donald Brian); “We’ll Do the Riviera” (Helen Bolton, Richard
“Skeets” Gallagher); “Settle Down, Travel Around” (Helen Bolton, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Girls
and Boys); “Journey’s End” (reprise) (Gloria Foy); “Up with the Stars” (Gloria Foy, Company); “Up She
Goes” (Company)
1922–1923 Season 131
Based on Frank Craven’s successful 1914 comedy Too Many Cooks (in which Craven played the role of
Albert Bennett, here portrayed by Donald Brian), the amusing story dealt with the attempt of Albert and his
intended Alice Cook (Helen Foy) to build their love nest. But too many Cooks almost spoil the cottage when
Alice’s aggressively pushy family and friends suggest “improvements” for the abode. And a later crisis arises
when Albert’s employer and rich uncle announces his intention of moving in with them. By the final curtain,
Albert and Alice have sent the lot of them packing and are free to privately enjoy their bungalow.
Lyricist Joseph McCarthy and composer Harry Tierney had written the score for the mega-hit Irene
(1919), which introduced the evergreen “Alice Blue Gown.” When Irene closed in 1921 it held the record as
the longest-running musical in Broadway history, and although Up She Goes wasn’t a blockbuster and didn’t
offer a hit song, it nonetheless was a solid hit that earned good notices and ran out the season for a total of
256 performances. As special correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, gossip columnist Bide Dudley
reported that seats were at a premium for the “very funny” show with “pleasing” songs, which had opened
“cold” on Broadway without an out-of-town tryout.
The New York Times liked the “pleasantly engaging” and “sufficiently bright and easy-going” show.
The lyrics were “light and lively and effectively delivered in recitative fashion,” and while Tierney hadn’t
composed any “haunting” melodies it was “just as well” because it was “better for the production to remain
more comedy than opera.” However, the critic singled out five songs for praise (“Journey’s End,” “Let’s Kiss
and Make Up,” “Tyup,” “Lady Luck, Smile on Me,” and We’ll Do the Riviera”). Brian (who created the role
of Danilo in the first American production of The Merry Widow in 1907) provided “youth and spontaneity,”
Foy performed a “difficult dance which stirs the audience because it doesn’t seem difficult for her,” and as
Alice’s friend Ella (Helen Bolton) was “an attractive presence” with “a serpent’s tongue.”
Brooklyn Life found the evening “charming, refined, sprightly and entertaining,” and predicted it would
be “a sure-fire success” and “a big holiday attraction.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World said
Tierney’s music was “tuneful if somewhat lacking in variety” and was as “gay” as the chorus girls. Foy was
an “uncommonly clever” dancer and “seemed to delight in setting the stage in a whirl,” and Brian, who sang
“pleasingly” and danced “gracefully,” was the “everlasting juvenile” who “managed to dance on the founda-
tions, waltz around the framework, and sing from the porch.” L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the
“tuneful” music wasn’t “particularly striking” but possessed “a swing that keeps the feet moving,” and sin-
gled out five songs (“Journey’s End,” “Let’s Kiss and Make Up,” “Nearing the Day,” “We’ll Do the Riviera,”
and “Settle Down, Travel Around”). Moreover, Foy was “delightful” and “won the hearts of the audience,”
and choreographer Bert French staged the numbers in “excellent fashion.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Too Many Cooks worked “splendidly” as a musical, and the score was
“lovely and lively.” Foy had “grace and charm,” and Brian “danced delightfully and sang his numbers in the
fashion that has always made him an important figure in musical comedy and operetta.” Up She Goes was
“clean-cut, wholesome and amusing,” and the show “ought to, and probably will, catch on.”
During the run, “We’ll Do the Riviera” was cut and “Settle Down-We’ll Travel” was added (the latter not
to be confused with “Settle Down, Travel Around”).
LITTLE NELLIE KELLY

“The New Song and Dance Show” / “The New Satirical Musical Play”

Opening Date: November 13, 1922; Closing Date: July 7, 1923
Performances: 276
Book, Lyrics, and Music: George M. Cohan
Direction: George M. Cohan; Producer: George M. Cohan; Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Scenery: H. Robert
Law Studio (for the first act) and Joseph Wickes Studio (for the second act); Costumes: Charles LeMaire;
Eaves Costume Company; Lighting: Electrical fixtures by W. H. Pries, Cassidy Company, Inc., Strauss and
Company; Musical Direction: Charles J. Gebest
Cast: Harold Vizard (Wellesly), Edna Whistler (Matilda), Frank Otto (Sidney Potter), Joseph Niemeyer (Harold
Westcott), Barrett Greenwood (Jack Lloyd), Robert Pitkin (Francois DeVere), Dorothy Newell (Jean), Eliza-
beth Hines (Nellie Kelly), Georgia Caine (Mrs. Langford), Marion Saki (Marie), Charles King (Jerry Conroy),
Arthur Deagon (Captain John Kelly), Marjorie Lane (Miss Spendington), Mercer Templeton (Ambrose
Swift); Specialty Dancers: Joseph Niemeyer, Aileen Hamilton, The Lorraine Sisters, Cunningham and Cle-
ments, Carl Hemmer, James and Mercer Templeton, Herbert Barnett
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and on an estate on the Hudson.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Over the Phone” (Barrett Greenwood, Company); “All in the Wearing” (Elizabeth Hines, Com-
pany); “Girls from DeVere’s” (Robert Pitkin, Girls); “Dancing My Worries Away” (Frank Otto, Marion
Saki); “Nellie Kelly, I Love You” (Charles King, Company); “When You Do the Hinky Dee” (Charles
King, Elizabeth Hines, Frank Otto, Marion Saki, Company); “Something’s Got to Be Done” (Harold Viz-
ard, Edna Whistler, Dorothy Newell, Robert Pitkin); “The Name of Kelly” (Arthur Deagon, Company);
Ensemble (Company)
Act Two: “The Busy Bees of DeVere’s” (Boys and Girls); “The Dancing Detective” (Mercer Templeton, Girls);
“They’re All My Boys” (Elizabeth Hines, Boys, Herbert Barnett); Dance: “The Flirting Salesmen” (Joseph
Niemeyer, Aileen Hamilton); “You Remind Me of My Mother” (Charles King, Elizabeth Hines); “The
Great New York Police” (Arthur Deagon, Boys); “The Mystery Play” (Marjorie Lane, Girls); “Mystery
Dance” (James and Mercer Templeton); “Arrival of the Guests” (unspecified medley) (Ensemble); “Waltz”
(Elizabeth Hines, Carl Hemmer); “The Voice in My Heart” (Elizabeth Hines); “Till My Luck Comes Roll-
ing Along” (Company); Reprise (song not identified in the program; probably “Till My Luck Comes Roll-
ing Along”) (Charles King, Elizabeth Hines); Finale (Company)
George M. Cohan’s Little Nellie Kelly had played to sold-out houses in Boston for four months and prob-
ably could have remained there indefinitely, but eventually the theatre had to honor prior bookings. When the
musical opened in New York it received glowing reviews and played for almost three-hundred performances,
and although Cohan didn’t appear in the show he was its book writer, lyricist, composer, and producer.
Shop girl Nellie Kelly (Elizabeth Hines) works at DeVere’s Department Store and is pursued by young mil-
lionaire Jack Lloyd (Barrett Greenwood), who throws a party at his mansion for all the shop girls who work at
DeVere’s. Her poor-but-honest friend Jerry Conroy (Charles King) crashes the party, and when jewelry belong-
ing to Jack’s aunt is stolen Jerry is the chief suspect (but is ultimately cleared). And, in Cohan’s sly reversal
of the typical Cinderella musical comedy, Nellie decides she loves Jerry more than Jack. The musical also
spoofed mystery plays, and occasionally even laughed at musical-comedy conventions (during the first act, a
character says a plot point will be revealed in the second half of the show). There were also the usual quips
(Jerry is from the Bronx, which is “the second balcony” of Manhattan), a high quotient of whirlwind dances,
and a catchy Cohan score that yielded two popular songs, “Nellie Kelly, I Love You” and “You Remind Me
of My Mother.”
The New York Times said the show offered “wild” dancing, music “of the peculiar Cohan brand,” and,
of course, “sentimentality,” and Cohan’s “old skill” brought “the whole entertainment right across the foot-
lights until the audience catches the exhilaration of the breathless action of the stage.” In addition to the
“merely lively tunes,” Cohan also wrote a “graceful” waltz (“The Voice in My Heart”), and occasionally the
score offered a suggestion of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, there were “laudable efforts to make the words
more than space fillers for the tunes.” G.E.L. Jr., in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated the musical was “a vivid
melody of color—like the spectrum set to music,” and “it flashed and sparkled for a first night audience which
drank it down to where the dregs should have been—but weren’t—and roared for more.” At times it seemed
Gilbert and Sullivan might have been “peeking over Mr. Cohan’s shoulder,” and “in spots” the show was
“almost an operetta” as well as “a sparkling satire on a certain type of mystery.” And for certain, the evening
was “a musical comedy such as Broadway has not seen, even from Mr. Cohan, perhaps, since Forty-Five Min-
utes from Broadway” (Cohan’s hit 1906 musical).
L.V. in Brooklyn Life said “the speed limit of all Broadway musical productions” had finally been reached
with the opening of Little Nellie Kelly, which “by long odds” is “the best piece ever conceived and written by
the little Napoleon of comedy and music.” Here was a “great show” with “some wonderfully catchy songs,”
and the critic praised “You Remind Me of My Mother,” “Nellie Kelly, I Love You,” “Something’s Got to Be
Done,” “The Voice in My Heart,” and “Till My Luck Comes Rolling Along.” The New York Tribune hailed
Cohan as “the apostle of whirlwind speed” in his musicals, and here he had “put additional pressure on the
1922–1923 Season 133
accelerator of the Cohan model” and the result was “the liveliest, most diverting, and peppiest musical en-
tertainment that has come to New York in years.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the musical showed “a pleasing disregard for all speed laws in the danc-
ing of its cast,” and the “terrific Cohan pace” never allowed you “to brood over the horrors of the plot.” As
a result, one’s mind was “a happy jumble of dancers, comedians, costumes, the charming Elizabeth Hines,
and the ingratiating Charles King,” and the score included “various tunes that are practically impossible to
get out of your head,” among them “You Remind Me of My Mother,” the “big Oedipus-complex song hit.”
The London production opened on July 2, 1923, at the New Oxford Theatre with Anita Elson, Sonnie Hale,
and Roy Royston. HMV Records issued six songs from the score played by the Mayfair Orchestra and conducted
by George W. Byng (“The Great New York Police,” “The Name of Kelly,” “When You Do the Hinky Dee,”
“You Remind Me of My Mother,” “Nellie Kelly, I Love You,” and “Till My Luck Comes Rolling Along”).
Note that MGM’s 1940 film Little Nellie Kelly was virtually an in-name-only adaptation in which Judy
Garland played the dual roles of Nellie Kelly and her daughter Little Nellie Kelly. The story was completely
altered and bore no resemblance to the stage production, but it featured one song from the original Broadway
score (“Nellie Kelly, I Love You”). Another song from the Broadway production (“You Remind Me of My
Mother”) was filmed but deleted prior to the film’s release. The cast also included George Murphy, Charles
Winninger, and John Raitt in a brief role as an unnamed intern. One new song (“It’s a Great Day for the Irish”)
was written for the film by Roger Edens and emerged as a minor standard. The film was released on DVD by
the Warner Brothers Archive Collection. “When You Do the Hinky Dee” is included on the cast album of
George M. Cohan Tonight! (Ghostlight Records CD).
LIZA
Theatre: Daly’s Theatre (aka Daly’s 63rd Street Music Hall) (during run, the musical transferred to the Nora
Bayes Theatre)
Performances: 172
Book: Irvin C. Miller
Lyrics and Music: Maceo Pinkard; special lyrics by Nat Vincent
Direction and Choreography: Walter Brooks; Producer: Al Davis; Scenery: Runnel-Amend, Inc.; Novelty Sce-
nic Studios; Costumes: Mme. Gilman; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: J. Tim Brymn
Cast: Alonzo Fenderson (Squire Norris), Margaret Simms (Liza Norris), Gertrude Saunders (Nora), Wil-
liam Simms (Uncle Pete), Packer Ramsey (Parson Jordan), Quintard Miller (Judge Plummer), R. Ed-
die Greenlee (Ras Johnson), Thaddius Drayton (Dandy), Will A. Cook (Sheriff), Irvin C. Miller (Ice
Cream Charlie), Emmett Anthony (Bodiddily), Billy Mills (Tom Liggett), Doe Doe Green (Sam Sykes),
Elizabeth Terrill (Mammy), Maude Russell (Mandy), Snippy Mason (Harry Davis), Donald Fields (Bill
Jones), Johnny Nit (Specialty Dancer); The Vamps: Bee Freeman, Doris Mignotte, Agnes Anthony,
Thelma Greene, Zudora DeGaston, Gladys Robinson, Louise Dunbar, Elizabeth Welch; Town Flap-
pers: Blanche Thompson, Helen Dunmore, Lena Dukes, Edith Simms, Marion Jones, Ethel Taylor, May
Green, Mary Fortune; Dancing Girls: Aurora Davis, Viola Branch, Clara Townsend, Millie Cooke, An-
geline Hammond, Cornell Vigal, Gladys Scott, Helen Fenderson; Struttin’ Dandies: Ruben Brown, St.
Clair Dotson, Charles Lawrence, Lloyd Mitchell, Franklyn O’Cause, Cornelius Burton, John Gaelard,
Paul Sullivan
The action takes place during the present time in Jimtown, South Carolina.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Tag Day” (Ensemble); “Pleasure” (Gertrude Saunders, Chorus); “I’m the Sheriff”
(Will A. Cook, Boys); “Liza” (Thaddius Drayton, Margaret Simms, Gertrude Saunders, Chorus); Specialty:
“Memories” (Thaddius Drayton, Viola Branch, May Green, Ethel Taylor, Angeline Hammond); “Just a Bar-
ber Shop Chord” (The Gang); “That Brownskin Flapper” (Gertrude Saunders, Flappers); “On the Moonlit
Swanee” (Town Folks); Dance: “Essence” (R. Eddie Greenlee, Thaddius Drayton, Boys); Dance: “Forget
Your Troubles” (Boys and Girls); “My Old Man” (lyric by Nat Vincent) (Elizabeth Welch, Emmett Anthony,
Quintette); “(I’ve Got Those) Runnin’ Wild Blues” (Gertrude Saunders, Margaret Simms, R. Eddie Greenlee,
Thaddius Drayton, Company)
Act Two: “The Charleston Dance” (lyric by Nat Vincent) (Maude Russell, Girls); “Dandy” (Maude Russell,
Dandies); “My Creole Girl” (R. Eddie Greenlee, Girls); “Planning” (Margaret Simms, Thaddius Drayton);
“The Ghost Dance” (St. Clair Dotson, Lloyd Mitchell); “Love Me (While Loving Is Good)” (Gertrude Saun-
ders); Dance (Four Steppers); Specialty: “Jimtown Speedster” (Johnny Nit); Specialty (Emmett Anthony);
Specialty (R. Eddie Greenlee, Thaddius Drayton); “Lovin’ Sam, the Sheik of Alabam” (lyric by Jack Yellen,
music by Milton Ager) (performer[s] unknown); “Don’t Be Blue” (Gertrude Saunders); Finale (Company)
Unfairly or not, every black musical was compared to the blockbuster Shuffle Along, and the general con-
sensus was that Liza more than measured up to the standard set by the earlier show. Its five-month run of 172
performances and its subsequent national tour clearly put it in the winner’s circle, and the critics especially
praised the dances, which were among the best of the era. Liza opened at Shuffle Along’s original home, the
63rd Street Music Hall, which was now known as Daly’s 63rd Street Music Hall. The slightly out-of-the-way
venue was now hosting its second hit in a row.
Like Shuffle Along, the story was set in Jimtown, but in this case Jimtown was located in South Carolina
and not in Mississippi. The slight story about raising funds to erect a monument in honor of a former mayor
was an excuse for songs and dances, and today the song titles are redolent of the Roaring Twenties and the
musical styles of the era, with occasional emphasis on Southern small-town life: “On the Moonlit Swanee,”
“My Creole Girl,” “The Charleston Dance,” “Just a Barber Shop Chord,” “That Brownskin Flapper,” “(I’ve
Got Those) Runnin’ Wild Blues,” and “Lovin’ Sam, the Sheik of Alabam.”
The “Runnin’ Wild Blues” was a nod to the year’s popular song “Runnin’ Wild” (lyric by Joe Grey and
Leo Wood, music by A. Harrington Gibbs), and “The Charleston Dance” anticipated “Charleston” (with a
lyric by Cecil Mack and music by James P. Johnson, “Charleston” was from the smash hit Runnin’ Wild,
another black musical set in mythical Jimtown). “Charleston” of course swept the nation and became a musi-
cal shorthand to evoke the 1920s (except for its title, the musical Runnin’ Wild wasn’t related to the popular
song by Grey, Wood, and Gibbs).
The New York Times found Liza “lively, ingratiating and melodious” and “equipped with a plot that
would appear to have been thought up at rehearsals, or probably just afterward.” The first-night audience
enjoyed the “uproarious” show, and “probably there were never quite so many encores in the world before.”
The critic also reported that some of the black cast members wore blackface, including Irvin C. Miller, who
wrote the show’s book and appeared as the character Ice Cream Charlie.
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World singled out the “lean, lanky stepper” Johnny Nit, who
was “the dancer of dancers in a remarkably good dancing show,” and Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said
Nit was “a genius of magical steps” who was a “joy” to watch and was “as marvelous an eccentric dancer as
ever lilted across any stage.” Nit later joined some of the chorus boys “in a series of dance duets which are
classics of their class,” and while “doing as intricate steps as one could conceive,” they carried on “light con-
versations in Russian, French, German and Yiddish” with a “correctness” of language “certified by the laugh-
ter of the polyglot audience.” Page mentioned that the musical had the “dancingest chorus you ever saw,”
and he especially noted his “preference” for the male dancers. He regretfully had to “dismiss the women with
a sigh of histrionic regret” because he didn’t think they sang well, but they all could dance: “My, how they
dance! But the men! Ah, those men!”
Heywood Broun in the New York Morning World found Liza “in one respect better” than Shuffle Along
because it set “the standard of ensemble dancing a little higher.” He didn’t “remember seeing anything in
New York to compare with the extraordinary combination of fury and precision which the chorus puts into
its work,” and after Liza he had the impression that “all” the dancers he’d ever seen before “did nothing but
minuets.” E.R. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided that never before had more encores been given in New
York, and although the show’s book had “no plot” and was “exceedingly poor,” the score was “outstanding”
and an “accomplishment of no mean caliber in jazzland,” and he predicted that “within a week or two most
of its melodies will be whistled, hummed, sung and phonographed in all quarters of the wind.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Liza outdistanced all “the colored productions that have gone before in
the singing and dancing of its chorus,” and surely there had never been “such lavish and joyous and whole-
hearted dancing.” In fact, when compared to the chorus members of Liza, the “choruses of other current
musical shows have about as much verve as so many damp soda crackers.”
1922–1923 Season 135
Lucien H. White in the New York Age said Liza was “the best dancing show yet seen in New York,”
and never before had there been “a more agile, graceful, lithesome, lissome and limber group of dancers.”
The audience “is kept on the qui vive all the time, wondering what is coming next, for sometimes it seems
that from a terpsichorean standpoint, the limit has been reached.” White noted that the production had
been compared to an earlier Harlem musical titled Bon Bon Buddy, Jr., and there had been “some criticism
because of alleged plagiarizing,” but Liza bore “slight resemblance to its progenitor,” and while “here and
there” were “resemblances,” these had “been toned down and polished up to an extent that raises doubt as
to the relationship.”
Bon Bon Buddy, Jr. had been presented at Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre on September 11, 1922, for a run
of about two weeks, and its book was by Irvin C. Miller, the music by Maceo Pinkard, and the lyrics by Nat
Vincent, and the company included Miller, Emmett Anthony, and Gertrude Saunders. All these cast mem-
bers and creative personnel were of course later associated with Liza, but for Liza, Vincent was credited for
“special lyrics.” In reviewing Bon Bon Buddy, Jr., Variety noted that “Liza” was a “corking melody,” and
mentioned five other songs (“My Dog,” “The Day Bert Williams Said Good-by,” “For a Girlie Like You,”
“Love Me, While Loving Is Good,” and “My Old Man”), and of these five, the last two were heard in Liza.
Variety later reported that Liza had “new backing,” and the producers of Bon Bon Buddy, Jr. weren’t among
the investors.
THE BUNCH AND JUDY

Performances: 63
Book: Anne Caldwell and Hugh Ford
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Uncredited (possibly Edward
Royce); Scenery: Frank Gates and Edward A. Morange; Costumes: Paul Poiret; George Barbier; Coin de
Paris of Wanamaker’s; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Lydia Scott (Mrs. Shean), Eugene Revere (Kelly), Roger Davis (Messenger), Patrice Clark (Hazel Kirk-
wood), Lillian White (Marguerite de Belmont), Augustus Minton (Augustus de Forrest), T. Wigney Per-
cyval (Foxhall Davidson, Earl of Torwood), Roberta Beatty (Lady Janet), Philip Tonge (Lord Kinlock), Al
Watson Jr. (Call Boy), Johnny Dooley (Otto Steger), Ray Dooley (Evie Dallas), Delano Dell (Jack Jessop),
Fred Astaire (Gerald Lane), Adele Astaire (Judy Jordan), Helen Eby Rock (Georgia McNamara), Elaine
Palmer (Gladys Goldwin), Ruth White (Estelle), Carol Flower (Viola Esmond), Bertha Holley (Mrs. Jor-
dan), George Tawde (Robin); Pipers: J. M. McKenzie, R. H. Wilder, W. McLellan; R. H. Wilder (Station
Master), Grace Hayes, The Six Brown Brothers (Specialty performers in the cabaret scene); Characters
in the Operetta Love Finds a Way: Patrice Clark (Caterina), Ray Dooley (Lizetta), Carl McBride (Beppo),
Augustus Minton (The Duke di Monticuccoli); The Duke’s Guests—Mabel Claire (Tessa) and Gladys
Goldwin (Ninette); Adele Astaire (Paulina), Fred Astaire (Antonio), Helen Eby Rock (Amelita), Johnny
Dooley (Rocco); Ensemble: Helen Allen, Marie Brady, Gertrude Feeley, Marjorie Flynn, Marie Francis,
Doris Landy, Madeline Lombard, Louise Powell, Lydia Scott, Mildred Sinclair, Billie Wilcox, Ursula Dale,
Betty Cline, Lola Curtis, Hazel Donnelly, Ona Hamilton, Eleanor Ladd, Edna Locke, Alida Middlecoat,
Lee Patrick, Mary Pearce, Adelaide Robinson, Rita Royce, Jet Stanley, Kathleen Mullane, Roger Davis,
Maurice Chapman, Louis Emery, Jack Hughes, Clifford Stone, Chester Grady, Edward Graham, George
Wharton, Kenneth Munro, Charles Roberts, Clifford Daly, Alfred Watson Jr.
The action takes place during the present time in New York City, Scotland, and London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: The Operetta Love Finds a Way: (1) “Minuet” (Ensemble); (2) “Silenzio” (Carl McBride, Ray Dooley);
(3) “Entrance of Duke” (Ensemble); (4) “The Naughty Nobleman” (Augustus Minton); (5) “Pale Venetian
Moon” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); and (6) Finaletto (Ensemble); “Hot Dog” (Helen Eby Rock, Delano
Dell); “Dance Eccentrique” (Delano Dell); “Morning Glory” (Fred Astaire, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Lovely Lassie” (Roberta Beatty, Ensemble); “Every Day in Every Way” (Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire);
“Times Square” (Adele Astaire, Ray Dooley, Patrice Clark, Johnny Dooley, Fred Astaire, Carl McBride,
Augustus Minton); “Clansman March and Fling” (Adele Astaire, Philip Tonge, Ensemble); The Caba-
ret: (1) “Have You Forgotten Me?” (Grace Hayes); (2) “How Do You Do, Katinka?” (Adele Astaire, Fred
Astaire); (3) Specialty (The Six Brown Brothers); and (4) “Peach Girl” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); Finale
Jerome Kern’s The Bunch and Judy was a major box office failure that lasted less than six weeks in New
York. Producer Charles Dillingham was disappointed with the New York reception, and two days after the
Broadway closing he took the show and its stars to Boston’s Colonial Theatre for a two-week run in anticipa-
tion of a long post-Broadway tour (Kern’s biographer Gerald Bordman notes that the road tour shuttered after
a few weeks). Dillingham clearly smarted over the show’s poor New York reception, and the Boston flyers
proclaimed it was his “best” production and suggested that “Boston can determine for itself the merits of Mr.
Dillingham’s newest offering for he is sending it direct from the Globe Theatre to the Colonial.”
If the musical had enjoyed a hit song or two, it might have caught on, but nothing in the score became
popular and reached evergreen status, and as a result The Bunch and Judy is one of Kern’s most obscure works.
The show included two superior brother-and-sister acts, the comics Ray Dooley and her brother Johnny and
the dancers Fred and Adele Astaire, but despite their respective comic and dancing skills the foursome didn’t
excite potential ticket buyers. As always, the critics praised the Astaires, but the reviewers seemed unneces-
sarily grouchy with negative comments about the team’s singing abilities.
The slight story looked at Broadway star Judy Jordan (Adele Astaire), who gives up the stage in order to
marry a titled European. His family looks down on her because of her show-business background, and even-
tually she calls off the marriage and heads for London where she meets her former costar, Gerald Lane (Fred
Astaire), and realizes he’s always been the man for her. The evening had possibilities, but unfortunately got
waylaid by extraneous material. At the beginning of the musical, Judy and Gerald are stars of an operetta
(Love Finds a Way) that is set in Venice during the eighteenth century, and much of the first act depicted no
less than six musical sequences from the show-within-a-show. In the second act, there was another extended
performance at a cabaret, which included specialty acts.
Perhaps the musical had too many scenes and songs that were essentially irrelevant to the plot, perhaps
the attention of the audience was too often diverted from the main story for these various musical asides, and
maybe once the plot resumed it was difficult for the audience to pick up where the story had previously left
off. The musical might have been better served had it employed a tough drillmaster to whip the show into
shape, cut out some of the nonessential songs and scenes, beef up the story, and jazz up the jokes.
Life imitated art when Johnny Dooley joined the company as a last-minute replacement for Joseph Caw-
thorn, who was injured during a tryout performance in Philadelphia (sources couldn’t decide whether Caw-
thorn had sprained an ankle, hurt his kneecap, or injured his leg). Cawthorn’s character was that of a come-
dian who takes over the role in the operetta Love Finds a Way when the original performer hurts his leg, and
so Dooley was in the doubly peculiar position of replacing the ailing Cawthorn in The Bunch and Judy and
also assuming the role of Cawthorn’s character, who replaces an injured performer in the fictional operetta.
Life also imitated art in the case of Adele Astaire, who retired from show business after her appearance
with Fred Astaire in Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz’s hit 1931 revue The Band Wagon. In 1932, she mar-
ried Lord Charles Cavendish, the ninth Duke of Devonshire, and became Adele, Lady Charles Cavendish, and
the couple lived in Ireland at Lismore Castle.
After the Broadway opening, the musical was revamped, but it didn’t help the box office. The numbers
“Hot Dog,” “Dance Eccentrique,” “Every Day in Every Way,” and “Have You Forgotten Me?” were cut, other
songs (such as “Peach Girl” and “How Do You Do, Katinka?”) were repositioned, and “Dance a la Russe” was
added for the Dooleys. During the tryout, Cawthorn had performed the specialty “And Her Mother Came,
Too” (lyric by Dion Titheradge and music by Ivor Novello), but once he left the production the song was
dropped (it had first been introduced by Jack Buchanan in the 1921 London revue A to Z). Later in the season
the song was interpolated into the score of Jack and Jill, and as “Her Mother Came Too!” was performed by
Clifton Webb.
John Corbin in the New York Times was mostly impressed by the musical’s lavish production values. He
praised the “fabrics and colors,” and said “the manner in which those spreading garments are made to swirl
1922–1923 Season 137
into the rhythm of Jerome Kern’s music sets a new mark in the mingling of grotesquerie and grace.” A scene
in Scotland (“Clansman March and Fling”) had “the touch of superlative luxury and good taste,” and the
cabaret sequence gave “scope to new splendors and witcheries of color.” Although the dances for the Astaires
in the eighteenth-century operetta scenes were subdued, the team came “into their own” when they got
into modern 1920s clothes. The Dooleys frolicked “to the vast delight of the audience,” and for the cabaret
scene, singer Grace Hayes and the saxophone-playing The Six Brown Brothers brought “satisfaction” to the
ticket holders. Ultimately, the evening was at its best when it offered the “mad antics” of the Dooleys and
the “wild, rhythmic soarings” of the Astaires, but their singing voices weren’t “much to boast about,” and
perhaps “for that reason” the “taking melodies are few.”
Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World praised the “refreshingly delightful entertainment,”
which was “charmingly presented” and “thoroughly captivating.” The show was a “wild” one for the Dooleys
and an “uproarious” one for the audience, and the Astaires made the most of “How Do You Do, Katinka?,”
which was their “best opportunity” and “scored the artistic hit of the performance” (during the close of this
number, the Astaires performed their signature run-around dance). Darnton noted that the show had “no
voices to inspire Mr. Kern to his best music,” but the score was “always pleasing.” Arthur Pollock in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the Astaires could “dance like everything,” but complained it was “a bit too much”
to expect them to “submit” to a plot that centered around them, because they didn’t sing “very well,” were
“rather pale and inaudible,” and were “called upon to do something other than nature equipped them to do.”
Otherwise, the musical was “a trifle stringy” and needed “a few new jokes.” F.M. in Brooklyn Life also noted
that “a good many of the jokes are not as new as they should be,” but the Astaires danced “as fascinatingly
as ever,” the Dooleys were “immensely funny,” and Hayes put over the blues “Have You Forgotten Me?” in
the cabaret scene. But the dancing was “better than the singing in this production.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the musical was “beautiful and often hilariously funny” but wasn’t
“conspicuously equipped with voices.” However, the Astaires were “the most graceful and charming young
dancers in the whole world of musical comedy,” were “distinctively attractive even when they are not in
motion,” and “once they begin to dance they are among the immortals.”
The Comic Opera Guild’s release Two Shows by Jerome Kern (CD # CTS210P-1M) includes selections
from concert versions of The Night Boat and The Bunch and Judy; the musical director is Adam Aceto, and
two pianos provide the musical accompaniment. The recording includes seven songs from the score: “Pale
Venetian Moon,” “Peach Girl,” “Morning Glory,” “Hot Dog,” “Every Day in Every Way,” “Have You Forgot-
ten Me?,” and “How Do You Do, Katinka?”
OUR NELL
“A Musical Mellow Drayma”
Theatre: Nora Bayes Theatre

Opening Date: December 4, 1922; Closing Date: January 6, 1923
Performances: 40
Book: A. E. Thomas
Music: George Gershwin and William Daly
Direction: W. H. Gilmore and Edgar MacGregor; Producer: Hayseed Productions, Inc. (Edward Davidow and
Rufus LeMaire, Directors); Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Scenery: H. Robert Law Studios; Costumes:
Bayer-Schumacher Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Charles Sieger
Cast: Mrs. Jimmie Barry (Malvina Holcombe), John Merkyl (Mortimer Bayne), Jimmie Barry (Pegleg Doolittle),
Frank Mayne (Joshua Holcombe), Thomas Conkey (Frank Hart), Guy Nichols (Deacon Calvin Sheldrake),
Eva Clark (Helen Ford, aka Nell), Emma Haig (Angeline Weems), Olin Howard (Chris Deming), Lora
Sonderson (Mrs. Rogers); Rustic Maidens: Molly Murphy, Shirley Lewis, Alice Wood, Mary Maxwell,
Lucille Darling, Elinore Tierney, Kathleen McLaughlin, Emme Tattersall, Honore Tattersall, Blanche
Morton, Winthrop Wayne; Farm Boys: Ralph Bond, George Griffin, Don Gauthier, Ted Wheeler, John Mc-
Culloch, J. Donald Heebner
The action takes place in “Old New England.”
Musical Numbers
Note: George Gershwin and William Daly collaborated on the music. (*) = songs composed only by Gershwin,
and (**) = music composed solely by Daly.
Act One: Opening: “Gol-Durn!” (Jimmie Barry, Boys); “Innocent Ingenue Baby” (John Merkyl, Girls); “Old
New England Home” (**) (Eva Clark, Boys); “The Cooney County Fair” (*) (Olin Howland, Emma Haig,
Chorus); “Names I Love to Hear” (Olin Howland, Emma Haig, Jimmie Barry, Mrs. Jimmie Barry, Guy
Nichols); “By-and-By” (*) (Thomas Conkey, Eva Clark); Finale
Act Two: “Madrigal” (Ensemble); “We Go to Church on Sundays” (*) (Performers unknown); “Walking Home
with Angeline” (*) (Olin Howard, Emma Haig, Chorus); “Oh, You Lady!” (Lora Sonderson, Boys); “All
the Little Villages” (Jimmie Barry, Mrs. Jimmie Barry); Duet (Thomas Conkey, Eva Clark); “Barn Dance”
(Ensemble); Finale
Our Nell was surely a musical before its time. The self-described “mellow drayma” spoof would certainly
have been at home as one of the productions at the American Music Hall during the latter part of the 1930s
and would have fit in with Murder in the Old Red Barn (1936), Naughty-Naught ’00 (1937), The Fireman’s
Flame (1937), and The Girl from Wyoming (1938). Better yet, it might have bloomed in the days of the early
Off-Broadway musical when such spoofs periodically popped up, such as Will the Mail Train Run Tonight?
(1964) and Barry Manilow’s 1970 adaptation of The Drunkard.
The Nora Bayes would seem to have been the perfect venue for the intimate musical. The rooftop theatre
was nestled atop the 44th Street Theatre, and with some nine hundred seats was one of Broadway’s smaller
houses. But the era wasn’t all that interested in a spoof of nineteenth-century melodramas, and so the produc-
tion shuttered after just five weeks.
Originally known as Hayseed, the score for Our Nell was by George Gershwin and William Daly (who later
was the conductor for the original productions of Gershwin’s Oh, Kay!, Show Girl, and Let ’Em Eat Cake, and
often served as orchestrator for various Gershwin shows). The book by A. E. Thomas utilized all the clichés of
old-time melodrama, including the innocent heroine, the heroic hero, the mustache-twirling villain whom the
audience hissed, and some business about late mortgage payments and the impending foreclosure of the old
homestead. The critics reported there was a stage curtain replete with advertisements (such as undertaker ser-
vices), the footlights were adorned with little shades, and when the curtain was raised it rolled inward.
Moreover, “rubes” were satirized, and so the chorus girls were identified as “rustic maidens” and the
male chorus as “farm boys,” and there were musical salutes to county fairs (“The Cooney County Fair”),
down-home dances (“Barn Dance”), home sweet home (“Old New England Home”), weekly rituals (“We Go
to Church on Sunday”), and pleasant everyday routines (“Walking Home with Angeline”). There was a song
for the male chorus titled “Gol-Durn!,” the characters included a big-city vamp and a city slicker, and there
were references to downtrodden widows and orphans. And to show that everything was up to date in Old New
England, there was a movie-struck lad whose dream is to journey to “Louse Angeelus,” and the dialogue was
tongue-in-cheek: Nell’s grandfather finds it in his heart to forgive her; she replies she hasn’t done anything to
warrant forgiveness, and he proceeds to forgive her anyway.
The New York Times found the production a “pretty amusing” and “encouraging novelty so far as musi-
cal comedy is concerned,” and the result was a “fresh and enjoyable entertainment” that was “hardly remi-
niscent of all the musical comedy of commerce.” The score offered “acceptable tunes,” and Brian Hooker’s
lyrics (“which rarely got as far as the fourth row”) “sounded as workmanlike as ever.” Gilbert Seldes in the
Los Angeles Times liked the “good show,” but noted that sometimes Thomas’s book was to blame for the
slow pace of the first act. Otherwise, Hooker’s “ingenuity of rhymes actually makes listening to the words
a pleasure,” and toward the end of the evening the score began “to approach certain passages in the Berlin
ragtime melodrama or in the Cohan revue things, with much skill in rhyming and intonation.” Variety said
the score’s “best” song was “Innocent Ingenue Baby,” whose melody had a “novel twist” that was sure to be
whistled. With a revised lyric by Hooker and Clifford Grey, the song was heard in the 1923 British musical
The Rainbow, and at some point during the Broadway run of Sweet Little Devil was interpolated into the
score (apparently with Hooker’s original lyric).
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said Our Nell was a “delicious travesty on everything melodramish,”
and “musically, satirically, and humorously” the show was often “a joy.” The evening may not have been
1922–1923 Season 139
“great” travesty, but it was “good fun.” Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World liked the “fairly
amusing” production, and suggested that “a little more life” in the orchestra pit would help Our Nell “get
along in the way all good musical shows should go.” Darnton said “Walking Home with Angeline” was the
“best-gaited” song, and dancer Emma Haig “nearly whirled herself into the orchestra pit,” and “like all the
other simple country maidens she displayed bare legs at every opportunity.”
THE CLINGING VINE

“A Sparkling Comedy with Music”

Opening Date: December 25, 1922; Closing Date: June 2, 1923
Performances: 188
Music: Harold Levey
Direction: Ira Hards; Producer: Henry W. Savage; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery: William Castle; Cos-
tumes: Peggy Hoyt; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Harold Levey
Cast: Irene Dunne (Tessie), Nathaniel Wagner (Plummer), Royal Hallee (Billings), Charles Schofield (Titus
M. Tutewiler), Christian Holtum (Bill), Bradford Hunt (Smith), Roy Marvin (Brown), William Rogers
(Jones), Peggy Wood (Antoinette Allen), Josephine Adair (Mildred Mayo), Eleanor Dawn (Janet Milton),
James C. Marlowe (Francis Milton), Raymond C. Crane (Randolph Mayo), Louise Galloway (Mrs. Anthony
Allen), Reginald Pasch (Vacarescou), Joyce White (Agnes), William C. Gordon (Bascom), Charles Derick-
son (Jimmy Manning), Earl Gates (Noel Graham); Debutantes from the Country Club: Jane Arrol (Jane),
Jean Ferguson (Jean), Margery Wall (Margery), Rosa Vera (Rosa), Helen Hipkins (Helen), Louise Scheerer
(Louise); Sub-Debutantes from the Country Club: Eleanor Livingston (Eleanor), Virginia Clark (Virginia),
Florence McGuire (Florence), Victoria White (Victoria); Girls’ Sextet: Sopranos—Jane Arrol, Helen Hip-
kins, and Margery Wall; Lyric Soprano—Jean Ferguson; Contraltos—Rosa Vera and Louise Scheerer; Boys’
Sextet: Tenors—Nathaniel Wagner, Royal Hallee, and Roy Marvin; Baritone—William Rogers; Basses—
Bradford Hunt and Christian Holtum; Dancing Quartet: Eleanor Livingston, Virginia Clark, Florence
McGuire, and Victoria White
The action takes place during the present time in Omaha, Nebraska, and in Stamford, Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Little Bit of Paint” (Peggy Wood, Irene Dunne, Charles Schofield, Boys’ Sextette); “Grandma”
(Louise Galloway, Boys’ and Girls’ Sextettes, Quartette); “Roumania” (Reginald Pasch, Josephine Adair,
Eleanor Dawn); “Once Upon a Time” (Peggy Wood); “Lady Luck” (Eleanor Dawn, Josephine Adair, Ray-
mond C. Crane, Reginald Pasch, Charles Derickson, Girls’ and Boys’ Sextette, Quartette)
Act Two: “Spring Fever” (Joyce White, William C. Gordon, Girls’ and Boys’ Sextette, Quartette); “Age of
Innocence” (Peggy Wood, James C. Marlowe, Raymond C. Crane); “The Clinging Vine” (Peggy Wood,
Charles Derickson); “Cupid” (Raymond C. Crane, Girls’ Quartette, Boys’ Sextette); “Home-Made Happi-
ness” (Peggy Wood, Charles Derickson, Girls’ Sextette, Quartette)
Act Three: “Serenade” (Girls’ and Boys’ Sextettes, Quartette); “Serenade” (reprise) (Peggy Wood); “Song with-
out Words” (Raymond C. Crane, Girls’ Quartette, Joyce White, Earl Gates); Finale (Company)
Librettist and lyricist Zelda Sears enjoyed glowing personal notices as well as a hit show with The Cling-
ing Vine, which played for almost two hundred performances and then began a national tour. The musical
employed fresh subject matter unusual for 1920s musical theatre with its look at a no-nonsense and inde-
pendent business woman, and it’s notable that the feminist theme is here tackled by a woman librettist and
lyricist. The musical looks at the general role of a woman in a man’s world and specifically how Antoinette
Allen (Peggy Wood) owns and runs a successful paint factory in Omaha (but doesn’t use her full name, and
the business is known as A. Allen, Inc.).
When she visits her grandmother (Louise Galloway) in Stamford, Connecticut, the older woman decides
Antoinette needs lessons on how to attract a man because a love life is just as important as a business career.
To that end, she instructs Antoinette that the only way to attract a man is to become a “clinging vine” and
feign ignorance in order to make the other sex feel superior. The musical laughed at male vanity, and showed
how the heroine uses age-old ruses to trick pompous men who deserve to be ridiculed.
John Corbin in the New York Times reported that Antoinette learns to say the word yes “with a rising
inflection of admiring surprise”; to say no “with a falling inflection of admiring wonder”; and to say Do go
on! “in the tone of aspiring ignorance.” Soon Antoinette is the belle of the ball, and when she meets the naive
inventor Jimmy Manning (Charles Derickson) she takes charge by sideswiping his avaricious relatives and
seeing that his invention (a special kind of eggbeater) is patented. Moreover, she intends to marry him, but
despite the wealth she enjoys from her business it appears she only wants Jimmy on equal terms, and hence
his invention will level the playing field so that they’re both financial and romantic equals.
Sears clearly enjoyed ribbing the roles of men and women in society: the men who want to feel superior
and fawned upon, and the women who purposely simper and swoon over them. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said
Sears wrote with “wit and sparkle” and told a “straightforward” story with “winning gustiness and sparkle”
and proved she was “one of the best librettists now extant.” Sears “diligently” ignored the kind of “forlorn old
jokes” that cropped up in musicals and instead offered humor that was “frank and sharp rather than gently
guileful,” and “being sharp,” she “seldom misses fire.” Further, she did away “with a great deal of the fluff
and piffle customarily employed to make musical comedies as silly as possible.” Corbin said the “novel” plot
“would put to the blush the ordinary business comedy.” The Wall Street Journal said Sears combined “in un-
usual measure cleverness of story, humor in line and situation, and real skill in construction.” And Heywood
Broun in the New York World said Sears had “an authentic sense of humor.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Harold Levey’s score was “delightful, if none too stimulating.” The
Eagle praised the “quick” tunes, the Wall Street Journal said the show was “saturated with melodies which
are something less than jazz,” and Variety liked the “catchy” score. Peggy Wood received rave notices, and
Parker noted the actress had now emerged “as a highly gifted comedienne.” Broun found Wood a “capital
comedienne,” and Brooklyn Life said she had “good looks and a charming personality” as well as “a voice full
of melody and expression with perfect enunciation to entrance her audiences.” As the feisty grandmother,
Galloway almost walked away with the show: Brooklyn Life said she “was a real joy and every move she
makes gets applause.” Variety found her a “delight,” Corbin said she was “delightful,” and the Eagle praised
her “freshness” as the “debonair and shimmying little grandmother.”
Note that Irene Dunne appeared in the minor role of Antoinette’s secretary, Tessie, and decades later
Dunne and Wood both enjoyed great success as Mama in adaptations of the hit 1944 play I Remember Mama:
Dunne memorably played the role in the 1948 film version, and Wood in the long-running (1949–1957) CBS
television series Mama.
The Clinging Vine made a stir in regard to premium-priced tickets. The Times reported that producer
Henry W. Savage limited the number of tickets available to brokers so that the general public could have ac-
cess to choice seat locations without having to pay high prices. Further, Savage announced that performances,
including Saturday nights and holidays, wouldn’t be raised and would remain at $2.50 per ticket for all seats
in the orchestra section, with the exception of Wednesday matinees, when all tickets would cost $2.00; all
high-priced balcony seats would be reduced to $1.50, and all seats in the gallery would cost fifty cents.
The song “The Pathway to Paradise” was published with other songs from the score, but wasn’t included
in the Broadway production.
The 1926 silent film version was released by De Mille Pictures and Producers’ Distributing Corporation;
directed by Paul Sloane, the cast included Leatrice Joy, Tom Moore, and Robert Edeson.
The flyer of The Clinging Vine was one of the most unusual of its era, an elongated twelve-page bound
booklet designed with copious and colorful illustrations by Adrian and with special verses by Sears that told the
entire story of the musical. The flyer’s “title page” duly noted that the illustrations and verses were copyrighted.
GLORY
Opening Date: December 25, 1922; Closing Date: February 24, 1923
1922–1923 Season 141
Performances: 74
Book: James Montgomery
Lyrics: Joseph McCarthy and James Dyrenforth
Music: Harry Tierney and Maurice DePackh
Direction and Choreography: Bert French; Producer: Vanderbilt Producing Company; Scenery: Uncredited;
Costumes: The Vanderbilt Producing Company Wardrobe Department; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Cast: Walter Regan (William Harriman), Jack Clifford (Hiram Dexter), Robert Higgins (Ansel Tollet), Ray-
mond Hackett (Lem King), John Cherry (Sumner Holbrook), Robert O’Connor (Deacon Eaton), Ted McNa-
mara (Alonzo), Peter Lang (Abner Moore), Patti Harrold (Glory Moore), Helen Groody (Lucy Ann Willing),
Mabel Ferry (Myrtie Brown), Bertha Creighton (Sarah King), Bernice McCabe (Amanda Dexter); Ladies of
the Ensemble: Frances Lynde, Constance Montague, Bessie Mulligan, Peggy Pidgin, Violet Bristow, Helen
Pain, Edith McGovern, Constance Keating, Marjorie Harrold, Margaret Murray, Margaret Leona, Florence
Kinsley, Elizabeth Page, Arden Benham, Irene Enright, Dorothy Whiteford; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Thomas Weldon, Paul Winnell, David Brown, Bobby Culbert, Ainsley Lambert, Edward Smith, Edward
Howell, Conway Dillon
The action takes place during the present time in a New England town.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Joseph McCarthy and music by Harry Tierney; (**) = lyric by James Dyrenforth and music
by Maurice Depackh; (***) = lyric and music by Al W. Brown
Act One: Opening (*) (Ensemble); “We’ve Got to Build” (*) (John Cherry, Ensemble); “Glory” (**) (Patti Har-
rold); “Buds and Blossoms” (*) (Boys and Girls); “The Little White House with Green Blinds” (*) (Patti
Harrold); “The Moon That Was Good Enough for Dad and Mother” (**) (Bernice McCabe, Ensemble);
“The Goodly Little Things We Do” (**) (Bertha Creighton, Bernice McCabe, Robert Higgins, Robert
O’Connor); “When the Curfew Rings at Nine” (***) (Helen Groody, Mabel Ferry, John Cherry, Ted Mc-
Namara); “Popularity” (*) (Patti Harrold, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening (*) (Walter Regan, Ensemble); “The Upper Crust” (*) (Mabel Ferry, Ted McNamara, En-
semble); “Mother’s Wedding Dress” (*) (Patti Harrold, Ensemble); “Saw Mill River Road” (“The Same Old
Story”) (*) (Mabel Ferry, Helen Groody, John Cherry, Ted McNamara); “Post Office” (*) (Patti Harrold,
Company); “When the Tenor Married the Soprano and the Alto Married the Bass” (**) (Bertha Creighton,
Bernice McCabe, Robert Higgins, Robert O’Connor); “Saw Mill River Road” (“The Same Old Story”) (re-
prise) (Patti Harrold)
The Vanderbilt Producing Company had brought Irene to New York in 1919, and when the show closed
after almost seven-hundred performances it had played longer than any musical in Broadway history. The
producers clearly hoped Glory would be equally successful, but the musical collapsed after just two months.
It wasn’t for lack of trying because many of Irene’s creative team returned for the new venture: book writer
James Montgomery, lyricist Joseph McCarthy, and composer Harry Tierney. Moreover, Irene’s leading man
Walter Regan was in the cast, and Patti Harrold, who played Glory, had been associated with Irene because at
one point she had played the title role during the original Broadway run. The musical even opened at Irene’s
original home, the Vanderbilt Theatre.
Like Irene, Glory was a Cinderella story. In this case, poor Glory (Harrold) lives in a New England village
with her bottle-baby father, Abner (Peter Lang), but finds glory when former hometown boy William Harri-
man (Regan) returns as a rich man and marries her.
The New York Times predicted Glory “bids fair to be as popular as” Irene and said Harrold was a “charm-
ing” heroine. The show was “very pleasing” with perhaps “too much plot,” including subplots that were “a
little too intrusive.” But “judicious cutting” would “bring about good results.” The score was “one of the
prettiest heard on Broadway in a long time” and maintained its “excellence” throughout the evening, in-
cluding such songs as “The Little White House with Green Blinds” (“especially pleasing”), “Saw Mill River
Road,” aka “The Same Old Story” (“a haunting melody which the enthusiastic first-night audience found
irresistible”), and “When the Tenor Married the Soprano and the Alto Married the Bass” (“the song hit of the
evening”).
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the creators followed “a delightfully simple line of reasoning”: if a
melody “was good in Irene, it would also be good in Glory,” and “nowhere is their method more apparent”
than in “The Little White House with Green Blinds” which “fits in beautifully” to the music of “My Sweet
Little Alice Blue Gown.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Glory “looks a great deal like her older sister Irene
but she doesn’t sound so much like her.” Although the new musical had neither the “dramatic strength” nor
“the beauty in its score,” it was “quite a little better than the average musical comedy.” I.K. in the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle liked the “exceptional” show, which was “soothing to eye and ear” and didn’t “insult” a “nor-
mally functioning intelligence.” To be sure, it was “patchwork,” but it was “cleverly done.” Variety said the
evening was a “gratifying entertainment” and singled out “When the Curfew Rings at Nine,” “The Upper
Crust,” and “Saw Mill River Road” (aka “The Same Old Story”). Harrold was given two songs “counted on to
be sure-fire” (“The Little White House with Green Blinds” and “Mother’s Wedding Dress”), the latter “evi-
dently intended to follow the success of ‘Alice Blue Gown’, but it will hardly do that.”
LADY BUTTERFLY
“The Smashing Musical Comedy Success” / “Season’s Musical Comedy Sensation”
Theatre: Globe Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Astor Theatre)
Performances: 128
Book and Lyrics: Clifford Grey
Music: Walter Janssen
Based on the 1916 play Somebody’s Luggage by Mark Swan (which in turn was based on the 1914 novel of the
same name by F. J. Randall); some sources cite James T. Powers as one of the play’s authors.
Direction and Choreography: Ned Wayburn; Producer: Morosco Holding Co., Inc. (Oliver Morosco); Scenery:
Herbert Ward; Costumes: Shirley Barker; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Daly
Cast: Vic Casmore (Duval), Lionel Pape (Horatio Meak), Rona Wallace (Pansy), Edward Lester (Jack Owen), Al-
len Kearns (Billy Browning), George Trabert (Henry Crawford), Frank Dobson (Fisher), Maude Eburne (Car-
oline), Gertrude Maitland (Mrs. Stockbridge), Mabel Withee (Mabel Stockbridge), Florenz Ames (Alfred
Hopper), Marjorie Gateson (Enid Crawford), Janet Stone (Bobby), Aline McGill (Frances), Marion Hamilton
(Ruth), Lionel Pape (Mr. Stockbridge), Edward Lester (Briggs), Raymond Hunter (Policeman); Dancing
Specialties: Janet Stone, Aline McGill, Marion Hamilton, Florentine Gosnova, Joe Donahue, Nick Long
Jr., Jack Lynch, Horton Spurr; Butterfly Quartette: Mark Youmans (First Tenor), Vere Richards (Second
Tenor), Raymond Hunter (Baritone), Ray Coffey (Second Bass); Ensemble: Muriel Lodge, Imogene Acker-
man, Lillian MacKenzie, Diana Chase, Mary Carney, Margaret McKay, Lenora Lukens, Virginia McGee,
Anna Buckley, Rosemary Sill, Louis Carlton, Pearl Howell, Helen Fleming, Mildred Lunnay, Vildheda
The action takes place during the present time on the deck of a boat docked at Le Havre, France, and in and
around a home in Hampshire, England.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Soon We’ll Be upon the Sea” (Ensemble); “Girls I’ve Never Met” (Allen Kearns, Ensemble); “Doll’s
House” (Mabel Withee, Allen Kearns); “Wonderful You” (George Trabert, Chorus); Dance (Aline McGill);
“Waltz Time” (Allen Kearns, Janet Stone, Marion Hamilton, Chorus); “Sailors Sail Away” (Mabel Withee,
Sailors); Solo Dance (Joe Donahue); “Beautiful Love” (Florenz Ames, Maude Eburne); “Man Overboard”
(Ensemble)
Act Two: “By the Garden Wall” (Nurses, Bobbies); Eccentric Dance (Jack Lynch); “Acrobatic Dance” (Joe
Donahue, Marion Hamilton); “The Bad Man Walk” (Frank Dobson, Servants, Chorus); “My Cottage in
Sunshine Lane” (Marjorie Gateson, Chorus); “Lady Butterfly” (George Trabert, Marjorie Gateson); Dance
1922–1923 Season 143
(Butterfly: Janet Stone; Student: Nick Long Jr.; Butterflies: Florentine Gosnova, Bernice Ackerman, Vil-
helda); “Good Evening—Good Night” (Mabel Withee, Allen Kearns); “Kiss Time” (George Trabert, Mar-
jorie Gateson, Chorus): (1) “The First Kiss”—Boy: Anna Buckley; Girl: Virginia McGee; (2) “The Kiss of
Yore”—Old-Fashioned Girl: Imogene Wilson; Her Suitor: Jack Lynch; (3) “The Lingering Kiss”—A Vamp:
Muriel Lodge; Her Victim: Raymond Hunter; and (4) “The Mother’s Kiss”—The Mother: Carol Young;
The Son: Nick Long Jr.; “Toe Dance” (Dancer: Florentine Gosnova; Harpist: Marion Hamilton); “The
Chase” (Ensemble); “The Booze of Auld Lang Syne” (Florenz Ames, Frank Dobson, The Butterfly Quar-
tette); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Marjorie Gateson, George Trabert); “Sway with Me” (Allen
Kearns, Chorus); “Tap Dance” (Nick Long Jr.); “Leg-Mania” (Aline McGill); “Acrobatic Dance” (Horton
Spurr); Finale (Ensemble)
The farcical Lady Butterfly centered on the confusion caused when Alfred Hopper (Florenz Ames) is
mistaken for an heir believed lost at sea. The evening was a would-be merry round of impersonations,
misunderstandings, crooks, innocent young lovers, lost “papers,” and, according to the New York Times, a
dancing sailor who was “never on land or sea.” But at its heart the show really seems to have been about
dance specialties, and the plot be damned. There were numerous solo specialties (the unimaginatively titled
“Dance” as well as “Eccentric Dance,” “Tap Dance,” “Leg-Mania,” and “Acrobatic Dance”; another was
“Solo Dance,” which like the others was a solo but seemed compelled to let us know its single status). There
was also a second “Acrobatic Dance” (for two performers); a “Toe Dance” (a solo accompanied by a harpist);
and a butterfly-themed “Dance” (with five dancers).
And there were groan-inducing jokes: a woman who bites her nails is reminded of what happened to Ve-
nus de Milo; there were quips of the “Are you an entomologist?” / “No, I’m a Baptist” variety; the observation
that the Scotch are a “close race”; and the all-time howler about a woman whose affairs have been “mostly
plutonic.” G. H. H. in Brooklyn Life said the show’s “humorous subtleties” weren’t “above the heads of a
large percentage of New York theatergoers, most of whom are from Pittsburgh or points West,” and so he
suspected that the musical would “be enjoyed by large audiences despite what the jaded or blasé natives of
Manhattan Island may think about it.” Bide Dudley in the San Francisco Chronicle said the “lavish” show
needed a “book,” and despite its production values, a “capable” company, and “very pretty” costumes, the
musical was “one of those ‘almost hits.’” (The show played less than five months, and two days after the New
York closing it opened at Boston’s Shubert Theatre for the first leg of its post-Broadway tour.)
Brooklyn Life found Walter Janssen’s score “less tuneful or more full of one tune than many musical
comedies.” L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “pleasant” music wasn’t “particularly brilliant or
original,” but “Wonderful You” “captured the house” and was reprised endlessly with “indications” it would
soon “be heard all over town.” and Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s decided the music was “uniquely uninspired.”
Variety’s critic said the “rather melodious” score offered just “one real number of the jazzy type which the
public of today requires,” and it would “most likely” become popular. This was the late second-act sequence
“Sway with Me,” which was followed by a series of three dance specialties” (“Tap Dance,” “Leg-Mania,” and
“Acrobatic Dance”), all of which brought down the final curtain “with a wave of applause.”
Everyone agreed that the show offered an impressive visual moment at the end of the first act when a
ship is shown leaving the dock. Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said this was “the best ‘moving effect’ of
its type” he’d ever seen; Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News noted the audience had “the sensation of
being aboard a ship that slowly swings away from the dock at Havre and leaves a gradually receding shore line
far behind”; and Dudley praised the “wonderful scenic effect” of the ship leaving the port. This chandelier
moment brought to mind a similar effect in Two Little Girls in Blue, which depicted a ship docking at a pier
wherein mechanical effects gave the illusion that both the ship and the stage were revolving.
Parker reported that for the opening scene a gangplank was lowered over the orchestra pit, and then the
chorus walked down the theatre aisles toward the stage, stepped onto the gangplank, and marched up to the
stage, all the while “caroling gaily, if indistinctly.” Parker confessed that whenever she saw such scenes it
was her “prayer” that “one of the numerous tight gentlemen in the audience” would “become fired with the
spirit of the thing, and sociably march right along” with the chorus, but alas this “never happens.” (But it did
happen during a performance of Rose-Marie quite early in its run, and thankfully Burns Mantle happened to
be present and duly reported The Saga of the Tight Gentleman and the Show’s Leading Dancer.)
Parker also mentioned the second-act “Kiss Time,” which depicted four types of kisses: the “first kiss”
(between boy and girl); the “kiss of yore” (between an old-fashioned girl and her suitor); the “lingering kiss”
(between a vamp and her victim); and the “mother’s kiss” (for mother and son). For the latter, Parker reported
that the son in question was “a little boy in an Eton suit, carrying a school bag” and the mother, “in the ac-
cepted stage manner,” was depicted as “about ninety-three, in a gray-taffeta dress, dear little white side curls,
and a quaint grandmother’s cap.” As a result, you could “see just what a little dandy Lady Butterfly is.”
During the run, the musical was innocently caught up in a union matter that almost disrupted a perfor-
mance. The Times reported that one of the show’s orchestra members resigned from the American Federation
of Musicians, that his resignation had been accepted, and that he’d been refunded his last quarter’s dues. Then
the member “insisted” on playing at the April 18 performance, was “ordered out,” and six members of the
orchestra, who were also part of the Musical Mutual Protective Union, “walked out in sympathy.” In order to
avoid “trouble” with the Federation, the composer Werner Janssen “insisted” that the remaining musicians
leave as well.
It turns out that previously the musician in question had “bitterly fought” a proposed compromise in
which the union would have been reinstated as part of the Federation. Meanwhile, the Shuberts, which leased
the Astor Theatre, had entered into an agreement with the Federation that only its members could play at
the venue, and because the musician in question had resigned and was no longer a member of the Federation
he couldn’t play in the pit.
When all the orchestra members filed out, one of the show’s stars Frank Dobson came on stage and told
the audience that the show itself had nothing to do with the issue, but refunds would be given for those who
wanted to leave. No one left, and in fact the audience applauded, and Janssen and his piano provided the only
musical accompaniment for the performance. The Times reported that an entirely new orchestra was sched-
uled to be on hand for the April 19 performance.
THE DANCING GIRL

“A New Musical Play” / “Supreme Musical Play”

Performances: 142
Book and Lyrics: Harold Atteridge; additional lyrics by Irving Caesar and Cole Porter
Music: Sigmund Romberg; additional music by A. J. Carey, George Gershwin, Alfred (Al) Goodman, and Cole
Porter
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Rollo Wayne; Costumes: Milgrim; Joseph; Hickson; Lucile; Gilbert Clark; Mme. Haver-
stick; Mme. Routon; Pateau; Vanity Fair Company; Paul Arlington; Ford Uniform Company; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast (as they appear in the program’s sequences; a list of musical numbers follows):
Act One—In the Card Room on an Atlantic Liner: Roy Remo (Mr. Jones), Henry Stremel (Mr. Smith), Frank
Greene (Mr. Robinson), Ted Doner (Mr. Brown), Kitty Doner (Mr. Clark), Charles Mac (Steward), Arthur
Margetson (Bruce Chattfield), Cyril Scott (John Mercer), Gilda Leary (Gloria Seabright), Frank Byron (The
Count), Rose Doner (Miss Grayson); The Steerage: Llora Hoffman (Dellisho), Michael Voljanin (A Russian
Immigrant), Michael Markoff (A Czechoslovak), Marie Harcourt (The Violin Girl), Sally Fields (Eliza),
Trini (Anna), Tom Burke (Rudolpho); At the Custom House: Ben Bard (Chief Inspector), Jack Pearl (Chief
Inspector’s Assistant), Frank Byron (First Inspector), Henry Stremel (Second Inspector), Dorothy Bruce
(First Lady), Charles Mac (Butler), Marie Dressler (A Lady Passenger), Lou Holtz (Another Victim); In
Chinatown: Ben Bard (The Dope Fiend), Jack Pearl (Jack), Lou Holtz (Lou), Ted Doner (Mack), Kitty Do-
ner (Mame), Charles Mac (Steve), Frank Greene (The Guide); At a Flower Stall: Trini (Anna), Cyril Scott
(John Mercer), Arthur Margetson (Bruce Chattfield); Monsieur Gustave’s Models: Rose Doner (A Vamp
Shop Girl), Kitty Doner (Pinkie), Harriet Gustine (Amy), Helen Fox (Lilly), Hope Herendeen (Hope), Perle
Germonde (Francine), Charlotte Sprague (Camille), Dorothy Bruce (Geraldine), Marja Talwyn (Clarice),
Virginia Calmer (Melisande), Bobbie Muir (Helene); A Musicale at the Biltmore: Tom Burke (Rudolpho),
Gilda Leary (Gloria Seabright), Arthur Margetson (Bruce Chattfield), Cyril Scott (John Mercer), Jack Pearl
(Gustave), Trini (Anna); In Front: Lou Holtz; A Picture of Versailles: Frank Greene (King Louis), Llora
Hoffman (The Singer), Martha Mason (The Dancer); Training Quarters: Cyril Scott (John Mercer), Arthur
1922–1923 Season 145
Margetson (Bruce Chattfield), Frank Byron (Joe), Ted Doner (Pete), Harry Stremel (Doorman), Ben Bard
(Ben), Kitty Doner (Pinkie), Jack Pearl (Jack), Ted Doner (Teddy the Bearcat), Benny Leonard (Benny Leon-
ard); The Boxing Contest: Marie Dressler (A Lady Patron), Charles Mac (A Gentleman), Frank Greene (The
Referee), Allie Nack (Young [Kid] Sullivan), Ted Doner (Teddy the Bearcat), Ben Bard (Ben), Jack Pearl
(Jack), Jack Forrester (Mr. Campbell) (Note that early in the run, lightweight champion Benny Leonard ap-
peared as himself in the Training Quarters and The Boxing Contest sequences, and apparently Ted Doner
as “Teddy the Bearcat” succeeded him.)
Act Two—The Theatre Nightly: Marie Dressler (Marie Dressler), Ben Bard (Ben), Charles Mac (Mr. Jones), Ted
Doner (Mr. Smith), Frank Byron (Mr. Brown), Llora Hoffman (Mrs. Meyers), Orilla Smith (Water Girl); Ro-
mance: The Old Man: Tom Burke; The Young Man: Arthur Margetson; The Minuet: Ted Doner and Rose
Doner; The Singers: Llora Hoffman and Roy Remo; The Dancer: Trini; “Cuddle Up”: Kitty Doner, Ted
Doner, Rose Doner; The Whip (sketch by Harry Wagstaff Gribble): Cyril Scott (John Mercer), Frank Byron
(Perry), Gilda Leary (Gloria Seabright); Out Front: Lou Holtz; The School of Expression: (1) “Pianologue”
(Edythe Baker); (2) “In Spain” (Dancer: Trini); (3) “Rain” (Joe Horn: Frank Greene; The Doctor: Frank By-
ron; Mrs. Davidson: Elsie May; Reverend Davidson: Cyril Scott; Sadie Thompson: Marie Dressler; Sergeant
O’Hara: Arthur Margetson; Father Time: Jack Wesley; Constable: Henry Stremel); and (4) “Pango Land”
(Pauo: Sally Fields); Bard and Pearl: Performers not credited in program; Venetia at the Ball: Tom Burke
(Rudolpho); Llora Hoffman (Mrs. Sheldon); Roy Remo (Mr. Jones); Frank Greene (Mr. Robinson); Marie
Dressler (Marie); Arthur Margetson (Bruce Chattfield); Trini (Anna); Ben Bard (Jack); Jack Pearl (Ben); La-
dies of the Ensemble: Mae Sullivan, Dolly Wegman, Louise Stark, Edna Stark, Florence Darling, Virginia
Calmer, Bobby McCree, Lys Doree, Jeanne Travers, Lota Cheeck, Fay Reed, Jeanne Elise, Margaret Hansel,
Dolores Edwards, Margaret Brill, Helen Rodgers, Billy Wagner, Jean Thomas, Sidney Nelson, Edith Pierce,
Orilla Smith, Carol Miller, Elsie Frank, Kay Mahoney, Poppy Morton, Buela Rubens. Florence Wilde, Lu-
cille Pryor, Marian Davis, Elsie May, Elsie Dunn, Renee Miller, Gladys Smith; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
William Neeley, Dona Mayo, Irvin Westley, George Ellison, Jack Forrester, Rodger Buckley
The action takes place during the present time aboard a ship on an Atlantic crossing, and during the voyage
the passengers offer entertainments that occur in such sundry places as Paris, Versailles, Spain, Pango
Pango, and New York’s Chinatown.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Lucky in Love” (Ensemble); “Any Little Girl Will Fall” (Kitty Doner, Rose Doner); “Hail U.S.A.”
(Llora Hoffman); “That American Boy of Mine” (lyric by Irving Caesar, music by George Gershwin) (Sally
Fields); Specialty: Trini; “Why Am I Sad?” (music by George Gershwin) (Tom Burke, Trini); “What Have
You to Declare?” (Rose Doner, Ted Doner); “The Bowery of Today” (Ted Doner, Kitty Doner); “My Love
Bouquet” (Trini, Arthur Margetson); “I’m a Devil with the Ladies” (Kitty Doner); “I’ve Been Wanting for
You” (music by A. J. Carey and Alfred Goodman) (Trini, Arthur Margetson); “Versailles” (Llora Hoffman);
“There Was the Punch” (lyric and music by Cole Porter) (Benny Leonard, Ensemble)
Act Two: “That Romance of Mine” (Tom Burke, Llora Hoffman, Arthur Margetson, Trini); “Cuddle Up”
(music by George Gershwin) (Kitty Doner, Rose Doner, Ted Doner); “Play Me a Tune” (lyric and music
by Cole Porter) (Edythe Baker, Ted Doner); “Pango Pango” (music by George Gershwin) (Sally Fields);
“Spanish Dance” (Trini); “Venetian” (Tom Burke, Llora Hoffman, Frank Greene, Roy Remo)
The Dancing Girl identified itself as a “musical play,” but was more in the nature of a revue with songs,
dances, in-one scenes, and sketches, all of them taking place aboard ship on an Atlantic crossing where many
of the passengers offer entertainment interludes set in such diverse locales as Paris, Versailles, Spain, Pango
Pango, and New York’s Chinatown. And the story? It was the old one about the rich boy and the poor girl. In
this case, he’s first-class passenger Bruce Chattfield (Arthur Margetson) and she’s strictly-from-steerage Anna
(Trini).
The Wall Street Journal said the “thread of plot” included “rapidly succeeding numbers” and an “almost
overgenerous offering” of songs, dances, and vaudeville turns. N.J. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle indicated there
was “something of a plot” (which “expires”), and the lengthy evening ran “well over into the next day.”
The New York Times indicated that the (early) programs were “noticeably silent” in regard to the show’s
“authorship,” but noted that the program credits ensured that “the shoemakers and furnishers receive their
customary attention.” The critic decided the “anonymity” resulted from “an entertainment that was evolved
rather than written,” and he mentioned that several months earlier the show was to have been the fifth edi-
tion of Hitchy Koo as a vehicle for Raymond Hitchcock and with songs by Cole Porter. Note that Hitchy
Koo closed in Philadelphia about three months before the New York opening of The Dancing Girl, and it was
produced by the Shuberts, directed by J. C. Huffman, written by Harold Atteridge, and included cast members
Benny Leonard, Edythe Baker, Llora Hoffman, and Jack Pearl, all of whom were later associated with The
Dancing Girl. Conchita Piquer also appeared in Hitchy Koo, and during the Broadway run of The Dancing
Girl she succeeded Trini.
The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter reports that two of Porter’s Hitchy Koo songs were included in The
Dancing Girl (but note that he went uncredited in the program for The Dancing Girl). Porter’s “The American
Punch” was performed during the first-act finale of Hitchy Koo (and was listed in the program as “It’s the
Punches”) and was sung by Hitchcock, Leonard, and ensemble; for The Dancing Girl it was heard as “There
Was the Punch,” again for the first-act finale and again sung by Leonard and ensemble. The second song was
“Play Me a Tune,” which Edythe Baker first sang in Hitchy Koo, then in The Dancing Girl (as a duet with
Ted Doner), and then later as “Play Us a Tune” in the 1925 London revue One Dam Thing after Another. The
Complete Lyrics includes the lyrics for “The American Punch” and “Play Me a Tune.”
Overall, the Times found the revue “shimmering” and “well-dressed” but with a lack of “real wit.” The
evening was “entirely too long,” and because of his deadline the critic missed what sounds like the best part of
the show, the parody of Rain (with Marie Dressler as Sadie Thompson), which “came along about midnight.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the material was all too familiar and the chorines “must be able to
go through it all with one leg tied behind them.” Dressler’s “art” was Parker’s “blind spot,” and the Rain
travesty was “maladroit,” in “incredibly bad taste,” and “most godawfully dull,” and Kitty Doner dressed in
male drag proved that “the only thing less amusing than a female impersonator is a male one.” Parker noted
that Cyril Scott wandered through the show “as if he clung desperately to the hope that he might wake up
any moment” and discover the entire evening was a “crazy dream.” As for Lou Holtz, he played his role in
blackface and sang “I Find ’Em, Feed ’Em, Fool ’Em, and Forget ’Em” (which doesn’t seem to have been listed
in the programs).
L.V. in Brooklyn Life found the show “the greatest entertainment ever seen under the Winter Garden
roof,” and Bide Dudley in the San Francisco Chronicle said the “big, elaborate musical revue” was “a very
good show.” Variety found the “revue vaudeville” a “pleasing show on the whole,” and noted it featured “a
lavish production, gorgeous costumes, tuneful and whistley songs and music, . . . and an excellent cast.”
Note that lightweight boxing champion Benny Leonard played himself, and one scene depicted two
rounds between him and Kid Sullivan (Allie Nack). Variety noted that Leonard was one of the show’s angels,
and also reported that in his “thespian” role he joined Pearl, Dressler, and the chorus and “did his stuff.” He
also appeared with Pearl in “several very funny comedy” scenes.
With the opening of The Dancing Girl, the public saw a refurbished Winter Garden. The Times reported
that in order to transform the theatre into an intimate venue more suitable for musicals rather than vaude-
ville and revues, the proscenium arch had been lowered and narrowed; the stage apron, which had extended
about five feet in a semicircle, had been eliminated; and the “celebrated” runway around the orchestra pit had
been removed. Further, smoking was now completely forbidden in the theatre.
During the run, “There Was the Punch” was dropped. At least one source indicates “Play Me a Tune,”
“Spanish Dance,” and “Venetian” were also cut, but if so they were reinstated and are listed in the program
for the final week of the Broadway run.
CAROLINE
Opening Date: January 31, 1923; Closing Date: June 9, 1923
Performances: 151
Book: German book by Herman Haller and Edward Rideamus (aka Fritz Oliven); English book and lyrics
adapted by Harry B. Smith and Edward Delaney Dunn (see below for more information)
1922–1923 Season 147
Music: Eduard Künneke (aka Charles Künneke); additional music by Alfred (Al) Goodman (see below for more
information)
Based on the 1921 operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda (The Cousin from Nowhere, aka The Cousin from Some-
where), libretto by Herman Haller and Edward Rideamus (aka Fritz Oliven) and music by Eduard Künneke
(aka Charles Künneke).
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Frank M. Gillespie;
Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Mme. Routon; Vanity Fair Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Fred Hoff
Cast: Tessa Kosta (Caroline Lee), Helen Shipman (Helen Calhoun), Harrison Brockbank (Brigadier General
Randolph Calhoun), Viola Gillette (Mrs. Calhoun), Barnett Parker (Digby Bretton), J. Harold Murray (Cap-
tain Robert Langdon), John Adair (Roderick Gray), Mattie Keene (Amanda), Ben Linn (Hannibal); Friends
of Helen and Caroline: Beatrice Wilson (Flora Wayne), Edna Duval (Isabel Marshall), Jane Brown (Edith
Varden), Kay Carlin (Gladys Carroll), Viola Duval (Mabel Preston), Mabel Olson (Joan Blythe), Vera Hoppe
(Josephine Hurley), Vonnie James (Irene Stone)
The action takes place just after the Civil War near Richmond, Virginia.
Musical Numbers
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all lyrics by Harry B. Smith and all music by Eduard Künneke.
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Telling Fortunes” (Mattie Keene, Helen Shipman, Girls); “When I Say It’s So, It’s
So” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Harrison Brockbank); “The Man in the Moon” (Tessa Kosta); “The
Old Virginia Reel” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Mattie Keene, Ben Linn); “The Piper You Must Pay
(Pay the Piper)” (Barnett Parker, Helen Shipman, Girls); “Hello, Hello” (lyric and music unknown; music
possibly by Eduard Künneke) (J. Harold Murray); “Land of Enchantment (Land of Romance)” (lyric by
Harry B. Smith, music by Eduard Künneke and Alfred Goodman); Finale
Act Two: “Will o’ the Wisp” (Tessa Kosta, J. Harold Murray, Harrison Brockbank, Helen Shipman, Viola Gil-
lette); “Sweetheart” (Tessa Kosta, J. Harold Murray); “Shoulder Arms” (Barnett Parker, Helen Shipman,
Girls); “Argentine” (lyric by Harry B. Smith, music by Eduard Künneke and Alfred Goodman) (Ensemble);
“Love’s Last Day” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Ensemble); Finale
Act Three: “Way Down South” (lyric by Harry B. Smith, music by Alfred Goodman) (Helen Shipman, Girls);
“Who Cares for a Name” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Tessa Kosta, J. Harold Murray, John Adair)
Caroline began life as the German operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda (The Cousin from Nowhere, aka The
Cousin from Somewhere), which premiered in Berlin on April 15, 1921, at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz.
The libretto was by Herman Haller and Edward Rideamus (aka Fritz Oliven) and the score by Eduard Künneke
(aka Charles Künneke). For the American adaptation, additional music was composed by Alfred (Al) Good-
man, and the book and lyrics were credited to Harry B. Smith and Edward Delaney Dunn. There’s contra-
dictory information concerning whether or not Dunn wrote any of the lyrics for the American version, and,
similarly, Sigmund Romberg may or may not have contributed the music for a few songs in the Broadway
production. Romberg was in many respects the Shuberts’ house composer, and so he could have been easily
involved with the production. On the other hand, William A. Everett’s Sigmund Romberg doesn’t make any
mention of Caroline in his analysis of Romberg’s music.
The American version took place shortly after the Civil War near Richmond, Virginia, and the Cinderella-
like story focused on the poor Caroline Lee (Tessa Kosta), a ward in the home of her uncle General Calhoun.
As a young girl, Caroline was moonstruck by her then sweetheart Roderick Gray (John Adair), whom she
hasn’t seen in years, and she remembers her cousin Robert Langdon (J. Harold Murray) with disdain. Langdon
has now escaped from a Union prison, and when he visits the Calhouns he pretends to be Roderick. Need-
less to say Caroline falls in love with “Roderick,” discovers she’s the heiress to a fortune, and the final song
asked “Who Cares for a Name.”
The New York Times said the score was “fully the equal of any musical comedy of recent years,” and
while the book was generally humorless it was “really not so bad as to interfere with the enjoyment of the
rest of the show” and the music was “too beautiful to suffer in competition” with the book. The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch praised the “delightful” music and noted that many would “appreciate and encourage a score
just a little more delicately fashioned and expressed than the slipshod whirligig tunes of the average musical
comedy.” However, the musical’s trip from Berlin to New York met “misfortune” in regard to its plot, and
“nothing very exciting” happened “between the song numbers.” The show was “woefully deficient” in hu-
mor, and the principal comedian (Barnett Parker in the role of a Northern claims agent) adapted “the pretty
generally objectionable effeminate pose of the burlesques.”
Brooklyn Life said the plot may have been “slight” and some of the humor “musty,” but otherwise Caro-
line was “refreshing” because it avoided “eccentric dancing, vaudeville business, jazzy music and raucous
singing.” Instead, it was “melodious” and “the sort of thing one hums all the way home and is bound to hear
played by dance orchestras.” The headline of the Wall Street Journal happily proclaimed that the evening was
“A Jazzless Musical Offering,” and thus the “thoroughly Continental” score was “tuneful and musicianly”
with “unusual and concerted numbers.” The “complete absence of jazz” was “refreshing,” there weren’t even
“three bars of syncopation,” and the orchestra pit was free of saxophones and trombones. Variety noted that
the small number of cast members gave Caroline an “edge” because it was “far less expensive” to run than
other operettas of its ilk and thus “not only looks like a hit, but a big money maker.”
During part of its tryout, the musical’s title was Virginia. One of the show’s pre-Broadway stops was
Brooklyn’s Majestic Theatre, where it was reviewed by E.A. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He found it “charm-
ing, delightful, tuneful and amusing,” and while the plot wasn’t “altogether unconventional,” it was “well
told” and “interestingly told,” and any musical “that leaves the audience at the end of the first act in doubt
of the outcome is a novelty.”
There were two German film versions of the operetta (in 1934 and 1953), and highlights from the score
sung in German and titled The Cousin from Somewhere (released on a pairing with Oscar Straus’s Ein Wal-
zerstraum, aka A Waltz Dream) were issued by MGM Records (LP # E/SE-4092-P) and later on CD by the
Corona Classics Collection.
SUN SHOWERS
“A Downpour of Song, Dance and Laughter” / “A Musical Rainbow” / “The Musical Comedy Hit of 1923”
Theatre: Astor Theatre

Opening Date: February 5, 1923; Closing Date: March 17, 1923
Performances: 48
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Harry Delf
Direction: Frederick Stanhope; Producer: Lew Cantor; Choreography: Seymour Felix (additional choreography
by Larry Ceballos); Scenery: Robert Law; Vitolo-Pearson Studios; Costumes: Mabel Johnston; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Fred T. Fleming
Cast: Berta Donn (May Worthy), Harriette Lee (Minnie Silver), Claire Grenville (Mrs. Thompson), Douglas Ste-
venson (Bobby Brown), Harry Delf (Jerry Jackson), Allyn King (Alice Worthy), Tom Dingle (Tommy Dugan,
Specialty Dancer); Members of the Board of Education: Eddie Winthrop (Joseph Green), Mack Wells (William
Blue), William Schutt (John Black), and Jack Kennedy (Ralph White); John Boswell (Pierre); Waiters: Frank
Anderson (François), Lee Houston (Louis), and George Berlow (Gaston); Patsey Delaney (Specialty Dancer);
Ensemble: Gene West, Ina Cassidy, Helen Jackson, Grace Cassidy, Mae Reny Grady, Ethelyn Tillman, Syl-
via Carol, Gerry Bachelor, Julia Warren, Betty Broughton, Beatrice O’Connor, Phyllis Reynolds
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Get Him on a Moonlit Night” (Berta Donn, Girls); “He Loves Me” (Allyn King, Girls); “How Do
You Doodle?” (Berta Donn, Harry Delf); “Sun Showers” (Allyn King, Berta Donn, Douglas Stevenson,
Harry Delf); “I’m a Greenwich Village Chambermaid” (Harriette Lee, Girls); “Everyone Is Beautiful in
Someone’s Eyes” (Allyn King, Douglas Stevenson)
1922–1923 Season 149
Act Two: “Oh! Professor” (Board of Education Members, Girls); Specialty Dance (Mack Wells, Eddie Win-
throp); “Worth While Waiting For” (Allyn King, Douglas Stevenson); “In the Morning” (Berta Donn, Harry
Delf); “Each Little Jack Is Some Girl’s Little John” (Douglas Stevenson, Girls); “Speak without Any Com-
punction” (Harriette Lee, Tom Dingle); Reprise (song and performer[s] not identified in program)
Act Three: “Yours Truly” (Allyn King, Girls); “Clip, Clip the Coupons” (Waiters, Claire Grenville); “Terpsi-
chore, the Goddess of Dance” (Harry Delf); Dance (Tom Dingle); Finale
I.K. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Sun Showers was a show “whose chief reason for existence is to
please the visitors from Oshkosh.” The “thin” story dealt with a group of “good looking” school teachers
who strike for a pay raise and (using one of the era’s favorite words) “vamp” the members of the Board of
Education until they get the increase. Metcalfe in the Wall Street Journal noted that the plot “ties itself in so
many knots that it frequently dies of strangulation,” and the New York Times stated that with Sun Showers
musical comedy “reduced itself almost to an absurdity.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said the show was a “monument—unfortunately a somewhat perishable one”
to the “energy” of Harry Delf, who starred in the production and also wrote the book, lyrics, and music. The
Times said Delf “consciously challenges the younger” George M. Cohan. But as an actor, he was “simply
not funny,” and the “harder” he tried the “less funny” he became with a manner that soon developed into
“almost insufferable self-assurance.” On the other hand, the Eagle decided Delf “supplied some relief from
the general drabness.”
As with so many musicals of the era, dance specialties ruled the day, and the Times reported that the
chorus members were “as youthful and energetic and personable” as any “seen this season” and “infinitely
superior to the principals.” By the second act, they “broke into a dancing frenzy” and saved the show from
being “just another one of those things.” There was “seemingly no end” to the specialties, and dancer Tom
Dingle “literally stopped the show with an acrobatic specialty in the second act finale.” Metcalfe mentioned
that the second act “ends in a terpsichorean whirl that leaves both company and audience breathless,” and
it was “a miracle of endurance that the young women of the chorus are able to last out the performance.”
But the Eagle suggested the dances “might possibly obtain applause from an undiscriminating vaudeville
audience.” The Eagle also said there were tunes “nobody was humming as the audience left” and there “was
some of the most fatuous dialogue given in the silliest manner that this reviewer has had to suffer under in
many cold winters.” Metcalfe noted that the show began “awkwardly,” but grew “more musical and more
amusing” as it went along and soon reached “a fairly good level in those qualities.” Variety said the musical
was “charmingly but undeniably thin,” but if it could “last in New York long enough to get a bit of reputa-
tion, it ought to get by with several road companies” and would “coin on tour.”
Sun Showers managed to run six weeks in New York, and like so many indifferently received musicals
of the era, the production went on tour. The flyer for the Boston stand at the Wilbur Theatre boasted that
the show starred Harry Delf and “The Famous Rainbow Chorus of 30,” but included a warning for potential
ticket-buyers: “Seat Sale a Land Slide—Buy Yours in Advance.”
WILDFLOWER
“A Musical Play”

Performances: 477
Book and Lyrics: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music: Herbert Stothart and Vincent Youmans
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Frank
E. Gates & Edward A. Morange; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Herbert Stothart
Cast: Jerome Daley (Luigi), Olin Howard (Gabrielle), Charles Judels (Gaston La Roche), Evelyn Cavanaugh (Bi-
anca Benedetto), James Doyle (Alberto), Guy Robertson (Guido), Edith Day (Nina Benedetto), Esther How-
ard (Lucrezia La Roche); Ladies of the Ensemble: Helen Lewis, Emmy Tottersall, Genevieve Markham,
Marie Otto, Agnes Horter, Phyllis Oakland, Myrtle Miller, Ursula Mack, Elizabeth Coyle, Peggy Stohl,
Sybil Steward, Verona Oakley, Marion Phillips, Viola Clarens, Beverly Maude, Hazel Bryant, Muriel Har-
rison, Gladys Dore; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Robert Hurst, Eugene Costello, Paul Porter, Charles
Froom, Louis Laub, Frank Grinnel, William McGurn, Kenneth Smith
The action takes place during the present time in Casimo, a small village in Lombardy, Italy, and at Lake
Como.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Vincent Youmans; (**) = music by Herbert Stothart
Act One: “Iloveyouiloveyou” (aka “I Love You” and “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You”) (*) (Olin Howard,
Girls); “Some Like to Hunt” (**) (Charles Judels, Girls); “Wildflower” (*) (Guy Robertson); “Bambalina”
(*) (Edith Day, Ensemble); “I’ll Collaborate with You” (**) (Esther Howard, Olin Howard); “April Blos-
soms” (**) (Edith Day, Guy Robertson); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Best Dance I’ve Had Tonight” (composer unknown) (Evelyn Cavanaugh, Chorus); “Course I
Will” (*) (Edith Day, James Doyle, Olin Howard); “The Girl from Casimo” (**) (Guy Robertson, Chorus);
“If I Told You” (*) (Edith Day, Boys); “Good-Bye, Little Rosebud” (**) (Guy Robertson, Ensemble); Finale
(Ensemble)
Act Three: “Bambalina” (reprise) (Edith Day, James Doyle, Ensemble); “The World’s Worst Women” (**) (Es-
ther Howard, Olin Howard); “You (I) Can Always Find Another Partner” (*) (Edith Day, Ensemble); Finale
Vincent Youmans and Herbert Stothart’s Wildflower was the longest-running musical of the season, and
also the longest-running of all Youmans’s shows, even surpassing his best-known hits No, No, Nanette and
Hit the Deck! Youmans and Stothart wrote separate songs for the musical, and didn’t collaborate on the num-
bers (although they may have jointly composed the second-act opener “The Best Dance I’ve Had Tonight”).
The plot of Wildflower was a piffle, and its basic story line was later echoed in Yes, Yes, Yvette and the
screenplay for the 1950 film Tea for Two, in which the hero of the former must tell the truth for twenty-four
hours or lose a $30,000 bet, and the heroine of the latter must promise to say “no” to everything for a forty-
eight-hour period in order to receive funds from her investments. In the case of Wildflower, which was set
in present-day Italy, the feisty and headstrong heroine Nina (Edith Day) mustn’t lose her temper for a period
of six months or otherwise she won’t inherit the 20,000 lire bequeathed to her by her grandfather. The other
would-be heirs do their best to annoy Nina, including her waspish cousin Bianca (Evelyn Cavanaugh). Of
course, Nina holds reign on her temper, inherits the fortune, and gets the guy (Guy Robertson, who played
the farmer Guido).
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s admitted the book was “nothing to toss your hat in the air about,” but the
score was “wholly delightful,” Day and comedian Olin Howard were pleasing, and the chorus “engaging,”
and so if you said Wildflower was “‘the season’s best musical show,’ you could conscientiously feel that you
hadn’t trifled with the truth.” Metcalfe in the Wall Street Journal said the show was “a good deal above the
average” and appeared “likely to be a tenant” at the Casino “for some time to come.” He singled out “Bam-
balina” as “likely to gain drawing-room popularity and bring strained knee and hip joints to the debs and
sub-debs who attempt to imitate Miss Day’s vigorous interpretation of it.” And “The World’s Worst Women”
offered “real humor” in describing Mrs. Potiphar, Salome, and Thais.
Bide Dudley in the San Francisco Chronicle said Day “scored a triumph” with her “excellent” voice
and “acting ability of a high order.” Dudley noted that the final curtain provided a “novel finish” because it
depicted “a dramatic situation, one entirely without music”: Day and Robertson’s characters “have been es-
tranged through a misunderstanding” and as he hesitates she “literally compels him to take her in his arms.”
This was “a piece of emotional acting on her part which can hardly be described.” Variety also singled out
this moment, and noted the scene avoided the “routine” by presenting the lovers alone on the stage without
the chorus. And when the two embraced, a wind effect shook a nearby apple tree which “provided a picture
of the couple being showered” by blossoms.
When Youmans and Stothart read the unsigned review in the New York Times, they must have been sur-
prised to discover that Wildflower’s score had been written by Rudolf Friml. Yes, this was the “most tuneful”
1922–1923 Season 151
score Friml had written “in a number of seasons” and “the laurels of the evening [were] thus pinned upon
Mr. Friml.” The music “fell pleasantly upon the ear,” and “Bambalina” was “destined to be heard all over
the town for a long time to come.” Day looked “radiant,” Robertson was “personable,” and the production
was “all that could be desired.”
The London production opened on February 17, 1926, at the Shaftesbury Theatre for 115 performances
with Kitty Reidy (Nina) and Howett Worster (Guido). Reidy and Worster, with the London chorus members
and orchestra, recorded four songs from the musical (“Wildflower,” “I Can Always Find Another Partner,”
“Bambalina,” and “April Blossoms”), and two medleys were recorded by the orchestra (“Casimo,” “I Love
You,” “You Can’t/Can Never Blame a Girl for Dreaming,” and “Goodbye, Little Rosebud”; and “Wildflower,”
“April Blossoms,” “Bambalina,” and “Goodbye, Little Rosebud.” The London tracks were later issued by
Monmouth-Evergreen Records (LP # MES-7052), and the collection also includes selections from the 1926
London edition of Tip-Toes.
Hammerstein’s lyrics for Wildflower are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of
Oscar Hammerstein II.
Some sources indicate “The Chase,” “Come, Let Us Dance through the Night,” and a second dance
sequence (“Dance”) were performed in the production, and if so they were probably added during the run
because they aren’t listed in the opening night program. During the run, “If I Told You” was cut and replaced
by another song by Youmans titled “You Can Never Blame a Girl for Dreaming” (“If I Told You” was later
recycled as “Virginia” for Rainbow). Note that during the tryout (and for the show’s early sheet music) the
show’s title was given as The Wildflower. Three songs were cut prior to New York (“True Love Will Never
Grow Old,” “Friends Who Understand,” and “Everything Is All Right”), and all appear to be lost and aren’t
included in the Complete Lyrics. For the London production, “The Best Dance I’ve Had Tonight” wasn’t used,
and in its place “Come, Let Us Dance through the Night” was substituted.
GO-GO
Theatre: Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Apollo Theatre)
Opening Date: March 12, 1923; Closing Date: July 14, 1923
Performances: 138
Book: Harry L. Cort and George E. Stoddard
Lyrics: Alex Rogers
Music: C. Luckyeth (“Lucky”) Roberts
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: John Cort; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Beaux Arts Studio; Cos-
tumes: Shirley Baker; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Kathi Murray (Mrs. Parker), Paul Burns (Otis Hubbard), Josephine Stevens (Isabel Parker, Florabel
Parker), Vangi Murray (Margy), May Boley (Mrs. Phyllis Full), Lora Sonderson (Telma Finnish), Billy Clif-
ford (Senator Locksmith; at least one source indicated Frank Doane played this role on opening night),
Don Barclay (Oswald Piper), Bernard Granville (Jack Locksmith), Nitzi Vernille (Vernille), D. L. Roberts
(Briggs), Santley and Norton (Specialty Dancers); Dancers: Hilda Major, Agnes Allan, Helyn Miller, Ethel
Loraine, Nellie Daly, May Whitney, Florence Gladstone, Bonnie Shaw, Paulette Winston, Marie Frawley,
Jean Picard, Sophia Howard, Roslyn Roland, Adeline Brunner, Sadie Howard, Gladys Miller, Cecelia (pos-
sibly Cecielia) Cullen, Marie Cattell, Jack McElroy, George Saule, Jack Kearney, George Schaffran, Henry
Levey, Fred Harris, Mack Davis, Phil Newton
The action takes place during the present time in Honey Falls, New York; New York City; and High Ball
Point, Connecticut, on Long Island Sound.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture: “Descriptive Music” (Orchestra); “New York Town” (Paul Burns, Girls); “Whipperwill”
(Josephine Stevens, Girls); “Good Bye, Honey Falls” (Josephine Stevens, Girls); “Have You Any Little
Thing?” (Girls and Boys, Vangi Murray); “Any Old Time at All” (Lora Sonderson); “I’m Scared of You”
(Billy Clifford, Lora Sonderson); “Rosetime and You” (Bernard Granville, Chorus); “Happy” (Josephine
Stevens, Paul Burns); “Strutting the Blues Away” (Josephine Stevens, Ensemble); Specialty Dance (Santley
and Norton); “Honey” (May Boley, Don Barclay); “Wonderful Dance” (Bernard Granville, Chorus); Dance
(Nitzi Vernille, Bernard Granville); Dance (Bernard Granville, Adeline Brunner); “Mo’lasses” (Josephine
Stevens, Company)
Act Two: “Indian Moon” (Lora Sonderson); Dance (Nitzi Vernille); “Uno” (Don Barclay, Girls); “Isabel”
(Bernard Granville); “Lolly-Papa” (May Boley, Girls); “An Old Man’s Darling” (Lora Sonderson, Girls);
“Go-Go Bug” (Bernard Granville, Paul Burns); “Rosetime and You” (reprise) (Josephine Stevens, Bernard
Granville); “Pat Your Feet” (Paul Burns, Company)
Go-Go played four months in New York, and today is distinguished as one of the few Broadway musicals
written by both a black lyricist and composer (Alex Rogers and C. Luckyeth “Lucky” Roberts) for a “white”
show with white characters (Rogers and Roberts teamed up the following season for Sharlee, another “white”
show). Note that Thomas “Fats” Waller’s 1943 hit Early to Bed also falls into this category (although there
were two or three black characters in the story, the leading ones were white).
Go-Go followed the pattern of so many of the era’s musicals and thus offered a number of specialty dances
(four in all, three of which were titled “Dance”). The show opened at Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre, formerly
known as the 63rd Street Music Hall, the original home of the two hit black musicals Shuffle Along and Liza.
The story was the old one about mistaken identity. Back in France, Jack Locksmith (Bernard Granville)
lost his heart to the demure and simple country girl Isabel Parker (Josephine Stevens), and when he later
meets her in New York her personality is completely different and she’s become a cabaret entertainer! How
can this be! Well, it turns out that the cabaret girl is none other than Isabel’s identical twin sister Florabel
Parker (also played by Stevens). Just imagine! What a musical comedy coincidence! Of course, Jack knows
naught about the twin-sister situation, and musical comedy confusion reigns supreme. Because Jack mistakes
Florabel for Isabel, one might logically assume Florabel would figure out the reason for his bewilderment and
clear up the muddle. But an explanation to Jack would have broken a musical comedy rule and there would
have been no second act.
The New York Times said the “noisy” evening began with an overture (“Descriptive Music”) that “burst
the saxophones” and ended with an ensemble number (“Pat Your Feet”) that “ripped and roared with ‘rubato
rage.’” The routines for the chorus girls were “bewildering” and buck-and-wing dancers “cut gauche capers,”
while the principal players “dashed up and down and dancers defied the limitations of the human body.” Spe-
cialty dancer Nitzi Vernille “varied dancing with daring contortion,” proceeded to twist herself “into absurd
knots,” and then gathered “her spare parts together and left the stage.” Further, the score included “several
very bad sentimental” numbers. Ultimately, the show offered nothing but “the din, the clanger, the blare,
the bobbery and the pandemonium of orchestra and dancer.” As a result of all this, the audience “burst into
perspiration.”
G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Vernille was “able to kick, back drop, twist and squirm in a manner
which is enthusiastic and, at times, almost artistic,” Granville supplied “some double-jointed steps,” and the
show’s “pep and ginger” was “frankly an antidote for nervous prostration, as feared by downtown New York
in its uptown evenings.” Time stated that “no white chorus ever went quite so fast before,” and the pace was
“terrifying.” There was the “blare of trombones, a rattle of traps, a shriek of voices,” and the audience had
no recourse but to hold hand to “fevered brow,” blink “agitatedly,” watch the scenes “fly by,” and “shudder”
over the jokes. As for Vernille, she became “inextricably tangled up” but then unwound and seemed “to be as
good as new.” In contrast, the other cast members were “comparatively normal and adequate.”
Lucien H. White in the New York Age said Go-Go wasn’t the first time Broadway offered an “all-white
cast” with lyrics and music by “colored men,” but it was “no exaggeration” to state that no other show of-
fered “so strong an array of artists” in a production “staged with such sumptuous artistry.” He singled out
a number of songs: the “lilt and swing” of “Whipperwill”; the “sweet entrancing melody” of “Rosetime and
You”; the “alluring sweetness” of the waltz “Wonderful Dance”; the “lively” and “snappy” show-stopper
“Uno”; and “Isabel,” “Go-Go Bug,” “Indian Moon,” and at least six others possessed “merit” and were en-
titled to “consideration.”
Variety found the music “mostly machine-made” but noted that “all the tunes are pleasing,” includ-
ing “Rosetime and You,” which was “rather fascinating in lilt.” But it was the choreography that made the
evening “a truly lively dancing show,” with “16 girls whose variegated talents sparkle” and were “the most
1922–1923 Season 153
electric chorus in the world.” The book, however, was “part specialty show, part burlesque and part polite
musical comedy” and was nothing out of the ordinary. And the humor was “typical” with quips and “jaunty”
come-backs offered “with an almost threatening gesture, as though an audience could be nagged into sponta-
neous laughter.” For example, when the comedienne says “Take away my clothes, take away my cigarettes,
but leave my love,” the retort is “At last I hear the naked truth.”
JACK AND JILL


Performances: 92
Book: Frederic Isham and Otto Harbach
Lyrics: John Murray Anderson, Otto Harbach, and Augustus Barratt; additional lyrics by Oliver Deering,
Blanche Merrill, and Ivor Novello
Music: Augustus Barratt; additional music by William Daly, Alfred Newman, Ivor Novello, and Muriel Pol-
lock
Based on the play The Cherry Tree by Frederic Isham (which wasn’t produced on Broadway).
Direction: Dialogue directed by John Harwood and “entire production devised and staged” by John Murray
Anderson; Producers: The Chelsea Production Corporation (Hugh A. Anderson, Managing Director) and a
John Murray Anderson Production; Choreography: Larry Ceballos; Scenery: Frederick Jones III; Costumes:
Robert Locher; Gilbert Clark; Frederick Jones III (costumes also by Howard Greer; Brooks-Mahieu; Clifton
Webb); Lighting: Electrical equipment by Calcium Light Co.; Musical Direction: Charles Previn
Cast: Gladys Burgette (A Descendant of Mary Ball), Donald MacDonald (Jack Andrews), Brooke Johns (Don-
ald Lee), Winifred Verina (Marcia Manners), Beth Beri (Phyllis Sisson), Georgia O’Ramey (Mrs. Malone),
Lennox Pawle (Duke of Dippinton), Virginia O’Brien (Jill Malone), Clifton Webb (Jimmy Eustace), Ann
Pennington (Gloria Wayne), Roger Imhof (Daniel Malone), Lena Basquette (Maid), Carlos Conte (Foot-
man), Russell Scott (Butler), Eleanora Grover (Mrs. Foote), America Chedister (Mrs. DePeyster Fish),
Metta Louise Orr (Mrs. Sylvester Jones); Solo Dancers: Leon Barte, Nyoka-Nyoka, Beatrice Collenette,
Helene Blair, Gayle Mays, Ward Fox, Claudius Webster; Solo Singers: Astrid Ohlson, Brenda Bond, Eileen
Lawrie, Nathalie Malowan, Russell Scott, Jean Barney, Lester O’Keefe, Leslie Joy; Ensemble: Alden Gay,
Eleanora Grover, Tarzanne, Cynthia Cambridge, Peggy Fish, Joan Clement, America Chedister, Anna Mae
Clift, Violet Lobelle, Anne Buckley, Eleanor Labelle, Elizabeth North, Kathleen Ardelle, Edna Locke, Elsa
Doria, Pauline Doria, Geraldine Markham, Barbara Cavello; Corps de Ballet: Geneva Price, Doris Vinton,
“Cricket,” “Kiki” Maxwell, Julia Parker
The action takes place during the past and present time, and part of the action occurs in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); Prologue: “Standing beneath my family tree . . .” (Gladys Burgette); “Antiques”
(Donald MacDonald); “Voodoo Man” (lyric by Otto Harbach, music by Alfred Newman) (Brooke Johns);
“Concentrate” (lyric by Otto Harbach, music by Alfred Newman) (Ann Pennington, Clifton Webb); “Girls
Grow More Wonderful Day by Day” (Roger Imhof; Dancers: Beth Beri, Beatrice Collenette, Helene Blair);
“No Other Eyes” (Virginia O’Brien); “The Keys of Heaven” (Astrid Ohlson and Lester O’Keefe, Eileen
Lawrie and Russell Scott, Nathalie Malowan and Leslie Joy, Virginia O’Brien and Donald MacDonald);
“Hello! Good-Bye” (lyric by Otto Harbach, music by William Daly) (Clifton Webb)
Act Two: (Note: For the first three songs in this act, Edna Baldwick was the pianist.) “Married Life Blues”
(Brooke Johns); “Bug in a Rug” (Virginia O’Brien, Clifton Webb); “Pretty City Girl” (lyric by Otto Harbach,
music by William Daly) (Ann Pennington, Brooke Johns); “Web of Dreams” (Virginia O’Brien); Ballet:
“Venetian Lace Episode”—“Point Venice—A Ballad of the Bobbins” (ballet taken from a synopsis and
design by Georgiana Brown Harbeson and choreographed by Leon Barte) (The Lacemaker: Astrid Ohlson;
The Story Teller: Gladys Burgette; The Lovers: Lena Basquette and Leon Barte; The Lace Pattern: Eileen
Lawrie and Ward Fox, and Metta Louise Orr and Gayle Mays; Corps de Ballet); “And Her Mother Came
Too!” (lyric by Dion Titheradge, music by Ivor Novello) (Clifton Webb); “Poor Little Wall Flower” (lyric
by Blanche Merrill, music by Muriel Pollock) (Ann Pennington)
Act Three: “Fleeting Honeymoon” (Russell Scott); “Valse” (Lena Basquette and Leon Barte); “Dancing in the
Dark” (lyric by Oliver Deering, music by Muriel Pollock) (Clifton Webb and Beth Bari); “Jack and Jill”
(Virginia O’Brien, Donald MacDonald); (Untitled Dance) (Nyoka-Nyoka); “Ophelia” (Georgia O’Ramey,
Lennox Pawle, Clifton Webb); “My Cherokee Rose” (Brooke Johns, Ann Pennington)
Jack and Jill was a revue-like book musical that offered a large cast, lavish décor, a wide range of dances
(from Ann Pennington’s flapper gyrations to ballet), and numerous book writers, lyricists, and composers
(ten in all). But for all its efforts, the show received middling reviews and closed after just ninety-two perfor-
mances. It’s not that they didn’t try: during the run and the post-Broadway tour, numbers were repositioned,
and others added, dropped, and even retitled.
Variety reported that within days after the premiere Roger Imhof, Lennox Pawle, and Georgia O’Ramey
were respectively replaced by Lew Fields, Charles Judels, and Lulu McConnell (because of Fields’s dialect,
Variety noted that his character’s name was changed from Malone to Mandel). Further, “several” new songs
were set to be interpolated into the score with lyrics by Joseph McCarthy and music by Harry Tierney.
The prologue informed us that the story was based on the legend of the cherry tree chopped down by
George Washington. It seems it was made into a chair, and whoever sits on it is forced to tell the truth. As the
New York Times noted, the main characters are “involved in a skein of lies,” all of which are resolved when
they sit on the chair and are compelled to tell the truth. Mrs. Malone (Georgia O’Ramey) is determined that her
daughter Jill (Virginia O’Brien) will enter into a loveless marriage with Jimmy Eustace (Clifton Webb), although
the girl is smitten with Jack Andrews (Donald MacDonald). Happily, Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s reported that
Jill sits in the magic chair, tells the truth, the marriage is called off, and she’s free to marry her Jack.
The Times found the musical undistinguished and noted that “for surely the dozenth time” O’Ramey was
handed a role that gave her “absolutely no opportunity for showing her proven talents,” and comedian Roger
Imhof “had the rare distinction of being provided with a long, allegedly comic part without a single humor-
ous line.” As for the score, it was “none too new to provoke comment and none too old to awaken sacred
memories,” and the show’s bright spots were the “pertness and charm” of Pennington’s dances, including
one (probably “Pretty City Girl”) set to banjo accompaniment by Brooke Johns, which “stopped the show.”
Parker praised the décor and Pennington but noted the evening lacked “a diverting book, distinctive mu-
sic, good comedians, and one or two jokes.” The show was “always delightful to look at,” but so was “an ex-
pertly made coconut layer cake.” Time suggested the musical should have been performed in Russian by the
Moscow Players, and in that way the audience “would be spared a certain degree of pain.” The music was “not
offensive” and the sets had “real beauty,” but then there was all that tiresome business about the magic chair.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Pennington had never before “danced so well” and had
never been “saucier, jauntier, friskier, perter, bonnier, nor had more dimples on her knees.” Although “ex-
tremely catchy” and “vigorous,” the songs lacked “originality,” some of the cast members seemed “sluggish,”
and because the opening performance went on until almost midnight, perhaps cuts would “enliven” the pro-
duction. But the show lacked humor, and Pollock wondered just “where” the necessary laughs would come
from. Actually, there was some humor in the show, and Pollock reported that “one line got roars last night.”
But the laugh was “entirely accidental and the producers will hardly dare to leave it in.” Unfortunately, he
didn’t expand on this tantalizing comment, and it seems the other critics didn’t even mention it. So, what-
ever it was that garnered “roars” from the audience (and daren’t be repeated) is now lost to theatrical history.
Heywood Broun in the New York World announced that there were in fact two chairs made from Wash-
ington’s cherry tree, and Broun himself was sitting on the second one as he wrote his truthful review. Jack
and Jill was “not much of a show” and it “largely omitted” laughter. It seems that producer John Murray
Anderson was so intent on the “gloss” of the décor that he became “quite oblivious to the utterly threadbare
nature of the book.” The voices of the cast were “ordinary” and little in the score was “compelling,” but there
was much in the way of “lively” dancing, particularly by Pennington. She was the “only stimulant” on stage,
and she “stopped the show, but not permanently,” with “Pretty City Girl” which she sang “very badly” but
danced with “grace, charm and a high degree of imagination.” (Pennington’s greatest Broadway moment came
in the 1926 edition of George White’s Scandals where she introduced the dance sensation “Black Bottom.”)
1922–1923 Season 155
Variety said the show was a “musical comedy with the settings and atmosphere of a revue,” and while there
were “several pretty” songs, there were “no real song hits.” The trade paper also reported that the “rich pro-
duction” with “gorgeous” costumes and “exceptional” décor was purported to cost $100,000, but “insiders”
suggested that figure was inflated by about 15 percent.
The musical’s best-known song was the interpolation “And Her Mother Came Too” (lyric by Dion Tith-
eradge and music by Ivor Novello), which was listed in the opening night program of Jack and Jill as “Her
Mother Came Too!” The song, a comic lament by a suitor never left alone with his girl because of her om-
nipresent mother, was first introduced by Jack Buchanan in the hit 1921 London revue A to Z, and for Jack
and Jill was sung by Clifton Webb. Earlier in the season during the tryout of Jerome Kern’s The Bunch and
Judy, the song was interpolated into the score as a specialty for comedian Joseph Cawthorn. When Cawthorn
suffered an onstage injury during a tryout performance in Philadelphia, he was forced to leave the production
(and was succeeded by Johnny Dooley) and the song was cut from the show.
With Otto Harbach, Frederic Isham was the cowriter of the book for Jack and Jill, which was based on
his play The Cherry Tree (which wasn’t produced in New York). Isham was represented by another “truther”
show on Broadway when his 1914 novel Nothing but the Truth was adapted by James Montgomery into the
hit 1916 comedy of the same name (the critic for the New York Herald thanked George Washington for his
part in the production). The comedy was reworked as the 1932 musical Tell Her the Truth, which lasted for
just eleven Broadway performances.
ELSIE
Performances: 40
Book: Charles W. Bell
Lyrics: Noble Sissle and Monte Carlo
Music: Eubie Blake and Alma M. Sanders
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: John Jay Scholl; Choreography: Walter Brooks; Bert French; Scenery:
Rothe & Teichner; Costumes: Gilman Co.; Brooks-Mathieu Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Eugene Salzer
Cast: Luella Gear (Margery Hammond), Stanley Ridges (Fred Blakely), Ada Meade (Anne Westford), John Ar-
thur (Alfie Westford), Maude Turner Gordon (Mrs. Philip Hammond), Frederic Burt (Philip Hammond),
Marguerite Zender (Elsie), Irma Marwick (Irma), Vinton Freedley (Harry Hammond), William Cameron
(Parker), Opal Hixson (Julie), Nell Ames (Vivienne), Helen Doty (Esme), Elyne Yselle (Maureen), Layman
and Kling (Specialty Dancers), Maida Harries (Bunny), Hilda Burt (Teddy), Neida Snow (Babe), Lucile
Godard (Maisie), Lucille Poirier (Toots), Virginia Kelley (Goldie), Helen Borden (Stella), Flo Clark (Floss),
Helen Christian (Veda)
The action takes place during the present time in Idlewild.
Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake; (**) = lyric by Monte Carlo and music by Alma
M. Sanders
Act One: “A Regular Guy” (*) (William Cameron, Girls); “One Day in May” (**) (Girls); “Hearts in Tune” (*)
(Vinton Freedley, Marguerite Zender); “Elsie” (**) (Marguerite Zender); “My Crinoline Girl” (*) (Vinton
Freedley, Marguerite Zender, Girls, Four Crinoline Girl Dancers)
Act Two: “I’d Like to Walk with a Pal Like You” (*) (Marguerite Zender, Stanley Ridges); “Two Lips Are
Roses” (**) (Stanley Ridges, Girls, Four Crinoline Girl Dancers); “Baby Bunting” (*) (Luella Gear, Stanley
Ridges); “Honeymoon Home” (**) (Vinton Freedley, Marguerite Zender, Girls); “Send Flowers” (*) (Mar-
guerite Zender, Girls)
Act Three: “The Firefly” (**) (Marguerite Zender, Maida Harries, Girls); “Miniature Ballet” (Four Sylphides);
Specialty Dance (Layman and Kling); “Symphonic Poem” (music by Eugene Salzer) (John Arthur); “Ev-
erybody’s Strutting Now” (*) (Stanley Ridges, Luella Gear, Girls); “Thunderstorm Jazz” (*) (Ada Meade,
John Arthur, Luella Gear, Stanley Ridges, Girls, Four Goblins); “Clouds of Love” (**) (Marguerite Zender);
Finale (Company)
Elsie was yet another of the era’s Cinderella musicals. The title character (Marguerite Zender) isn’t poor,
and is in fact a Broadway star, but she’s an outsider when it comes to the haughty and wealthy family of her
husband Harry Hammond (Vinton Freedley, still in his acting days and on the cusp of becoming one of Broad-
way’s most important producers). The Hammonds and their friends disapprove of Elsie, and particularly wasp-
ish is Harry’s poisonous sister Margery (Luella Gear). The Hammonds hope to cook up a scandal by insinuat-
ing that Elsie is unfaithful to Harry, but the New York Times reported that the “foul scheme goes wrong” and
by the finale everyone becomes friends and “happily” sing “a potpourri of the evening’s song hits.”
Most of the critics were unimpressed with the show, which lasted for just forty performances. But the
musical had a longer run than the one enjoyed by its leading lady. Most of the critics found Marguerite Zender
wanting, and by the end of the musical’s first week she had been replaced by supporting player Irma Marwick
(who heretofore had played the role of Irma). It turned out that Marwick had created the title role during the
show’s tryout, had been deemed too much of an unknown for Broadway, and was replaced by Zender. And
now Zender was replaced by Marwick, who was now back in her old role. As Burns Mantle in the New York
Daily News noted, all these musical chairs seemed “a little unfair to someone.”
Mantle said the “demurely attractive” Zender sang “well” but wasn’t “so pepperish in the dance as her
predecessor.” The Times said Zender struggled “bravely” but “failed to achieve much of a triumph.” And the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated she was “sugary enough to please a friendly audience” but had “one of those little
voices that seems to be afraid to cross the footlights.”
The Times found the “so-so” show “mildly amusing” with “obviously inadequate cast and direction.”
Although the company wasn’t “particularly distinguished,” Gear brought “an easy vaudevillish manner” to
the role of the hero’s “captivatingly bored” sister; the Eagle said Gear was the musical’s only “high spot”; and
Mantle noted that Gear was “the most interesting of the women in the cast.”
A.M.J. in Brooklyn Life said Gear possessed “the elements of true comedy in her little bag of tricks and
does not overdo at any time,” and outside of Gear he couldn’t “think of anything else to say about the show”
except that he’d never have seen it had he not been given a complimentary ticket. But he found time to note
that the title character was “N.B.D.,” which meant “nice but dumb”; Freedley’s role could “also be numbered
among the dumbbells”; and with the notable exception of Gear, “everything and everyone else in the whole
thing was just about as dumb as could be.”
Dorothy Parker in Ainslee’s said Gear’s “method is quiet to the verge of inertia, she isn’t much of a
dancer, and as a singer she is somewhere well in Class D.” But the performer was “one of the greatest living
comediennes” and “really ought to be in something other than Elsie,” because at “the very least she deserves
a pretty good show.”
The score was divided up among songs by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, and by Alma M. Sanders and
Monte Carlo. The Eagle said the “tame” show’s score was “loud, jazzy and on the whole not untuneful,” and
Mantle found the songs “lively.” Time warned that the “very mediocre” musical lacked “even the redeeming
feature of a first-rate comedian,” and noted that the score showed what songwriters of “established ability
can do when they don’t try very hard.” Metcalfe said the “diverting” evening was “considerably above the
average in book and score” and offered “a quantity of the kind of music likely to be heard in such cabarets
as the Volstead law permits to remain in business.” Further, the “whole performance” was both “vigorous”
and “quite dashing.”
The Times said most of the score was “very good” and suggested that one or two songs “will probably
penetrate the world of cabarets and phonographs.” Because of its “amusing and tuneful moments,” the show
could be “safely” recommended “to the world of musical comedy addicts to whom bitter experience has
taught the lesson of not asking too much from this life.” Variety noted that Elsie wasn’t another Irene (1919)
but nevertheless was a “healthy specimen of the musical comedy finishing school” and should have a “com-
fortable” run. The two most likely hit songs were “Everybody’s Strutting Now” and “Baby Bunting” (both by
Sissle and Blake), and Zender was a “pretty, personable plump cutie with a zingy voice” whose “few attempts
at dancing were below par.”
1922–1923 Season 157
CINDERS
“A Comedy with Music”
Theatre: Dresden Theatre

Opening Date: April 3, 1923; Closing Date: April 28, 1923
Performances: 31
Book and Lyrics: Edward Clark
Music: Rudolf Friml
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Edward Royce; Choreography: (uncredited but most likely Edward
Royce); Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Paul Poiret; Evelyn McHorter; Earl Benham; Brooks-
Mathieu; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Queenie Smith (Tillie Olsen), Fred Hillebrand (Slim Kelly), Nancy Welford (Cinders), W. Douglas Ste-
venson (John Winthrop), Margaret Dale (Mrs. Horatio Winthrop), John H. Brewer (Major Drummond), Ro-
berta Beatty (Mrs. Delancey Hoyt), Mary Lucas (Geraldine), Thomas Fitzpatrick (Butler), George Bancroft
(Great Scott), Lillian Lee (Miss Breckenridge), Edith Campbell-Walker (Mme. Duval), Kitty Kelly (Tottie),
Estelle Levelle (Lottie); The Ladies—Alta King (Hortense), Diana Stegman (Annabelle), Dagmar Oakland
(Mathilde), Evelyn Darville (Julie), Elaine Gholson (Yvette), Eden Gray (Ninette), Vera DeWolfe (Cecelia),
Louise Bateman (Simone); Dancers: Gertrude McDonald, Elva Pomfret, Mildred Lunnay, Sidney Reynolds,
Ralph Riggs & Katharine Witchie; The Gentlemen—Jack Whiting (Bruce), Nathaniel Gennes (Nat), Frank
Curran (Frank), Harry Howell (Harry), Abner Barnhart (Cliff), Denny Murray (Denny), Dewitt Oakley
(Dewitt), Thomas Green (Thomas), Eugene Jenkins (Gene)
Numbers
Act One: “One Good Time” (Nancy Welford); “Get Together” (W. Douglas Stevenson, Ladies and Gentle-
men); “You Got What Gets ’Em” (Fred Hillebrand, Queenie Smith); “I’m Simply Mad about the Boys”
(Nancy Welford, Gentlemen); “You and I” (W. Douglas Stevenson, Nancy Welford, Ladies and Gentle-
men); “The Argentine Arago” (Fred Hillebrand, Queenie Smith, Ladies and Gentlemen); Specialty Dance
(Ralph Riggs and Katharine Witchie); Finaletto (Company); “One Good Time” (reprise) (Nancy Welford)
Act Two: “Hawaiian Shores” (Alta King, Ladies); “You Remind Me of Someone” (W. Douglas Stevenson, Nancy
Welford); “The Fashion Parade” (Ladies): (1)“Three Thousand Years Ago” (Vera DeWolfe); (2) “Grandma’s
Day” (Dagmar Oakland); (3) “Flame of Love” (Diana Stegman); (4) “Modern Bride” (Evelyn Darville); (5)
“La Favorite” (Elaine Gholson); and (6) “Moonlight on the Waters” (Alda King); “Cinders” (Nancy Welford,
Gentlemen); “The Belles of the Bronx” (Kitty Kelly, Estelle Levelle); Specialty Dance (Ralph Riggs and
Katharine Witchie); “Rags Is Royal Raiments” (Fred Hillebrand, Queenie Smith); Finale (Company)
Here was a musical that broke all the rules. Its heroine (played by Nancy Welford) was a poor but honest
foundling who works as an errand girl in a “modiste shop” and is told to deliver a ball gown to a fashionable
society woman. In a fit of musical comedy spunk our heroine decides to wear the gown herself and crashes a
charity ball sponsored by snooty society leader Mrs. Horatio Winthrop (Margaret Dale). At the ball she meets
young-and-rich-and-handsome-and-eligible bachelor John Winthrop (W. Douglas Stevenson) who just happens
to be Mrs. Winthrop’s son! They fall in love and almost live happily ever after except for the small matter of a
jewel theft that occurs during the ball. Our heroine is accused of the crime but is quickly found innocent, and
then she and her beloved proceed on their journey to the land of happily-ever-after or Long Island, whichever
comes first.
But wait. Discerning audience members couldn’t be fooled, and knew they’d seen this Cinderella musical
at least 128 times since Irene opened in 1919. And for those theatergoers who couldn’t remember Elsie (which
had opened the night before), the title offered a vital clue: Could Cinders just possibly refer to Cinderella?
However, the tried-and-true formula didn’t work this time around, and the Rudolf Friml show burned out
after thirty-one performances and went down in the record books as the season’s shortest-running musical.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Cinders didn’t include a “single excuse for a smile,” and
although there were some in the cast “who could be funny if they were given a chance,” the critic decided
book writer Edward Clark had used Jack and Jill “as his model where humor is concerned.” Further, it seemed
that producer Edward Royce (who had directed Irene) “had used up all his money in buying clothes and had
none left for the other necessities of musical comedy.” But Welford was “a cute little person of Ann Pen-
nington proportions” and did “everything just about well enough,” and Friml had composed “several taking
tunes.” Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News said the “undistinguished” show was a “frank copy” of
Irene and Sally but decided “it serves.” G.H.H. in Brooklyn Life felt that “as a whole” the show was “very
satisfactory” with a “decidedly characterless yet agreeably tuneful” score, and although the plot’s resolution
came out “all right in the end,” he was “not quite clear just how.”
Although the show fell “short of the perfect mark in comedy,” the New York Times noted that the eve-
ning had an “ample supply by all the ordinary standards.” Cinders may have been “plain,” but it was “slightly
better than first class musical comedy,” the direction and choreography were “smart and unhackneyed,” and
the chorus members were “not only personable and graceful but even tuneful.” And Friml had “never written
more tuneful music.” His songs weren’t “cheap,” and “the air of distinction throughout is happily unmarred
by a striving for the pseudo-operatic.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said some of Friml’s contributions were
“catchy,” and the “lively” performances of Welford and Queenie Smith (as Tillie Olsen, a cashier who works
at the modiste) made you “forget the chief comedian” and his “dreary humor.”
Variety decided that “despite its several imperfections” the “charming” show should be a “hit,” but felt
“it just missed being a phenomenal triumph through lack of smart humorous sparkle.” However, the book
was “sound,” and Friml possessed “a faculty for weaving in Viennese movements and quirks with Ameri-
can touches that make melodies ‘popular,’” and while Welford was “slightly miscast,” she nonetheless here
“burst into the full bloom of youthful maturity and nothing can keep her from stardom.”
No one could quite decide just who played the role of Cinders’s prince, John Winthrop. The week before
the New York opening, the show had played at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., and the tryout
program credited Walter Regan in the role. For Broadway, the Times review cited both Regan and W. Douglas
Stevenson; Pollock voted for Stevenson, and Mantle agreed (but referenced the actor as Douglass Stevenson).
American Musical Theatre, American Song, and the International Broadway Data Base went for Regan, and
Variety and A Chronology of American Musical Theatre decided on Stevenson.
It was indeed Stevenson who played the role on opening night. Director Royce had two shows opening on
Broadway that week: the night before the premiere of Cinders, Royce’s return engagement of Irene opened,
and although Regan had performed in Cinders the week before during the show’s D.C. tryout, it appears that
a last-minute replacement was needed for Irene’s leading man, and so Regan left Cinders for Irene and Ste-
venson replaced Regan in Cinders.
During the tryout, “Wedding Bells” and “Things That Cannot Be Explained” were cut, and “I’m Simply
Mad about the Men” underwent major surgery and became “I’m Simply Mad about the Boys” for New York.
The Dresden Theatre had opened in 1904 as the Aerial Gardens, a venue located above the New Am-
sterdam Theatre. The playhouse hosted theatrical performances until 1943, and during its existence had six
names (including the Ziegfeld Roof). Cinders was the only production to play at the theatre during the brief
time it was known as the Dresden (before the production of Cinders the theatre’s name was Dance de Follies,
and after was called the Frolic Theatre).
HOW COME?
“A Girly Musical Darkomedy”

Performances: 40
Book: Eddie Hunter
Lyrics and Music: Ben Harris (additional lyrics and music by Ben Harris, Henry Creamer, and Will H. Vodery)
Direction: Sam H. Grisman; Producer: Criterion Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Henry Creamer; Frank
Montgomery; Scenery: Runnel-Amend Studio; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Electrical effects by Du-
wico; Musical Direction: Will H. Vodery
1922–1923 Season 159
Cast: Andrew Fairchild (Deacon Long Tack), Amanda Craig (Sarah Green), Leroy Broomfield (Brother Wire
Nail), Nina Hunter (Dolores Love), Hilary Friend (Sister Doolittle), Amon David (Ebenezer Green), Alec
Lovejoy (Brother Ham), Chappy Chappelle (A. Smart), Juanita Stinnette (Malinda Green), George W.
Cooper (Rufus Wise, aka Buddy), Eddie Hunter (Rastus Skunkton Lime), George C. Lane (Dandy Dan),
Andrew Tribble (Ophelia Snow), Billy Higgins (Smiling Sam), James Dingbat (Brother Low Down), Octa-
via Sawyer (Sister Whale), Sidney Bechet (Chief of Police), Harry Hunter (First Policeman), Adrian Joyce
(Second Policeman), Isaac Momen (Third Policeman), Alice Brown (Miss Disappear), Nona Chester (Sister
Jones), Claire Campbell (Sister High), Rita Fairchild (Sister Know All), Olive Harrison (Sister Pull Back),
Eunice Anderson (Sister Brown), Violet Williams (Sister Ashes), Catherine Jarvis (Sister Blue), Lottie Har-
ris (Sister Scott); Specialty Acts: The Donita Sisters, Johnny Nit; Birch Williams (Brother Black), George
Haynes (Brother Samson), Harry Watkins (Brother Sharp), Charles Walker (Brother Inkwell), Percy Wade
(Brother Smoke), Sadie Tapins (Sister Wright), Mary Goodwin (Sister Wrong), Emma Maitland (Sister
Bridge), Alfred Chester (Brother Jenkins), Al Moore (Brother Coal), George Lynch (Brother Wood), Helen
Dunmore (Cathrine Peace), Vivian Harris (Lorabelle Wise), Mabel Kemp (Millie Johnson), Dorothy Lewis
(Marie Fraine), Elvetta Davis (Ruth Johnson), Carrie Edwards (Hortense Carter)
The action takes place during the present time in Mobile, Alabama, and in Chicago.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Opening Chorus” (Ensemble); “Pretty Malindy” (Leroy Broomfield, Nina
Hunter, Nona Chester, Company); “Certainly Is the Truth” (Ensemble); “Goodnight, Brother Green” (En-
semble); “Syncopated Strain” (Alice Brown, Nina Hunter, Nona Chester, Company); “Bandanna Anna”
(Dancing Girls); “Pickaninny Vamp” (Chappy Chappelle, Juanita Stinette, Chorus); “Sweetheart, Fare-
well” (Chappy Chappelle, Juanita Stinette, Company); “Dinah” (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Gingerena” (Leroy Broomfield, Company); “The Charleston Cut-Out” (lyric and music by Ben Har-
ris, Henry Creamer, and Will H. Vodery) (Alice Brown, Nina Hunter, Nona Chester, Company); Specialty
(Sidney Bechet); “In My Dixie Dreamland” (The Donita Sisters, Company); “When I’m Blue” (Juanita
Stinette); “Love Will Bring You Happiness” (lyric and music by Ben Harris) (Chappy Chappelle, Juanita
Stinette); “I Didn’t Grieve over Daniel” (Alice Brown, Amon Davis); “Keep the Man You’ve Got” (Alice
Brown); “Count Your Money” (Alec Lovejoy, Andrew Fairchild); “E-Gypsy-Ann” (lyric and music by Ben
Harris, Will Creamer, and Will H. Vodery) (Chappy Chappelle, Juanita Stinette, Company); Dance (Boys);
Some More Dancing (Johnny Nit); “Charleston Finale” (Company)
With song titles like “Pretty Malindy,” “Bandanna Anna,” “Dinah,” “E-Gypsy-Ann” (an Egyptian from
the South?), “Gingerena,” “In My Dixie Dreamland,” “Pickaninny Vamp,” “Syncopated Strain,” “The
Charleston Cut-Out,” and “Charleston Finale,” you had a pretty good idea of where How Come? was headed,
but how come it never got there?
The black musical was a series of songs, dances, and specialty numbers strung around a wispy story about
Rastus Skunkton Lime (Eddie Hunter, who also wrote the show’s book) and his scheme to steal funds from the
Mobile Chicken Trust Corporation, run by Ebenezer Green (Amon Davis) and Brother Ham (Alex Lovejoy).
The musical is probably best remembered because the cast included future legendary clarinetist and
saxophonist Sidney Bechet in the role of a police chief, and in the second act he had a solo spot for a musical
specialty. American Song reports that Bessie Smith was in the musical during its pre-Broadway engagement
in Philadelphia.
The New York Times said How Come? was both an “absurdity” and a “bad show,” and it was “doubtful”
there had “ever before been a musical show aspiring to Broadway approval with less merit to its claim.” It
had what was “generally” called a book, but offered “nothing” to bring forth “even the faintest of smiles,” the
chorus “worked hard” but “not particularly gracefully,” and with the exception of some “funny moments”
by Hunter, the cast was generally “undistinguished and incapable.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show was mostly “noise,” and then amended that
to “aimless noise.” The chorus sang “furiously,” the orchestra played “furiously,” and the “frenzied” music
had been composed at “fever heat.” The dancers were “vigorous” but “sacrifice[d] grace for mere motion” and
simply “wearie[d] you.” In a follow-up review, Pollock noted that instead of aspiring to be a black show, the
writers instead tried to be “the last word in the negro’s imitation” of a white show, but “no white show we
have ever seen has been less funny.” The show was “crowded with frantic strutting and prancing,” but the
evening needed “a joke or two or a little real melody to afford the spectator relief.”
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said Hunter was “really worth seeing” with his “true comedy manner”
and “infinite humor,” but as the librettist he didn’t do well by his star. Time decided it was thanks to Hunter
for “whatever redeeming quality” the show possessed. The star had been called the “‘colored Jimmie Barton,’”
but Time decided this “eminence [was] due to the flatness of the surrounding country.”
Lucien H. White in the New York Age noted that the evening had little in the way of plot, but what there
was could have used some cutting here and there, and a certain “suggestiveness” in the dialogue could “well
be eliminated” because it was “entirely unnecessary.” But he singled out a number of songs (including “Syn-
copated Strain,” “Bandanna Anna,” and “Goodnight, Brother Green”), and said Andrew Tribble in the drag
role of Ophelia Snow was “a scream.” Specialty dancer Johnny Nit, who had created a stir in Liza, here made
a late second-act appearance and was a “dancing hit” in “E-Gypsy-Ann.”
Variety liked “the bright production, dances and comedy,” but felt the score didn’t rate “as high as the
comedy.” However, there was “something” in the music that was “strange,” and it sounded “broken” as if it
had been “developed from the school of syncopation.” As a result, the music might “attract a deal more atten-
tion” than was evidenced on opening night. The critic mentioned that one of the “best” sequences found “the
entire company talking in concerted rhyme,” and perhaps the best comedy scene took place at a bootblack
parlor that fronted for a bootlegger’s: when a customer wanted gin, he asked for white shoes, and for whisky
requested tan ones, and if the police were seen in the vicinity a small organ played hymns.
Variety’s critic singled out a number of songs, including “Pickaninny Vamp” (a “ragged” version of “Here
Comes the Bride”), “Sweetheart, Farewell” (a “catchy” melody), “When I’m Blue” (which “placed well” dur-
ing the second act), “Syncopated Strain” (the evening’s most extended dance, which introduced the chorus in
groups, each grouping given “different steps for a series of entrances”), “The Charleston Cut-Out” (another
“jingle” for the dancers), “Keep the Man You’ve Got” (with a lyric that Alice Brown put across), and “Gin-
gerena” (as played by the orchestra it was “odd-timed,” but the chorus “had little difficulty in clapping the
correct tempo”) (in fact, Variety noted that the orchestra needed more rehearsal time for both “Gingerena”
and “E-Gypsy-Ann”). The critic referred to Bechet’s clarinet solo specialty by commenting “there was no
particular value” to the spot because it “slowed” down the action.
DEW DROP INN

Theatre: Astor Theatre
Opening Date: May 17, 1923; Closing Date: August 25, 1923
Performances: 83
Book: Walter DeLeon and Edward Delaney Dunn
Lyrics: Cyrus Wood; additional lyrics by McElbert Moore
Music: Alfred (Al) Goodman; additional music by J. Fred Coots, Rudolf Friml, Sigmund Romberg (for “en-
semble music”), and Jean Schwartz
Direction: Fred C. Latham; Producer: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: M. Francis Weldon;
Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Vanity Fair Costumes Co.; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Harry Clark (Jack Newton), Mary Robson (Madame Le Cordez), William Holden (J. P. Rocksly), Mar-
cella Swanson (Grace Rocksly), Beatrice Swanson (Hope Rocksly), Jack Squire (Ronald Curtis), Evelyn
Cavanaugh (Edith Tobber), Spencer Charters (Joseph Higgins), Danny Dare (Bell Boy), Jean Carroll
(Maid), Sylvia Highton (Nurse), Mabel Withee (Violet Gray), Robert Halliday (Bobbie Smith), Frank
Hill (Reggie Murray), James Barton (Ananias Washington), Richard Dore (M. Dupont), Harry Ellsworth
(Harry MacDonald), Grace Ellsworth (Grace MacDonald), Margaret Morris (Eleanor Jordan), Claire
Hodgson (Julia Kinsey), Margaret Atherton (Frances Moore), Alice Brady (Marion Stanley), Lee Kelson
(Second Bell Boy), Ben Jacklow (Frank Maxwell), Harry Rosedale (Stephen Andrews), Mooney (cast
member of the canine persuasion); Ladies of the Ensemble: Helen O’Brien, Mary Kissel, Thelma Johns,
Bobby Kane, Rena Miller, Gladys Davis, Billy Davis, Claire Hodgson, Juliet Strahl, Margaret Atherton,
1922–1923 Season 161
Helen Rogier, Millie Dupree, Sylvia Highton, Margaret Morris, Felicia Murelle, Alice Brady, Dorothy
Deane, Katherine Manion; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: George Brown, Dale Grisby, Ray Hall, Allan
Stevens, Bernard Druce, Lee Kelso, Hal Peel, Lester Brown, Bob Gebhardt
The action takes place during the present time in and around a seaside hotel in Southern California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble (Harry Clark, Ensemble); “Pretty Ankle” (Mabel Withee, Boys); “We Two” (mu-
sic by Rudolf Friml) (Robert Halliday, Mabel Withee); “Porter! Porter!” (James Barton, Ensemble); “Men”
(Ensemble); “The Struttinest Strutter” (James Barton); “A Girl May as Well Marry Well” (Evelyn Cava-
naugh, Jack Squire, Ensemble); Finale (Robert Halliday, Mabel Withee, Evelyn Cavanaugh, James Barton,
Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Primrose Path” (Robert Halliday, Evelyn Cavanaugh, Jack Squire, Grace Ellsworth, Beatrice
Swanson, Mary Robson, Harry Clark, Frank Hill, Danny Dare, Ensemble); “Goodbye Forever” (music by Al-
fred Goodman and Rudolf Friml) (Robert Halliday, Mabel Withee); “Moonlight Waltz” (Evelyn Cavanaugh,
Richard Dore); “Travesty” (James Barton); “Lady” (lyric by McElbert Moore, music by J. Fred Coots and Jean
Schwartz) (Mabel Withee, Boys); “You Can’t Experiment on Me” (James Barton); “I’m a Flapper” (lyric by
McElbert Moore, music by J. Fred Coots and Jean Schwartz) (Evelyn Cavanaugh, Jack Squire, Harry Clark,
Beatrice Swanson, Bell Boys, Maids); Finale
Dew Drop Inn was really The James Barton Show. The dancer and comedian received glowing notices,
some of the best of the era, and the critics were overwhelmed by his eccentric dancing. Despite raves for his
Broadway appearances, his shows never attained blockbuster status, and during the era he never had a long-
running smash of the Kid Boots or Whoopee variety such as Eddie Cantor enjoyed. In two slightly separate
New York engagements, Dew Drop Inn played for a total of just eight weeks, then went on tour, and finally
disappeared without even the good fortune of leaving behind a hit song.
Barton played the blackface role of Ananias Washington, a porter at a California resort. When the property
goes on the market, and in order to jack up the hotel’s asking price by triggering a bidding war, Ananias starts
a rumor that a treasure is hidden somewhere on the property, a fabrication that brings in luggage loads of
guests who pray they’ll stumble upon the heretofore forgotten riches. A secondary story deals with the hotel
owner’s playboy son, Bobbie Smith (Robert Halliday), and his romance with Violet Gray (Mabel Withee), who
works in the hotel’s beauty salon, and so here we had another of those rich-boy-and-poor-girl combinations
so beloved by the era’s librettists.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Herald said that when Barton was spoken of, his name should be
mentioned with Nijinsky and Chaplin; Heywood Broun in Vanity Fair said he wished that years ago Barton
and the young Isadora Duncan could have appeared together on the same program because Barton’s “fooling”
wouldn’t have lessened “either the dignity or the glory of Isadora, and nor would the superb beauty of her
twenties have made Barton seem shoddy in her company”; and Time said his “eccentric shuffling and fan-
dangoing are incomparable” and there was nothing the “stringy” performer couldn’t do because his legs and
arms were as “flexible as spaghetti.”
The New York Times said there might be “a better burlesque dancer” than Barton, but “if he exists he is
still mute and inglorious.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the performer’s “fanciful feet”
were “expressive, ingenious, enormously versatile, winning, suave and persuasive.” And Brett Page in the
Indianapolis Star asked, “who is there today who can dance more engagingly” and “who makes you eagerly
await his next appearance so anxiously?”
The musical contained another scene stealer in one Mooney, a performer of the canine persuasion. Time said
that next to Barton the evening contained “nothing else noteworthy except for a delightfully stupid trick dog.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said that except for Barton, Dew Drop Inn was a “pretty sad” enter-
tainment; Pollock said the score was “no more than ordinary and possibly less,” but Barton made you “willing
to forgive” the book writers Walter DeLeon and Edward Delaney Dunn. Woollcott said Barton chiefly relied
on his “million fantastic steps,” and also made “a conscientious effort to sing three of the flattest songs ever
dumped on a comedian by an ungifted lyricist.”
Variety reported that Dew Drop Inn was a rewritten version of The Pink Slip, a vehicle for Bert Williams.
The Pink Slip had been scheduled to open on Broadway at the Central Theatre on approximately August 15,
1921, after a tryout in Atlantic City, but the pre-Broadway reviews were unfavorable and the musical went
into hiatus. As Under the Bamboo Tree, a rewritten version of The Pink Slip began a national tour with Wil-
liams at Cincinnati’s Shubert Theatre during December 1921 with the tagline “A Swaying Musical Comedy.”
The tour was playing in Detroit at the Garrick Theatre when Williams became ill during the February 22
performance, which proved to be the production’s final showing. He completed the performance, but the next
day was rushed to New York where he died on March 4. The Pink Slip/Under the Bamboo Tree was again
revised (and again retitled), and as Dew Drop Inn it opened on Broadway with Barton performing Williams’s
role in blackface.
Variety said Dew Drop Inn was “hokum pure and unadulterated,” and the book “almost talked itself to
death getting the plot started,” but Barton danced “the show into success” and stopped it numerous times.
The score’s “best” songs were “I’m a Flapper,” “You Can’t Experiment on Me,” “We Two,” and “Inside Look-
ing Outside,” the latter not listed in the program but cited by Variety as performed by Barton.
ADRIENNE
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Captivating Musical Comedy Hit”
Theatre: Cohan Theatre

Opening Date: May 28, 1923; Closing Date: December 15, 1923
Performances: 235
Book and Lyrics: A. Seymour Brown
Based on a story by Frances Bryant and William Stone.
Direction: Edgar J. MacGregor; Producer: Louis F. Werba; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Her-
bert Ward, Art Director; Costumes: Frances; Paul Arlington, Inc.; Brooks-Mahieu Co.; Lighting: Electrical
effects by Tony Greshoff; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Charles Cahill Wilson (Sid Darrel, aka Nadir Sidarah), Laura Arnold (Nora Malone, aka Nadja), John
Kearney (Prison Guard, Shrine Attendant), William Creco (First Prisoner), Mohammed Haussain (Second
Prisoner), Robert Mazuz (Third Prisoner), Billy B. Van (Bunk Allen, aka Ali Bunjke), Mabel Ferry (Grace
Clayton), Robert Starr (Thomas), Richard Carle (John Grey), Jean Newcombe (Mrs. John Grey), Dan Healy
(Bob Gordon), Vivienne Segal (Adrienne Grey), Harry Fender (Stephen Hayes); Specialty Dancers: Carlos
and Inez, May Cory Kitchen, The Keene Twins, Lou Lockett, Fridkin and Rhoda; The Lyric Quartette:
Edith Holloway, Pauline Miller, Jean Young, and Angela Manilla; Ladies of the Ensemble: Diana Chase,
Muriel Wilson, Anita Monroe, Amy Atkinson, Louise Segal, Marjorie Clemens, Louise Joyce, Ruth Mills,
Suzanne Conroy, Beatrice O’Connor, Jean Brown, Ethel Gibson, Phyllis Aves, Florence Courtney, Ursula
Dale, Marguerite Ross, Ruby Poe, Lillian Dawn, The Hall Twins; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Jerome
Kirkland, Dan Rowan, Austin Clark, Sidney Ayres, Francis T. Schulze, Fred O’Brien, Roy Mason, Othello
McCarver, Arthur Budd, Hugh Wilson
The action takes place during the present time in Ossining, New York, and areas near New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Live While You’re Here” (Mabel Ferry, May
Cory Kitchen, Rhoda, Lou Lockett, The Keene Twins, Ensemble); “Sweetheart of Mystery” (Vivienne
Segal); “The Hindu Hop” (Dan Healy, Mabel Ferry, The Keene Twins, Ensemble); “Love Is All” (Vivienne
Segal, Harry Fender); “As Long as the Wife Don’t Know” (Laura Arnold, Richard Carle); “Cheer Up”
(Harry Fender, Dan Healy, Lou Lockett, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Oriental Divertissement” (Fridkin and Rhoda, May Cory Kitchen, The Keene
Twins, Lou Lockett, Carlos and Inez, Ensemble); “Sing Sing” (Billy B. Van, Charles Cahill Wilson, Laura
Arnold); “Pretty Little Home” (Vivienne Segal, Mabel Ferry, The Lyric Quartette, Girls); “King Solomon”
1922–1923 Season 163
(Richard Carle, Girls); “Where the Ganges Flows” (Vivienne Segal, The Lyric Quartette, The Keene Twins,
Ensemble); “Dance with Me” (Dan Healy, Mabel Ferry, Lou Lockett, May Cory Kitchen, Carlos and Inez,
Ensemble); “Love Is All” (reprise) (Harry Fender); Finale (Company)
If Adrienne had depended on its humor, it might not have lasted a month, but thankfully it had other
diversions and ran almost seven months before embarking on a national tour. The jokes and epigrams? Vari-
ous critics reported some of the groaners: “She’s given us the gate—Don’t take offense”; “A long engagement
makes marriage shorter”; “A husband is a lover with the nerve extracted”; and the evening’s howler: “Could
you use five dollars?” / “Could a fireman use a red shirt?” Time noted that the jokes were “rather mummi-
fied,” and judging from the audience’s laughter “there must be some people who haven’t heard a joke in ten
years.”
The story centered on vulnerable Adrienne Grey (Vivienne Segal) who is almost taken in by a trio of jewel
thieves (Charles Cahill Wilson as Sid Darrel, aka Nadir Sidarah; Laura Arnold as Nora Malone, aka Nadja;
and Billy B. Van as Bunk Allen, aka Ali Bunjke) who masquerade as Hindu mystics and lure her to a shrine
where they promise she’ll meet a prince who loved her in a former life (somehow, the show’s would-be dance
craze “The Hindu Hop” didn’t quite sweep the nation). Happily, Adrienne’s boyfriend Stephen Hayes (Harry
Fender) gets wise to the chicanery and saves the heroine and her jewelry.
Adrienne was considered a “summer show,” a pejorative term that meant an entertainment that wasn’t
expected to measure up to the “winter” standard and thus existed for New Yorkers who didn’t leave town
to escape the summer heat or for tourists who visited the city during the summer months. The New York
Times said the comedians were “excellent,” the principals “tuneful,” the chorus “active,” the songs the
“usual,” the overall production “extremely lavish,” and the book “slightly below the Winter average.” But
for summer shows, “it isn’t the heat, it’s the bromidity,” and here the “honors” went to choreographer David
Bennett. And the “speed and taste” he brought to his dancing chorus was “unequaled by any other item of
the production.”
And if the canine Mooney was a show-stopper in Dew Drop Inn, it seems that an unnamed canary was
a trooper who did a memorable bit in Adrienne. Although the Times praised “the most comical canary ever
seen in musical comedy,” the newspaper unfortunately didn’t provide any details as to why the canary co-
median was so winning.
Time said the show had what it takes to be “successful” with “catchy and pleasant” songs that “will prob-
ably afflict the flat-dweller’s ear from the phonograph next door for months to come.” The Wall Street Journal
noted the score “provokes whistling and restlessness of the feet” with “better than usual music, largely jazz.”
Heywood Broun in the New York Morning World said the “summer show” was “well above the average.”
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star suggested the show was “destined for warm weather success” and bid fair
to make both the “tired business man and the weary visitor forget fatigue.” And Percy Hammond in the St.
Louis Star and Times said the “showy” musical didn’t deviate from the typical musical comedy formula but
“in beauty and movement it excels most of its class.”
Variety found Adrienne the “ideal” summer show. It had a “very light” story peppered “with an original
touch here and there,” and seldom had a show offered “better-staged” numbers. Tony Greshoff had created
“very unique” lighting effects, and the score had “lilt and beauty” with three potential song hits (“Live While
You’re Here,” “Sing Sing,” and “Love Is All”). The cast was excellent, and Richard Carle’s “King Solomon”
was one of show’s highlights. Van “rollicked” throughout the evening, and the “piquant and delightful”
Segal was in “fine voice” and made “Sweetheart of Mystery” a “realistically beautiful” song. The evening’s
weaknesses were the “unfruitful” roles, and the cast members “labored” and had “to work for every point.”
Adrienne was “refreshing” and “snappy,” and would be a better show if the dialogue was pruned and “a few
old gags” were eliminated.
1923–1924 Season
HELEN OF TROY, NEW YORK

“Another Musical Comedy” / “The Perfect Musical Comedy” / “The Emphatic Musical Comedy Hit”
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Times Square Theatre)
Opening Date: June 19, 1923; Closing Date: December 1, 1923
Performances: 191
Book: George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly
Lyrics and Music: Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
Direction: Bertram Harrison and Bert French; Producers: Rufus LeMaire and George Jessel in association with
Sidney Wilmer and Walter Vincent (for the post-Broadway tour, the producing credits read “Wilmer and
Vincent in association with George Jessel”); Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Sheldon K. Viele; Jim-
nolds; Costumes: Kiviette; Gilbert Clark, Inc.; Milla Davenport; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Louis Silvers
Cast: Tom Lewis (Elias Yarrow), Roy Atwell (C. Warren Jennings), Joseph Lertora (Baron de Cartier), Charles
Lawrence (Theodore Mince), Clyde Hunnewell (Harper Williams), Paul Frawley (David Williams), Helen
Ford (Helen McGuffey), Queenie Smith (Maribel McGuffey), Stella Hoban (Grace Yarrow), Joan Clement
(Mme. Pasanova); Specialty Dancers: Bobby Dale, Lovey Lee, Elise Bonwit, Neil Ames, Opal Hickson,
William Dunn, Marie Paynter; The Trojan Women: Madge McCarthy, Louise Bateman, Helen Gladding,
Anna Mae Dennehy, Mabel Stanford, Alice Akers, Madia Harries, Madeline Soisson; Smaller Ones: Sybil
Stokes, Kitty Malvern, Elsie Dunn, Mildred Brown, Teddy Hudson, Heloise Sheppard, Virginia Birming-
ham, Thelma Marshall, Helen Paine; The Men: Donald Heebner, Robert Culbertson, Harold Raymond,
Edward Price, Charles Townshend, Gene Collins, Leon Bartels, William Leon
The action takes place during the present time in Troy, New York, and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Up on Our Toes” (Roy Atwell, Stella Hoban, Girls, Stenographers, Clerks, Lovey Lee, Elise Bonwit,
Opal Hickson, Neil Ames, Bobby Dale, Gene Collins); “Cry Baby” (Helen Ford, Queenie Smith); “I Like
a Big Town” (Charles Lawrence, Stella Hoban, Girls and Boys); “Helen of Troy, New York” (Helen Ford,
Boys); “Happy Ending” (Helen Ford, Paul Frawley); “What the Girls Will Wear” (Queenie Smith, Girls);
“What Makes a Business Man Tired?” (Tom Lewis, Roy Atwell, Charles Lawrence, Joseph Lertora); Finale
(Company)
Act Two: “Advertising” (Joseph Lertora, Girls; Dancers: Mabel Stanford, Alice Akers, Louise Bateman, Helen
Gladding, Anna Mae Dennehy, Neil Ames, Opal Hickson, Thelma Marshall, Madeline Soisson, Mildred
Brown, William Dunn, Teddy Hudson, Helen Paine, Heloise Sheppard, Virginia Birmingham, Lovey Lee,
Elise Bonwit, Bobby Dale, Gene Collins); “If I Never See You Again” (Queenie Smith, Charles Lawrence);
165
“Nijigo Novgo Glide” (Queenie Smith, Joseph Lertora, Boys and Girls, Dancers); “It Was Meant to Be”
(Helen Ford, Paul Frawley); “We’ll Have a Model Factory” (Helen Ford, Queenie Smith, Paul Frawley,
Charles Lawrence); “A Little Bit o’ Jazz” (Helen Ford, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Thanks to the book by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, Helen of Troy, New York (aka Helen of
Troy N.Y.) took the usual bland confection of the standard-issue Cinderella musical and added a dash of spice.
Irish colleen Helen McGuffey (Helen Ford) works as a stenographer at Troy’s Yarrow Collar Factory, which is
owned by Elias Yarrow (Tom Lewis). When Helen invents a new kind of collar that doesn’t wilt yet isn’t stiff
and uncomfortable, Yarrow’s underhanded efficiency expert C. Warren Jennings (Roy Atwell) tries to steal her
invention. But Helen of Troy becomes Helen of New York City, and there she sells her invention to a rival
manufacturer of collars. All ends well when the two companies merge, and into the bargain Helen manages
a merger of her own with the man of her dreams.
The story was all too familiar, but the choice of a factory setting was fresh, a locale used only occasion-
ally in musical theatre, notably in Fine and Dandy (1930) and The Pajama Game (1954). And Yarrow was
conceived as the kind of businessman who asks his board of directors to vote on a motion, and when their
vote is contrary to his liking he proceeds to do just what he always intended to do.
According to the New York Times, the evening contained two “surprise packages” in the performances by
Charles Lawrence and Queenie Smith. Lawrence’s Theodore Mince was a thinly veiled portrait of one of the
era’s most well-known, and gay, male models. Kaufman and Connelly’s character was I.Q. challenged, and so
the Times called him a “moron,” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “collar dummy” was
both “stupid” and an “idiot,” and Brooklyn Life called him a “bonehead.”
Smith played Helen’s sister Maribel McGuffey, whom the Times described as a “baby vamp.” Percy
Hammond in the St. Louis Star and Times said Smith “walked away with the show”; Pollock hailed her as
the evening’s “most engaging” performer and said she was a “sprightful, mettlesome little imp, gusty, lusty
and fetching”; Brooklyn Life found her “archly vivacious” and “the bright particular star of the production”;
and the Wall Street Journal said she had “complete self-possession” and was “free from brassiness” with her
“devil-may-care, tomboy attractiveness rare in this period of standardization.”
Variety said Smith “flashed” onto the stage and “kept right on flashing and never stopped,” although “she
did stop the performance.” Smith made it difficult for the audience to focus on the other players, and in the
middle of the second act (most likely “Nijigo Novgo Glide”) she “ran the audience off of their feet with her
toe work.” The critic guessed there wasn’t a producer in the house who “didn’t long for an 11-year contract
with her.” If Helen of Troy, New York wasn’t able to “carry herself along,” then Smith would, because “the
chances are you will hear more about Queenie this summer than you will about Helen.”
Time said that with its unobtrusive plot and “pretty music,” Helen of Troy, New York was “one of the
most amusing musical comedies ever seen.” Brooklyn Life noted the plot kept “thickening” until “it was
almost impossible to see through the fog,” but nonetheless the book was “unusually good.” The music was
“sprightly” but “commonplace,” and if the score had been “as good as the lyrics, it would be excellent”
(the critic singled out “Up on Our Toes,” “I Like a Big Town,” and “What Makes a Business Man Tired?”).
Of the songs, the Times liked “Happy Ending” best but mentioned five others including one (“The Small
Town Girl”) that wasn’t in the program (and was probably “I Like a Big Town”). Pollock said Kaufman and
Connelly’s book was so good it made the “habitual” musical comedy book writers “seem by comparison
morons.” If it was “too much to describe” the show as “matchless, it may safely be said that it is seldom
matched.”
LITTLE JESSIE JAMES

“A Musical Comedy” / “A New Musical Farce” / “The Little Giant of Musical Comedy” /
“The Merriest Musical Comedy of Them All”
Theatre: Longacre Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Little Theatre)
Opening Date: August 15, 1923; Closing Date: July 19, 1924
Performances: 385
Book and Lyrics: Harland Thompson
Music: Harry Archer
1923–1924 Season 167
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: L. Lawrence Weber; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: P. Dodd Acker-
man; Costumes: Paul Arlington, Inc.; Mabel E. Johnston; Corbeau et Cle; Bartella; Frederick; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting of “The James Boys, A Paul Whiteman Band”
Cast: Allen Kearns (Tommy Tinker), Miriam Hopkins (Juliet), Winifred Harris (Mrs. Flower), Ann Sands
(Geraldine Flower), Jay Velie (Paul Revere), James B. Carson (S. Block), Clara Thropp (Mrs. Jamieson), Nan
Halperin (Jessie Jamieson), Roger Gray (William J. Pierce), Carl Anderson (Clarence), Herbert Bostwick
(Harold), Lucila Mendez (Lucila), Loretta Flushing (Loretta), Bobbie Breslau (most likely the later Bobbie,
aka Bobby, Breslaw) (Bobbie), Blanche O’Brien (Blanche), Frances Upton (Frances), Edna Howard (Edna),
Emily Stead (Emily), Agnes Morrisey (Agnes), Bonnie Shaw (Bonnie)
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (The James Boys); “Quiet Afternoon” (Miriam Hopkins, Allen Kearns); “Come On” (Al-
len Kearns, Girls); “Suppose I Had Never Met You” (Ann Sands, Jay Velie); “I Love You” (Ann Sands, Jay
Velie, Girls); “My Home Town in Kansas” (Nan Halperin); “The Knocking Bookworms” (Allen Kearns,
Girls; Dancing Specialties: Loretta Flushing and Bobbie Breslaw); “Little Jack Horner” (Nan Halperin, Jay
Velie); “Concerted Number” (Nan Halperin, Ann Sands, Jay Velie, Allen Kearns, Girls)
Act Two: “Entr’acte” (The James Boys); “The Bluebird” (Roger Gray); “Little Jessie James” (Allen Kearns, Nan
Halperin, Girls); “From Broadway to Main Street” (Nan Halperin, Girls); “Talk It Over” (Clara Thropp,
Miriam Hopkins, Roger Gray, Allen Kearns); “Such Is Life in a Love Song” (Ann Sands, Allen Kearns,
Girls); “Such Is Life in a Love Song” (reprise) (Nan Halperin, Jay Velie); Finale (Ensemble)
The advertisements for a 1970 film proclaimed: “The Boys in the Band . . . is not a musical.” And just
to clarify: Little Jessie James . . . was not a western. The intimate musical took place in present-day New
York City during the better part of one afternoon and evening, and the entire locale was the living room of an
apartment on Central Park West. And intimate it was, with just eight chorus girls. And intimate it wasn’t,
because upon the revelation that the hero and heroine spent hours together in the privacy of a collapsible bed
that folded into the wall (with a program note that the bed was created by Englander Bed Co.), it turns out
they were asleep the whole time.
Flapper Jessie Jamieson (Nan Halperin) is a plucky no-nonsense vamp from Kansas who meets New
Yorker Paul Revere (Jay Velie) and, despite the pesky matter of his engagement to Geraldine Flower (Ann
Sands), she’s determined to marry him. And, sure enough, jazz-baby Jessie gets her man (but not the show’s
hit song “I Love You,” which went to Ann and Paul).
Just about all the critics agreed that Velie played the part of Paul, but the New York Times credited Arnold
Gluck. The confusion is understandable because Velie was a down-to-the-wire last-minute replacement for
Gluck, and it’s most likely that some of the show’s publicity materials still cited Gluck as one of the princi-
pals in the cast. Variety reported that Velie was “excellent,” and “especially so after having stepped in ‘cold’
without a previous performance and only three days of rehearsal.”
The Times said the show consisted of time-tested musical comedy “ingredients,” but a viewer could enjoy
a “sophisticated” line or an “ingenious” lyric, and in fact the evening was almost always “literate.” Further,
the music was mostly “catchy” and played “with a great deal of to-do” by The James Boys, otherwise known
as “A Paul Whiteman Band.” But the critic decided that giving each musician in the orchestra pit a special
moment of introduction “seemed to be carrying the thing a bit far.”
L.M. in Brooklyn Life said Halperin was “irresistible,” and Harland Thompson’s book and lyrics showed
“originality.” Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News said the show offered a “naughty” story and a
“trick” bed, as well as some “excellent” music by a “super-jazz” orchestra. And N.J. in the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said the trick bed business brought forth “wickedly sincere laughter” that built up to “furious if uneven
fun,” and the “memorable” music had a “lilting jazz touch that ought to send such specimens as ‘Quiet Af-
ternoon’ and ‘Little Jessie James’ into popularity.”
Besides Gluck, who was replaced by Velie, the show also lost its costume designer known as Rosen,
whose gowns were seen during the pre-Broadway tryout but “discarded” for New York. But he remained with
the show as one of its three backers (Variety reported that Rosen was one of producer L. Lawrence Weber’s
two associates who bankrolled the venture).
The economy-sized production, the almost-naughty story, the hit ballad, and the intriguing reviews
which promised an adult look at sex and romance all combined to catapult Little Jessie James into the hit
column, and it became the second-longest-running musical of the season (after Kid Boots).
As Head over Heels, and with a revised book by Thompson and by Gladys Shelley (and with some new
lyrics by the latter), the musical was revived on September 15, 1942, in Scarsdale, New York, and permanently
closed there on September 21. The cast included Joan Roberts (as Jessie) and Lee Dixon, both of whom had
better luck later that season when they created the respective roles of Laurey and Will Parker in the original
production of Oklahoma! It appears that only “I Love You” was retained for this revival (although “Rainy
Afternoon” was most likely a revised version of “Quiet Afternoon”). Other songs in this production were: “I
Just Want to Make Friends,” “Teach Me to Dance,” “How Did It Happen to Me?,” “Who’s to Blame?,” “Gotta
Have a Man around the House,” and “Wonderful.”
As Little Jessie James, the show was again revived, and this time around, Thompson received sole credit
for the book and both he and Shelley took joint credit for the lyrics. The production opened on November
30, 1953, at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, and permanently closed on December 19, 1953, at Ford’s
Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. Mimi Kelly and Mitchell Gregg were Jessie and Paul, and like the 1942 ad-
aptation it appears that only “I Love You” and (probably) “Quiet/Rainy Afternoon” were retained. The revival
seems to have included all the new songs from 1942, but “How Did It Happen to Me?” was revised as “How
Did You Ever Happen to Me?” Variety found the book “humorous and crispy,” the choreography “great,” and
the direction “excellent,” all of which resulted in a “package of lively entertainment.”
POPPY
“A New Musical Comedy” / “Biggest Musical Comedy Hit of the Year”

Performances: 346
Book and Lyrics: Dorothy Donnelly; additional lyrics by Irving Caesar and Howard Dietz
Music: Stephen Jones and Arthur Samuels; additional music by John Egan
Direction: Dorothy Donnelly and Philip Goodman; Producer: Philip Goodman; Choreography: Julian Alfred;
Scenery: Ralph Barton; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Schneider-Anderson; Brooks-Mahieu; Lighting: Un-
credited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Maud Ream Stover (Sarah Tucker), Jimmy Barry (Amos Sniffen), Luella Gear (Mary Delafield), Alan
Edwards (William Van Wyck), Emma Janvier (Princess Vronski Mameluke Pasha Tubbs), Robert Woolsey
(Mortimer Pottle), W.C. Fields (Professor Eustace McGargle), Madge Kennedy (Poppy McGargle), Hugh
Chilvers (Judge Delafield), Marion Chambers (Premier Dancer); Specialty Dancers: Hilda Burt, Lucretia
Craig, Violet Vale, and Victoria White; Girls of the Ensemble: Linelle Blackburn, Nancy Lay, Helen Evans,
Evelyn Jerrell (Gerald), Helen Miade, Virginia Kelley, Mildred Stevens, Dorothy Whiteford, Devah Wor-
rell, Beatrice Wilson, Elizabeth Collins, Kathleen McLoughlin; Boys of the Ensemble: Ackland Powell,
Thomas Monahan (Manahan), Wally Myers (Meyers), Gene Sinclair, Harry Blake, Al Watson, Norman
Jefferson, Walter Wandell
The action takes place during September 1874 in and around Greenmeadow, Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Boys and Girls); “Stepping Around” (Luella Gear, Jimmy Barry, Ensemble); “The
Girl I’ve Never Met” (Alan Edwards, Victoria White, Violet Vale, Hilda Burt); “Hang Your Sorrows in
the Sun” (music by John Egan) (Madge Kennedy); “Two Make a Home” (Madge Kennedy, Alan Edwards);
“Kadoola Kadoola Solo” (material “originated by” W. C. Fields) (W. C. Fields); “When Men Are Alone”
(Robert Woolsey, Hilda Burt, Lucretia Craig, Violet Vale, Victoria White, Ensemble); “Fortune Telling”
(Madge Kennedy, Boys)
1923–1924 Season 169
Act Two: “The Dancing Lesson” (music by John Egan) (Marion Chambers, Hilda Burt, Lucretia Craig, Violet
Vale, Victoria White, Ensemble); “Alibi Baby” (lyric by Howard Dietz, music by Arthur Samuels) (Luella
Gear, Ensemble); “On Our Honeymoon” (Madge Kennedy, Alan Edwards); “Choose a Partner, Please”
(Madge Kennedy, Ensemble); “Whaddaye Do Sundays, Whaddaye Do Mondays, Mary?” (aka “Mary”)
(lyric by Irving Caesar) (Luella Gear, Robert Woolsey, Hilda Burt, Lucretia Craig, Violet Vale, Victoria
White, Ensemble)
Act Three: “A Picnic Party with You” (music by John Egan) (Luella Gear, Robert Woolsey, Hilda Burt, Lucre-
tia Craig, Violet Vale, Victoria White, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Poppy was one of the season’s biggest successes, and with W. C. Fields on hand as the ultimate flim-flam
man, no wonder. And it didn’t hurt that the acerbic comedienne Luella Gear and the sometimes surreal comic
Robert Woolsey were on hand for the festivities.
The cast of the Cinderella musical also included actress Madge Kennedy (in her first and only musical) in
the title role. She played a circus waif adopted by con artist Professor Eustace McGargle, and along the saw-
dust trail they happen upon the Connecticut town of Greenmeadow, where he spreads the rumor that Poppy
is the long-lost heiress to a fortune left by a departed townswoman. He soon finds himself in jail because of
his shenanigans, but lo and behold it seems that a locket that Poppy always wears around her neck is proof
that she is indeed the heiress to the fortune. And so as usual a musical comedy Cinderella becomes rich and
marries the man of her dreams (in this case William Van Wyck, played by Alan Edwards).
The New York Times said the “good show” and “exceptional” musical had “numerous” assets and “un-
important” shortcomings, and was “considerably enlivened” by Fields, who never before had “been quite so
amusing” and “versatile.” And the “apparently unconcerned” Gear possessed “a dash of Winnie Lightner and
a strong touch of Luella Gear,” and hers were the evening’s two best numbers (“Mary” and “Alibi Baby”), both
of which were “the ones you are likely to hear in the restaurants through the Winter.”
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Herald said Fields was “as adroit and astonishing as ever,” and his
memorable card game was “the most hilarious minor episode of the new season.” The score was “beauti-
fully decorated,” and two songs (“Mary” and “Alibi Baby”) were “nicely calculated to follow you out of the
theatre” and “down the street into your home.” Both were performed by Gear, an “interesting” comedian to
whom “at birth the fairy godmothers gave neither voice nor beauty nor grace.” Instead, they “just gave her
all the style there was in the world that day.”
Time said Fields was “the funniest comedian at present exhibiting in New York,” and with his perfor-
mance he was “promptly promoted to our first families of funny men.” Burns Mantle in the New York Daily
News said the evening’s strongest “sustaining prop” was the “comedy juggler” Fields.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that Fields offered “riotous moments” in the “joyful
entertainment,” and his “merry figure” was the “merriest” in the musical because of his “racy, gamy, prank-
ful, imaginative” personality. And when he escapes from jail at the end of the show, he leaves Poppy with
immortal advice: “Darling, never give a sucker an even break.”
Variety praised Fields, stating his appearance “marks him as one of the real comedians of the musical
comedy stage.” He played “a real comedy character” and handled his role “so well he was the real hit of the
performance” and would find “his services in demand for a long time with the producers of the lighter form
of entertainment.”
During the run, “Hang Your Sorrows in the Sun” was dropped and replaced by “Someone Will Make You
Smile” (lyric by Irving Caesar, music by Rudolf Sieczynski). “On Our Honeymoon” was dropped, was briefly
replaced by “Poppy Dear,” but by January 1924 that number had been cut and replaced by what the program
identified as “Reprise Waltz” (for Kennedy and Edwards), which may have been a reprise of the preceding
number “Alibi Baby.”
The London production opened on September 4, 1924, at the Gaiety Theatre for a five-month run with
a cast that included W. H. (Bill) Berry (in the Fields role), Annie Croft (in the title role), Albert LeFre, Eddie
Morris, and Reginald Sharland. Contemporary recordings of songs from the score by Berry (and with orchestra
conducted by Leonard Hornsey) and by the Mayfair Orchestra (conducted by George W. Byng) were respec-
tively released by Columbia and HMV Records and included a total of at least six songs that had been heard
in the Broadway production: “Stepping Around,” “Hang Your Sorrows in the Sun,” “Two Make a Home,”
“Alibi Baby,” “Whaddaye Do Sundays, Mary?,” and “A Picnic Party with You.”
The musical was filmed twice, and each time Fields reprised his stage role. As Sally of the Sawdust (be-
cause of a legal technicality, the heroine’s name had to be changed for the film version), the 1925 silent film
was directed by D. W. Griffith and distributed by United Artists. Carol Dempster was Sally, and the cast
included Alfred Lunt. The second film adaptation was released by Paramount in 1936 as Poppy, and Rochelle
Hudson played the title role. The comedy included two songs: “A Rendezvous with a Dream” (lyric by Leo
Robin, music by Ralph Rainger) and a title song (lyric by Sam Coslow, music by Frederick Hollander).
THE MAGIC RING

“A Fantastic Comedy-with-Music”

Performances: 96
Music: Harold Levey
Direction: Ira Hards; Producer: Henry W. Savage; Choreography: Dave (David) Bennett; Scenery: Adrian (for
prologue); Costumes: Frances Inc.; Schneider-Anderson Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Harold Levey
Cast: Madge North (Zobeide), Joseph Macaulay (Vizier), Worth Faulkner (Abdullah), Sydney Greenstreet
(Henry Brockway), Janet Murdock (Phoebe Brockway), Phoebe Crosby (Mrs. Bellamy), Jeanette MacDon-
ald (Iris Bellamy), Boyd Marshall (Tom Hammond), Ed Wakefield (Policeman), John Lyons (Policeman),
Mitzi (aka Mitzi Hajos) (Polly Church), James B. Carson (Moe Bernheimer), Estelle Birney (Stella), Carlos
and Inez (Specialty Dancers); Singing Girls: Gladys Baxter, Jane Alden, Jo Duval, Hazel Gladstone, Edith
Cooper, Arline Lloyd; Dancing Girls: Eleanor Livingston, Virginia Clark, Mildred Quinn, Flo Brooks;
Singing Boys: Duane Nelson, Sverre Rasmussen, Curt Peterson, Roy Fernandez, Richard Ford, Valentine
Nierle; Dancing Boys: Dan Sparks, Clifford Daly, Austin Clark, Eduard Lefebvre
The action takes place “very, very long ago” in ancient Egypt and during the present time in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue—(1) “Chant” (Madge North, Girls’ Sextette); (2) “The (A) Love Song (of Yesterday)” (Worth
Faulkner, Magne North); “Keepsakes” (Jeanette MacDonald, Sydney Greenstreet, Hazel Gladstone, En-
semble); “Milaiya” (Boyd Marshall); “Education” (Mitzi, Sydney Greenstreet, Boyd Marshall, John Lyons,
Ed Wakefield); “When the Organ Plays” (Mitzi, Sydney Greenstreet, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Milaiya” (reprise) (Phoebe Crosby, James B. Carson, Boyd Marshall, Jeanette MacDonald, Carlos
and Inez, Ensemble); “Famous Falls” (Mitzi, Dancing Girls); “Imaginative Opera” (Phoebe Crosby, James
B. Carson); “Broken Hearts” (Jeanette MacDonald, Boyd Marshall, Carlos and Inez, Ensemble); “The (A)
Love Song (of Today)” (Mitzi, Boyd Marshall, Estelle Birney, Ensemble); “Deep in Someone’s Heart” (Jea-
nette MacDonald, John Lyons, Ed Wakefield, Boys); Finale (Mitzi, Jeanette MacDonald, Phoebe Crosby,
Estelle Birney, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Abullah’s Farewell” (Worth Faulkner)
The Magic Ring was yet another Cinderella musical, this one about a foundling left on the church steps
who grows up to be poor Polly Church (a name derived from being found at St. Paul’s) and has made what
promises to be a poor career choice. She walks the streets as an organ grinder, and the show’s flyer told us that
while her “feet are firmly planted in the New York streets,” within “her golden head lie hopes, adventures,
dreams.” And ancient Egypt comes to her rescue. A prologue informs us that back in Old Egypt there was a
magic ring that granted the wearer’s every wish, provided the wearer is good and kind and pure of heart. Said
ring shows up in a basement antique shop in the West Forties and is purchased by Polly, who, incidentally, is
good and kind and pure of heart. She makes a wish, and sure enough she meets and marries Tom Hammond
(Boyd Marshall), the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Chicago. (The New York Times reported that
“musical comedy experts” who attended the opening night performance weren’t at all surprised that it was
Mitzi who found the magic ring.)
1923–1924 Season 171
The Times liked the “rollicking” musical, noting that Mitzi was her “glorious” self; Harold Levey’s music
was “first-rate,” “original,” and “tuneful,” with songs “destined” to be heard in New York’s restaurants and
dance halls; and David Bennett’s choreography was “effective and lively.” Time said the material was “curi-
ously comatose,” but Mitzi transformed it into an “actually entertaining” and “sometimes brilliant” show.
L.V. in Brooklyn Life said Mitzi’s “rollicking” and “happy” mood kept “you glued to your chair till the final
curtain,” and “Imaginative Opera” was a “real laugh.” James W. Dean in the Green Bay Press-Gazette said
“The Love Song (of Today)” had an “insidious rhythm that will make it probably the most danced-to fox-trot
of the season,” predicted “Milaiya” would be the show’s “most popular phonograph piece,” and felt com-
pelled to note that the “roly-poly” Mitzi was the “living contradiction of the old fallacy that a person must
be thin to dance” because she appeared to be “fully 20 pounds heavier “ since he last saw her and yet she was
“at least that much lighter on her feet while dancing.” And Metcalfe in the Wall Street Journal praised the
“clean, clever and highly enjoyable” musical and noted that “the male chorus is really male and a chorus.”
The cast included appearances from future film stars Jeanette MacDonald and Sydney Greenstreet. The
Brooklyn Daily Eagle said MacDonald was “a slim princess of the Irene Castle type, whose grace and charm
will make her many new friends,” and the “sterling” comedian Greenstreet had “a fat bit which he does with
prodigious unction.” The Times also praised “the appearance and voice” of MacDonald, and said Greenstreet
“got the utmost out of a grossly overwritten role.” As for others in the cast, the critic liked the “tenorable
manliness” of Marshall, but noted James B. Carson (as Moe Bernheimer) was “not funny in an offensive cari-
cature.” Variety noted that MacDonald got the show “off to good start” with “Keepsakes,” and later in the
show “again gained favor” in a number with the chorus boys (probably “Deep in Someone’s Heart”).
The musical was originally known as Minnie an [an’] Me (Minnie was the name of Polly’s little monkey),
and during the tryout Julian Alfred was succeeded by Dave Bennett. Songs dropped prior to New York were
“Homesick” and “When I Walk with Minnie.” The number “The Hand Organ” may be an early title for
“When the Organ Plays.”
BATTLING BUTTLER (later, MR. BATTLING BUTTLER)

“A Musical Knock-Out in Three Rounds” / “The Exquisite Musical Comedy” /
“Funniest Musical Comedy in New York”
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Times Square Theatre)
Opening Date: October 8, 1923; Closing Date: July 5, 1924
Performances: 313
Book: Original book by Stanley Brightman and Austin Melford; American book adaptation by Ballard Mac-
Donald
Lyrics: Original lyrics by Douglas Furber; additional lyrics by the team of Donovan Parsons and Melville
Gibson (at least one source gives his name as Gideon), and by F. W. Thomas; American lyrics adapted by
Ballard MacDonald
Music: Original music by Philip Braham; additional music by F. W. Thomas and by the team of Donovan
Parsons and Melville Gibson; music for American adaptation by Walter L. Rosemont; additional music
for American adaptation by Louis Breau, Joseph Meyer, and Adorjan (A. Dorian) Otvos
Direction: Guy Bragdon; Producers: George Choos by arrangement with Jack Buchanan and Arch and Edgar
Selwyn; Choreography: Dave (David) Bennett; Scenery: William E. Castle; Costumes: Kiviette; Lighting:
“Radiana” luminous effect by George Choos; Musical Direction: Paul Yartin
Cast: Eugene McGregor (Deacon Grafton), Helen Eley (Mrs. Alfred Buttler), Helen LaVonne (Nancy), Mildred
Keats (Marigold), Marie Saxon (Edith), George Sands (Chauffeur), Charles Ruggles (Alfred Buttler), Jack
Squire (Frank Bryant), William Kent (Ernest Hozier aka “Socks”), Guy Voyer (Sweeney), Teddy McNamara
(Spink), Frank Sinclair (Battling Buttler), Frances Halliday (Bertha Buttler); Specialty Dancers: Grant and
Wing, George Sands and Mack Davis, George Dobbs, The Twelve English Rockets; Professional Boxers:
Tony Palmer and Willie Bradley; Ladies of the Ensemble: Claire Daniels, Julia Warren, Eva Knapp, Lucille
Arden, Verdi Milli, Kay Karyll, Isobel Graham, Dotty Sheppard, Betty Campbell, Mildred Morgan, Liane
Marmet, Zoe Knapp; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Fred Johnston, Hal Bird, Irving Mills, Henry Levoy,
Ray Hall, Bob Williams, Edward P. Smith, Jack Siegler, Allen Stevens, Harry Gordon, Lester Elliott, Dale
Grigsby

The action takes place during the present time in Silver Lake, New Hampshire, Malba, Long Island, and New
York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Musical Opening” (Eugene McGregor, Helen Eley, The Twelve English Rockets, Ensemble); “If
Every Day Was Sunday” (music by Adorjan Otvos) (Eugene McGregor, Ensemble, George Sands and Mack
Davis, The Twelve English Rockets); “You’re So Sweet” (music by Joseph Meyer) (Mildred Keats, Marie
Saxon, Ensemble); “Apples, Bananas and You” (lyric by Douglas Furber, music by Philip Braham) (Charles
Ruggles, Helen Ely); “Two Little Pals” (Jack Squire, William Kent); “Will You Marry Me? (Some Day)”
(Mildred Keats, George Dobbs, Ensemble); Finaletto (Principals, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Musical Calisthenics” (arranged by Bebe Barri) (The Twelve English Rockets); “Tinkle Tune”
(music by Adorjan Otvos and Louis Breau) (Teddy McNamara, Helen Lavonne, George Dobbs, Ensemble,
Grant and Wing); “Dancing Honeymoon” (lyric by Douglas Furber, music by Philip Braham) (Jack Squire,
Mildred Keats, George Dobbs, Marie Saxon, The Twelve English Rockets, Ensemble); Finaletto (Princi-
pals, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Dancing Around” (Grant and Wing); “As We Leave the Years Behind” (music by Joseph Meyer)
(Mildred Keats, Jack Squire, Anniversary Girls); “In the Spring” (music by Adorjan Otvos) (Marie Saxon,
William Kent); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Cast)
Battling Buttler was an import from London where it had opened as Battling Butler on December 8, 1922,
at the New Oxford Theatre for a run of 238 showings and had been presented under the management of Jack
Buchanan, who starred in the leading role of Alfred Buttler and also served as choreographer. For the revised
and Americanized Broadway adaptation, Buchanan retained credit as one of the producers, and the importa-
tion ran even longer in New York than in London for a total of 313 performances. During the Broadway run
and for the subsequent U.S. road tour (which announced that the musical was “direct from a solid year on
Broadway” and conveniently overlooked the matter of the show’s nine-month New York run), the show’s title
was again slightly altered (to Mr. Battling Buttler).
During the pre-Broadway tryout in Detroit and Chicago, the musical had played as The Dancing Honey-
moon, a name the producers should probably have retained because half of the world’s population confused
the spelling of the final title of choice. The New York Times and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle went with Buttler,
but Time, the Wall Street Journal, and Burns Mantle chose Butler.
See above for specific details regarding the book, lyrics, and music credits for both the London and Broad-
way versions. It seems that just two songs (“Apples, Bananas and You” and “Dancing Honeymoon”) were
retained for the Broadway production.
The farcical story dealt with Alfred Buttler (Charlie Ruggles) who lives a quiet life in Silver Lake, New
Hampshire, with his wife (played by Helen Eley). Whenever Alfred wants to get away from small-town life
for a few days and hang out with his old cronies, he falls back on a plan he’s devised. He’s told everyone he’s
the boxer Battling Buttler, and whenever the prizefighter is set to play a round, Alfred supposedly goes off for
a training session (Alfred’s so ignorant about boxing that he uses golf imagery to describe it). Problems arise
when the actual prizefighter (played by Frank Sinclair) hears about the impersonation, and then when the
boxer’s wife Bertha (Frances Halliday) meets Alfred’s wife, the two women assume their husband is leading a
double life and they’re married to the same man.
The Times noted that “a good deal of fun” was “extracted from pseudo-training stunts and the like,” and
as the “arch pretender” Ruggles was “frequently highly comic” but occasionally “not quite so unctuous as
one would wish.” The show benefited from the “exciting” specialty dancers Grant and Wing, and the score
was “sufficiently catchy.” The Eagle liked the “rough and ready” musical, and said the role suited Ruggles “at
least as long” as he didn’t sing. Brett Page in the Muncie Star Press noted that the evening offered so many
“delightful” moments (such as “lovely” music, “entertaining” dances, and “interesting” specialties) that it
was easy to forgive the “tepid” book. And Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News found Ruggles a “good
farceur” and said that the “particularly good” William Kent (as Buttler’s sidekick) had been an eccentric
dancer and was now into “eccentric comedy.”
1923–1924 Season 173
Variety found the show a “strange combination” of an “old-time” book musical and one with “the latest
and smartest and costliest effects in production.” In some ways it was “mild fare,” but on the other hand it
was a “tidbit to the birds with Broadway appetites” and as a result would probably be around “until Easter”
(it closed after the Fourth of July). Variety’s critic praised the “Radiana” luminous effects devised by George
Choos, and further noted that the show’s wedding sequence “was of Ziegfeld splendor and class.”
There were at least two London recordings of the songs. Buchanan recorded “Dancing Honeymoon”
with the Ray Noble Orchestra, and Herman Flink and His Orchestra recorded a medley (“An Axe to Grind,”
“Marigold,” “I Will Be Master,” “Growing Up to Time,” “The Countryside,” “She Called Me Pickaninny,”
“A Far, Far Better Thing,” “Dancing Honeymoon,” “Apples, Bananas and Pears” [note slightly different title],
and “Mr. Dumble”).
As Battling Butler, a silent film version directed by Buster Keaton (who also played the role of Alfred
Butler) was released by MGM in 1926 and has been issued on various DVD collections of Keaton’s movies.
Also in the film’s cast were Sally O’Neil and Francis MacDonald.
GINGER
“A Galloping Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre

Performances: 30
Book: Harold Orlob and H. I. Phillips
Lyrics and Music: Harold Orlob
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: Harold Orlob; Choreography: John Hughes; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Costumes: Max Cohn; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Leon Rosebrook
Cast: Nellie Breen (Ruth Warewell), Olive May (Mrs. Warewell), Joe Mack (Willy Fall), Sibylla Bowhan
(Marjorie Frayne), Virginia Anderson (A Buyer), Walter Douglas (Dick Warewell), Norman Sweetser (Clix
Young), Leeta Corder (Virginia Warewell, aka Ginger), Thomas F. Swift (Joe Bagley), Charles J. Stine (Joe
Bagley Sr.); Ginger’s Friends: Violet Larrus, Stella Bolton, Guerida Crawford, Mabelle Swor, Marie Gay-
lord, Marie White, Rhea Irving, Sophie Howard, Ona Vaughn, Paulette Winston, Katheryn O’Dell, Nerene
Swinton, Florence Guenther, Ruth Waddell, Rose LeRoy; The Paramount Four Quartette: Jack Gill, Jasper
Stroup, Charles Lanlen, Arnold Ferrotta
The action takes place during the present time in Bronxville, New York, and in the Catskills.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “That Ought to Count for Something” (Nellie Breen, Walter Douglas, Girls); “Ginger” (Leeta
Corder, Ensemble); “Love’s Art” (Leeta Corder); “Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Name” (Sibylla Bowhan,
Thomas F. Swift); “Don’t Forget” (Leeta Corder, Norman Sweetser, The Paramount Four Quartette);
“Take a Chance” (Nellie Breen, Joe Mack, Girls); “Quarrel Duet” (Leeta Corder, Norman Sweetser, Girls);
“Before You Take a Man” (Sibylla Bowhan, Girls); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Specialty: The Paramount Four Quartette; “Mountain Moon” (Norman Sweetser, The Paramount
Four Quartette); “Beware” (Sibylla Bowhan, Joe Mack, Nellie Breen, Walter Douglas); “If Ever I Get Up
My Irish” (Leeta Corder, Girls); “Pretty Girl” (Nellie Breen, Joe Mack, Bathing Girls); “He Failed to Un-
derwrite a Happy Home” (Sibylla Bowhan, Walter Douglas); “Teach Me How” (Thomas F. Swift, Girls);
“Mating Time” (Leeta Corder, Norman Sweetser, Nellie Breen, Joe Mack, Thomas E. Swift, Sibylla Bow-
han); Finale (Company)
Harold Orlob’s Ginger opened almost twenty years to the day before what would be his final Broadway
offering. His 1943 show Hairpin Harmony played for just three performances and was the shortest-running
musical of its season, and clearly the luckless Ginger had set the pace because it had the shortest run of all
the twenty-two book musicals that opened during the 1923–1924 season.
The New York Times said the “indescribably poor” Ginger was strictly “amateur night,” and except for
cast members Joe Mack (“a lanky dancer”) and Sibylla Bowhan (“a personable soubrette”), the show “was
completely without virtues.” Time speculated that if a thirteen-year-old boy had seen a performance of
Ginger, he would have exclaimed: “I’ll go on the stage. I could do better than that. God knows I couldn’t do
worse.”
Brett Page in the Great Falls (MT) Tribune admitted that the show wasn’t “gorgeous” and was “amateur-
ish in spots,” but the music was “catchy,” the dancing chorus “excellent,” and Mack, Bowhan, and Nellie
Breen were “mighty clever dancers.” J. R. D. in Brooklyn Life said the show had the “usual” book and the
“usual” music, and at times it was “hard to distinguish just whether it was a musical comedy or refined bur-
lesque.” (But it seems that once you saw the show’s bathing scene, you knew.)
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Ginger was “lively” but wasn’t “done very well” and
wasn’t “particularly entertaining to watch.” However, the performers had a “willingness to work hard” and
kept “out of each other’s way,” some of the melodies were “fairly fetching,” and there was “something doing
all the time.”
Variety noted that once the first act proceeded along “its dreary course so passively and uninterestingly,”
the audience was “too dead-set against it” and “nothing could rouse them thereafter.” The premiere was
“marked by many empty seats in the last few orchestra rows as well as on the sides,” and this was “increased
by premature walking out from intermission on.”
The plot dealt with two friends, one rich and one a poor inventor, and oh! the dilemma of the first when
he becomes attracted to a young woman who turns out to be his buddy’s beloved! By the way, the inventor
has devised a different way to assemble parachutes, and much of the humor was derived from the show’s chief
comedian (Mack), who volunteers to test the new parachute. And you can just imagine all the knee-slappers
derived from the character’s name, Willie Fall.
As Take a Chance, the show had a brief tryout earlier in the year when it played in Wilmington, and
then with the same title a second tryout played in Boston during early September before being withdrawn.
Two weeks before the Broadway opening, the Times reported that the musical would be “revamped” by Otto
Harbach and would be retitled Money and the Girl. But in mid-October the show opened as Ginger without
Harbach and without the proposed title.
RUNNIN’ WILD
Theatre: Colonial Theatre
Opening Date: October 29, 1923; Closing Date: June 28, 1924
Performances: 228
Lyrics: Cecil Mack
Music: James P. Johnson
Direction: Uncredited; Producer: George White; Choreography: Lyda Webb; Scenery: Uncredited; Costumes:
Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Uncredited
Cast: C. Wesley Hill (Uncle Mose), Arthur D. Porter (Uncle Amos), Lionel Montagas (Tom Sharper), Revella
Hughes (Ethel Hill), George Stephens (Jack Penn), Paul C. Floyd (Detective Wise), Mattie Wilkes (Mrs.
Silas Green), Ina Duncan (Mandy Little), Adalade (Adelaide) Hall (Adalade), Flournoy E. Miller (Steve
Jenkins), Aubrey L. Lyles (Sam Peck), Eddie Gray (Willie Live), Tommy Woods (Chief Red Cap), Charles
Olden (Head Waiter), Elizabeth Welsh (Welch) (Ruth Little), J. Wesley Jeffrey (Silas Green), James H.
Woodson (Boat Captain), George Stamper (Sam Slocum), Katherine Yarborough (Lucy Lanky), Bob Lee
(Ginger), Ralph Bryson (Lightning), Georgette Harvey (Angelina Brown); Girls of the Chorus: Lyda Webb,
Percy Wiggins, Amey Roden, Mildred Dixon, Marie DeVoe, Dorothy Rhodes, Hazel Anderson, Jessie Wal-
lace, Leila Brogden, Therese West, Ela Thomas, Marguerite Howard, Beatrice Williams, Bessie Allison,
Norma Davis, Dorothy Irving, Vivian Harris, Alice Allison, Adelaide Jones, Swendolyn Graham, Ruth
Lambert, Leronya Bradley; Boys of the Chorus: Ralph Cooper, Charles Saltez, Arthur Mason, Joseph Wil-
son, Monte Hawley, Billy Foster
The action takes place during the present time in Jimtown and St. Paul, Minnesota.
1923–1924 Season 175
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Company); “Open Your Heart” (Revella Hughes, George Stephens); “Ginger-
brown” (Adalade Hall, Bob Lee, Strutters); “Red Caps Cappers” (Tommy Woods, Boys); “Old-Fashioned
Love” (Ina Duncan, Adalade Hall, Arthur D. Porter); “Keep Moving” (Charles Olden, Chorus); Dance
Specialties (Ralph Bryson, George Stamper); “Charleston” (Elizabeth Welsh, Chorus); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Roustabouts” (Male Octette); “Log Cabin Days” (Georgette Harvey, Octette); “Ghost Recitative”
(Charles Olden); “Pay Day on Levee” (Arthur D. Porter, Company); “Song Birds Quartette” (Revella
Hughes, Ina Duncan, Elizabeth Welsh, Georgette Harvey); “Ghost Ensemble” (Ghost Association); “Love
Bug” (Adalade Hall); “Juba Dance” (Chorus); “Jazz Your Troubles Away” (Company)
All one really needs to know about Runnin’ Wild is one word: “Charleston.” Yes, the dance that literally
swept the nation and whose irresistible music by James P. Johnson defines the sound of the 1920s came from
the successful black show Runnin’ Wild, whose score incidentally didn’t include the iconic song “Runnin’
Wild,” an independent song (with lyric by Joe Grey and Leo Wood and music by A. Harrington Gibbs) which
had become popular a few months before Runnin’ Wild opened. Note that the earlier Liza included “Runnin’
Wild Blues,” a nod to the Grey, Wood, and Gibbs song, and also offered an early version of the Charleston (in
this case, “The Charleston Dance”).
Although the Charleston had been around for a while, it was Johnson’s sassy and jubilant music that put
it on the map, and one suspects that the show’s choreographer Lyda Webb (who also appeared in the chorus)
was responsible for adding the touches that made “Charleston” the most iconic dance in Broadway history.
Probably no one thought much about the number during rehearsals. Most likely it was just another
song-and-dance sequence, and surely no one knew it would go stratospheric. Certainly, the critics didn’t take
much notice of it. Except for Variety (which twice mentioned the number), I can’t find any reviews that cite
it by name, and it seems the dance was lumped into the general praise of the show’s choreography, such as
the New York Times’s description of the show’s “eccentric dancing.” But the Times referred to “some of the
most exciting steps of the season,” and went on to say that “knees are used more often than ankles,” and that
mention of “knees” is surely a reference to the “Charleston.”
Runnin’ Wild was a long-running hit that played over six months in New York (there was a brief hiatus
late in the run when the show was revised and then reopened in a new edition, and both versions totaled 228
performances). And like so many black shows of the era, the musical was partially set in Jimtown, an imagi-
nary musical comedy Dixieland which could be—and was—located anywhere that suited the exigencies of
the plot. And the plot? Well, it wasn’t much, and in fact the Times called the production a revue. Shockingly
enough, there was no de rigueur crap game scene and courtroom scene, but all was not lost and the evening
included the standard cemetery scene.
As they did for Shuffle Along, Flournoy E. Miller and Aubrey L. Lyles wrote the script and starred in the
production. They returned in their respective roles of Steve Jenkins and Sam Peck, and during the run they
revived the earlier show’s “Fisticuffs” sequence. The musical also included early appearances by Elizabeth
Welsh (later, Welch) and Adalade (later, Adelaide) Hall, both of whom made memorable marks in musical
theatre. It was Welsh who first introduced “Charleston” to the public, and in Cole Porter’s 1933 London
musical she introduced the low-down and scorching “Solomon.” Forty years later, in 1973, she created the
role of Berthe for the London premiere of Pippin. Hall introduced the torrid blues “I Must Have That Man”
in Blackbirds of 1928 and appeared in Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg’s Jamaica (1957) where she introduced
“Savannah’s Wedding Day” and “For Every Fish.”
Time noted that the plot was a “threadbare clothesline to pin the songs and dances” on, but the show
nonetheless had “all the characteristics of an explosion” because “never before has so much energy been con-
centrated on a single stage” and a “congress of whirling dervishes would seem static in comparison.”
The Times’s critic was “vastly entertained” by the comedians and singers, but he noted that after the
“excellent” first act the pace slackened somewhat (but not enough “to hurt the proceedings”). N.J. in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioned that “Old-Fashioned Love” would probably become the show’s popular
song. And Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the “good” show was “better” than Shuffle
Along and in fact had “quite as much speed and better control.” Mantle and one or two others critics liked
the scene between Steve and Sam in which Treasurer Sam informs corporation president Steve that all the
company’s profits have been eaten up by “de ducks” (because Sam has to “deduct” $10 here, “deduct” $20
there, and so on).
Variety said Runnin’ Wild was “the best of the colored productions” since Shuffle Along, and singled out
three numbers (“Old-Fashioned Love,” “Open Your Heart,” and “Charleston”), noting that the first two were
ballads that “translated to jazz” for the chorus sequences. The trade paper mentioned that during the Boston
tryout the show took in between $10,000 and $11,000 weekly and “claimed to make money even though
Miller and Lyles are supposed to get $1,000 weekly.” The critic mentioned that Lyles was “the smaller of
the team and the funniest,” and normally used only the initials of his first and middle names. The reviewer
decided Lyles could “afford” to use the initials “if his salary is anywhere near what it’s quoted.”
STEPPING STONES
“A New Musical Comedy” / “A Fantastic Musical Play”

Opening Date: November 6, 1923; Closing Date: May 31, 1924
Performances: 241
Book: Anne Caldwell and R. H. Burnside
Music: Jerome Kern
Loosely based on the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.”
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: The dances performed by The Til-
ler Sunshine Girls were “invented and produced by” Mary Read and John Tiller; Scenery: Wilhelm (of
London); Robert McQuinn; Costumes: Wilhelm (of London); Cora MacGeachy; Will R. Barnes; Robert
McQuinn; Brooks-Mahieu Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Fred Stone (Peter Plug), Roy Hoyer (Prince Silvio), Oscar Ragland (Otto DeWolfe), John Lambert (Re-
mus), Harold West (Richard), Jack Whiting (Captain Paul), Gerald Gilbert (Antoine), Bert Jordan (Gypsy
Jan), Willie Torpey (Eddie), George Herman (The Landlord), Dorothy Stone (Rougette Hood), Allene (Cra-
ter) Stone (Widow Hood), Evelyn Herbert (Lupina), Primrose Caryll (Radiola), Lucille Elmore (Mary), Lydia
Scott (Nurse Marjorie), Lilyan White (Charlotte), Ruth White (Eclaire), Hazel Glen (Rose), Cortez and
Peggy (Dancers), The Brightons (Dancers), The Tiller Sunshine Girls, Tony Sarg’s Marionettes; Members
of the Globe Theatre Ensemble: Pearl Bennett, Mary Brady, Sophie Brenner, Lucille Darling, Josephine
Dunn, Ruth Fallows, Dorothy Francis, Ona Hamilton, Lillian Harrington, Ruth Hurst, Sally Hurst, Maude
Jerome, Doris Landy, Francetta Malloy, Geraldine Markham, Marjorie O’Neil, Mary Pearce, Evelyn
Plumadore, Louise Powell, Adelaide Robinson, Betty Roche, Helen Roche, Rita Royce, Jet Stanley
The action takes place a long time ago in a fairy land that includes a nursery, a sweet shop, a garden of roses,
a haunted inn, a dolls’ village, and a palace.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Descriptive Music: “The Nursery Clock” (Orchestra); “Little Angel Cake” (Primrose Caryll, Har-
old West, Lucille Elmore, Girls); Dance (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); Buffo Trio: “Because You Love the
Singer” (Evelyn Herbert, Oscar Ragland, John Lambert); “Little Red Riding Hood” (Dorothy Stone, Allene
Stone, Girls); “Wonderful Dad” (Fred Stone, Dorothy Stone); “Pie” (Fred Stone, Oscar Ragland, John Lam-
bert); “Babbling Babette” (Evelyn Herbert, Ensemble); “In Love with Love” (Dorothy Stone, Roy Hoyer,
Principal Characters); Dance: “The Wood Nymphs” (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); “Our Lovely Rose” (Ev-
elyn Herbert); “Rose Potpourri Finale” (Company)
Act Two: “Once in a Blue Moon” (Roy Hoyer, Evelyn Herbert, John Lambert, Lilyan White, Ruth White,
Girls); March: “The Mystic Hussars” (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); Dance: “The Skeleton Janitor” (George
Herman); Dance: “The Rag Pickers” (The Brightons); “Raggedy Ann” (Fred Stone, Dorothy Stone, John
Lambert, The Tiller Sunshine Girls, The Globe Theatre Ensemble); “Dear Little Peter Pan” (Fred Stone,
Dorothy Stone); Dances (Cortez and Peggy); “Palace Dance” (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); “Coronation
1923–1924 Season 177
March: Stepping Stones” (Evelyn Herbert, Oscar Ragland, John Lambert, Ensemble); Finale (Fred Stone,
Dorothy Stone, Company)
Stepping Stones was the first of two musicals by Jerome Kern to be produced during the season, and it
was followed by Sitting Pretty. The show was a vehicle for Fred Stone, his wife Allene (Crater) Stone, and
their daughter Dorothy Stone. The musical was a rather specialized piece aimed at the family trade, but it
played throughout the season for a profitable run of 241 performances at the Globe Theatre, embarked on a
long national tour, and briefly returned to the Globe on September 1, 1924, where it played for an additional
forty performances.
Much was made of Dorothy’s appearance. This was her first major Broadway role (she had previously been
seen in the chorus of Bombo), and during the opening night performance her name went up in lights under
Fred’s name on the theatre’s marquee. Could this possibly have been a planned publicity event? Or was it a
spontaneous one? Maybe all those electricians just happened to be around, and when they spied ladders and
electric light bulbs they decided it was an opportune moment for them to pay homage to the star’s daughter.
Kern’s score was pleasant enough, and one or two songs (particularly the second-act opener “Once in
a Blue Moon”) were especially felicitous. The musical took its cue from the fairy tale of Little Red Riding
Hood. In this case, Rougette Hood (Dorothy Stone) is pursued by the evil Otto DeWolfe (Oscar Ragland) but
is protected by plumber Peter Plug (Fred Stone, who here made another one of his traditional eye-opening
first-act entrances, in this case descending onto the stage via a parachute-like device). Other characters were
a prince in disguise (Roy Hoyer as Prince Silvio), who marries Rougette, and Widow Hood (Allene Stone), who
marries Peter.
Time found the score “uninspired” and the humor of the “wrinkled variety,” but the show was “exactly”
what Fred Stone’s “followers for 21 years have been trained to expect.” As for Dorothy, the gush factor seemed
to be in overload. Time stated she “danced her way to the regions of the stars” and it was “doubtful that any
individual performer ever gleaned more glory from a first appearance on Broadway.” And Variety exclaimed
that “little Miss Stone, possessed of a million dollars’ worth of personality, a delightful winsomeness, a
light voice, but with all of her father’s inimitable dancing ability plus a not uncertain quantity of her own”
impressed the audience from her first entrance to final curtain, and it was one of those events “that make
theatrical history as well as theatrical personages.”
The New York Times said the “lavishly produced” musical veered “perilously close to the childish,” but
Kern’s score was “excellent” and two songs (“Once in a Blue Moon” and “In Love with Love”) gave “signs of
bounding high into popularity.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that except for Fred and Dorothy there was little “to
cause excitement or even admiration” because the score was “undistinguished,” the jokes were “inept,” and
the story was “flat” and “uneventful” as it “slowly unfolded.” Pollock noted that Fred seemed to hold back,
perhaps in order to “not outdo” his daughter, and so the evening offered “two very clever Stones, one of them
just a little less clever than he used to be.” And while it was a “pretty sight” to see Fred and Allene delight
in their daughter’s success, Pollock wondered “if audiences can be made happy so easily.”
Percy Hammond in the St. Louis Star and Times indicated the evening was the “customary Fred Stone
entertainment, dignified and childlike.” Dorothy took the show away from her mother and father “and ere
she was through with her girlish displays all the other traditional Stones had been cast into the shadows.”
As for Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune, Dorothy’s performance grew “with ever increasing brilliancy”
and he “saw more people weeping joyfully over this sentimental triumph than I have seen in tears at any
emotional melodrama this season.” L.V. in Brooklyn Life announced, that he’d “been in constant attendance
at the theatre for more than thirty years and . . . seen stars come and go,” but he believed Dorothy had, “on
account of her versatility, a greater future than any of them in the realm of musical comedy.”
For the record, Dorothy Stone went on to create roles in five more book musicals. Criss Cross, Three
Cheers, Ripples (1930; 55 performances), and Smiling Faces (1932; thirty-one performances) were family af-
fairs that besides Dorothy included one or more of her relatives (father Fred, mother Allene, sister Paula).
(Fred was scheduled to appear in Three Cheers, but because of injuries he suffered in an airplane accident was
replaced by Will Rogers.) Her other original role was Sea Legs (1937; fifteen performances). She also replaced
Ruby Keeler in Show Girl and Marilyn Miller in As Thousands Cheer (1933). She wasn’t the Dorothy Stone
who appeared in the short-running 1936 revue Broadway Sho-Window (for this show, a chorus girl named
Dorothy Stone appeared in a chorus group known as the Sixteen Sweet Sixteens).
Another Stone family affair occurred when Paula coproduced the 1945 revival of Fred and Allene’s 1906
hit The Red Mill. Dorothy appeared in the production along with her husband Charles Collins, who was
prominently featured in the newly created role of Gaston (she and Collins had also appeared together in
Ripples, Smiling Faces, Sea Legs, and the seventeen-performance 1945 revival of You Can’t Take It with You,
which also included Fred in the cast). Besides The Red Mill, Paula produced a handful of other Broadway mu-
sicals, including Top Banana (1951), Carnival in Flanders (1953), and Rumple (1957).
Fred’s daughter Carol appeared in the 1942 “comedy with music” Adamant Eve, and she too caused at
least one writer to gush when the Los Angeles Examiner exclaimed that at the opening night performance
in San Francisco she “demonstrated her right to stardom in one of the most difficult roles ever essayed by
an actress” and “scored an outstanding success” with her “personal triumph.” But for all that, Adamant Eve
never saw the light of Broadway.
The Comic Opera Guild released a “studio reading” of the score with two pianists, ten principals, and
nine chorus members (according to the liner notes, the music was “restored” by Adam Aceto). The recording
is virtually a complete rendering of the score and includes twenty-eight tracks, among them the “descriptive
music” of “The Nursery Clock,” reprises, and dance music (the CD was released by the Comic Opera Guild
# CSSO6P-1M). The collection The First Rose of Summer: Jerome Kern 1912–1928 (Music Box Recordings CD
# MBR-04003) includes “Wonderful Dad,” “Because You Love the Singer,” and the title song.
SHARLEE
Theatre: Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre
Performances: 36
Book: Harry L. Cort and George E. Stoddard
Lyrics: Alex Rogers
Music: C. Luckyeth (“Lucky”) Roberts
Direction: Kuy Kendall; Producer: John Cort; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Reid Maguire; Costumes:
Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Winn Shaw (Mr. Watson Holmes), Eddie Nelson (Oscar Riley), Joe Morris (I. Kahn), Sydney Grant (Tom
Mason), Frances Arms (Dolly Dare), Joseph R. Dorney (Jack Vandeveer), Juliette Day (Sharlee Saunders),
Mitti Manley (Annabelle), Ottillie Corday (Jane Caldwell), Masenia (Masenia), The Field Sisters (May and
June), Mary Leroy (Mrs. Vandeveer), Nitza Vernille and Vernon (Entertainers); Ensemble
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and in Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble (Guests); “Loving Is a Habit” (Frances Ames, Winn Shaw, The Field Sisters,
Chorus); “Sharlee” (Joseph R. Dorney, Chorus); Ensemble Entrance (Juliette Day), “Little Drops of Wa-
ter” (Juliette Day, Sydney Grant); “Princess Nicotine” (Winn Shaw, Joe Morris); “Heart Beats” (Joseph
R. Dorney); “Cry Baby” (The Field Sisters); Dance Specialty (Nitza Vernille); Burlesque (Eddie Nelson);
“Love Today” (Juliette Day, Ensemble); Reprises (Orchestra); Ensemble Dance (Guests); Dance (Masenia);
Specialty (Frances Ames); “Broadway Rose” (Joseph R. Dorney); “Toodle Oo” (Juliette Day, Ensemble);
Finale Act One: Orchestra Reprise
Act Two: “Heart Beats” (Joseph R. Dorney); “My Caveman—My Venus” (Mitti Manley, Eddie Nelson); “My
Sunshine” (Juliette Day, Joseph R. Dorney, Ensemble); Dance Divertissement (Nitza Vernille, Vernon);
“Love Is the Bunk” (Frances Ames, Winn Shaw, Joe Morris, Eddie Nelson); “Honeymoon Row” (Ottillie
Corday, Ensemble); Specialties: The Field Sisters, Masenia, Eddie Nelson; Finale: “Heart Beats” (reprise)
(Principals, Ensemble)
Just a few days after Ginger collapsed at Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre, another musical-comedy title girl
moved into the venue. But like Ginger, Sharlee was a brief tenant at the increasingly unlucky theatre, which
was never again able to capture the glory of such long-running shows as Shuffle Along and Liza.
1923–1924 Season 179
The story focused on Manhattan cabaret singer Sharlee Saunders (Juliette Day), who gives up both her
career and the affection of a well-to-do man in order to move to the country when she marries a small-town
boy, who turns out to be lacking in solid and trustworthy qualities.
The New York Times noted that the “placid” plot didn’t go anywhere, and as a result, several “unrelated”
pieces were interpolated into the production, which often morphed into a revue-like evening (note that the
musical numbers included such titles as “Dance Specialty,” “Burlesque,” “Ensemble Dance,” “Dance,” “Spe-
cialty,” “Dance Divertissement,” and a late second-act sequence of three specialties in a row). The show was
“attractively produced” and generally “fair to middling,” and although the evening had its “moments” it was
“not a conspicuously bright piece of work” and was sometimes “unbelievably artless.”
Time found Juliette Day a “diverting heroine,” but “to see so capable a personality buried under the dead-
ening debris of utter dullness adds to the general sadness.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said
the performance had “speed and animation” but lacked “quality.”
Variety said that C. Luckyeth (aka “Lucky”) Roberts had composed “several good numbers,” and
singled out “My Caveman—My Venus,” “Princess Nicotine,” “Heart Beats,” and “Honeymoon Row” as
well as two that didn’t seem to be listed in the program, “Daddy” and “Leaping Leopards,” the latter with
“a dice-shooting lyric.” Composer Roberts and lyricist Alex Rogers were black, and like their musical Go-
Go they here created a score for a “white” show, a somewhat unusual occurrence for Broadway (for more
information, see Go-Go).
ONE KISS
“Comedy with Music”

Opening Date: November 27, 1923; Closing Date: February 16, 1924
Performances: 95
Book: Original French libretto by Yves Mirande; English adaptation by Clare Kummer
Lyrics: Original French lyrics by Albert Willemetz; English lyrics by Clare Kummer
Music: Maurice Yvain
Based on Ta bouche, libretto by Yves Mirande, lyrics by Albert Willemetz, and music by Maurice Yvain.
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery: Ernest Gros;
Costumes: José de Zamora; Cora MacGeachy; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Daly
Cast: Jane Carroll (Marguerite), Alden Gay (Margot), Dagmar Oakland (Meg), Pauline Hall (Meregrette), Ada
Lewis (Mme. Doremi), Louise Groody (Eva), John E. Hazzard (General Pas-de-Vis), Oscar Shaw (Bastien),
John Price Jones (Jean), Josephine Whittel (Mme. de Peyster), Fred Lennox (Georges), Patrice Clark (Ri-
quette), Janet Stone (Bebe), Elaine Palmer (Babette), Irma Irving (Berte), Gertrude McDonald (Beatrix)
The action takes place during the present time in France at Morny-sur-Mer.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Jane Carroll, Alden Gay, Dagmar Oakland, Pauline Hall); “Don’t Ever Be a Poor Relation”
(John Price Jones, Girls); “Your Lips” (Louise Groody, Oscar Shaw); “A Little Bit of Lace” (John E. Hazzard,
Girls); “When We Are Married” (Louise Groody, Oscar Shaw); “A Little Love” (Oscar Shaw, Girls); Finale
Act Two: “Gentlemen” (Louise Groody, Girls); “There Are Some Things We Can Never Forget” (Oscar Shaw,
Girls); “Is That So!” (Louise Groody, Oscar Shaw); “In My Day” (John E. Hazzard, Josephine Whittel);
“One Kiss” (Oscar Shaw, Girls); “London Town” (Louise Groody, Girls); “Up There” (Louise Groody,
Oscar Shaw); Finale
Producer Charles Dillingham hired playwright Clare Kummer to adapt the book and lyrics of the popular
French operetta Ta bouche (Your lips), which had opened in April 1921 at the Theatre Daunou in Paris with
a libretto by Yves Mirande, lyrics by Albert Wellemetz, and music by Maurice Yvain, who had composed the
enduring “Mon homme” (“My man”). The musical managed almost three months in New York, and then
took to the road with most of the original Broadway cast members, including Louise Groody and Oscar Shaw.
Set in France, the story focused on the forbidden romance of Eva (Groody) and Bastien (Shaw), forbidden
because her widowed mother Mme. Doremi (Ada Lewis) and his widower father General Pas-de-Vis (John E.
Hazzard) object to the poor financial status of the other family. (The New York Times noted that Lewis played
an “impossible musical comedy mother” whose name was no doubt intended “for purposes of humor,” and
Hazzard’s character was out of “burlesque” and was “screamingly called” Pas-de-Vis.)
Bastien hopes to win Mme. Doremi’s consent to marry Eva by saying he compromised the young woman,
but the gorgon remains unfazed and only relents upon her discovery that Bastien will come into a fortune and
a title upon the demise of his uncle. There was also a secondary plot concerning Bastien’s attempt to save
his father from financial scandal by marrying the rich widow Mme. de Peyster (Josephine Whittel), but any
thought of impending nuptials is squelched when the widow realizes that her late husband’s will stipulates
that she loses her inheritance upon remarriage.
The Times said the book was “decidedly unfunny,” but the score was “engaging,” “melodious,” and
“sprightly.” Unfortunately, Lewis, Hazzard, and Whittel “suffered” when they tried “to carry the burden
of non-existent comedy,” but Groody and Shaw had “a much better time of it” because she had “graceful
mannerisms” and a “command” of dancing and he was “unaffected,” “tuneful,” “agile,” and “manly.” Time
stated the show “promises much but never quite performs,” and there was a “lack of laughter” in Kummer’s
adaptation. However, Groody and Shaw “made excellent love” and Yvain’s score was the evening’s “most
satisfactory contribution.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that Kummer’s adaptation “deleted” certain aspects
of the original story because “a great many goings-on [were] unsuited for American eyes and ears.” Met-
calfe in the Wall Street Journal said there was a “suspicion” that Kummer had “modified some things in
the French original, although there seems to be no reason for anyone modifying anything in the present
unblushing condition of the American stage.” Otherwise, Metcalfe said Yvain’s score had the “old light-
ness and brilliancy” of those French operetta composers who followed Offenbach. Groody was “especially
dainty,” and Shaw’s “most serious defect” was “the over-application of patent-leather polish to his hair.”
Metcalfe was also happy to report that the company lacked “the customary collection of imitation lounge-
lizards, sometimes programmed as ‘gentlemen of the ensemble,’ but more generally known as ‘the chorus
boys.’”
Pollock said three songs were “surely destined to achieve great popularity (“There Are Some Things
We Can Never Forget,” “Your Lips,” and “Up There,” the latter especially notable for Groody and Shaw’s
“clever dancing”). One Kiss was “polished musical comedy” with “unhackneyed humor,” an “atmosphere
of gayety,” and an “abundant grace in the performance.” L.V. in Brooklyn Life found the “smart” musical
“thoroughly delightful and entertaining” with “tinkling” tunes, and he noted that Shaw sang and danced “so
pleasingly that at several intervals he completely stops the show.”
Variety said the story didn’t “amount to much” because it wasn’t “honest romance, frank farce [or] clever
comedy,” and Hazzard and Lewis had to “carry the comedy burden, and a burden it is most of the time.”
Groody had an “appealing personality” and brought “some coherent semblance to story interest,” and while
Shaw was still “manly” and “straightaway,” a claque in the audience “made him out to be a Napoleon or
a newly elected Congressman” and his “numerous encores” would “never happen again after the opening.”
Julian Alfred’s choreography had “taste, gusto and animation,” and one scene lent itself “very artistically to
a gradual sunset lighting effect,” which “though not conspicuous was fine.”
L.V. mentioned that John Price Jones had “little to do, but did it well.” A few years later, Jones had a
lot to do, when he starred as the football hero Tom Marlowe in the hit Good News and with Mary Lawlor
introduced the evergreens “The Best Things in Life Are Free” and “Lucky in Love.” Shaw enjoyed many
memorable moments on the musical stage, including leading roles in Oh, Kay! (with Gertrude Lawrence he
introduced “Do, Do, Do” and “Maybe”) and The 5 O’Clock Girl (with Mary Eaton he introduced “Thinking
of You”).
Selections performed in French from Ta bouche and Pas sur la bouche (the latter a 1925 musical with
music by Yvain) were released by Accord Records (CD # RVB-08468).
In Spring 1929, producer J. A. Gauvin presented six French operettas at Jolson’s Theatre for limited runs
in repertory, all sung in French. Besides Ta bouche (which opened on March 14 for twelve performances),
the other works were Trois jeunes filles nues, Passionnement!, Comte Obligato, Un bon garçon, and Pas
sur la bouche.
1923–1924 Season 181
MARY JANE MCKANE

“A New Musical Play”
Theatre: Imperial Theatre

Performances: 151
Book and Lyrics: William Cary Duncan and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music: Herbert Stothart and Vincent Youmans
Direction: Alonzo Price; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Frank E. Gates
and E. A. Morange; Costumes: Charles LeMaire (Time-Clock costumes by Gilbrae-Gingham); Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Hal Skelley (Joe McGillicudy), Kitty Kelly (Maggie Murphy), Mary Hay (Mary Jane McKane), Harry
Howell (Conductor, Policeman), The Keene Twins, Margaret and Elizabeth (Cash and Carrie), Dallas
Welford (Martin Frost), Stanley Ridges (Andrew aka Andy Dunn Jr.), Laura De Cardi (Doris Dunn), Eva
Clark (Louise Dryer), Louis Morrell (George Sherwin), James Heenan (Andrew Dunn Sr.); Ladies of the
Ensemble: Muriel Harrison, Frances Lindell, Dorothy June, May Sullivan, Grace LaRue, Lillian Mitchell,
Edna Miller, Dorothy Hollis, Ann Buckley, Sunny Saunders, Peggy Quinn, May Fox, Theresa Carroll,
Marietta Adams, Martha Wood, Marjorie Quimby; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Bert Crane, Lester New,
Lionel Maclyn, Allan Grey, Eldred Murray, John Wainman, Joe Carey, Harry Howell
Musical Numbers
Notes: (*) = music by Vincent Youmans, and (**) = music by Herbert Stothart. For those songs unmarked, it
may be that they were jointly composed by Youmans and Stothart. The hardback collection The Com-
plete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II suggests that “Not in Business Hours” and “Down Where the
Mortgages Grow” were by Youmans and “The Rumble of the Subway” and “Speed” were by Stothart. As
for the lyrics, it’s unclear which were written by Hammerstein and which by Duncan, and perhaps many
if not all of them were jointly penned by the two (the lyrics are included in Complete Lyrics).
Act One: “Scenic Overture”: (1) “Mary Jane Leaves Slab City, Mass.”; (2) “Her First Sight of New York City”;
and (3) “View from Her Bedroom Window” (Orchestra); “The Rumble of the Subway” (Ensemble); “Speed”
(Hal Skelley, The Keene Twins); “Not in Business Hours” (Stanley Ridges, Eva Clark, Chorus); “Stick to
Your Knitting” (**) (Mary Hay, Hal Skelley, Chorus); “My Boy and I” (*) (Eva Clark, Chorus); “Toodle-oo”
(*) (Mary Hay, Stanley Ridges); “Down Where the Mortgages Grow” (Hal Skelley, Kitty Kelly, Chorus)
Act Two: “Time-Clock Slaves” (*) (The Keene Twins, Chorus); “Laugh It Off” (Mary Hay, Stanley Ridges,
Kitty Kelly); “Stick to Your Knitting” (reprise) (Mary Hay, Stanley Ridges, Chorus); “The Flannel Petticoat
Gal” (*) (Hal Skelley, Kitty Kelly, Old-Fashioned Girls, The Four Chums)
Act Three: “Thistledown” (**) (Eva Clark, Specialty Dancer, Chorus); “Toodle-oo” (reprise) (Stanley Ridges,
Girl, The Keene Twins); “Mary Jane McKane” (*) (Mary Hay, Boys); “Mary Jane McKane” (reprise)
Mary Jane McKane was another variation of the old Cinderella story. In this case, the title heroine (played
by Mary Hay) leaves her hometown of Slab City, Massachusetts, and heads for New York, where she applies
for a job and is summarily turned down because the boss, Andrew Dunn Sr. (James Heenan), fears she’ll be
too much of a distraction for his son, Andy (Stanley Ridges). When Mary Jane disguises herself as a plain Jane
and reapplies for the position, she’s hired, but Andy is still smitten by her and Dunn fires both of them. Andy
starts up his own business (the Dandy Dobbin Novelty Company) where he and Mary Jane form both a busi-
ness and a romantic partnership.
Befitting a musical centered around the business world, the score included a few business-related songs
(“Not in Business Hours” and “Time-Clock Slaves”), but no hit emerged from the show. However, both You-
mans’s “Toodle-do” and “The Flannel Petticoat Gal” were singled out by the critics. Two months earlier,
the latter had been introduced in Hammerstein’s Nine O’Clock Revue, which opened on October 4, 1923, at
the Century Roof Theatre for twelve showings (note that the song is sometimes referenced as “The Flannel
Petticoat Girl”).
The New York Times said that, “of course,” the show had a plot, but audiences would “be pardoned if
they cannot quite gather what it is.” Despite the certain “absence of plot,” the production was “splendidly
mounted and directed,” the chorus was “beautiful and agile,” and the evening included a stand-out number
(“The Flannel Petticoat Gal”). The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted there was “some sort of plot” of the Irene
variety, the show was a “good example of the average American musical comedy,” and the production’s “song
hit” was “The Flannel Petticoat Gal.”
Brett Page in the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune said the story was the “usual” but otherwise, the show
was “pretty good,” and while it “doesn’t exactly bore you” it “doesn’t arouse your enthusiasm.” Page had
been informed that Mary Hay was a “comedienne of rare skill,” and although he “waited all evening for her
fun to start” she always seemed “just about to do or say something frightfully funny, only she didn’t.” L.V.
in Brooklyn Life singled out the show-stopper “Toodle-oo,” and said “much care has been given to detail and
the trick scenery is a costly proposition.”
Time said Mary Jane McKane was “unquestionably the best musical comedy currently exhibiting on
Broadway,” and “despite her moderate equipment as a vocalist and as a dancer” Hay was “unquestionably
the best of the play.” The “music, color and dancing” were “supplied in wholesale lots of excellent quality”
and therefore the show was “the pick of the musical comedy basket.”
Variety noted that the musical wasn’t a “knockout,” but because the highest-priced tickets sold for $2.50
apiece, the show stood a good chance of running well into the spring months. Hay was “mightily attractive,”
and while the music was “well-scored” there wasn’t an “outstanding” song. Ultimately, the show was a
“disappointment” with a book that wasn’t “anything much” and a production that was “adequate” but not
“overpowering.” Further, the critic said that “the idea of having a hero who wears silk smoking jackets in a
boudoir-like office isn’t any too pleasing.”
The musical’s overture was titled “Scenic Overture,” and it consisted of three silhouette-like visual ef-
fects that provided the story’s background, following the heroine from small town to big city: “Mary Jane
Leaves Slab City, Mass.,” “Her First Sight of New York City,” and “View from Her Bedroom Window,”
which Variety described as “a clothesline stretched between fences of tenement backyards.” The overture
segued into the opening number “The Rumble of the Subway,” and while Page had been somewhat on the
fence about the show in general, he was decidedly enthusiastic about the “quite fantastic” opening number
which depicted the heroine on a crowded subway car with “swaying” riders. The “chant” was “punctuated
by spoken bits of conversation, recurring again and again in the scene with the same beat, which enhanced
the feeling that the figures in the car were automatons.” This sequence was the evening’s “best,” and it was
so “good” that the remainder of the show “came nowhere near touching it.”
“The Rumble of the Subway” recalls three musicals from the 1961–1962 season, which depicted the
morning and evening commutes of New Yorkers: “Run, Run, Run” from Let It Ride!, “Been a Long Day” from
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, and “Station Rush” from Subways Are for Sleeping (the
latter also included “Ride through the Night” with strap-holding subway riders moved along by treadmills,
and “Subway Directions,” a cacophony of well-meaning commuters who completely fail in their efforts to
give clear directions to clueless subway-riding novices).
The later “Rock Island” from Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (1957) was another opening number set
aboard a train, and it too used jerky movements and repetitive verbal and musical sounds in its look at travel-
ing salesmen. It and “The Rumble of the Subway” would make interesting companion pieces.
“Scenic Overture” brings to mind the overture and opening credits for the 1961 film adaptation of Rodgers
and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song in which a series of exquisite Chinese-styled prints depict Mei Li and
her father’s departure from China, their sea voyage to the United States, and their arrival in San Francisco.
By the time of the overture’s conclusion, the visuals have given the audience all the information it needs in
regard to the background of the characters and the basic plot situation.
As noted, Andy runs his own novelty business, the Dandy Dobbin Novelty Company. One of his novelties
is a horse called the Dandy Dobbin, which received its own program credit: “The mechanical horse ‘Dandy
Dobbin’ was invented by George E. Grey and manufactured by the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Company.”
Youmans’s biographer Gerald Bordman in Days to Be Happy, Years to Be Sad: The Life and Music of Vincent
1923–1924 Season 183
Youmans noted that “nothing” received as much preopening publicity as the horse, which was life-sized and
“could be pedaled forward or backward, even up or down.”
The collection Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans (Arabesque Records CD # Z-6670)
includes “Toodle-oo.”
In preproduction, the musical was known as both Plain Jane and Mary Jane. During the tryout, “Come
On and Pet Me” (music by Youmans) and “All for Charity” (music probably by Youmans, per Complete Lyr-
ics) were cut. With a new lyric by Irving Caesar and Clifford Grey, “Come On and Pet Me” was revised as
“Sometimes I’m Happy” and became one of Youmans’s most famous songs. It was first heard in A Night Out,
which closed during its Philadelphia tryout in 1925, and finally made it to Broadway in Hit the Deck! “My
Boy and I” and the title song were also revised. With a new lyric by Otto Harbach, the former became the title
number for No, No, Nanette, and Complete Lyrics mentions that Youmans reworked “Mary Jane McKane”
for a song that he used in Great Day! During the Broadway run of Mary Jane McKane, two songs were added
(“You’re Never Too Old to Love” and “Just Look Around”).
Mary Jane McKane was the inaugural production for the new Imperial Theatre, located on West 45th
Street. The Eagle said the new playhouse was a “splendid Christmas gift to Father Knickerbocker.”
THE RISE OF ROSIE O’REILLY

“The New American Song and Dance Show”

Performances: 97
Book, Lyrics, and Music: George M. Cohan
Direction: John Meehan; Producer: George M. Cohan; Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Scenery: Joseph Wickes
Studio; Costumes: designs by Schneider-Anderson Co. (after designs by Cora MacGeachy and Ada B.
Field); Brooks-Mahieu Company; Earl Benham; Lighting: Electrical fixtures by Cassidy Company; Musical
Direction: George A. Nichols
Cast: Bobby Watson (Jimmy Whitney), Jack McGowan (Bob Morgan), Marjorie Lane (Lillian Smith), Dorothy
Whitmore (Kitty Jones), Albert Gloria (Casparoni), Adelaide Gloria (Mrs. Casparoni), Bobby O’Neill (Buddy
O’Reilly), George Bancroft (Johnson), Virginia O’Brien (Rosie O’Reilly), Mary Lawlor (Polly), Emma Haig
(Cutie Magee), Georgie (George) Hale (Pete), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Montague Bradley), Johnny Muldoon
(Steve), Pearl Franklin (Molly), Eddie Russell (Hop Toy), Betty Hale (Fannie), Bernice Speer (Annie), Tom
Dingle (Ethelburt), Patsy Delaney (Gertrude), Walter Edwin (Roscoe Morgan), The Woods Sisters (Flower
Girls)
The action takes place during the present time in Brooklyn.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Arrival of the Plot” (Bobby Watson, Jack McGowan, Marjorie Lane, Albert Gloria, Company);
“Never Met a Girl Like You” (Jack McGowan, Virginia O’Brien); “Born and Bred in Brooklyn” (Bobby
Watson, Mary Lawlor, Company); “My Gang” (Emma Haig, Georgie Hale, Company); “The Arrival in
Society” (Boys and Girls); “In the Slums of the Town” (Virginia O’Brien); Dance: “Water Front Pastime”
(Johnny Muldoon and Pearl Franklin); Characteristic Dance: “The Whip” (Albert Gloria and Adelaide
Gloria); “Something’s Happened to Rosie” (Company); “Poor Old World” (Bobby O’Neill, Boys); “Stage
Society” (Marjorie Lane, Girls); “All Night Long” (Dorothy Whitmore, Boys); Characteristic Dance: “The
Servants’ Frolic” (Tom Dingle, Patsy Delaney); “Love Dreams” (Virginia O’Brien, Albert Gloria and
Adelaide Gloria, Mary Lawlor); “Just Act Natural” (Bobby Watson, Bobby O’Neill); “When June Comes
Along with a Song” (Jack McGowan, Virginia O’Brien, Company)
Act Two: “At Madame Regay’s” (Boys and Girls); “On a Holiday” (Bobby Watson, Dorothy Whitmore, Boys
and Girls); “Dialogue in Verse” (Jack McGowan, Bobby Watson, Dorothy Whitmore, Marjorie Lane); “Let’s
You and I Just Say Goodbye” (Jack McGowan, Marjorie Lane); “A Ring to the Name of Rosie” (Virginia
O’Brien, The Woods Sisters, Boys and Girls); “Keep A-Countin’ Eight” (Bobby O’Neill, Emma Haig, Boys
and Girls; Special Dances: Emma Haig, Eddie Russell, Betty Hale, Georgie Hale and Mary Lawlor, Bernice
Speer, Johnny Muldoon and Pearl Franklyn, Tom Dingle and Patsy Delaney, Cutie, George Bancroft, Eddie
Russell, Betty Hale, Georgie Hale, Bernice Speer, Company); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Vir-
ginia O’Brien, Company); “Characteristic Dance” (Georgie Hale); “Two Girls from the Chorus” (song list
identified performers as “The Misses Frawley and King,” but otherwise these names didn’t appear in the
tryout and New York programs); Reprise Medley (songs not identified in program) (Company); “Nothing
Like a Darned Good Cry” (Jack McGowan, Virginia O’Brien); “The Italian Whirlwind” (Albert Gloria and
Adelaide Gloria); “The Plot Again” (George Bancroft, Company); “Gathering” (Principals); Finale (Company)
George M. Cohan’s The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly was a Cinderella musical that winked at Cinderella musi-
cals. In fact, following the show’s title on the main credits page of the program was a parenthetical notation:
“(Poking Fun at Cinderella).” The opening song was “The Arrival of the Plot” (in which the ensemble warns
us to “stay out of the chorus”), and at the end of the show another one was titled “The Plot Again.” Besides
their featured characters, many of the cast members also played anonymous chorus roles, and the program
identified them as “Bootleggers, Policemen, Attendants, Social Climbers, and all sorts of peculiar persons
[who] sing and dance themselves into a musical comedy state of mind.”
Poor Rosie O’Reilly (Virginia O’Brien) sells newspapers “under the Brooklyn Bridge—Brooklyn Side” (per
the program). She and playboy heir Bob Morgan (Jack McGowan) meet and fall in love, but his father, Roscoe
Morgan (Walter Edwin), who boasts of his “musical comedy millions,” disinherits the boy, who soon finds
employment in a florist establishment. The elder Morgan soon brings Bob back into the family fold (and for-
tune), Rosie and Bob marry, and the curtain falls on happily romantic and financial notes.
The New York Times said the “brisk” and “elaborate” production was “speedy,” and “if anything” it
was “a little more breathless than its predecessors” with “quite astonishing” dancers and occasional “A-l
Cohan” know-how, including “some conversations in patter of the sort that Mr. Cohan is master of” (such as
“Dialogue in Verse”). But otherwise the show was essentially based on a “formula” that was “workmanlike.”
Time said the “simple” story “unfolded amid a frenzy of dancing, rather unimpressive music, vast displays of
color and a sprinkling of humor,” and predicted that “thousands will doubtless jam the benches of the Liberty
Theatre to enjoy the upward curve of Rosie’s fortune.”
Brooklyn Life praised the “colorful” musical, which was “the speediest, peppiest entertainment seen on
Broadway this season.” Brett Page in the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune noted that the production had already
been a hit in Boston and Chicago and would likely find success in New York. He praised the “dancing show”
with a cast that “burst into a dance upon the slightest provocation” and sometimes seemed to dance “without
any provocation whatever.”
Variety praised the “triple threat attraction,” which offered “comedy, score and dancing strength of about
equal proportion,” and the critic was especially taken with the sequence that introduced life in Brooklyn
(“Born and Bred in Brooklyn”). The set depicted a “cleverly constructed river front scene” with the Brooklyn
Bridge “towering above,” and then various characters were presented, including a chorus of bootleggers (“We
are six little booters and all have six-shooters”), policemen (who “warble about comic opera needing comic
opera coppers”), and a group of outsiders who explain their presence (they’re “slumming”).
During the run, Grey Gull Records issued three songs from the musical: two releases of “When June
Comes Along with a Song” (one a vocal by Arthur Fields and the other a foxtrot version by an unidentified
orchestra); “Let’s You and I Just Say Goodbye” (Fields); and “Born and Bred in Brooklyn” (instrumental waltz
version). The jaunty and full-bodied “A Ring to the Name of Rosie” was included in George M! (1968), and
this hail-to-the-heroine tribute can be heard on the cast album (RCA Victor Records CD # CK-3200).
KID BOOTS
“A Musical Comedy of Palm Beach and Golf” (or, conversely) “A Musical Comedy of Golf and Palm Beach”
Theatre: Earl Carroll Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Selwyn Theatre)
Performances: 479
1923–1924 Season 185
Book: William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach

Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: most likely Edward Royce; Scenery:
T. B. McDonald, Technical Director and Constructor of all scenery; Costumes: Henri Bendel; Evelyn
McHorte; Alice O’Neil; Mme. Francis; Peck and Peck; Clemens, Doyle and Black; Winchester Co. of N.Y.;
Gray and Lampel; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Gress
Cast: Harry Short (Peter Pillsbury), Paul Everton (Herbert Pendleton), John Rutherford (Harold Regan), Har-
land Dixon (Menlo Manville); Society Buds: Avonne Taylor (Miss Stymie), Madelyn Morrissey (Miss
Brassey), Joan Gardner (Miss Putty), Katherine Stuart (Miss Cleek), Diana Stegman (Miss Driver), Sonia
Ivanoff (Miss Mashie), Sylvia Kingsley (Miss Fairway), Betty Grey (Miss Foursome), Perle Germond (Miss
Hazard), Eunice Hall (Miss Green), Muriel Manners (Miss Pinn), and Velma Ziegler (Miss Stroke); Harry
Fender (Tom Sterling), Mary Eaton (Polly Pendleton), Morton McConnachie (First Golfer), Jack Andrews
(Second Golfer), Dick Ware (First Caddie), William Blett (Second Caddie), Frank Zolt (Third Caddie),
Waldo Roberts (Fourth Caddie), Lloyd Keyes (Fifth Caddie), Eddie Cantor (Kid Boots), Beth Beri (Beth),
Ethelind Terry (Carmen Mendoza), Marie Callahan (Jane Martin), Jobyna Howland (Dr. Josephine Fitch),
Robert Barrat (Randolph Valentine), Victor Munroe (Federal Officer); George Olsen and His Orchestra;
Ladies of the Ensemble: Rella Winn, Florence Ware, Blossom Vreeland, Carola Taylor, Carolyn Smith, Ev-
elyn Sayers, Violet Regal, Elva Pomfret, Jessie Payne, Polly O’Claire, Edna Locke, Frances McHugh, Alma
Mamay, Lily Kimari, Mareta George, Juanita Erickson, Eleanor Dell, Elizabeth Doughter, Doris Dixon,
Eleanor Dell, Violet Browne, Eugenie Brew, Dove Atkinson, Jessie Madison, Gladys Keck; Gentlemen
of the Ensemble: Jack Andrews, Rass Ericksen, Thomas Green, Carlos Hatvary, Victor Munroe, William
Maguire, Dennis Murray, Morton McConnachie, John Patterson, Ayers Tavitt, Frank Zolt, Robert Spencer
The action takes place during the present time in Palm Beach.
Numbers
Act One: (Going Out)—First Hole: “A Day at the Club” (Ensemble); Second Hole: “Social Observer” (Harland
Dixon, Ensemble); Third Hole: “If Your Heart’s in the Game” (Mary Eaton, Harry Fender); Fourth Hole:
“Keep Your Eye on the Ball” (Eddie Cantor, Caddies); Fifth Hole: “The Same Old Way” (Ethelind Terry,
Harry Fender); Sixth Hole: “Someone Loves You After All” (“The Rain Song”) (Eddie Cantor, Mary Eaton,
Ensemble); Seventh Hole: “The Intruder Dance” (Marie Callahan, Harland Dixon); Eighth Hole: “We’ve
Got to Have More” (Caddies); “Polly, Put the Kettle On” (Harry Fender, Ensemble); Ninth Hole: “Let’s
Do and Say We Didn’t” (“Let’s Don’t and Say We Did”) (Eddie Cantor, Marie Callahan); Tenth Hole: “In
the Swim” (First Stroke: Ethelind Terry; Second Stroke: Beth Beri; Third Stroke: Ensemble); Eleventh
Hole: “Along the Old Lake Trail” (Mary Eaton, Gentlemen); Twelfth Hole: “On With the Game” (Club
Members)
Act Two: (Coming In)—Thirteenth Hole: First Stroke—“Since Ma Is Playing Mahjong” (lyric and music by
Con Conrad and Billy Rose) (Eddie Cantor, Ensemble; West Wind: Lily Kimari; East Wind: Alma Mamay;
North Wind: Florence Ware; South Wind: Carola Taylor); Second Stroke: “Bet on the One You Fancy”
(Ladies and Gentlemen); Third Stroke—“I’m in My Glory” (Harland Dixon, Beth Beri); Fourteenth Hole:
A Foursome—“A Play-Fair Man” (Mary Eaton, Ethelind Terry, Harry Fender, John Rutherford); Fifteenth
Hole: A Threesome—“Win for Me” (Eddie Cantor, Mary Eaton, Ethelind Terry, Ensemble); Sixteenth
Hole: “The Cake-Eater’s Ball” (Marie Callahan, Harland Dixon); Seventeenth Hole: First Stroke—“Down
’Round the 19th Hole” (Eddie Cantor, Jobyna Howland, Harry Short, Paul Everton, Caddies); Second
Stroke—“En Route”; Third Stroke—“The Coconut Ball” (George Olsen and His Orchestra); Fourth
Stroke—“When the Coconuts Call” (Ethelind Terry, Beth Beri, Ensemble); Fifth Stroke—“In the Rough”
(Specialty) (“Mr. Eddie Cantor of Ziegfeld Follies”); Sixth Stroke—“The Presentation of the Cup” (Mary
Eaton); Eighteenth Hole: The Finish—“That’s All There Is”(Company)
Eddie Cantor starred in the title role of the smash hit Kid Boots. It was one of the biggest successes of
the era, played almost five-hundred performances in New York, took to the road, and was later filmed with
Cantor. The musical was a perfect vehicle for the comedian and gave him room for his ingratiating innocent/
bad-boy brand of humor, including a late second-act blackface routine, where he appeared as himself. The
second act also included a visit from George Olsen and His Orchestra (where they played at “The Coconut
Ball”), who also accompanied Cantor during his specialty sequence. The latter included numerous interpola-
tions, including “Dinah” (lyric by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young, and music by Harry Akst), which became a
hit for Cantor (who recorded it and a few of his specialty numbers, but didn’t record any of the songs written
specifically for the musical).
The show took place in one of the era’s favorite locales, Florida, and more specifically at the Everglades
Golf Club in Palm Beach where the plot capitalized on the new national craze for golf (with a nod to mahjong,
another national fad), and the ingénue (Mary Eaton) boasted the era’s favorite brand name for musical comedy
heroines (Polly, of course). The freewheeling story centered around the shenanigans of Kid Boots, the club’s
caddie master and jack of all trades with his side business of selling crooked balls and bootleg hootch (Cantor
notes that in Prohibition America there are only two kinds of people: those who sell it and those who buy it).
In keeping with the golf motif, each scene was depicted as a “hole” (First Hole, Second Hole, etc.) and
there were “strokes” within some of the scenes with twosomes and threesomes. The songs centered around
golf and the club itself (“A Day at the Club,” “If Your Heart’s in the Game,” “Keep Your Eye on the Ball,”
“On with the Game,” “Mah-Jong,” “A Play-Fair Man,” “Win for Me,” “Down ‘Round the 19th Hole”), and a
bevy of chorus girls played “society buds” whose last names mirrored golf terms and in fact opened up a whole
new meaning to some of them (Miss Driver, Miss Mashie, Miss Fairway, Miss Foursome, and Miss Stroke).
The musical offered just about everything one could want except a memorable score. Florenz Ziegfeld
presented a lavish production with a large company (the flyer bragged it was the “Greatest Musical Comedy
Company Ever Organized”), and of course there were jokes and Cantor’s horseplay. But the songs by lyricist
Joe McCarthy and composer Harry Tierney were somewhat disappointing. There were the usual ballads,
comedy and dance numbers, and ensembles, but nothing emerged as an evergreen and a Cantor standard. The
team’s Irene had become the longest-running musical in Broadway history and offered the classic “Alice Blue
Gown,” but their later scores for Kid Boots as well as Up She Goes, Glory, Rio Rita, and Cross My Heart
never quite managed to produce a bona fide classic Broadway song.
Besides Cantor and Eaton (the latter eventually created the title roles for Lucky and The 5 O’Clock Girl),
the cast included Harland Dixon and Ethelind Terry. Dixon later appeared in Oh, Kay! (where he introduced
such Gershwin delights as “Clap Yo’ Hands,” “Don’t Ask,” and “Fidgety Feet”), Manhattan Mary, Rainbow,
and Top Speed, and in 1951 was featured in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, his final Broadway musical. Terry
created the title role in McCarthy and Tierney’s Rio Rita, and one can’t overlook Alma Mamey, one of the
girls in the Kid Boots chorus.
The New York Times said Kid Boots was “the perfect show for the Cantor devotees—which is only an-
other way of saying that it is the perfect show for the world at large.” The “goodly entertainment” gave Can-
tor “a dozen rich scenes,” including a “hilarious” golf lesson Cantor gave to Jobyna Howland (as a Palm Beach
hostess and medical doctor) and a “severe electrical treatment” that she gave to Cantor (“severe” may be the
operative word; see below). Time said that in “excellence” the show ranked with Sally and Good Morning
Dearie as one of the three best musicals during the past five years. Cantor was “inordinately funny” with
his “semi-Rabelaisian style of turbulence,” and the “only objection” to the entertainment was “the practical
impossibility of obtaining tickets.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer praised the “enormously amusing” Cantor and the
“handsome and lively” show. Percy Hammond in the St. Louis Star and Times reported that during the try-
out, Cantor’s performance was rumored to have been “marred” by “indelicacy,” but for New York the “mis-
chievous” comedian had dropped his “evil ways” and was now “comparatively harmless, though amusing”
(Hammond shared some of Cantor’s jokes: “That fellow is so dumb that they had to burn the schoolhouse to
get him out of the second grade,” and when Cantor says to a “shapely” chorine that she must enjoy her “good
reputation,” her response is that she has a good reputation but doesn’t enjoy it.)
J. Ranken Towse in the Minneapolis Star Tribune said Cantor was “highly amusing,” but some of his
“suggestive actions and words are not.” If the star would “confine” himself to the script and cut out “objec-
tionable matter,” he would be “as funny as any comedian on the musical stage,” and “to the credit of the
audience” his “very few lapses were coldly received.” Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said he
was “hopeful” Cantor would “leave the boys in the sextile industries flat so far as his ‘dirt’ songs are con-
cerned.” Happily, he “never brought the blush of shame to the cheeks of a single rounder,” and while he
1923–1924 Season 187
mayn’t have been “quite as clean as a whistle, as some have reported,” Mantle suspected there “must be all
kinds of whistles” both “wet and dry.”
Mantle said the score was “melodious”; Time noted the songs were “amiable”; and Towse liked the
“pleasing lilt” of the songs, and singled out “If Your Heart’s in the Game,” “The Same Old Way,” “Polly, Put
the Kettle On,” and “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” (the latter probably “Someone Loves You After
All” aka “The Rain Song”).
Variety said Kid Boots had “everything” and was “a musical comedy of the first water.” It was reported
to have cost more than Sally “and looks it.” In fact, the production itself outshone Sally, and “several scenes”
pictured “the lure of Florida,” including a patio scene at the Everglades Club that was “splendidly carried out”
and “was introduced for the first time at the premiere” because it hadn’t been part of the tryout.
During the course of the run, the Times reported that featured player Jobyna Howland had “overstrained
relations” with Cantor because in her role as the osteopath Dr. Josephine Fitch her skills were “a trifle too
realistic” for the star, and it came to light that the two had “not been getting along with the smoothness
which has marked their histrionic relations during the long run of the show.” If theirs was a “strained” rela-
tionship, Cantor also endured “numerous muscle” strains, and it was said that his performance was no longer
a “comedy” for him. Further, it seemed that his “merry quips” no longer caused Howland to smile.
Cantor told the press that Howland had once starred in the play The Texas Nightingale, and it seemed
she believed “she was still starring in it, when as a matter of fact she was playing in Kid Boots, in which, it
was his impression, he was the star.”
As a result, Howland “retired” from the production on February 14, 1925, and the New York Daily News
stated Cantor was “much relieved” by her absence. The official story was that she left the musical due to
“poor health” and would soon sail abroad “for a much needed rest.” According to the Daily News, Cantor
exclaimed, “Whoo! It’s a lucky thing for me she didn’t have her health.” Howland was replaced by the actress
Cecil Cunningham, but not for long, because the show permanently closed on February 21.
The London production opened on February 2, 1926, at the Winter Garden with Leslie Henson, Peter
Haddon, and Arthur Margetson, and lasted for five months. Columbia Records recorded a few numbers from
the score with the London production’s musical director John Ansell (“If Your Heart’s in the Game,” “Keep
Your Eye on the Ball,” “The Same Old Way,” “Polly, Put the Kettle On,” “In the Swim,” “Along the Old
Lake Trail,” and “A Play-Fair Man,” along with four other numbers that seem to have been added for London,
“Run Away from Me,” “Why Don’t You Say So?,” “Keep On,” and “Am I”?).
The silent film version was released by Paramount in 1926, and gave Cantor a chance to re-create his
Broadway role. Directed by Frank Tuttle, the cast also included Clara Bow, Billie Dove, and Lawrence Gray.
The DVD was released by Original Cast Video (# OC-6201) and includes a new musical track by Arthur Sie-
gel as well as bonus material that includes footage of Cantor performing some of his songs and vaudeville
routines.
LOLLIPOP
“The Dancing Musical Comedy” / “The Best Musical Comedy in Years” /
“The Dancing Musical Comedy Sensation”

Performances: 152
Book: Zelda Sears
Lyrics: Zelda Sears and Walter DeLeon
Music: Vincent Youmans
Direction: Ira Hards; Producer: Henry Savage, Inc.; Choreography: Bert French (Ada-May’s dances arranged by
Ada-May and Bert French, and the Tiller Girls’ dances arranged by John Tiller and Mary Read); Scenery:
Sheldon K. Viele (for first act) and William Castle (for second and third acts); Costumes: dresses in first
and second acts by Bergdorf-Goodman; costumes in third act and in second act “Louis XIII Gavotte” by
Schneider-Anderson; and men’s clothes in first and second acts by Finchley; Lighting: Uncredited; Musi-
cal Direction: Russell Tarbox (Note: For opening night, and perhaps for other performances, Harold Levey
conducted the orchestra.)
Cast: Adora Andrews (Mrs. Mason), Gloria Dawn (Virginia), Aline McGill (Tessie), Leonard Ceiley (Don
Carlos), Nick Long Jr. (Omar K. Gerrity), Virginia Smith (Petunia), Ada-May (aka Ada-Mae Weeks) (Laura
“Lollipop” Lamb), A Dark Secret (Rufus), Gus Shy (George Jones), Harry Puck (Bill Geohagen), Zelda Sears
(Mrs. Garrity), Florence Webber (Helene), Addison Fowler and Florenz Tamara (Specialty Dancers), Mark
Smith (Parkinson), Karl Stall (Lindsay), Leonard St. Leo (Adrian); John Tiller’s Dancing Lollipops: Muriel
Marlowe, Ethel Helliwell, Connie Aldis, Florence McCabe, Vera Longren, Elsie Holt, Ethel Fraser, Pat Fra-
ser, Alice Wright, Doris Carter, Veronica Preston, Edith Morgan; Dancing Girls: Evelyn Kindler, Guerida
Crawford, Norene Swinton, Katherine Huth, Maude Troup, Carol Joyce, Ruth Tester, April Child, Lucille
Constante, Mary Jayne, Eleanor Dana, Katherine Odell; Dancing Boys: Bobby Culbertson, George Rand,
Walter Crisham, Harold Raymond, Charles Townshend, Carl Judd; Special Singing Quartette: Elsa Gray,
Louise Scheerer, Royal Halee, and Charles King
The action takes place during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Adora Andrews, The Tiller Girls, Ensemble); “Love in a Cottage” (Leonard Ceiley, Gloria
Dawn, Ensemble); “Honey-Bun” (Ada-May); “Time and a Half for Overtime” (Harry Puck, Gus Shy, The
Tiller Girls); “Take a Little One-Step” (Ada-May, Harry Puck, Ensemble); “Tie a String around Your Fin-
ger” (Ada-May, Harry Puck); Finale
Act Two: Opening: Specialty Dance (Addison Fowler and Florenz Tamara); “When We Are Married” (Leonard
Ceiley, Gladys Dawn, Virginia Smith, Nick Long Jr.); “An Orphan Is the Girl for Me” (Ada-May, Mark
Smith, Boys); “Bo Koo” (Gus Shy, Florence Webber); “Louis XIII Gavotte” (The Tiller Girls); “Going Row-
ing” (Harry Puck, Ada-May); Finale
Act Three: Opening: Specialty Dance (Addison Fowler and Florenz Tamara); “Deep in My Heart” (Leonard
Ceiley, Gladys Dawn); “Ballet Moderne” (Ada-May, Company)
Vincent Youmans’s Lollipop was another Cinderella musical, in this case about orphan Laura “Lollipop”
Lamb (Ada-May) who never seems to get adopted and thus earns her keep as a slavey at the Franco-American
Orphanage. Because of legal issues that have nothing to do with altruism, society woman Mrs. Garrity (Zelda
Sears, the musical’s librettist and co-lyricist) must adopt an orphan, and Lollipop is chosen because no other
orphan is available. Lollipop is later accused of stealing Mrs. Garrity’s jewelry, but soon her innocence is
established. In the meantime, she and the orphanage’s plumber Bill Geohagen (Harry Puck) have an on-and-
off “understanding,” which is mostly off because he’s not rich. Lollipop eventually inherits oil wells from a
long-lost uncle, and enjoys the high life until the oil dries up. However, Bill gets a raise and he and Lollipop
can make a date with the preacher, but not before Lollipop throws a masquerade charity ball and everyone
dances the “Ballet Moderne.”
The New York Times said the musical was “weakly Cinderella-ish,” but nonetheless was “fresh and
breezy” and sometimes “quite breathtaking.” The evening was “in the best musical comedy taste” with en-
joyable dancing and an occasional “highly civilized quip,” and after an “uncertain” first act Ada-May “took
possession of the piece” and danced “with grace and ease, even during her more acrobatic numbers.” Time
noted that except for Runnin’ Wild, Lollipop was “the most uncompromisingly active show now exhibiting”
with an “aggressive” display “of irrepressible dancing.” As for the songs, “Going Rowing” was the evening’s
“prospective” hit.
Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press found the “pleasant entertainment” a “nice little Cinderella affair
as much like Sally as Zelda Sears dared to write it,” and Brooklyn Life said the show was “one of the bright-
est, most joyous all-around musical hits of recent years.”
J.V.A.W. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that Ada-May and Puck “stopped the show and made it stay
stopped” with “Going Rowing,” and no one could match Ada-May “for all-round excellence at apparently
every sort of step.” There was “excellence” in the score, and the dances were “beautifully” choreographed
by Bert French, whom the critic said was rumored to have rewritten a “considerable” amount of the show’s
book. According to someone who had seen the show “in its earlier stages,” French’s “improvement” was
“spectacular.”
1923–1924 Season 189
Variety praised the “swift hoofing entertainment,” which included “almost every conceivable step and
stunt that can be done on a floor, a maze of variegated worth-while modern dances.” Although Nick Long Jr.
was a “minor principal,” he “took honors next” to Ada-May, and Youmans’s score was “catchy and sends in
at least two dance-record sellers,” and “every tune is danced dry and repeated, and dished again with varia-
tions.” “Take a Little One-Step” was a “cinch,” and “Going Rowing” was a “ballad certainty.”
Lollipop opened on the same night as George Gershwin’s Sweet Little Devil. With Lollipop, Ada-May
(Weeks) pulled a Mitzi (Hajos) and ditched her last name, but just in case anyone was confused the title page
of the New York program identified her as “Ada-May (Weeks).” Lollipop was Youmans’s second musical of
the season, and it followed Mary Jane McKane by a month. For the latter, Youmans and Herbert Stothart
had each composed songs for the score (as they had for the earlier Wildflower), but Lollipop marked the first
time New York heard a musical composed entirely by Youmans. Note that early during the run Irene Dunne
succeeded Gloria Dawn in the role of Virginia.
The musical had two tryouts, and during the first it was known as The Left Over. Songs cut in prepro-
duction were “When Greek Meets Greek” and “Come On, Let’s Go”; and numbers dropped during the two
tryouts were “It Must Be Love,” “All She Did Was This,” and “The Hand-Me-Down Blues.” During the post-
Broadway tour, “Love in a Cottage” was dropped and “Spanish Love” was substituted, and “Novelty Dance”
was added for the Tiller Girls during the third act.
“Take a Little One-Step” was later interpolated into Youmans’s No, No, Nanette, and the song was still
part of the score for Nanette’s hit 1971 revival where it was sung and danced by Ruby Keeler, Bobby Van,
Helen Gallagher, Patsy Kelly, and all the boys and girls. The deleted song “It Must Be Love” was reworked as
“Kissing” for A Night Out, which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1925.
“Take a Little One-Step” is included on the cast album of the 1971 revival of Nanette (Columbia Records
CD # SK-60890). “Tie a String around Your Finger” is included in the collections Through the Years with
Vincent Youmans (Evergreen Records LP # MRS-6401/6402) and The Carioca: Songs of Vincent Youmans
(Arabesque Records CD # Z6692), and “Kissing” is part of the collection Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of
Vincent Youmans (Arabesque Records CD # Z6670).
With Wildflower and Mary Jane McKane already on the boards, the opening of Lollipop gave Youmans
three musicals concurrently running on Broadway.
SWEET LITTLE DEVIL

“The Gayest of Musical Comedies”
Theatre: Astor Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Central Theatre)
Performances: 120
Book: Frank Mandel and Laurence Schwab
Music: George Gershwin
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: Laurence Schwab; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Michel Fokine; Scen-
ery: Lee Simonson; Costumes: Kiviette; John Newton Booth; Berry; Fisher-Griffo; Nat Lewis; Lighting:
Effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Rae Bowdin (Rena), Marjorie Gateson (Joyce West), Ruth Warren (May Rourke), Franklyn Ardell (Sam
Wilson), Constance Binney (Virginia Araminta Culpepper), Irving Beebe (Tom Nesbitt), William Wayne
(Fred Carrington), Charles Kennedy (Jim Henry), Mildred Brown (Susette), Bobbie Breslaw (Joan Edward),
William Holbrook (Richard Brook), Olivette (Marian Townes); The Young Ladies Who Sing: Evelyn Grieg,
Lulu McGrath, Dorothy Hughes, Norma Forrest, Betty Nivens, Margaret Morris, Florence Kingsley, Betty
Wright; The Young Ladies Who Dance: Paulette Winston, Bobbie Breslaw, Sophie Howard, Ethel Bryant,
Yvette DuBois, Penelope Rowland, Mae Rena Grady, Mildred Brown, Rose Sarro; The Young Men: Mau-
rice Lapue (possibly Lupue), William Neely, Albert Burke, Frank Cullen, Fred Tozere, Edward Ross, Jack
Stone, Lee Wentling, Alan Cook
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Sierra Notre, Peru.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Strike, Strike, Strike” (Marjorie Gateson, Rae Bowdin, Boys and Girls); “Virginia (Don’t Go Too
Far)” (Constance Binney, Boys and Girls); “Someone (Who) Believes in You” (Constance Binney, Irving
Beebe); “System” (Constance Binney, Marjorie Gateson, Ruth Warren); “The Jijibo” (Ruth Warren, Wil-
liam Wayne, Boys and Girls); Finale (performed by “All Concerned”)
Act Two: “Quite a Party” (Boys and Girls, with waltz by Bobbie Breslaw and William Holbrook); “Under a
One-Man Top” (Ruth Warren, William Wayne); “Flirtation Ballet” (including reprise of “Virginia”) (cho-
reography by Michel Fokine) (Constance Binney, Boys and Girls); “The Matrimonial Handicap” (Marjorie
Gateson, Irving Beebe, Ruth Warren, William Wayne, Boys and Girls); “Hey! Hey! (Let ’Er Go!)” (includ-
ing “Party Dance” by Olivette) (William Wayne, Boys and Girls); Finale (performed by “All Concerned”)
Act Three: Opening (including special dance by William Holbrook and Olivette) (Boys and Girls); “The Same
Old Story” (Constance Binney, Boys and Girls); “Hooray for the U.S.A.!” (Franklyn Ardell, Ruth Warren,
Rae Bowdin); Finale (Company)
Although no standards emerged from George Gershwin’s Sweet Little Devil, the score was attractive with
a slightly tart edge. And the story line was tinged with cynicism in its look at jaded gold digger Joyce West
(Marjorie Gateson) who sets her sights on Tom Nesbitt (Irving Beebe), an American inventor living in Peru
who has sold an invention to a railroad company for $40,000. Meanwhile, Joyce’s cousin and writer Virginia
(Constance Binney), who’s working on her novel The Flaming Maiden, has intercepted Tom’s letters to Joyce
and answers them pretending to be Joyce. Tom returns to New York, and eventually realizes that Joyce is a
phony and Virginia is his true love.
The New York Times liked the “good” show, but warned its readers that the musical “suffers, of course,
from a plot.” Otherwise, there were “attractive” songs by Gershwin, “quite the finest collection of lyrics”
by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, “handsome” sets, and an engaging cast, included Binney (“quite the sweetest and
most winsome of musical comedy heroines”), Beebe (“sufficiently tuneful and valentinish”), and Gateson (a
“charming girl of the merry-merry” who is “intent upon saving the hero from the perils of the possession of
property”). The dances were “fast and furious,” the chorus performed “complicated” steps “gracefully and
surely,” and Olivette “for no reason at all has made it a gainful virtue to be able to touch the forehead with
the toes,” and for this she “succeeded.”
Time reported that during the progress of the show “a lot of the usual musical comedy things happen,”
but “one forgets which,” and the evening was also the victim of an “undernourishment in humor.” But the
score was “agreeable” and the cast added “considerably to the aggregate of amusement.” M.B.D. in the Brook-
lyn Daily Eagle said the musical was “pleasant enough” with a plot that sometimes threatened “to lie down
and die, so feebly does it drag itself through the three acts.” Although the score was “good” it didn’t seem to
contain any likely hits, but Michel Fokine’s “Flirtation Ballet” was “the finest demonstration of terpsicho-
rean art in the show.” Quinn Martin in the Oakland (California) Tribune said the score was “acceptable,”
the story was “rather vague as to plot,” and he gave an example of the “terrible” humor (Man: “I am waiting
for the day, dearie, when I am rich enough to even buy you underwear trimmed in ermine.” Girl: “That will
just tickle me to death.”). Otherwise, Martin suggested the production would eventually seem “less juvenile
as to sequence and stage manipulation after last night’s performance” because at times the premiere “seemed
faltering and in a daze.”
Variety said the “light caliber” musical was a “strictly secondary choice” that would “linger at the As-
tor for a brief stay without causing any undue disturbance one way or the other.” Gershwin’s score was only
“average,” but choreographer Sammy Lee’s “conception of how dances should be staged gives the show its
maximum strength through routines that contain enough versatility and quality of execution to mark this
contribution as the [show’s] best.”
Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press said the musical had more “novelty and more sane jokes and lyr-
ics” than the other ones around town. He singled out two songs (“Virginia” and “Under a One-Man Top”) and
quoted his favorite lyric (in regards to men, a girl should be “just like Eve and apple sauce ’em”). A few days
later in the Chicago Tribune Mantle noted that in one review he referred to the musical as “darned good,” and
for advertising purposes the show’s management slightly altered his quote to “a darned good musical show.”
But the Times refused to run the blurb as submitted and altered it to “— good musical show.” Taking such
censorship to its logical conclusion, Mantle wondered why the newspaper allowed the show’s title to appear
1923–1924 Season 191
in its pages, and surely “Sweet Little —” would be more appropriate, or perhaps Sweet Little Imp. And how
“dare” the Times run ads for the drama Hell-Bent fer Heaven (which opened three nights after Sweet Little
Devil and later in the season won the Pulitzer Prize)?
During the tryout, the show was known as A Perfect Lady. After the Broadway opening, the musical
underwent a number of changes. Two songs were cut (“System” and “The Same Old Story”); three new ones
were added (“You’re Mighty Lucky,” “Just Supposing,” and a title number); and there was one interpolation
(“Innocent Ingenue Baby,” which had first been heard in Our Nell and then later in a revised version was used
in the 1923 London musical The Rainbow). It appears that the early Gershwin song “In Our Little Kitchen-
ette” (with a lyric by Ira Gershwin and DeSylva) may have been interpolated into the Broadway run at some
point, with a revised lyric by DeSylva (a program from late in the Broadway run lists “Innocent Ingenue Baby”
among the musical numbers, but not “In Our Little Kitchenette”). The song was first known as “Kitchenette”
and was heard during the pre-Broadway tryout of La-La-Lucille! (1919) before it was cut from the score. The
songs “Mah-Jongg,” “Pepita,” and “Be the Life of the Crowd” were cut prior to the Broadway premiere, either
in preproduction or during the tryout.
A studio cast album was issued by PS Classics Records (CD # PS-1207) that includes the following num-
bers: ten heard on opening night (“Strike, Strike, Strike,” “Virginia,” “Someone Who Believes in You,” “The
Jijibo,” “Quite a Party,” “Under a One-Man Top,” “Flirtation Ballet,” “The Matrimonial Handicap,” “Hey!
Hey! Let ’Er Go!,” and “Hooray for the U.S.A.!”); two added after the opening (“You’re Mighty Lucky” and
“Just Supposing”); and the interpolation (“In Our Little Kitchenette”). Omitted from the recording are “Sys-
tem,” “The Same Old Story,” the title song, and the interpolated “Innocent Ingenue Baby.”
MOONLIGHT
“A Musical Comedy Gem”

Performances: 174
Book: William LeBaron
Lyrics: William B. Friedlander
Music: Con Conrad
Based on the 1919 play I Love You by William LeBaron.
Direction: William B. Friedlander; Producer: L. Lawrence Weber; Choreography: Larry Ceballos; Scenery: Karl
O. Amend Studios (for more information, see below); Costumes: Mabel Johnston; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Louis Simon (Jimmie Farnsworth), Glen Dale (George Van Horne), Maxine Brown (Betty Duncan), Allyn
King (Louise Endicott), Elsa Ersi (Ruth Franklyn), Robinson Newbold (Brooks), Ernest Glendinning (Peter
Darby), Helen O’Shea (Marie); Guests: Norah White, Irene Swor, Gertrude Livingstone, Agusta Orell,
Helenya Koski, Bobbie Galvin, Sylvia Highton, Minerva Wilson, Elsie Schaeffer, Ward Fox, Frank Kimball,
Bob Sutherland, Jack Fraley, Burt McGuinnes, William Cooper, Alden Cook, Tom Maynard; Dancers: The
Lorraine Sisters
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Fair Weather Friends” (Louis Simon, Men); “The Daffydill” (Elsa Ersi, Ensemble); “If I Were of the
Hoi Polloi” (Maxine Brown, Robinson Newbold); “Forever” (Glen Dale, Ensemble); “How Can a Lady Be
Certain” (Elsa Ersi, Ensemble); “Aren’t We All” (Ernest Glendinning, Ensemble); “Say It Again” (Maxine
Brown, Robinson Newbold); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “On Such a Night” (Robinson Newbold, Glen Dale, Ernest Glendinning, Louis Simon; Japanese
Girl: Agusta Orell; East Indian Girl: Helenya Koski; South Sea Island Girl: Gertrude Livingstone; Arabian
Girl: Norah White); “In a Bungalow” (Helen O’Shea, Ernest Glendinning); “Turn on the Popular Moon”
(Elsa Ersi, Chorus); “How Do I Know He Loves Me?” (Elsa Ersi); Dance (The Lorraine Sisters); Specialty
(Robinson Newbold); “The Passing of the Night” (Orchestra); “Don’t Put Me Out of Your Heart” (lyric
and music by William B. Friedlander) (Louis Simon, Elsa Ersi, Chorus); “Dancing” (Maxine Brown, Men);
“Honeymoon Blues” (Ernest Glendinning, Helen O’Shea, Chorus); Finale (Ensemble)
Moonlight was adapted by William LeBaron from his comedy I Love You, which had played on Broadway
for a few weeks in 1919. At a party at his Long Island estate, Jimmie Farnsworth (Louis Simon) makes a
bet of $5,000 with his guests that with the proper romantic and moonlit atmosphere love can blossom. But
his attempt to match up a twosome fails when the boy and girl respectively succumb to Jimmie’s maid and
butler. The musical did better than its source and lasted five months on Broadway before setting forth on a
national tour.
The New York Times said Con Conrad’s music was “tuneful” and included some “potential song hits,”
director and lyricist William B. Friedlander provided “adequate” lyrics, choreographer Larry Ceballos devised
dances in the “latest” and “most whirlwindish fashion,” and the décor and costumes were “lavish” (the Karl
O. Amend Studios were officially credited with the scenery, but the Times’s critic said the “glorious” décor
was “whispered” to be the work of Joseph Urban). Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press said “On Such
a Night” and “Say It Again” would surely “threaten the radio and the dance halls,” and noted the songs
“ooze gracefully from the saxophones and are much hummed through the lips of the departing audience”
(but he suggested such numbers might be “a bit fastidious for certain of our western centers—Chicago, for
example”).
L.V. in Brooklyn Life said I Love You brimmed over “with good, clean comedy, catchy music and clever
dancing.” It was one of the “fastest-moving musical shows that has ever opened on Broadway,” and it would
be at the Longacre “for a couple of winters and then some,” and “amusement lovers could hardly ask for
more.” The Lorraine Sisters stopped the show with their dances, and Robinson Newbold (as the butler Brooks)
was “screamingly funny.” Conrad’s score was filled with “lilting tunes” (L.V. singled out five of them), the
costumes were “beautiful,” and the direction was a “credit” to the producer.
Variety didn’t think the show was a “knockout,” but decided any “shortcomings” were “liable to be dis-
tanced by the weight” of Conrad’s score (the critic singled out “On Such a Night,” “Say It Again,” “Forever,”
“Aren’t We All,” and “If I Were of the Hoi Polloi”).
During the run, the musical underwent considerable revision. Four songs were dropped (“Fair Weather
Friends,” “How Can a Lady Be Certain,” “How Do I Know He Loves Me?,” and “Don’t Put Me Out of Your
Heart”) and one added (“I Love Them All”).
Note that Conrad was the first composer to win the Academy Award for Best Song when “The Conti-
nental” (with lyric by Herb Magidson) won in 1934. It was introduced in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’
film The Gay Divorcee.
THE CHIFFON GIRL

Theatre: Lyric Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Jolson’s and Central Theatres)
Performances: 103
Book: George Murray
Lyrics: Alma M. Sanders
Music: Monte Carlo
The musical was loosely based on the 1924 play The Bootleggers by William A. Page, from an idea by Charles
Capehart.
Direction: Everett Butterfield; Producer: Charles Capehart; Choreography: Bert French; Scenery: Kahn &
Bowman; Costumes: Chez Routon; William Weaver; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Fred Hoff
Cast: Leah May (The Spider), William Green (Tough Boy), George Reimherr (Mario Navarro; for more informa-
tion, see below), John Park (Edward Lewis), Gladys Miller (Betty Lewis), Eleanor Painter (Tonita Rovelli),
Shaun O’Farrell (Tom Delancy), Frank Doane (Woolsey), Si Layman and Helen Kling (Specialty Dancers),
James R. Marshall (Lieutenant Dickie Stevens), James E. Sullivan (Mortimer Stevens), Mlle. Pam (Premier
1923–1924 Season 193
Danseuse), Arthur E. Viall (Jeffrey); Ladies of the Ensemble (Amy Atkinson, Silvia Shawn, Hope Minor,
Murray Canon, Emma Ramsey, Marion Vase, Helen Jackson, Anita Monroe, Ethel Guerard, Rose Adair,
Rita Kirvit, Myrtle Gilden, Charlotte Davis, Ethel Moore, Marguerite Miller, Ellen Rose; Gentlemen of
the Ensemble: Billy M. Green, Jack Scholl, Lehman Byck, Warren Bassette, George F. Brown, Frank Cal-
lahan, Louis Brown, J. C. Ames, Arthur Viall
The action takes place during the present time in New York City’s Little Italy and on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “New York Life” (Ensemble); “My Tonita” (George Reimherr); “Mia Cara” (Eleanor Painter); “We’re
Sweethearts” (Eleanor Painter, George Reimherr)
Act Two: “Dust Chasers” (Ensemble); “When the Sun Goes Down” (James R. Marshall, Gladys Miller); “Just
One Rose” (Eleanor Painter, Chorus); “Did You Come Back?” (George Reimherr); “Till the End of Time”
(Eleanor Painter, George Reimherr); “1908” (James E. Sullivan, Frank Doane, John Park, James R. Mar-
shall); “The Chiffon Girl” (Eleanor Painter, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Little Devils” (Mlle. Pam, Ensemble); “The Café Boheme” (George Reimherr, Eleanor Painter,
Ensemble); “The Raindrop and the Rose” (James R. Marshall, Gladys Miller); “Bring Back Your Heart to
Me” (Eleanor Painter); Specialty (Si Layman and Helen Kling); “Maybe Yes and No” (Eleanor Painter,
Boys); “Cuddle Me Up” (Gladys Miller, James R. Marshall, Si Layman, Helen Kling)
With The Chiffon Girl, the endless parade of Cinderella musicals marched on. In this case, poor fruit-
seller Tonita Rovelli (Eleanor Painter) from New York’s Little Italy meets wealthy benefactor Edward Lewis
(John Park) from Long Island who sends her to Big Italy for singing lessons, and so she must leave behind her
poor-but-honest sweetheart Mario Navarro (George Reimherr, and then Joseph Lertora; see below). When she
returns to New York as a great prima donna, she reunites with Mario, only to discover that he’s become rich
as a bootlegger. And now Edward too is a bootlegger. Mario mistakenly believes that Tonita is in love with
Edward, but everything gets straightened out by the final curtain.
The musical’s first week on Broadway was hectic, and a total of four performers played the two leading
roles. Lertora had been on the road with the tour of Helen of Troy, New York, and at the last minute was
signed to play Mario. Variety reported he wasn’t ready to go on for the New York premiere, and so Reimherr
opened the show and played the first two performances, and then Lertora took over beginning with the third.
And on the day of Lertora’s second performance, Painter became ill and her understudy went on.
The Times praised Painter’s “gorgeous voice,” and noted that the production required her to speak, but
not sing, with an Italian accent. The score was “melodious,” there were three or four “catchy” songs, and
“The Raindrop and the Rose” was “particularly appealing.” However, the production was “shoddy and undis-
tinguished,” and by the second act the plot became “unaccountably confused” and turned “pretty dull” with
its rum-running plots and sub-plots. Time said the story was “inanely dull,” Painter had a “sterling silver
voice” but was “wasted in this papier-mâché production,” and Reimherr was “another oasis in a desert of
vapidity.” But a few “melodious” songs nourished the “anemic” book. Quinn Martin in the Oakland (Cali-
fornia) Tribune said the musical was “not bad and not extremely good,” but when Painter and Reimherr sang
together they provided “some of the loveliest music of the current season.”
Variety didn’t equivocate and succinctly stated that the “denatured” and “kickless” musical had “no
chance for a run.” The score was “ordinarily melodious,” and just one song seemed likely for popularity
(“Cuddle Me Up”).
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said the evening was “all Eleanor Painter” and there was “nothing
besides her to distinguish it from countless other offerings of its kind.” As for the gown of the musical’s
title, perhaps Page over-shared with more details than we really needed to know: The “unique” dress was
“contrived of chiffon in a multitude of colors and shades. These float from arms and waist, rising into tightly
rounded strips that pass around [Painter’s] neck and form a stiffly sloping collar that stands away from the
neck, at one time giving the effect of decolette, the next instant seeming the most tightly-drawn of neckpieces
as it is drawn close or pushed back.”
PARADISE ALLEY
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Vanderbilt Theatre)
Performances: 64
Book: Charles W. Bell and Edward Clark
Music: Carle Carlton, Harry Archer, and Adorjan (A. Dorian) Otvos
Direction: Carle Carlton; Producer: Carle Carlton; Choreography: Jack Mason; Scenery: Frank Gates and Ed-
ward A. Morange; Costumes: William Weaver; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John L. McManus
Cast: Hallie Manning (Little Annie Rooney), Evelyn Martin (Sweet Marie), Dorothy Walters (Mother O’Grady),
William Renaud (Casey the Cop), Ida May Chadwick (Quinnie La Salle), Helen Shipman (Bonnie Brown),
Arthur West (Spike Muldoon), Charles Derickson (Jack Harriman), George Bickel (Rudolf Zotz), Gloria
Dawn (Sylvia Van de Veer), Edward Wonn (Edward Harriman), Ben Benny (Dusty), Burke Western (Benny);
The Four Entertainers: Frank Stanhope, Garfield Brown, Lloyd Balliot, and William Renaud; Leslie Barrie
(Alex Huxley), Arthur Atkinson (Stage Door Keeper); Ladies of the Ensemble: Marian Gunn, Muriel Lodge,
Juanita Wray, Louise Joyce, Adele Smith, Elizabeth Dougher, Billee Fennimore, Dolly Donnelly, Marilyn
Evans, Kathryn Scott, Aileen Meehan, Jane Brew, Nina Byron, Virginia O’Brien, Marjorie O’Brien, Lucille
King, Beatrice Coniff, Estelle Keeley, Jane Daniel, Marjorie Schweinert
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Happiness” (Principals, Company); “When I Made the Grade” (Dorothy Walters, William Renaud);
“Paradise Alley” (Helen Shipman); “As Long as They Keep on Making ’Em” (Ida May Chadwick); “Tell
Me Truly” (Helen Shipman, Charles Derickson); “Promises” (Ida May Chadwick, George Bickel, Arthur
West); “Friendship” (Gloria Dawn, Helen Shipman, Charles Derickson); “Bob-Haired Bandit” (The Four
Entertainers, Evelyn Martin, Ben Benny, Burke Western, Ensemble); “Musical Comedy” (George Bickel,
Helen Shipman, Ida May Chadwick, Arthur West, Ben Benny, Burke Western); “Your Way or My Way”
(Helen Shipman, Charles Derickson)
Act Two: “Success” (George Bickel, Ida May Chadwick, Ensemble); “The First Nighters” (Double Sextette);
“Rolland from Holland” (Ida May Chadwick, Ensemble); “Reporters” (The Four Entertainers); “What the
Future Holds” (Helen Shipman); “That’s Why They Call Us Johns” (Double Sextette); “Garden Ballet”
(Evelyn Martin, Ensemble); “Put on the Ritz” (Helen Shipman, Charles Derickson, Ben Benny, Burke
Western, Evelyn Martin, Ida May Chadwick, Company); Medley Finale (Company)
Paradise Alley was another Cinderella tale. As Percy Hammond in the St. Louis Star and Times noted,
our Irish colleen Bonnie Brown (Helen Shipman) comes from the “lowly” East Side, and Burns Mantle in the
Chicago Tribune warned that “any little playgoer who cannot guess the rest of it without prompting will
simply have to stay after school and see the teacher.”
Bonnie is determined to become a star, much to the chagrin of her prize-fighter boyfriend, Jack Harri-
man (whom everyone seems to agree was portrayed by Charles Derickson, although Arthur Pollock in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle identified the performer as Paul Frawley). Bonnie breaks up with Jack, lands a job in the
cabaret Paradise Alley, is soon off to London to become the toast of the town and the star of The Gaiety Girl,
and is even pursued by three upper-crust gents. Mantle noted that Jack cried when “his Bonnie went over the
ocean,” and Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said the actor seemed “too slight” for his role and was “less
the lover” than Bonnie deserved. Mantle added that Jack “waves his own hair” and “we think he knitted his
way to the top of his profession.”
The musical had played on the road during the latter months of 1922, and the New York Times assumed
that during the period between the tour’s closing and the Broadway opening the creators had been “polishing
and re-polishing.” But the “fine glint” wasn’t “quite there,” and because the evening was “pretty much the
customary musical,” an “adverse verdict must be rendered.” There were some “catchy” tunes and the show
1923–1924 Season 195
boasted “one of the most attractive” choruses of the season, but the humor consisted of someone calling a Mr.
Muldoon by the name of Mr. Balloon. As for Shipman, she had a “good enough voice and a pleasant personal-
ity,” but was given “somewhat less to do than she seems entitled to.”
The critic noted that the “high spot” of the evening was the “determined applause” and occasional cheers
“bestowed upon a minor member of the company” by a certain “section of the audience,” and all the while
“the young woman in question” was “giving a sublimely bad performance.” Although the Times’ critic didn’t
mention her by name, Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer clarified the matter when he said
that Ida May Chadwick “constituted one of the most trying episodes” of the production with her “roguish
ways and her frolicsome ventures into light comedy.” She engendered such “enormous favor with last eve-
ning’s audience that the cynical would have been moved to wonder how many of her sisters, cousins and
aunts were in the house.”
As for the musical itself, Woollcott warned us that we’d seen it all before, a first-act heroine “devoted to
poverty, lowly circumstance and wistful ambition” who in the second half “wallows in the lap of luxury”
and “wears all the pink taffeta and diamonds the management can afford” (Pollock summed up the formula
for the Cinderella musical: “plain clothes in the first act, smart raiment in the last”). Woollcott mentioned
that Dorothy Walters played “one of those motherly, Irish, back-o’-me-hand-to-yez roles,” said he “vaguely”
recalled Derickson from another musical, and found Shipman an “agreeable young ingénue” who wasn’t
“astounding in her gifts” but had the “pleasant air of being the kind of person one would actually know in
real life.”
Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said the score was “rather good,” and while none of it crossed “over
the line where genius begins,” it “tinkles pleasantly in memory,” especially the title song, which Pollock
decided was “doubtless destined to be the hit” of the show. Otherwise, Pollock said the “desultory” musical
was “mediocre” but would no doubt find “moderate success” on Broadway.
Variety decided the “mediocre” cast couldn’t compensate for the show’s “most drastic fault,” its “comic
deficiencies.” Further, the “uninteresting” book was performed “indifferently” by the “below par” players
and the show was only “meagerly flavored” with two “promising” songs, all of which combined to create “an
avalanche of catastrophes.” The critic speculated that perhaps only the city’s taxi drivers would be satisfied
with the show because the final curtain fell at around ten-thirty, which would allow the hacks to get back to
the theatre district “in time for the general 11 o’clock exodus.”
SITTING PRETTY
Theatre: Fulton Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Imperial Theatre)
Performances: 95
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producers: F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scen-
ery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Alice V. O’Neill; Tripler; Brooks-Mahieu; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Marjorie Eggleston (Mrs. Wagstaff), Albert Wyart (James), Harry Lilliford (Roper), Rudolf Cameron (Bill
Pennington), Eugene Revere (Judson Waters), Myra Hampton (Babe LaMarr), Gertrude Bryan (May Toll-
iver), Queenie Smith (Dixie), Edward Finley (Jasper), Jayne Chesney (Wilhelmina), George Sylvester (Otis),
Marian Dickson (also named Wilhelmina), George E. Mack (Mr. Pennington), Dwight Frye (Horace), Frank
McIntyre (Joe), George Spelvin (Professor Appleby), George O’Donnell (Bolt), Terry Blaine (Jane); Char-
acters at the Ball: Wynthrope Wayne (Jenny Lind), George Sylvester (Edgar Allen Poe), Marietta O’Brien
(Barbara Fritchie), Edward Finley (Stonewall Jackson), Marjorie Eggleston (Rachel), Frieda Fitzgerald (Har-
riet Beecher Stowe), May Clark (Louisa M. Alcott), Charlotte Wakefield (George Sand), Jayne Chesney
(Florence Nightingale), Dorothy Janice (Empress Eugenie), Alice Akers and Dorothy West (Empress’s At-
tendants); Girls at the Pennington Charity School: Betty Campbell, Jean Castleton, Virginia Tracy Clark,
Marian Dickson, Jean Emerson, Irene Griffith, Katherine Kohler, Harriet Marned, Marion Phillips, Phyllis
Reynolds, Louise Segal Converse, Gertrude Waixel; The Coaching Party: Alice Akers, Mary Clark, Frieda
Fitzgerald, Marietta O’Brien, Dorothy West, Doris Waldron, Wynthrope Wayne, Charlotte Wakefield,
Edouard Lefebvre, Earl Marvin, Dana Mayo, George O’Donnell, William Powers, Charles Sabin, Roger
Buckley, Albert White
The action takes place during the present time in Far Hills, New Jersey, and in Palm Beach.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (aka “A Journey Southward”) (Orchestra); “The Charity Class” (Charity Girls); “Is This
Not a Lovely Spot?” (George E. Mack, Rudolf Cameron, Eugene Revere, Coaching Party, Girls, Gardeners,
Others); “Worries” (Gertrude Bryan, Queenie Smith, Rudolf Cameron); “Mr. and Mrs. Rorer” (Queenie
Smith, Dwight Frye, Cooking Class); “Bongo on the Congo” (Dwight Frye, Eugene Revere, Frank Mc-
Intyre); “There Isn’t One Girl” (Rudolf Cameron, Harry Lilliford, Gertrude Bryan); “A Year from Today”
(Rudolf Cameron, Gertrude Bryan); “Shufflin’ Sam” (Queenie Smith, Ensemble); Finaletto (Ensemble)
Act Two: Prelude (Orchestra); “The Polka Dot” (Ensemble); Scene Music (Orchestra); “Days Gone By” (Doro-
thy Janice, Ensemble); “All You Need Is a Girl” (Rudolf Cameron, Gertrude Bryan); “Dear Old-Fashioned
Prison of Mine” (aka “When It’s Tulip Time in Sing-Sing”) (Dwight Frye, Frank McIntyre); “On a Des-
ert Island with You” (Gertrude Bryan, Queenie Smith, Girls); “The Magic Train” (aka “The Enchanted
Train”) (Rudolf Cameron, Gertrude Bryan, Ensemble); “Shadow of the Moon” (Queenie Smith, Gertrude
Bryan); “Sitting Pretty” (Dwight Frye, Queenie Smith, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
Following Stepping Stones, Sitting Pretty was Jerome Kern’s second score of the season, and the musical
was a reunion for Kern, lyricist P. G. Wodehouse, and librettist Guy Bolton, the team responsible for so many
of the intimate Princess Theatre shows of the late 1910s.
Kern’s songs were infinitely superior to his contributions for the Stone vehicle, but both scores are among
the composer’s least-known works. Happily, a scintillating studio cast recording (see below) of Sitting Pretty
reintroduced the score and its delights, including the delirious joys of the two show-stopping comedy songs
“Bongo on the Congo” and “Dear Old-Fashioned Prison of Mine” (aka “When It’s Tulip Time in Sing-Sing”),
both of which prominently featured a singing-and-dancing Dwight Frye.
Frye’s casting was a quirky one. He’d appeared in dramas (including the original 1922 Broadway produc-
tion of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author), but never in a musical, and the critics
were divided over his performance. The New York Times said he was the evening’s “distinct surprise” who
“showed an astonishing aptitude” for musical comedy with “a voice that was at least equal to the occasion”
and who “danced in a way that Pirandello never would have thought possible,” and Heyward Broun in the
New York World said he gave an “unusual and delightful performance.” But Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle found him “uncomfortable and forced.” Frye of course found celluloid immortality in the original
film versions of Dracula and Frankenstein (both released in 1931): in the former, he went insane and nibbled
on flies, and in the latter, he tormented the creature and then Got His when it murdered him.
Although some critics were less than enthusiastic about Bolton’s book, it seems merry enough, but ad-
mittedly it contained (perhaps purposely?) groan-inducing humor that a few critics were more than happy to
share with their readers: “A chafing dish is a frying pan that’s gotten into society”; “Poverty is the banana
peel upon the threshold of romance”; and “Deafness is an affliction, but whiskers are a man’s own fault!”
The plot looked at wealthy Mr. Pennington (George E. Mack), who sees adoption as the means to carry on
the family dynasty. To that end, he adopts both Horace (Frye) and May (Gertrude Bryan) in the hope they’ll
marry and bring forth children into the clan. Little does he know that Horace is both nephew and cohort of
his wily Uncle Joe (Frank McIntyre) and that the two plan to fleece him. In the meantime, Horace falls for
May’s sister Dixie (Queenie Smith), and May herself is attracted to Bill (Rudolf Cameron), who unbeknownst
to her is Mr. Pennington’s cast-off nephew.
The Times found the book “weak and wandering,” but the music was “sparkling” and the lyrics “well-
turned,” and the critic was delighted to report that the show got “along without any of the customary ‘spe-
cialty dancers,’ and does it quite well.” But perhaps Queenie Smith occasionally fell into the specialty trap be-
cause Broun noticed “a regrettable tendency on her part to introduce stunt dancing—things that are admirable
1923–1924 Season 197
more because they are arduous than because they are beautiful,” and he felt Smith was “too good a dancer to
become even for a moment merely a gymnast.” The critic mentioned that Kern had provided “an unusually
tuneful score,” Wodehouse had written “ingenious” lyrics, and while Bolton’s book wasn’t “aflame with wit”
it was “workmanlike.” Pollock said the music was “some of the sweetest and smartest” of the season and the
lyrics were “clever,” but Bolton hadn’t created “the most brilliant book imaginable.”
Kern’s biographer Gerald Bordman in Jerome Kern: His Life and Music reports that Bryan had “haughty
airs” that caused “backstage difficulties,” particularly because Queenie Smith had “walked off with the
notices” (as noted below, Bryan left the show during its short three-month run and was replaced by Eleanor
Griffith). And it couldn’t have helped that Pollock said Bryan had “a certain strange sort of appeal despite
obvious handicaps,” because she looked “a bit” like Ethel Barrymore, talked “like an imitation of Miss Bar-
rymore by Eddie Foy,” and danced “with no grace at all.” He concluded that “you might call her sweet and
let it go at that.”
Gilbert Seldes in the Los Angeles Times said Kern’s music ran “a longish gamut from lovely dreamy tunes
to a gay parody of jazz,” including “patter and comedy,” and mentioned that he understood Kern had forbid-
den the score “to be played outside the theatre—be it talking machine, radio or dance orchestra.” Bordman
confirms this, and suggests this stance might have been a gamble to entice potential ticket buyers into seeing
the show if they wanted to hear the music. But as Bordman notes, this was the “opposite method” usually
employed because normally it was the popularity of a song or two that enticed audiences to buy tickets for
a particular show.
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described the musical as a “pleasant little piece, funny
and foolish and tuneful,” and Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star praised the “thoroughly enjoyable” and
“delectable” show with its “tinkling” songs. But Heyward Broun (this time writing in Vanity Fair) found
his personal reaction to the show “baffling.” The evening was “just pretty good,” and while “there were
any number of reasons why we should have liked it . . . we just didn’t.” But Kern’s music and Wodehouse’s
lyrics were “fine.”
Variety noted that if the operating costs had been “moderate,” the show would “stand a good chance for a
long run,” but the production employed an exceptionally large cast. Moreover, the “impression” was that the
musical wouldn’t sell out and would only do good business for about three months. The book lacked humor,
but a number of songs stood out, including “Dear Old-Fashioned Prison of Mine,” “Bongo on the Congo,” “A
Year from Today,” “Days Gone By,” and “All You Need Is a Girl,” the latter with “such a corking swing and
melody that it is apt to be one of the hits of the street.” Queenie Smith “won top honors” among the cast
members, and her “nimble” stepping for “Shufflin’ Sam” brought “a world of applause,” the title song found
her “in full dancing flight,” and she possessed a “very pleasant singing voice.”
During the run, Bryan, Cameron, and Frye were succeeded by Eleanor Griffith, Mercer Templeton, and
John Price Jones, and the title song was cut.
The score enjoyed a virtually complete recording when New World Records released a two-CD set (# 80387-2)
conducted by John McGlinn which included two songs cut during the tryout (the “Coaching” part of the original
three-part, first-act opening number and “Just Wait”) and the music for two numbers dropped in preproduction
for which the lyrics are presumed lost (“All the World Is Dancing Mad” and “I’m Wise”). Omitted from the
recording are “The Charity Girls,” which was listed in the New York program. Note that “The Polka Dot” is
included on the recording (as “Opening Act Two”), but the words of the title aren’t actually part of the lyric. The
recording also includes “You Alone Would Do,” which during the tryout was part of a three-song opening se-
quence that was replaced by “Is This Not a Lovely Spot?” (the other two songs in this sequence were “Roses Are
Nodding” and the above-mentioned “Coaching”). The musical’s overture is also included on McGlinn’s Jerome
Kern Overtures (EMI Records CD # 7-49630-2).
During the era, a few musicals referred to their first-act overtures as “Descriptive Music” (see Mary Jane
McKane, whose overture was broken into three musical segments enhanced by sets that depicted the journey
of the title character from small town to big city). In his liner notes for the recording of Sitting Pretty, Mc-
Glinn notes that the first-act overture (referred to in the program as the overture, but which Kern titled “A
Journey Southward”) is a “little symphonic poem” that depicts a train journey (note that the first act takes
place in New Jersey and the second in Palm Beach) complete with “the train whistle, the clanging bell, the
wheels on the trestle, even the escape of steam from the engine.” This overture is included on the recording
along with the entr’acte music.
All extant lyrics are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of P.G. Wodehouse.
PEG O’ MY DREAMS
Theatre: Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Imperial Theatre)
Performances: 32
Book: J. Hartley Manners
Music: Hugo Felix
Based on the 1912 play Peg o’ My Heart by J. Hartley Manners.
Direction: Hassard Short and J. Hartley Manners; Producer: Richard Herndon; Choreography: Chester Hale;
Scenery: Clark Robinson; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Ralph Mulligan; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Suzanne Keener (Peg), Roy Royston (Jerry), G. P. Huntley (Alaric), Roberta Beatty (Ethel), Gilberta Faust
(Monica), Paul Kleeman (Arkady), Chester Hale (Alexis), Oscar Figman (Jarvis), Albertina Vitak (Una),
Lovey Lee (Blanche), Joseph McCallion (Banbury), William Ladd (Chris), Henrietta Brewster (Rita), Gladys
Baxter (Blossom), Jean Ferguson (Fay), Helen Haines (Muriel), Katherine Spencer (Joan), Julia Lane (Diana),
Richard Ford (Bill), John R. Walsh (Guy), Charles Baum (Fred); Note: The performers of the canine persua-
sion were Michael and Pet, both of whom respectively played the roles of Michael and Pet.
The action takes place in Scarborough, England, during the early part of the twentieth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hunt Ball Rehearsal” (Ensemble); “A Dainty Nosegay” (Roberta Beatty, Ensemble); “All Alone”
(Chester Hale, Albertina Vitak, Lovey Lee, William Ladd, Joseph McCallion); “Rose in the Snow” (Roberta
Beatty, Paul Kleeman); “There’s a Rainbow Waiting for You” (Roy Royston); “Haven’t We Met Before?”
(G. P. Huntley, Girls); Dance (Albertina Vitak, Lovey Lee, William Ladd, Joseph McCallion); “The Gap
in the Hedge” (Suzanne Keener, Oscar Figman); “Lily Bell Polka” (Albertina Vitak, Lovey Lee); Finale
(Company)
Act Two: “Her Bright Shawl” (Roberta Beatty, Ensemble); Waltz (Chester Hale, Albertina Vitak); “Door
Mats” (G. P. Huntley, Roy Royston); “Shy Little Irish Smile” (Suzanne Keener, Henrietta Brewster, Jean
Ferguson, Gladys Baxter, Helen Haines, Katherine Spencer, Julia Lane); “Moscow Belles” (Paul Klee-
man); Dance (Lovey Lee, William Ladd, Joseph McCallion); “Love Is Like a Firefly” (Suzanne Keener, Roy
Royston); “Peg o’ My Dreams” (Roy Royston); Ballet: “L’heure bleu” (The Evening Star: Albertina Vitak;
The Man: Chester Hale; The Night: Lovey Lee; The Heavens: Henrietta Brewster, Jean Ferguson, Gladys
Baxter, Helen Haines, Julia Lane, Katherine Spencer); “Right-o” (Albertina Vitak, Lovey Lee, William
Ladd, Joseph McCallion, Henrietta Brewster, Jean Ferguson, Gladys Baxter, Helen Haines, Julia Lane,
Katherine Spencer)
J. Hartley Manners’s 1912 play Peg o’ My Heart starred his wife Laurette Taylor in the title role, and it
became one of the greatest hits of the era with 603 Broadway performances (at one point, there were eight na-
tional companies touring the country). Manners wrote the book for the musical adaptation Peg o’ My Dreams,
and Hassard Short, who created the role of one of Peg’s relatives in the original 1912 production, directed the
musical. But the pedigrees didn’t help, and despite generally favorable reviews the show managed just four
weeks on Broadway.
Set in Scarborough, England, the story’s heroine Peg (Suzanne Keener) is an Irish American lass who
has been advised by a family lawyer to live with distant relatives. It seems that her once well-to-do but still
snooty relations are now penniless, and if they harbor Peg, the uncle’s will provides them a steady income.
Peg eventually realizes the family members tolerate her only because of the financial compensation, but she
finds love with Jerry (Roy Royston), the boy-next-door (that is, the boy from the next-door estate). In fact, our
Cinderella soon discovers that Jerry has a title and is otherwise known as Sir Gerald Adair.
The New York Times liked the “decorous, tasteful and tuneful” and “politely entertaining” adaptation
but noted that some of the source material was “a little less funny” than it used to be. Keener resembled
1923–1924 Season 199
Taylor a “little” and Vivienne Segal a “good deal,” and she proved “quite equal” to her role and vocally was
“certainly ample.” Hugo Felix’s score was “captivating,” and the stand-out song was “There’s a Rainbow
Waiting for You.” Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said “several melodies” lingered “happily in memory,”
including one that did “radiant honor to the rainbow.” Moreover, Caldwell “contrived some delightful lyrics
that sing most gloriously to [Felix’s] really distinguished music.”
L.V. in Brooklyn Life said Peg o’ My Dreams was “one of the prettiest musical shows that has graced Broad-
way in some time,” there was “lots of good, hilarious comedy,” and the score offered “several love songs that are
a real joy.” Heywood Broun in the New York World noted that the evening was “smartly and expertly” directed
by Short and the sets were some of the season’s “loveliest.” The songs were “fairly good,” but the book was “so
cluttered with sideplay that it languishe[d] much of the time” and lacked “pace” and “humor.”
W.G.H. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical was like “hundreds” of others, and so it “dragged in
sections,” “sagged in the middle,” and lacked “pace.” In a rather strained analogy, the critic said the source
material had been a goose that laid the golden egg, but if you cooked the once “accomplished” goose after it
“had ceased to lay” you would discover it was “tough and stringy on the dinner table.” Although “some of
her coloratura notes were bad,” Keener made “sweet music of not extraordinary melodies,” and “several” of
the dance numbers were “as fine as can be seen in New York today.”
Variety noted that the musical’s book was too faithful to the original play, and as a result the show was
hurt “in many particulars,” including the “deadly handicap” of bringing to mind Laurette Taylor. Granted,
the role was “actress-proof” and Keener had “the looks, the youth, the spirit, the voice, the brogue—but not
the personality.” And “a Peg without a personality is a square Peg in a round hole.” The trade paper also
commented on a scenic effect for the second act in which “scattered twinklers working for the whole time
concealed baby incandescents of green in the hedges which flare up and out as fireflies.” When the song “Love
Is Like a Firefly” came along, the lights were appropriate but otherwise became “very distracting going on and
off here and there all the rest of the time, hurting scenes.”
There have been at least four other musical versions of the material. Peg starred Eartha Kitt in the title
role, and played in summer stock in 1967 with lyrics and music by Johnny Brandon, book by Robert Emmett
and Mike Sawyer, and choreography by Katherine Dunham. As Sing Me Sunshine!, Peg later surfaced Off-Off-
Broadway on February 9, 1984, at the AMAS Repertory Theatre for sixteen performances. Andrea Frierson was
Peg, and this time around the book was by Robert E. Richardson and Brandon.
There were also two British adaptations. Peg o’ Mine toured for almost three months in late 1927, but
never played London. The book was by Fred Jackson, the lyrics by Desmond Carter, the music by Vivian El-
lis, Phil Charig, and other composers, and Peggy O’Neil was Peg. On April 12, 1984, Peg opened in London at
the Phoenix Theatre for 146 showings with lyrics and music by David Heneker; the company included Ann
Morrison (Peg) and Sian Phillips (Mrs. Chichester), and the cast album was released by That’s Entertainment
Records (LP # TER-1024). This version played briefly in the United States during Summer 1987 with Mor-
rison, Davis Gaines (Jerry), and Jan Miner (Mrs. Chichester).
PLAIN JANE
“A Delightful Musical Comedy”
Theatre: New Amsterdam Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Sam H. Harris and Eltinge
Theatres)
Performances: 168
Book: Phil Cook and McElbert Moore
Lyrics: Phil Cook
Direction and Choreography: Walter Brooks; Producer: Louis I. Isqueth and Walter Brooks (Plain Jane Com-
pany); Costumes: Evelyn McHorter (of Lucile, Inc.); Bernard Hassert; Brooks-Mahieu Costume Co.; Vanity
Fair Costumes, Inc.; Leighton’s, Inc.; Lighting: Sky-writing effect by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical
Direction: Ira Jacobs
Cast: Lorraine Manville (Jane Lee), Elfin Finn (Nanny McGuire), Alma Chester (Mrs. McGuire), Joe Laurie Jr.
(Kid McGuire), John M. Troughton (Rollins), Ralph Locke (Julian Kingsley), Helen Carrington (Countess
Suzanne D’Arcy), Lew Christy (Pierre), Charles McNaughton (Lord Gordon Hemmingsworth), Marion
Saki (Ruth Kingsley), Lester O’Keefe (Buddy Smith), Jay Gould (Dick Kingsley), Dan Healy (Happy Wil-
liams), May Cory Kitchen (Little Miss Ritz, Danseuse), Allie Nack (Champ Kelly), Jay Gerrard (Kelly’s
Second), Jack Stanley (Referee), Pearl Howell (Stenographer), Edna Coigne (Japanese Doll), Liane Mamet
(Spanish Doll), Pearl Howell (Russian Doll), Pauline Williams (Hawaiian Doll); Ritz Dolls: Joey Benham,
Edna Coigne, Liane Mamet, Pearl Howell; Contestants: Nesha Medwin, Honor Tattersall, Bianca Fernan-
dez, Mabel Grete, Verdi Milli, Pauline Williams, Miriam Malloy, Frances Wilson; Reporters: Eugene Day,
Russell King, Bernard Hazard, Jay Gerrard, Charles LaValle, Fred Harris, George Bradley, Bud Penny
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Plain Jane” (Lorraine Manville); “What’s New?” (Reporters); “Winning the Prize” (Charles Mc-
Naughton, Helen Carrington, Ralph Locke, Marion Saki, John M. Troughton, Reporters, Girls); “If Flow-
ers Could Speak” (Marion Saki, Lester O’Keefe, May Cory Kitchen, Ensemble); “Someone Like You”
(Lorraine Manville, Jay Gould); “When Your Heart’s in the Ring” (Charles McNaughton, Girls); “I Love
a Fight” (Joe Laurie Jr., May Cory Kitchen, Girls); “Reprise” (song not identified in program) (Lorraine
Manville); “Along the Road to Love” (Lorraine Manville, Jay Gould, Ensemble); Finale (Lorraine Manville,
Joe Laurie Jr., Jay Gould)
Act Two: “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (Dan Healy, May Cory Kitchen, Ensemble); “Proverbs” (Charles McNaugh-
ton); “Don’t Take Your Troubles to Bed” (Helen Carrington, Marion Saki, Ensemble); “Beneath the Stars”
(Marion Saki, Lester O’Keefe, Ensemble); “A Playhouse Planned for You” (Lorraine Manville, Jay Gould);
“Come On, Feet, Let’s Go” (Dan Healy); “Tricks of the Trade” (Marion Saki, Lester O’Keefe, Girls);
“When the Whistle Blows” (Lorraine Manville, Jay Gould, Ensemble); Specialties (Fred Harris, Pearl How-
ell); “Follow Your Footsteps” (Joe Laurie Jr., Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Two musicals by composer Tom Johnstone opened during a one-week period in mid-May. The Cinderella
musical Plain Jane premiered on May 12, and on May 19 the Marx Brothers’ farrago I’ll Say She Is! exploded
(to be sure, I’ll Say She Is! wasn’t a Cinderella show, but Groucho bowed to the times and briefly appeared
in Cinderella drag with his customary mustache and cigar). Both musicals were hits: the former ran for 168
performances, the latter for 313 showings, and so Johnstone’s two shows topped out for a total of almost five-
hundred performances.
The heroine Jane Lee (Lorraine Manville) may or may not have been plain, but she’s poor and lives in a
humble garret on the Lower East Side. And if “poor little Ann” from Tenderloin (1960) lived in a New York
attic and fashioned artificial flowers for ladies of fashion to wear, our Jane (who “weeps in solitary poverty,”
according to the New York Times) spends her hours creating a special kind of rag doll that she plans to enter
into a contest held by wealthy doll manufacturer Julian Kingsley (Ralph Locke). When Kingsley realizes his
son and heir Dick (Jay Gould) is smitten with Jane, he dismisses her and her doll and then disinherits Dick,
who enters a boxing contest, wins the prize money, and with it sets up Jane in the doll-making business.
Dick’s father is soon all forgiveness: he bids on the rights for Jane’s doll, reunites with his son, makes amends
to Jane and welcomes her into the family, and the two previously competing businesses now merge into one.
The Times said the “freshly and lavishly produced” show unfortunately followed an “uneventful course”
in the “wake of dull and slavish imitation,” and the resulting suspense “was not what you might call terrific.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle didn’t think the fun was “very brilliant,” but noted the evening
offered “enormous vitality, snap and goodwill, [and] several fetching if familiar tunes,” and thus the show’s
“winning qualities, energy and vigor” should “prove at least a moderate success.” Brett Page in the Lincoln (NE)
Star decided Plain Jane might not be “a world-beater,” but it was “a thoroughly enjoyable musical comedy.”
And Percy Hammond in the Indianapolis News said the show was “the usual waxen nosegay of musical com-
edy with blah music and blah comedy,” and he shared a few of the evening’s would-be witticisms (“I’ll knock
you so flat that they’ll play you on a Victrola!” and “You’re mean enough to put a tack on an electric chair!”).
Variety didn’t think much of the book, but praised director, choreographer, and coproducer Walter Brooks,
whose dances were “brisk and metropolitan.” In the title role, Manville was “wholesome and tuneful and
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appealing” but was “made the goat” by a “well-meaning but sadly misguided claque” and their “exaggerated
enthusiasm.” They “insisted on stopping the show” every time Manville made an appearance, and “several
times annoyed patrons turned and shushed the patriots to go easy.” But apparently the shushing didn’t help,
and although the final curtain was set to ring down at 11:00, the performance didn’t end until 11:40 because
of the claque. Variety mentioned that by around 11:20 there began a parade of “many walkouts.”
The critics gave their best notices to Joe Laurie Jr. (as Kid McGuire, a street-smart prize-fight promoter)
and to a realistic boxing match between Dick and Champ Kelly (Allie Nack), which took place in Madison
Square Garden.
The fight wowed ’em. Time said Gould and Nack engaged in “real hearty slugging,” and “several times
Gould hits the floor with abandon.” Hammond reported it was “as vivacious a bout as I have ever witnessed”
because they “really beat each other up,” and in comparison, “the cheap wars in Shakespeare’s plays are
mere spankings.” Gould gave as good as he got, his footwork was nimble, he “perfectly” depicted “glassy and
agonized solar plexus expressions,” and as a result was “one of the ten best male artists in the Times Square
drama.” Hammond admitted that occasionally he hoped to see a musical comedy hero get “beaten up,” but
“every time” that Gould “was stricken upon his handsome jaw I was sorry.” Quinn Martin in the Oakland
Tribune said the fight was the “most realistic thing of its kind” he’d ever seen, and mentioned that Gould
“got at least one sock in the jaw that he will be able to see in the mirror this morning.”
Joe Laurie Jr. would probably have won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical if such an
award had existed in 1924. Page said the cocky performer was “nimble-witted, nimble-footed, nimble-voiced
and nimbly-smiling,” and as “‘Plain Joe’” he made “his first great leap into the limelight all his own.” Plain
Jane was at its “very best” when the comic was on stage, and Page said he could “dispense with other entire
musical comedies” before he’d “be willing to forfeit the memory” of the “redoubtable” Laurie. Time praised
the “inveterately amusing performer,” Martin noted he was a mixture of Ernest Truex and Charles King and
was “a delight” for “every minute of the time he was on stage,” and the Times said he was the show’s “prin-
cipal asset.”
During the run, “Someone Like You” and “Follow Your Footsteps” were cut and respectively replaced
by “Hand in Hand” and a reprise of “Along the Road to Love.” Also cut from the show was “A Playhouse
Planned for You.”
I’LL SAY SHE IS!

“The Laugh-a-Minute Revue” / “The Musical Comedy Revue”

Opening Date: May 19, 1924; Closing Date: February 7, 1925
Performances: 313
Book and Lyrics: Will B. Johnstone
Direction: Eugene Sanger; Producer: James P. Beury; Choreography: Vaughn Godfrey; Scenery: Robert Law
Studio; Costumes: Brooks-Mahieu; Paul Arlington, Inc.; Miss Johnstone; Madeline Ruffalo; Harry Walters;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ted Coleman
Cast: Edward Metcalfe (Richman), Crissie Melvin (Office Girl), Herbert (Zeppo) Marx (Doctor), Leonard
(Chico) Marx (Poorman), Julius H. (Groucho) Marx (Lawyer), Adolpho, aka Adolph, aka Arthur (Harpo)
Marx (Beggarman), Lloyd Garrett (Chief; note that Frank J. Corbett played the role of Chief within two
weeks of the Broadway opening, and may have performed the role on opening night), Phillip Darby (Mer-
chant), Edgar Gardiner (Thief), Hazel Gaudreau (Chorus Girl, Hazel), Florence Hedges (Nanette), Ruth Ur-
ban (Social Secretary, Chinese Boy), Lotta Miles (Beauty), The Melvin Sisters (Chrissie and Mary) (Pages),
Cecile D’Andrea (White Girl), Harry Walters (Hop Merchant), Mildred Joy (Street Gamin), Gertrude Cole
(Street Gamin), Hazel Gaudreau and Edgar Gardiner (Bull and Bear), Ledru Stiffler (Gold Man), Jane Hurd
(Pierrot), Florence Thorpe (Pierrot), Marcella Hardie (Marcella),The Bower Sisters (Maryon and Florence),
Martha Pryor (Specialty Dancer); Ladies of the Ensemble: Gene Spencer, Bunny Parker, Florence Arledge,
Jane Hurd, Alice McDonald, Marion Case, Gertrude Cole, Catherine Norris, Mary Carney, Helen Martin,
Muriel Greel, Ethel Emery, Mildred Joy, Aileen Meehan, Jeane Green, Florence Thorpe, Vivian Spencer
The action takes place during the present time as well as in earlier times and the locales occur in such diverse
places as New York City, Hawaii, Versailles, and Russia.
Sketches and Musical Numbers

Act One: “Do It” (Edward Metcalfe, Girls); “Pretty Girl” (The Marx Brothers, Edward Metcalfe, Edgar Gar-
diner, Lloyd Garrett, Eight Maids); “Give Me a Thrill” (Ruth Urban, Edward Metcalfe, The Marx Brothers,
Edgar Gardiner, Lloyd Garrett, Eight Maids); “Only You” (Lotta Miles); “Descriptive” (Art Curtain Scene)
(Lotta Miles, Edward Metcalfe, The Marx Brothers, Phillip Darby, Lloyd Garrett); “When the Shadows
Fall” (Phillip Darby); “Break into Your Heart” (Marcella Hardie, Edgar Gardiner, Burglar Girls, Mildred
Joy, Gertrude Cole); “Chinese Apache Dance” (Cecile D’Andrea and Harry Walters); “San Toy” (Ruth
Urban); Scene: “The Dream Ship” (San Toy: Mary Melvin); Scene: “The Court Room” (The Marx Broth-
ers, Lotta Miles, Edward Metcalfe); Unnamed Scene: Lotta Miles and Lloyd Garrett; “Rainy Day” (Lotta
Miles, Lloyd Garrett, The Melvin Sisters, Hazel Gaudreau, Edgar Gardiner, Ensemble) “Wall Street Blues”
(Marcella Hardie, The Melvin Sisters, Hazel Gaudreau, Edgar Gardiner, Ensemble); Scene: “Wall Street”
(Lotta Miles and Edward Metcalfe) which includes the sequence “The Tragedy of Gambling” (The Fairy:
Mary Melvin; The Gambler: Harry Walters; Cards: Maryon Bower; Penny: Mildred Joy; Dice: Florence
Bower; Dime: (Opening night performer unknown; may have been played by Helene Bradley); Racing:
(Opening night performer unknown); Dollar: Jane Hurd; Roulette: (Opening night performer unknown);
Gold Coin: Gene Spencer; The Greed of Gold: Ledru Stiffler); “Silver Ballet” (Gene Spencer, Mildred Joy,
Gertrude Joy, Other Dancers; The Lure of Gambling: Cecile D’Andrea and Harry Walters); “The Plaything
of Wall Street”
Act Two: Introduction (The Melvin Sisters); “The Inception of Drapery” (Scarf Girls: Mildred Joy, Others;
Rose Petals: The Bower Sisters; Pan: Catherine Norris; Beauty Dress: Lotta Miles, Phillip Darby; Japan:
Bunny Parker; South Sea Isles: Mary Carney; Zulu: Gertrude Cole; Timbuctoo: (performer unknown);
Brittany: (performer unknown); Russia: Jane Hurd; Hindustan: Gene Spencer); “Cinderella Backwards”
(Lotta Miles, Groucho Marx); “Hawaiian Scene”: The Sixteen Yankee Girls—Marcella Hardie, The
Melvin Sisters, The Bower Sisters, Gertrude Cole, Jeane Green, Mildred Joy, Jane Hurd, Bunny Parker,
Hazel Gaudreau, Catherine Norris, Others); “Only You” (Lotta Miles, Lloyd Garrett); “The Marble
Fountain” (Gertrude Cole, Mildred Joy, Catherine Norris, Jeane Green, Others)—sequence includes (a)
“Pygmalion and Galatea—The Awakening of Love” (Cecile D’Andrea and Harry Walters) and (b) “The
Death of Love” (Zeppo Marx, Harpo Marx, Ledru Stiffler, Edgar Gardiner, Groucho Marx, and unidenti-
fied performer); “Art Curtains”; “The Hypnotist” (Chico Marx, Edward Metcalfe); “Pierrot Dance” (Jane
Hurd and Florence Thorpe); “Napoleon’s First Waterloo”: “Court Reception at Versailles” (with song
“Glimpses of the Moon”)—Court Singer: Florence Hedges; Court Violinist: (possibly Albert Vigoli);
Court Pianist: (possibly Herbert St. Clair); Court Pages: The Melvin Sisters; Josephine: Lotta Miles; Na-
poleon: Groucho Marx; François: Harpo Marx; Alphonse: Chico Marx; Gaston: Harpo Marx; Specialty
Dance: Marthia Pryor; Scene: “Beauty’s Russian Garden”—includes (a) “The Wonderful River” (Flor-
ence Hedges, Ensemble); (b) Specialty (Hazel Gaudreau); (c) “The Blue Tartar” (Ledru Stiffler); and (d)
“Marcella Dance” (Marcella Hardie)
The Marx Brothers were vaudeville headliners at the Palace, but they’d never appeared in a Broadway
show until the opening of I’ll Say She Is! Thus, for regular theatergoers (as opposed to those audience mem-
bers who preferred the variety and vaudeville stages), the new musical was their first introduction to the
bizarre and sometimes surreal pandemonium of the four Marx Brothers, Julius, Adolpho (Adolph, Arthur),
Leonardo, and Herbert (otherwise known to vaudeville audiences as Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo).
There was a fifth brother Milton (aka Gummo) during the early years of the brothers’ act, but he soon dropped
out. Eventually Zeppo did, too, and movie audiences came to know the remaining brothers as The Big Three,
Groucho, Harpo, and Chico.
Only by stretching the term could I’ll Say She Is! be called a book musical. It was for the most part a revue
with a slight story line. In this case, wealthy flapper Beauty (played by Lotta Miles) is bored with the high life
and wants stratospheric excitement. So, throughout the show, the Marx Brothers guide her through a series
of exciting adventures, virtually all of them unrelated to one another. She meets a theatrical agent named
1923–1924 Season 203
Richman; she visits an opium den in New York’s Chinatown, where she comes upon a hop merchant; and
she finds herself in a courtroom, where she’s on trial for murder (with Groucho as her lawyer, who helpfully
informs her that she’ll be charged with murder and then with electricity). She’s taken on a sojourn to Wall
Street to learn a lesson about “The Tragedy of Gambling,” and she time-travels to Old Versailles where she’s
transformed into Josephine with Groucho as her Napoleon (Groucho informs us that Josephine was always
“true,” true, that is, to the entire army). And, oh yes, in an up-to-the-minute nod to the era’s Cinderella mu-
sicals Groucho briefly appears in Cinderella drag replete with mustache and cigar.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted the musical would provide fun “all summer,” but
with all the comic chaos on stage the show lasted well until the next winter and chalked up over three-
hundred performances. Pollock liked the “energetic, expensive hodge-podge” and noted that librettist and
lyricist Will B. Johnstone had created a “dull” book and had “written only what the Marx Brothers could
not think of for themselves,” and Johnstone’s composer brother Tom hadn’t provided any songs destined for
hit status (note that Tom Johnstone had also composed the songs for Plain Jane, which had opened a week
earlier). Groucho scored with his Napoleon imitation, Chico “exhibited skill and certain comic gifts at the
piano,” and Harpo was the “funniest” of the brothers, a “clever pantomimist, deft and economical with his
effects, [and] a fine recruit for the revue stage.” As for the “Chinese Apache Dance,” it was “striking” and it
was “just possible that it will strike the police as indecent” (Brett Page in the Muncie Star Press found the
dance “a little raw”).
Page praised the courtroom scene, and noted that when Harpo is found innocent of thievery the stage was
“flooded with silver knives and forks that slip from their place of concealment in his sleeves.” The production
was “superlatively good” and because the brothers were “the whole show” the “smiles of the audience merge
into chuckles and chuckles broaden into roars of laughter that sweep through the theatre.” Here was a show
that had “taken the town by storm” and was “seventh heaven for the tired business man.”
The New York Times said “such shouts of merriment have not been heard in the Casino these many
years,” and Groucho and Harpo were “gorgeous clowns and uproariously funny.” Alexander Woollcott in the
Philadelphia Inquirer said the “harlequinade has some of the most comical moments vouchsafed to the first
nighters in a month of Mondays,” and the “crafty” Groucho brought to Broadway “a rather fresher and more
whimsical assortment of quips” than most of vaudeville’s “refugees” (and as Napoleon he wasn’t above order-
ing the band to strike up “The Mayonnaise”). Woollcott liked the “touching” number “Wall Street Blues,”
but mentioned that “for some reason” it was sung by “a small shrill young woman wearing blue sateen over-
alls. It is not known why. Nor greatly cared.”
Variety referred to the book as “so-called,” but noted that the Marx Brothers and Edward Metcalfe (one
of their former vaudeville cronies) “ought to be good enough to carry any show.” The second performance
sold out, and because the musical was clearly a “draw” it would probably run through the summer “to quite
profitable business with exceptional grosses due for a time at least and fall continuance an even chance” (the
show actually ran until mid-winter and played for 313 performances).
During the run, “A Bit of Tango Jazz” was added to the score.
1924–1925 Season
FLOSSIE
Opening Date: June 3, 1924; Closing Date: June 28, 1924
Performances: 31
Book: Armand Robi
Lyrics: Ralph Murphy
Music: Armand Robi; additional music by Harold Lewis
Direction: Armand Robi; Producer: Charles Mulligan; Choreography: Jack Connors; Scenery: Nicholas Yel-
lenti; Costumes: Vanity Fair Costume Company; Lighting: Ben Leffler; Musical Direction: Harold Lewis
(conducting Paul Specht’s Lido Venice Orchestra)
Cast: Jeanne Danjou (Marie), Harry McNaughton (Mr. Van Cortland), Mildred Kent (Nellie), Viola Boles
(Mildred), Trix Taylor (Ki Ki), Jane McCurdy (Sally), Paula Lee (Irene), Betty Garson (Adrienne), Mildred
Brown (Poppy), Helen Warren (Mary), Mary O’Rourke (Liza), Nellie Roberts (Elsie), Carol Seidler (Jane),
Alice Cavanaugh (Bessie), Doris Duncan (Flossie), Sydney Grant (Archie), Robert Mameluch (Senor Don
Ribeiro), Jack Waldron (Tommy), Rose Kessner (Mrs. Van Cortland), Jane Van Rein (Peggy), Handers and
Millis (Flick and Flock), Shep Camp (Uncle Ezra), Edward Fetherston (Chummy)
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Want to Be Santa Claus” (Harry McNaughton, Jeanne Danjou, Mildred Kent, Salesgirls); “Flossie”
(Doris Duncan, Alice Cavanaugh, Mildred Kent, Jane Van Rein, Salesgirls); “I’m in Wonderland” (Doris
Duncan, Alice Cavanaugh); “Now Is the Time” (Doris Duncan, Jack Waldron, Salesgirls); “That’s in My
Line” (Handers and Millis); “Poogie-Woo” (Alice Cavanaugh, Sydney Grant); “Walla-Walla” (Shep Camp,
Edward Fetherston, Company); “When Things Go Wrong” (Doris Duncan, Sydney Grant, Company);
“Fraid Cat” (music by Harold Lewis) (Jack Waldron, Salesgirls)
Act Two: “Blind Man’s Buff” (Alice Cavanaugh, Handers and Mills); “The First Is the Last” (Doris Duncan,
Edward Fetherston, Salesgirls); “Just Another New Step” (music by Harold Lewis) (Jack Waldron, Sales-
girls); “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (Sydney Grant, Shep Camp, Edward Fetherston, Harry McNaughton);
“I’m in Wonderland” (reprise) (Sydney Grant, Alice Cavanaugh); Finale (Company); Note: Variety reported
that one song (“From under Your Hat”) was performed but not listed in the program.
A discerning theatergoer who carefully analyzed the Flossie program had good reason to be terrified. The
names of the female characters were Sally, Irene, Mary, Nellie, Poppy, Adrienne, Liza, Elsie, Jane, and Peggy
(as in . . . Peg), portentous musical comedy names all. Each of these had served as the title or partial title of a
205
Cinderella musical, and so Flossie threatened innocent audience members with the possibility of a Cinderella
musical to out-Cinderella them all (one character named Ki Ki was a nod to the 1921 French import Kiki, a
nonmusical that in effect was a Cinderella comedy). And the main setting of a studio apartment adjoined to
a Fifth Avenue millinery shop probably caused further audience angst, because weren’t all good Cinderella
heroines employed as shop girls in such establishments?
Happily, Flossie was no Cinderella musical, but unfortunately it traded on another tried-and-true cliché,
that of the would-be naughty sex farce where everyone assumes the worst when an innocent, unmarried
couple is forced to share a bedroom because the exigencies of the plot demand it. In this case, in a story that
perhaps only the book-writing gods of musical-comedy really understood, the title heroine (played by Doris
Duncan) and Archie (Sydney Grant) must pretend to be married, and of course Archie’s intended, Bessie (Alice
Cavanaugh), and the entire population of New York City misunderstand the situation.
It really sounds like an episode from a cable sitcom that you’d never consider watching. Broadway au-
diences weren’t interested, either, and so Flossie went down in the record books as the season’s first book
musical flop with less than a month of performances to its discredit. Although the critics weren’t impressed,
they liked the dancing and the jazzy music played by Paul Specht’s Lido Venice Orchestra. And they praised
the evening’s showstopper, a salute to “Walla-Walla.”
The New York Times said the “unmistakably old-fashioned” musical had the usual “virtues and defects
of its kind.” The music was “neither eventful nor soporific,” the cast was “undistinguished,” and there was a
“timorous attempt” to “introduce some offensive situations” into the story. But there were a couple of “extra-
pleasing” songs (including “Walla-Walla”), an “exceedingly active chorus,” and the orchestra played the score
“in the most approved jazz fashion.” Time decided the show “unconsciously burlesques most of the musical
plays you’ve seen.” The plot was “synthetic,” the song cues could “be spotted several minutes in advance,”
and “the dirt is dished at every opportunity.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the musical “lively,” often “funny,” and “crude.”
The music had “spirit and catchy rhythms,” “Walla-Walla” was “as fetching as could be asked,” and the
“devil-may-care” chorus “stopped the show every now and then.” Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star said
Paul Specht’s Lido Venice Orchestra was an “A No. 1 jazz band,” and he envied the “expert” dancers for
“the privilege of dancing to such good music.” Their feet flew throughout the evening, their routines were
“far above the average of musical comedy dancing,” and choreographer Jack Connors deserved a medal.
Page also noted that those who wondered if jazz was “really” music need only listen to the orchestra and
any “last lingering doubt will be removed.” And he too singled out “Walla-Walla,” “which brought down
the house.”
T.M.C. in the Baltimore Sun reviewed the show during its tryout at Ford’s Theatre. He said the musical
was a “passable entertainment” with an “energetic” chorus and a “lively” and “spirited” score, and noted
that “Walla-Walla” was well-received.
Variety described a strange bit of business, and one can only speculate. For the first-act curtain, an older
male character forces the young male lead to “disrobe” down to his “silk B.V.D.s,” and then as the curtain
began to fall the young man is told to take those off, too.
MARJORIE
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 44th Street Theatre)
Opening Date: August 11, 1924; Closing Date: December 13, 1924
Performances: 144
Book and Lyrics: Fred Thompson, Clifford Grey, and Harold Atteridge; additional lyrics by Henry Creamer
Music: Sigmund Romberg, Herbert Stothart, Philip Culkin, Stephen Jones, and James Hanley
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producers: Rufus R. LeMaire and Richard W. Krakauer in association with Jack
Nicholas; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Charles LeMaire;
Lighting: Electrical effects and equipment by William Thomas; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Edwin Forsberg (Luke Calvert), Jack Squire (Howard Brindle), Donat Gauthier (Henry), Richard “Skeets,”
aka “Skeet,” Gallagher (Eph Daw), Elizabeth Hines (Marjorie Daw), Roy Royston (Brian Valcourt), Nan
Crawford (Juliette Loti), Ethel Shutta (Molly Daly), Andrew Tombes (Garcia Pindora), Joe Tinsley (Hotel
1924–1925 Season 207
Clerk), Cliff Heckinger (Biggs), Edward Allen (Bell Boy); Ladies of the Ensemble: Bobby (aka Bobbie) Bre-
slaw, Marguerite Dunne, Peggy Hart, Portland Hoffa, Edith Martin, Paulette Winston, Claire Wayne, Jena
Wayne, Helen O’Brian, Naomi Harkins, Beth Milton, Rita Dunne, Mabel Baade, Consuelo Owens, Monica
Boulaise, Rosemary Marston; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Warren Crosby, Frank Cullen, Al Davis, Perry
Higgins, Fred Packard, Dick Oakley, Dan Sparks, Frederic Tozere
The action takes place during the present time in the Catskills, Southampton, Long Island, and in New York
City.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Sigmund Romberg; (**) = music by Herbert Stothart; (***) = music by Philip Culkin;
(****) = music by Stephen Jones; and (*****) = lyrics by Henry Creamer and music by James Hanley
Act One: “Listening to the Radio” (*) (Ensemble); Dances: (a) The Dunne Sisters (Marguerite and Rita) and
(b) Bobby Breslaw; “Brindle’s Farm” (***) (Harry Squire, Boys); “Song of Love” (*) (Elizabeth Hines, En-
semble); “Popularity” (****) (Andrew Tombes, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ethel Shutta, Girls); “Happy
Ending” (**) (Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston, Girls); “Good Things and Bad Things” (*) (Richard “Skeets”
Gallagher, Ethel Shutta); “Twilight Rose” (*) (Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston); Finale (*) (Elizabeth Hines,
Andrew Tombes, Roy Royston, Ethel Shutta)
Act Two: “Go Away, Girls, Go Away” (**) (Andrew Tombes, Girls); “Leading Man” (****) (Elizabeth Hines,
Gentlemen, Andrew Tombes); “Nature” (**) (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ethel Shutta, Ensemble); “Su-
per-Sheik” (*) (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ethel Shutta, Ensemble); “What Do You Say?” (**) (Elizabeth
Hines, Roy Royston); “Shuffle Your Troubles Away” (*****) (Andrew Tombes, Richard “Skeets” Galla-
gher, Ethel Shutta, Ensemble); Dance (Edward Allen); Finale (*) (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Forty-Second Street Moon” (*) (Roy Royston, Ensemble); “Marjorie Waltz” (****) (Elizabeth
Hines, Roy Royston); “When I Show ’Em This” (****) (Ethel Shutta, Ensemble, Edward Allen); Finale (*)
(Ensemble)
Nine librettists, lyricists, and composers had a hand in Marjorie (which was known as Marjorie Daw dur-
ing its tryout), but perhaps too many chefs spoiled the musical-comedy broth because the score didn’t yield
a hit song and the workable-sounding plot should have worked better. But the final result seems to have suf-
ficed, and the show lasted four months in New York and then began a national tour.
Today the production is best remembered as one of the earliest appearances of Ethel Shutta, who almost
fifty years later stopped Stephen Sondheim’s Follies (1971) dead in its tracks with one of Broadway’s greatest
show-business anthems when the seventy-five-year-old trouper stood center stage in a matronly jacket and
skirt and sensible shoes and belted out “Broadway Baby.” Her appearances over the years had been sketchy,
and her few shows include featured roles as Eddie Cantor’s girlfriend in the hit Whoopee and as Mary Martin’s
mother in Jennie (1963).
Elizabeth Hines was Marjorie, and previously she’d played the title roles in The O’Brien Girl and Little
Nellie Kelly. Through musical-comedy misunderstanding, Marjorie helps her aspiring playwright brother
Eph as in Ephraim (Richard “Skeets,” aka “Skeet,” Gallagher) when rich writer and theatre manager Brian
Valcourt (Roy Royston) assumes she wrote the play Eph authored. Valcourt produces the play, and along the
way he and Marjorie decide to tie the knot. The show managed to include three of the era’s four most favored
musical-comedy locales, and so the three acts visited the Catskills, Long Island, and Manhattan (and had there
been a fourth act, no doubt everyone would have taken off to Florida).
The New York Times said the musical boasted a star in Hines, plus four featured players (Gallagher,
Royston, Shutta, and Andrew Tombes as a publicity agent), but it was Shutta who pleased the most and was
an “excellent if loud comedienne” who displayed “extraordinary talents as a dancer.” As for Royston (who
had recently appeared in Peg o’ My Dreams), he showed “too obvious evidences of his own belief in his tal-
ents.” Overall, the musical wasn’t “violently exciting” but it provided a “pleasant evening.” Time said Shutta
was “an amusing little tough child,” and Hines was as “gracefully attractive” as ever. But the critic reported
that someone in the audience made the curious comment that Hines “had lost control entirely of her left
shoulder.” The critic decided that the score “sufficed for all those lacking too precise a memory,” and men-
tioned that “probably not very much will be written about the music a hundred years from now.”
M.B.D. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show offered “little in the way of eye or ear entertainment,”
and the songs were “just fair to middling stuff.” In regard to the Long Island setting for the second act,
the critic requested that “some nice musical comedy producer” offer “a locale at Bailey’s Beach or Mount
Clemens, or somewhere else just for the sake of a change.” Ultimately, Marjorie was “a tasteless dish of
warmed-over clog steps and foolishment,” they “should have begun serving it as far away from Broadway as
the exchequer of the troupe might have permitted,” and “when it got to Newark it should have been stricken
from the menu.”
The critic for Brooklyn Life noted that the Eagle’s critic lambasted the production, and suggested the
public was quite able to judge a show for itself instead of being influenced “by some critic who, perhaps be-
cause of a bad case of indigestion or some other local disturbance, writes with a mind warped all out of true.”
R. Addison Adams in the Indianapolis Star also wondered how two critics could have wildly divergent reac-
tions to the same show, and without mentioning names he quoted two reviews. It turns out the first critic
was Brett Page of the Lincoln (NE) Star. Page said Marjorie gave him “keen pleasure” with “lilting music
that is more than usually lovely,” and it was clear the show’s creators had brought forth a musical that was
“the best of its kind.” But the second and unnamed critic reported the show was a “bad effort” and except
for Paradise Alley was “the shoddiest production we have seen on Broadway” and it “stacks up as nothing
better than modified burlesque.”
Adams concluded that Page must have been in a good mood when he saw Marjorie, and wondered if he’d
possibly inherited a million dollars that day. As for the second critic, perhaps he’d suffered “a particularly bad
day at the office,” came home to a dinner of burnt fried potatoes, “discovered his child was beginning to look
like its papa,” and then “bumped his chin on something.”
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Hines became “peeved at something that hap-
pened during rehearsals in Boston” and “threatened” to leave the production. But there was “a hurried call
for diplomats, angels, directors and agents,” and soon “the Boston express from New York needed an extra car
to carry them.” Later in his review, Mantle explained the “something”: it seems the “gossips of Broadway”
speculated that Hines and Royston had married, and because Hines “insisted” that Royston “was entitled to
more salary,” there was the “Boston misunderstanding.” For the record, Hines and Royston appeared together
the following year in June Days, which was her final musical (his last two were in 1928 and 1932).
Variety commented on “two outbursts of temperament” from Hines and Royston. When the Boston dai-
lies reported their impending marriage, fans “stormed the stage door to see the happy couple and business
took an inspiring jump—so much so [that Hines] immediately asked for more dough for herself and Royston.”
As for the show itself, Variety said the musical was “good” and “entertaining” with a “wispy” plot that
was nonetheless “sturdy enough to hang a story on,” and there were abundant opportunities for comedy and
dancing. Hines twice stopped the show in dances with Royston, who was a “corking dancer” of the “Arrow-
collar, sleek-haired type of leading man,” and Tombes, Gallagher, and Shutta handled the comedy “in big
league style” (but Tombes was sometimes saddled with groaners of the in-your-family-tree-you-must-be-the-
sap variety). The trade paper noted that when the musical began its tryout in Atlantic City, Shutta reportedly
“ran away with the show through opportunities,” but since then “some of the opportunities had been clipped
away down.” But Shutta was “there,” she looked “good” and did “well,” and a rumor or two swirled about
that she had received a “splendid offer” from another producer to appear in his next show.
NO OTHER GIRL
“A Charming Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Morosco Theatre

Performances: 56
Book: Aaron Hoffman
Lyrics: Harry Ruby
Music: Bert Kalmar
Direction: John Meehan; Producers: A. L. Jones and Morris Green in association with A. H. Woods; Chore-
ography: Larry Ceballos; Scenery: Livingston Platt; Costumes: Erle Frank; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Alfred Newman
1924–1925 Season 209
Cast: Earle Craddock (Joshua Franklin), Aileen Meehan (Miss Smith), Ruth Conley (Miss Jones), Francis X.
Donegan (Amos Trott, Mr. Van Etten), James Francis-Robertson (Obadiah Bingle), Doris Eaton (Molly
Lane), William Sully (William Frawley), Helen Ford (Hope Franklin), Eddie Buzzell (Ananias Jones), Henry
Mortimer (Thomas Lord), Jane Carroll (Mary Herrington), John Sheehan (Bryan), Eddie Gerard (Butler);
Belles and Beaux of Quakertown: Dorothy Martin, Ruth Conley, Nonnie George, Vera Trett, Rose Stone,
Billie Blythe, Helen Blair, Trix Taylor, Dorothy Kane, Aileen Meehan, Zita Mae, Sylvia Shawn, Helen Wil-
son, Jack Grieves, Fred Cowhick, William Hale, Frank Parker, David Brown, Richard Powell, Albert White
The action takes place during the present time in Quakerstown, New Jersey, New York City, and on Long
Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Quakerstown Sextette: “A Pleasant Greeting” (James-Francis Robertson, Earle Craddock, Quaker
Girls and Boys); “Molly” (Doris Eaton, William Sully); “The Best in the Trade” (Helen Ford, Francis X.
Donegan, Quaker Boys); “After the Curfew Rings” (Eddie Buzzell, Quaker Girls); “No Other Girl” (Helen
Ford, Eddie Buzzell); “Doing the Town” (William Sully, Quaker Girls, Seminary Girls); Reprise Finale
(song unidentified in program) (Company)
Act Two: “Keep the Party Going” (Francis X. Donegan, Henry Mortimer, Guests); Specialties (Billie Blythe,
Dorothy Martin, Rose Stone, Helen Blair, Eddie Gerard); “I Know That I Love You” (Doris Eaton, William
Sully); “Honduras” (Guests); Specialty (Francis X. Donegan, Sylvia Shawn); “Corner of My Mind” (Helen
Ford, Eddie Buzzell); “It’s the Dancer You Love” (Dorothy Martin, William Hale, Billie Blythe, Fred Cow-
hick, Rose Stone, Frank Parker, Helen Blair, Jack Grieves); “I Would Rather Dance a Waltz” (Helen Ford,
Dancers); Reprise (song not identified in program [most likely “I Would Rather Dance a Waltz”]) (Company)
Act Three: “Look Out for Us, Broadway” (James Francis-Robertson, Earle Craddock, Francis X. Donegan,
Ensemble); Reprise (song unidentified in program) (Helen Ford); “You Flew Away from the Nest” (Eddie
Buzzell); “Day Dreams” (Doris Eaton, William Sully); Finale (Company)
Perhaps No Other Girl was a bit too restrained to excite the critics and entice would-be ticket-buyers, and
so the musical managed just seven weeks on Broadway. Variety reported that the show had originally opened
in Chicago (in January 1924) as The Town Clown but closed there and before his death in May was revised by
its librettist Aaron Hoffman as The Belle of Quakerstown, which opened in Stamford, Connecticut, in July.
The musical was again revised, and with its new title of No Other Girl the production finally made it to New
York in August.
The story focused on the sleepy Quaker community of Quakerstown where local boy Ananias Jones
(Buzzell) hopes to revitalize the village with the construction of a highway through the town that will link it
between Philadelphia and New York City. He plans to raise money for the highway by erecting advertisement
billboards flooded with electric lights, and the idea is that the signs will bring in revenue to cover half the cost
of the highway, with the government picking up the rest. The town elders are suspicious of Ananias’s plans
and the young man is viewed as a pariah, but in New York he interests financial backers with his proposi-
tion. As a result, the town is rejuvenated, Ananias becomes rich, and he returns to Quakerstown to marry his
sweetheart Hope Franklin (Ford).
(Of course, some might suggest that super highways ringed with billboards illuminated by electric lights
are not a sign of progress.)
The New York Times liked the “simple and entertaining piece of homespun” which was “neither preten-
tious nor elaborate” with a “light” and “plenteously comic” book and songs by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
which “ripple[d] pleasantly along” even though they weren’t “remarkably fresh.” The book was attributed to
Hoffman (who had died before the show was produced), and the Times’ critic noted that the “supposition is
that Mr. Buzzell and others have re-shaped it a bit.”
Time found the musical “mildly ingratiating” with “one or two able melodies,” but noted the book con-
tained a “serious error” when it completely eliminated Helen Ford for the entire second act (but the program
indicates Ford sang two numbers in this act), and Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette didn’t care
for the musical and said it was “too frankly imitative in story and too lacking in originality in treatment to
stir anything more than an amiable tolerance.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that
the audience was “unmistakably won” over by the “hokum,” a “lively” score, and an occasional good line
(Ananias says he doesn’t need to go to church because between his bicycle and the “knotty” roads in town,
all the “hell” is knocked out of him). Otherwise, the first act lacked “speed” and overall the evening needed
cutting by about thirty minutes.
The Baltimore Sun said the plot was so “innocuous” and “clean” that “it fairly screams for a bit of spice,”
and overall the evening was “one of those fair-to-middlin’ things that will not live long in New York.” The
score wasn’t “much” but sounded “better than it really is” because of the “almost miraculous” orchestra-
tions by Max Steiner (note that the musical offered two future legendary film composers with Steiner as the
orchestrator and Alfred Newman as the musical director).
Brett Page in the Lincoln (NE) Star praised the score, which offered both “sweetly haunting” music and
the “liveliest of jazz,” and he singled out two potential hits (“Corner of My Mind” and “Doing the Town”).
Although the musical recalled Pomander Walk because of its “alluring quietness” and was reminiscent of
the “dash and pep” found in a Cohan show, it had “an abundance of charm that is entirely original and all
its own.” But Variety found the show “too nice” and “too sweet” and “too clean,” and what it needed was a
“kick” and “a little ‘dirt’” or maybe just some “slapstick.” Otherwise, the “tuneful” music and the “listen-
ing” lyrics were “sufficient and all without a punch.”
THE DREAM GIRL

“A Musical Play” / “The Musical Play De Luxe”

Opening Date: August 20, 1924; Closing Date: November 29, 1924
Performances: 117
Book: Rida Johnson Young and Harold Atteridge
Lyrics: Rida Johnson Young
Based on the 1906 play The Road to Yesterday by Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland.
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett;
Scenery: Eleanor Abbott; Watson Barratt; Costumes: Milgrim; Franklin Simon & Co.; Lighting: Uncred-
ited; Musical Direction: Oscar Bradley
Cast: Fay Bainter (Elspeth), Vivara (Malena), Wyn Richmond (Dolly Follis), George LeMaire (Wilson Addi-
son), Maude Odell (Aunt Harriet), Billy B. Van (Jimmie Van Dyke), Alice Moffat (Elinor Levison), Clara
Palmer (Nora), Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King) (Jack Warren), John Clarke (Will Levison), Frank
Masters (Bobby Thompkins), William O’Neal (Mr. Gillette, Antonio), Edward Basse (Ken Paulton), Ed-
mund Fitzpatrick (Cristoforo); Specialty Dancers: Barbara Bennett, Evelyn Grieg, Virginia Shaar, Loretta
Duffy, Elizabeth Mears; American Girls: Kathleen Barrow, Lebanon Hoffa, Rena Miller, Joan Kroy, May
O’Brien, Virginia Allen, Aimee Salter, Victoria Reigel; Artists’ Models: Jeanette Dawley, Lida May, Eliza-
beth Mears, Velma Joffre, Virginia Griffith, Ripples Covert, Sofia Jackson, Dorothy Cola; Gentlemen of
the Ensemble: Chandler Christie, Penn Thornton, Jack Parker, Dan Douglas, Maurice Kuhlman, Thomas
Manahan, Frank Kimball, Fred Bush
The action takes place in England during 1923 and the fifteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Making a Venus” (Frank Masters, Vivara, Models, Boys); “All Year Round” (Walter Woolf, Chorus);
“Dancing Round” (Fay Bainter, Chorus); “My Dream Girl” (Walter Woolf); “Old Songs” (Vivara, Quar-
tette); Finale (Fay Bainter, Walter Woolf, Company)
Act Two: “Maiden, Let Me In” (John Clarke, Boys); “Gypsy Life” (Vivara, Chorus); “Stop, Look and Listen”
(Fay Bainter, Billy B. Van, Frank Masters, Chorus); “The Broad Highway” (Walter Woolf, Boys); “My
Hero” (Fay Bainter, Walter Woolf); “I Want to Go Home” (Fay Bainter)
Act Three: “Bubbles” (Wyn Richmond, Chorus); “Make Love in the Morning” (Billy B. Van, Specialty Danc-
ers); “Saxophone Man” (Frank Masters, Wyn Richmond, Chorus); “My Dream Girl” (reprise) (Fay Bainter,
Walter Woolf, Company)
1924–1925 Season 211
Victor Herbert’s The Dream Girl opened on Broadway three months after his death, and despite generally
good reviews and praise for Herbert’s score the musical lasted little more than three months in New York
and then took to the road.
The work was based on the popular 1906 play The Road to Yesterday by Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn
Greenleaf Sutherland. The story begins in modern-day London where Elspeth (Fay Bainter, in a rare musical
appearance) drifts back in time to fifteenth-century England where her friends and acquaintances from 1923
have Olde England counterparts. In an artist’s studio in 1923, she had met Jack Warren (Walter Woolf, aka
Walter Woolf King), who posed as a bandit, and five hundred years earlier she meets him again where he’s a
real bandit. The two realize they knew each other in the future, and when Time returns to 1923 they decide
to marry.
The New York Times praised Herbert’s varied score, the title song waltz, the march “The Broad High-
way,” the drinking song “Maiden, Let Me In,” and a “merry” number called “My Hero.” Further, the eve-
ning was a “triumph” for Bainter, who sang “sweetly” and “tunefully” and danced “surely and gracefully.”
As for the hero, Woolf was in “good voice” and was “even as handsome as” his role “demanded.” But
comic Billy B. Van’s “jokes and mannerisms” engendered “a large amount of tolerant first-night laughter”
although there wasn’t “any substantial basis for this tolerance.” Further, the performer’s “obvious self-
approval was not among the play’s other assets” (during the short Broadway run, Van was succeeded by
Robert Woolsey).
Time liked the “highly melodious evening,” predicted audiences would fall “captive” to Bainter’s “naïve
and witching charm,” and said Woolf was the “finest baritone currently singing light music.” And although
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the plot an “endurance,” he said the music was “delight-
ful” and suggested it was perhaps “better” than anything Herbert had “turned out at any time in the ten years
before his death.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer said the score was “uneventful” but “often pleasing and
always competent,” and he suspected the work had been subject “to some anonymous interpolations of which
the program says nothing.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune also used the “I” word when he noted that
“Broadway rumors” suggested that “one or two of the numbers have been interpolated.” Mantle also shared
some of the tiresome humor given to Billy B. Van: “He’s a connoisseur” / ”Sure, right on the corner is where
I built the sewer”; and Omar Khayyam’s yacht isn’t red: “It’s ruby. The ruby yacht of Omar Khayyam.”
Variety liked the “good entertainment” but noted the “comedy was spotty and a dash of vaudeville was
hauled in to help out.” Bainter was “one of the few women on the stage who appears at ease in comedy or
musical performance,” and when she put over “the swing of a jazzy tune” she “proved she loves syncopa-
tion.” The “romantic baritone” Woolf was “perhaps the best in contemporaneous musical comedy.” He was
“a handsome chap, broad-shouldered and unaffected,” and his “vocal power” was particularly notable in “My
Dream Girl” and “The Broad Highway.”
As for interpolated numbers, Herbert’s biographer Neil Gould, in Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life, re-
ports that Sigmund Romberg composed three songs for the “road company version” (“Trotting Over London,”
“Dancing All the Way,” and “All Year Round”), but note that the latter is listed in the New York program.
American Song reports that “I Want to Go Home” was composed by Romberg with a lyric by Harold Atter-
idge, but that ASCAP also credits it to Romberg, Schwarz, and William Jerome; that “Bubbles” is by Romberg
and Atteridge but is also credited by ASCAP to Herbert and Rida Johnson Young; that “Saxophone Man” is by
Romberg and Atteridge but is also credited by ASCAP to Romberg, Jean Schwartz, and William Jerome; and
that “The Broad Highway” was composed by Sigmund Romberg.
The Comic Opera Guild’s recording of the score (CD # CDG14P-2C) also includes Herbert’s musical farce
The Song Birds which had been presented at the Lamb’s Club in 1906.
BYE, BYE, BARBARA

Theatre: National Theatre
Performances: 16
Book: Sidney Toler and Alonzo Price
Music: Monte Carlo
Direction: Alonzo Price; Producers: Adolphe Mayer and Theodore Hammerstein, Inc.; Choreography: Un-
credited; Scenery: Walter Shaffner; Costumes: William Weaver; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Antonio Bafunno
Cast: Billy B. Greene (Chin Lee), Mildred Keats (Marjorie Palmer), Albert Sackett (John Palmer), Janet Velie
(Barbara Palmer), Arthur Burckly (Stanley Howard), Lillian Fitzgerald (Paulette), Fay West (Fay), Stanley
Ridges (Phillip Graham), Matt Hanley (Captain Hal Cuttle), George Lynch (Tom Wiggins), John E. Haz-
zard (The Great Karloff), Dan Marble (Sheriff Bisbee), Colin Campbell (George Frothingham), Charlotte
Davis (Sparks), Phyllis Pearce (Phyllis), Ann Nita (Ann); Visitors and Guests at the Arlington Hotel:
Agnes O’Laughlin, Jean Benton, Charlotte Davis, Marian Squire, Marian Dale, Neida Snow, Bernetice
Hampshire, Mary Mellinger, Lucille Prior, Rita Adams, Madeline Dare, Ruth Jewell, Lillian Day, Hope
Minor, Peggy Ellis, May Johnson, Charles Mantia, Louis Brown, Harold Spinelli, Jack Spinelly, William
Jay Spencer, Joe Bernella
The action takes place during the present time in Santa Barbara, California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “China” (Jean Benton, Charlotte Davis, Friends, Billy B. Greene; Chinese Girl: Agnes O’Laughlin);
“Live for Today” (Phyllis Pearce, Ann Nita, Friends); “Curiosity” (Mildred Keats, Phyllis Pearce, Ann
Nita, Friends); “Kiss Invention” (Janet Velie, Mildred Keats, Fay West); “Quaint Little House Built for
Two” (Arthur Burckly, Janet Velie); “Gee, You (I) Must Be in Love” (Stanley Ridges, Mildred Keats); “Bo-
Peep” (Janet Velie, Arthur Burckly, Shepherd Boys and Girls); “Bye, Bye, Barbara” (performer[s] unidenti-
fied)
Act Two: “Harmony” (Arthur Burckly, Janet Velie, Friends); “Pas seul” (Mildred Keats); “Amusing Myself”
(Lillian Fitzgerald); “As Kipling Says” (lyric by Benjamin Hapgood Burt) (John E. Hazzard); “Sittin’ in Clo-
ver” (Stanley Ridges, Mildred Keats, Ensemble); “Why Don’t They Leave the Sheik Alone” (John E. Haz-
zard); “Pas seul” (reprise) (Phyllis Pearce, Cigarette Girls); “Quaint Little House Built for Two” (reprise)
(Fay West, Lillian Fitzgerald); Finale
The married team of lyricist Alma M. Sanders and composer Monte Carlo tried again, but like most of
their musicals both past and present they met with failure. Bye, Bye, Barbara lasted for two weeks, and four
months later their Princess April managed three. And in their future were Mystery Moon (1930) with one
Broadway showing and Louisiana Lady (1947) with four performances.
The story dealt with The Great Karloff (John E. Hazzard) and his efforts to avoid alimony payments to his
persistent former wife. Along the way, the dialogue offered would-be witticisms most Broadway audiences
could have done without (“Are you Russian?” / “Yes, I’m rushin’ to get away.”). A secondary plot dealt with
the romance of Barbara (Janet Velie) and Stanley (Arthur Burckly), and her father’s opposition to the match
until the prospective groom can save $50,000 to prove he’s reliable and steady.
The New York Times noted the evening offered “pretty” tunes, “beautiful” chorus girls, and “agile” danc-
ers, and the performers were better than their material. But the critic made note that Lillian Fitzgerald gave
an “imitation of back-alley cats that is said to be the best thing ever done along that line,” and while Mildred
Keats was “handsome and vivacious,” she was “not unmindful of the fact that there are people out front who
may not recognize these qualities without her help.”
Time reported that “labor troubles” in Boston (where the stage hands had gone on strike) forced the mu-
sical to open cold in New York without benefit of a tryout, and “witnesses declared that Boston was blessed
by the loss.” Besides its “tepid” title, Bye, Bye, Barbara was a “pale entertainment” and a “forlorn sample
from the musical comedy factories.” G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the lines of dialogue were “thin”
and the music “thinner,” and Hazzard was “as funny as he could be with little to be funny with.” The critic
suggested that if Sanders and Carlo had “devoted a little less time to the plethora of unimportant songs” and
if book writers Sidney Toler and Alonzo Price had spent “a little more time” on the book, they all “might
have made an honest girl of Barbara.” Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star liked the score, but otherwise felt
the musical wasn’t “up to the standard.”
Co-librettist Sidney Toler was the actor who later starred as Charlie Chan in a series of twenty-two films
about the Honolulu detective.
1924–1925 Season 213
THE CHOCOLATE DANDIES

Performances: 96
Book: Noble Sissle and Lew Payton
Lyrics: Noble Sissle
Music: Eubie Blake
Direction: Julian Mitchell; Producer: B. C. Whitney; Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Scenery: Uncredited;
Costumes: John Newton Booth; Kiviette; Hugh Willoughby; Lighting: Tony Greshoff; Musical Direction:
Eubie Blake
Cast: Eubie Blake (as himself, at the piano), Amanda Randolph (Mandy Green), Gwendolyn Feaster
(Sammy), Addison Carey (Black Joe Jr.), Josephine Baker (That Comedy Chorus Girl), J. Mardo Brown
(Struttin’ Drum Major), W. A. Hann (Bill Spilvens), William Grundy (Mr. Hez Brown), Inez Clough
(Mrs. Hez Brown), Lottie Gee (Angeline Brown), Elisabeth Welsh (later, Welch) (Jessie Johnson), Valada
Snow (Manda), Fred Jennings (Uncle Eph), Noble Sissle (Dobby Hicks), Ivan H. Browning (Dan Jack-
son), Ferdie Robinson (Shorty), Russell Smith (Johnnie Wise), Lew Payton (Mose Washington), Johnny
Hudgins (Joe Dolks), Lee J. Randall (Silas Green), George Jones Jr. (Bookmaker), Charlie Davis (Snappy),
Curtis Carpentier (Sandy Scarecrow’s Jockey), John Alexander and Chic Fisher (Jump Steady); In the
Bank: Ferdie Robinson (Bank Policeman), Fred Jennings (Porter), Valada Snow (Secretary), Richard Coo-
per (Cashier), Percy Colston (Bookkeeper), Claude Lawson (Draft Clerk), Addison Carey (Auditor); The
Four Harmony Kings (Quartette): Ivan H. Browning, W. H. Berry, George Jones Jr., and W. A. Hann; At
the Wedding: Mildred Smallwood (Mischief), Josephine Baker (A Deserted Female), Lloyd Keyes (Her
Bunco Attorney); Town Flappers, Bank Clerks, Barbers, Citizens, Clerks, and Others: Played by mem-
bers of the company; Bamville Opera House Band: Joe Smith (Director), J. M. Brown (Drum Major),
E. C. Caldwell, J. W. Mobley, Ferdie Robinson, George Dosher, Horace Langhorne, L. J. Randall, R.
Cooper, Willard Sinkford, and Henry M. Batchelder; Jazzy Jassmines: Carmen Marshall, Aimee Bates,
Rose Young, Anita Alexander, Virginia Wheeler, and Violet Holland; Bandannaland Girls: Aimee Spen-
cer, Bertha Wright, Ruby Barbee, Mae Cobb, Hilda Perlino, Marie Frane, Thelma Rhoten, Mae Fortune,
Mildred Hudgins, Marion Gee, Lolita Hall, Viola Jackson, Dorothy Bellis, Gladys Bryant, Thelma
McLaughlin, Helen Mitchell, Mabel Nichols, Catherine Parker, Jennie Salmon, Clara Titus, Lucille
Smith, May Fanning, May Benjamin, Mildred Smallwood, Eleanor Greenwood, Marie Marsh, Annette
Rody, Madge Roma, June Dodge, Peach Johns; Bamville Vamps: Doris Mignotte, Frankie Williams,
Jaculine Williams, Hazel Cole, Dorothy Belis, Gladys Bryant; Syncopated Sunflowers: John Alexander,
Chic Fisher, Howard Elmore, Alfred Chester, Willie Sheppard, Lloyd Keyes, Earl Crompton, Bournis
Brown, Buster Miller
The action takes place during the present time in Bamville, Mississippi.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Mammy’s Choc’late Cullud Chile” (Amanda Randolph); “Have a Good Time, Everybody” (Cho-
rus); “That Charleston Dance” (Elizabeth Welsh); “The Slave of Love” (Lottie Gee, Ivan H. Browning);
“I’ll Find My Love in D-I-X-I-E” (Noble Sissle, His Dixie Darlings); “Bandannaland” (Lee J. Randall, Rus-
sell Smith, Bandannaland Girls); “The Sons of Old Black Joe” (Syncopated Sunflowers; Old Black Joe:
W. A. Hann); “Jassamine Lane” (Lottie Gee, Ivan H. Browning, Jassamine Chorus); “Dumb Luck” (Lew
Payton); “Jump Steady” (Lee J. Randall); “Breakin’ ’Em Down” (Valada Snow, Chorus; J. Smith, B. Miller);
“Jockey’s Life for Mine” (Charlie Davis, Jockeys)
Act Two: “Dixie Moon” (George Jones Jr., Chorus); “Land of Dancing Pickaninnies” (Charlie Davis, Picks);
“Thinking of Me” (Lottie Gee, Ivan H. Browning); “All the Wrongs You’ve Done to Me” (lyric and music
by Lew Peyton, Chris Smith, and Edgar Dowell) (Lew Payton, Johnny Hudgins); “Manda” (Valada Snow,
Syncopated Sunflowers); Selections (songs not identified in program) (The Four Harmony Kings); “Take
Down Dis Letter” (Lew Payton); Shuffle Along Medley (Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake); “Chocolate Dandies”
(Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, Their Struttin’ Company, Joe Smith)
Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake’s The Chocolate Dandies was a lavish follow-up to Shuffle Along, and
despite healthy pre- and post-Broadway tours (including a pre-Broadway run in Chicago of five or six weeks
when the show was known as In Bamville), the New York production didn’t quite make it and lasted for only
ninety-six performances. And unlike Shuffle Along, Sissle and Blake’s score failed to yield evergreens on the
order of “I’m Just Wild about Harry” and “Love Will Find a Way.”
The story took place in mythical Bamville (instead of the usual Jimtown, the mythical small town for
Shuffle Along and other black musicals of the era), a hick town in Mississippi horse country. Mose Wash-
ington (Lew Payton) owns the racehorse Dumb Luck (played by a performer of equine persuasion), and Joe
Dolks (Johnny Hudgins) owns Jump Steady (played by the human team of John Alexander and Chic Fisher).
Along with Dumb Luck, there were two other horses on stage, and the New York Times noted that the most
“startling” sequence occurred when the three horses galloped on a revolving treadmill as if they were in a
real race (later in the season, Big Boy, another musical about racetrack life in the Old South, also used live
horses and treadmills).
Part of the plot included a dream sequence in which Dumb Luck wins the big race and puts Mose in the
money. He soon becomes president of the Bamville Bank, but encounters problems when there’s a run on the
bank. And when he wakes up, he discovers another horse (Rarin’ To-Go) has won the race and made its owner
Dan Jackson (Noble Sissle) rich.
Blake was the show’s musical director, and late in the second act he and Sissle teamed up for a medley
of songs from Shuffle Along. The cast also included Elizabeth Welsh (later, Welch) in a featured role, and in
the minor role of That Comedy Chorus Girl future legend Josephine Baker “made quite a hit,” according to
the New York Times.
A look at the program gave the audience a pretty good idea of what was in store: there were characters
named Manda and Mandy and Angeline and Snappy and Shorty; the singing and dancing choruses were called
Jazzy Jassmines, Bandannaland Girls, Bamville Vamps, Syncopated Sunflowers, Dixie Darlings, and The Four
Harmony Kings; and some of the songs sported such titles as “Mammy’s Choc’late Cullud Chile,” “Land of
Dancing Pickaninnies” (or “picks,” according to the show). “The Sons of Old Black Joe,” “Bandannaland,”
“Take Down Dis Letter,” “Chocolate Dandies,” “That Charleston Dance,” “I’ll Find My Love in D-I-X-I-E,”
and “Dixie Moon.” Note that the latter was retained for the 1978 Eubie Blake tribute revue Eubie!, along
with “There’s a Million Little Cupids in the Sky,” which had been cut from The Chocolate Dandies during
its tryout (“Dixie Moon” was included on the Eubie! cast album).
The Times hailed The Chocolate Dandies as “undoubtedly one of the best negro musical shows that
has been seen in New York,” and it was “amusing” and “equipped with plenty of good comedy and catchy
songs.” Heywood Broun in the New York World said the show had “the snappiest collection of dancing feet
on Broadway” and was “as good as its famous predecessors or better,” and although the humor was “com-
monplace” and the singing was “rather loud and inarticulate,” the first-night audience “roared and yelled in
high glee.” L.V. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said Sissle and Blake were “two of the
greatest colored entertainers now before the public” and the musical was “by far the best vehicle that these
two headliners have yet appeared in,” and Time found Sissle and Blake “typically comic,” the male quartet
“magnificently melodious,” the chorus line “high in aggregate activity,” and at his piano Blake was “almost
an evening’s entertainment in itself.”
But critics Brett Page in the Lincoln (NE) Star and L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle had subtle reser-
vations about the musical, and one must read between the lines to decipher their issues. One hesitates to as-
sume too much based upon their short reviews, but they were apparently disappointed that a white producer,
director, and choreographer were in charge of the proceedings, whereas Shuffle Along was sui generis and had
been a completely black-conceived production with black producers, creative staff, and performers.
If one correctly interprets Page and L. de C., their views predate similar thoughts about latter-day produc-
tions, such as the brouhaha when in the fall of 1967 producer David Merrick disbanded the white company
of Hello, Dolly! and cast the show with black performers, a move that some found to be a condescending
gimmick at the expense of the black company members. Even the one-night 1978 flop A Broadway Musical
looked at a similar issue. Its plot dealt with a black musical called Sneakers that is directed by a black who
finds himself replaced by a white (and life imitated art when the black director of A Broadway Musical was
actually replaced by a white one).
At any rate, Page said The Chocolate Dandies was “a veritable riot of fun, melody, [and] character bits,” the
costumes were “beautiful,” and the décor “exquisitely lovely.” The show had a “galloping pace,” the music was
1924–1925 Season 215
“delightful,” the singing ensemble were “ideal,” and the dances were “faster than anything I have ever seen be-
fore.” But something seemed to bother him: the musical “merely imitate[d]” the shows of “white folks,” and it
might be deduced that he felt the show should have struck out on its own and told its story from a black perspec-
tive. L. de C. said the “good entertainment” was “far better than the average Broadway musical show,” but like
Page he too was bothered. He noted that unlike Shuffle Along, “a Broadway manager now is behind the show”
and thus The Chocolate Dandies was “nothing” but “a Broadway musical show with colored performers.”
Variety predicted “Manda” would become the show’s hit song, suggested that “The Slave of Love” was
the “sweetest,” and noted that a second act medley by Sissle and Blake (which included numbers from Shuffle
Along) also introduced a few new songs that couldn’t be judged at first hearing but gave the impression they
didn’t quite have “variety and kick.” As for Josephine Baker, she was “a sort of colored Charlotte Greenwood”
and an “eccentric dancing comedienne affecting a regulation boy’s haircut, with her locks plastered so that
she appears to have satin hair.”
TOP HOLE
“The Tip Top Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Fulton Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Knickerbocker and Liberty Theatres)
Performances: 104
Book: Eugene J. Conrad and George V. Dill; book revised by Gladys Unger
Lyrics: Owen Murphy and Eugene J. Conrad
Music: Jay Gorney and Robert Braine
Direction: William Caryl; Producer: William Caryl; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Seymour Felix;
Scenery: Rolly Wayne; Costumes: Mme. Haverstick; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding
Anderson
Cast: Nina Penn (Peggy Corcoran), Richard Temple (Dobson), Clare Stratton (Marcia Willoughby), Leah
Winslow (Mrs. John Corcoran), Nellie Graham Dent (Mrs. Blunt), Brandon Peters (Irving Naith), Walter
Walker (Judge John Corcoran), Charles Brown (Algernon Van Hooten), Earl Redding (Al Smith), Ernest
Glendinning (Bob, aka Robert, Corcoran), John Daly Murphy (Aloysius Blunt), John Park (Theodore Wil-
loughby), Billy Kelly (Caddy), Ann Milburn (Maureen); Friends of Peggy and Marcia: Madeline Calkins,
Lillian Carmody, Sylvia Carol, Teddy Dauer, Frieda Dixon, Lila Dixon, Mary Grace, Eva Marie Gray,
Mildred Morgan, Mabel Olsen, Jean Watson, Betty Wright
The action takes place during the present time in the suburbs of New York City and in California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We Ran Away from School” (Nina Penn, Girls); “Every Silken Lady (Has a Touch of Calico)” (Clare
Stratton, Girls); “Dance Your Way to Paradise” (Nina Penn, Girls); “Come Over Eyes” (lyric by Owen
Murphy, music by Jay Gorney) (Ernest Glendinning, Girls); “In California” (lyric by Owen Murphy, music
by Jay Gorney) (Clare Stratton, Girls)
Act Two: “Golf” (lyric by Eugene Conrad, music by Robert Braine) (Girls); “Is It Any Wonder?” (lyric by Owen
Murphy, music by Jay Gorney) (Ernest Glendinning, Girls); “The Girls” (Girls); “The Music of an Irish
Song” (lyric by Owen Murphy, music by Jay Gorney) (Ann Milburn, Ernest Glendinning, Girls); “Love Is a
Sandman” (lyric by Eugene Conrad, music by Robert Braine) (Ernest Glendinning, Clare Stratton); “When
You’re in Love” (lyric and music by Harry Richman, Jay Gorney, and Robert Braine [and possibly Owen
Murphy]) (Ernest Glendinning, Girls); Finale (Ernest Glendinning, Clare Stratton, John Park, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Wings of Love” (Girls); “Is It Any Wonder?” (reprise) (Nina Penn); “When You’re in Love” (re-
prise) (Ernest Glendinning, Clare Stratton, Ann Milburn, Girls); Finale
The hero of Bye, Bye, Barbara had to earn $50,000 in order to show the heroine’s father he was worthy
of her, but the hero of Top Hole got off cheap and was required to earn just $1,000 to prove to his father that
he was mature and reliable. Young Bob Corcoran (Ernest Glendinning) likes golf and the high life, and his
father, Judge Corcoran (Walter Walker), tells the boy he’s no longer welcome in the family home until he
can show financial responsibility by saving that one thousand bucks. Bob becomes a golf instructor and wins
both a tournament with its attendant prize money and the hand of Marcia Willoughby (Clare Stratton), and
so presumably the Corcoran family honor is saved.
With its main character in search of money, the show bordered on Cinderella musical territory, but most
importantly it took a page from Kid Boots and looked at the national craze for golf. But in a stroke of bold
innovation, the writers avoided the popular musical-comedy locales of Long Island and Florida.
The critics liked the dancing by the chorus girls (note that both Dave Bennett and Seymour Felix were
the show’s choreographers), the amiable performance of Glendinning, and the song “When You’re in Love,”
which threatened (but only threatened) to become a song hit. The critical gripes focused on the uninspired
plot and the lack of humor. The show lasted for most of the fall, and perhaps would have run longer had
audiences been able to find it (the production played in three theatres during its three months on Broadway).
The New York Times said the chorus “sets out to be what old-timers used to call ‘a real Weber and Fields
dancing chorus,’” and it “succeeded admirably” when it came “to dancing, which it did frequently, indefati-
gably, dexterously and ingeniously.” Besides the chorus line’s “great deeds of terpsichorean valor,” Glendin-
ning “struggled manfully” with “what the playwrights had given him,” and when the musical moved it was
“mostly” because of the star. Otherwise, there was “nothing distinguished” about the evening, and it didn’t
even introduce one “new thing about golf that has not been seen on the stage before.” Time’s two-sentence
review first noted that “not much” could be said about a musical except whether it was “good or bad.” And
“Top Hole happens to be bad.”
The Minneapolis Star Tribune said the chorus “was a thing of beauty and a joy forever.” Heywood Broun
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the story lacked humor, but Glendinning did what he could with his part
(and his “broad shoulders” were “very effective in sports clothes”), and the “snappy but unobtrusive” score
offered “a new song hit” with “When You’re in Love.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show “mighty
pleasant” with “plenty of humor.” There was “a good lot of golf atmosphere” and Glendinning was “delight-
fully amusing.” The score was “tuneful,” and “one or two” of the songs would “soon be popular.” The “best”
was “When You’re in Love,” and “The Music of an Irish Song” and “Is It Any Wonder?” were also “enjoy-
able,” and “as a matter of fact, all of the songs were pretty good.”)
Variety reported that the chorus girls were “a nice-looking collection of willing workers” who had “been
diligently schooled” by Bennett and Felix, and as a result they were kept on half-salary all summer in order to
ensure their availability for the fall opening (the trade paper noted that “half-salary” was “$25 weekly—full
$50”).
ROSE-MARIE

Performances: 557
Music: Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart
Direction: Paul Dickey; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Frank
E. Gates and E. A. Morange; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Brooks Costume Co.; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Arthur Deagon (Sergeant Malone), Dorothy Mackaye (Lady Jane), Arthur Lidwig (Black Eagle), Frank
Greene (Edward Hawley), Edward Ciannelli (Emile La Flamme), Pearl Regay (Wanda), William Kent (Hard-
Boiled Herman), Dennis King (Jim Kenyon), Mary Ellis (Rose-Marie La Flamme), Lela Bliss (Ethel Bliss);
Ladies of the Ensemble: Almerita Voudray, Carol Joyce, Ann Wood, Mabel Martin, Peggy Sletner, Ruby
Poe, Lee Byrne, Eve Wendt, Beatrice Bickel, Violet McKinley, Lillian Burke, Nerene Swinton, Sylvia Stoll,
Peggy Bolton, Peggy Driscoll, Gladys LaResche, Lucille Morrison, Rosalee King, Dorothy Kane, Billy
Fish, Marjorie Talcott, Mary Morrison, Connie Best, Ellen Rose, Alice Hanley, Lucille Constant, Helen
Bell, Ivia Perrini, Gloria Frank, Allyn Loring, Dolly Donnelly, Marion Alta, Ivy Palmer, Glada Gray, Em-
1924–1925 Season 217
ily Armstrong, Gwen Gordon, Betty Carlstadt, Genevieve Tierney, Clarie Rossi, Lillian White, Cynthia
Whyte, Mary Walsh, Lenore Cornwall, Grace Carlisle, Nadya Miller, Ripples Covert; Gentlemen of the
Ensemble: Edward Gargon, John Lambie, George Jimos, Jerome Robertson, Ellis Doyle, Joseph Ames, Mor-
ris Tepper, Norman Johnstone, L. Nash, Jack Lerner, Leslie Ostrander, Irvin Arnold, Bert Bowlen, Richard
Neeley
The action takes place during the present time in Canada at Fond du Lac, Saskatchewan; near Kootenay Pass
in the Canadian Rockies; and in Quebec (including the Grand Ballroom of the Chateau Frontenac).
Musical Numbers
Notes: (*) = music by Rudolf Friml; (**) = music by Herbert Stothart; (***) = music by Friml and Stothart. For
further information about the list of musical numbers, see below.
Act One: “Vive la Canadienne” (**) (Arthur Deagon, Chorus); “Hard-Boiled Herman” (**) (William Kent,
Chorus); “Rose-Marie” (*) (Dennis King, Arthur Deagon); “The Mounties” (***) (Arthur Deagon, Chorus);
“Lak Jeem” (*) (Mary Ellis, Chorus); “Rose-Marie” (reprise) (Mary Ellis, Arthur Deagon, Frank Greene,
Edward Ciannelli, Chorus); “Indian Love Call” (*) (Mary Ellis, Dennis King); “Pretty Things” (*) (Mary
Ellis, Chorus); Eccentric Dance (**) (William Kent, Dorothy Mackaye, Chorus); “Why Shouldn’t We?” (**)
(Dorothy Mackaye, William Kent); “Totem Tom-Tom” (***) (Pearl Regay, Chorus); Finale (***) (Edward
Ciannelli, Mary Ellis, Frank Greene, Arthur Deagon, Chorus)
Act Two: “Pretty Things” (reprise) (Lela Bliss, Girls); “Only a Kiss” (**) (William Kent, Dorothy Mackaye,
Arthur Deagon); Finaletto: “I Love Him” (*) (Mary Ellis, Dennis King, Frank Greene, Edward Ciannelli,
Lela Bliss, Pearl Regay); “Minuet of the Minute” (**) (Mary Ellis, William Kent); “One-Man Woman”
(**) (Dorothy Mackaye, William Kent, Chorus); Bridal Procession: “The Door of Her (My) Dreams” (*)
(Chorus); “Bridal Finale” (**) (Edward Ciannelli, Pearl Regay, Mary Ellis, Chorus); Finale Ultimo (*) (Mary
Ellis, Dennis King)
With Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart’s Rose-Marie, the decade saw the beginning of a series of classic
operettas that enjoyed long runs, critical and audience acclaim, and hit songs. Rose-Marie played 557 perfor-
mances on Broadway and became the fourth-longest-running book musical of the decade, and later its seven
national touring companies crisscrossed the county for more than four years (from February 9, 1925, to April 6,
1929). The London production ran almost a year longer than the New York presentation, and the musical was
filmed three times.
Because of both their national and international successes, Rose-Marie and No, No, Nanette were re-
portedly the most profitable musicals of the 1920s. A few months after Rose-Marie’s premiere, Sigmund
Romberg’s The Student Prince in Heidelberg became a sensation, and at 608 performances was the longest-
running musical of the decade. From there, Romberg composed two more classic operettas, The Desert Song
and The New Moon, and Friml’s The Vagabond King was another huge success.
Producer Arthur Hammerstein raised eyebrows when Rose-Marie charged $4.40 for the best seats. Variety
noted this was the first time he’d ever charged such a price for one of his shows, and the musical was “one
of the few attractions of the type attempting such a scale.” In light of the enthusiastic reviews and because
the second performance played to a capacity house, the trade paper decided the musical “should hold its own
against the oncoming rush” of new shows, and “only the $4.40 top scale is doubtful.” But the reviewer con-
cluded with the philosophical and all-so-true comment, “When they want a show they’ll pay.”
Hammerstein gave Rose-Marie a lavish production, and the story’s Canadian locale provided colorful set-
tings: for the Canadian Rockies, majestic vistas, and for Quebec, a splendid gift shop interior and the grand
ballroom of the Chateau Frontenac. Costume designer Charles LeMaire created gorgeous costumes, and the
production’s visual highlight as well as one of the era’s most spectacular dance numbers was “Totem Tom-
Tom” with dozens of chorus girls dressed as colorful totem poles.
The plot offered more excitement than most musicals of the time, and focused on a murder. Rose-Marie La
Flamme (Mary Ellis) is a singer at Lady Jane’s Hotel in Saskatchewan. She’s in love with trapper Jim Kenyon
(Dennis King), who is falsely accused by the wealthy Edward Hawley (Frank Greene) of the murder of Black
Eagle (Arthur Ludwig). Hawley has designs on Rose-Marie, but has been involved in an affair with Black Eagle’s
wife Wanda (Pearl Regay). Matters are cleared up when it’s revealed that Wanda murdered Black Eagle because
he caught her and Hawley in a compromising situation.
The operetta’s bountiful score includes the evergreen “Indian Love Call” (for Rose-Marie and Jim), a song
so associated with the genre that it’s become virtually the definition of the sound of operetta. The score also
includes the lovely title song (in which Jim and Arthur Deagon as Sergeant Malone sing the praises of the
heroine), the stirring march “The Mounties” (for Malone and the Mounties), and the pulsating and rhythmic
“Totem Tom-Tom,” the production number to end all production numbers. There were also the entrancing
ballads “The Door of My Dreams” and “Pretty Things”; the comic numbers “Hard-Boiled Herman,” “Only a
Kiss,” and “Why Shouldn’t We?” for Lady Jane (Dorothy Mackaye) and trapper Hard-Boiled Herman (William
Kent); and the dance sequence “Minuet of the Minute” (this being the Jazz Age, one can be assured that the
stately minuet morphs into hot jazz dancing when the gallants and ladies become sheiks and flappers).
The New York Times said the musical had such a “prodigal magnificence” that it “almost takes the
financial-minded beholder’s breath away.” There was “a seemingly endless array” of “tasteful, dazzling, [and]
colorful” costumes, “handsome” sets, “platoons and platoons” of chorus girls, and “music above the average
standard” with “several tunes that will probably become nuisances before long.” With her voice, Ellis became
one of Broadway’s top “two or three musical heroines” and King was “manly and tuneful.” Although the
critic wasn’t taken with Kent’s brand of comedy, he noted there was “an active minority for which Mr. Kent
is ever a source of near-hysterics” (but Time liked Kent’s “sibilant, halting comedy”). Time also praised Ellis’s
“brilliant voice,” and was happy to note the locale was “away from the out-worn ‘house-party-on-Long-Island’
set” and instead was “plunged” into “the snows of Northern Canada.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical had “more than a suggestion of a real plot” and “a whole
lot of tuneful music,” and “Totem Tom-Tom” was “dazzling” and “almost stopped the show.” Both Kent
and Mackaye offered “clever comedy,” but King had “a tendency to movie-ize his role.” However, his voice
and his songs “prevented his endeavors from running entirely to burlesque.” Brooklyn Life and Activities of
Long Island Society noted that even the most “blasé” of critics hailed Rose-Marie as a “gem,” for here were
“superb” dances and songs, delightful costumes, and, in Ellis, a voice “superior to any in musical comedy.”
Brett Page in the Lincoln (NE) Star said “Totem Tom-Tom” was a “wonder” in which the chorus girls in
their “mass movements” were “unique” when “like tenpins they fall one after the other, and rise like magic
tenpins again.”
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported an impromptu bit of unwanted audience partici-
pation. At a matinee performance about three weeks into the run, Pearl Regay was in the midst of a waltz
number when “a good-looking young man filled apparently with pre-matinee gin and an ambition to perform”
proceeded to crawl out of his box seat, took to the stage, and began to dance with her. He danced “so well”
that some audience members thought he was part of the show, and while Regay kept on dancing with him
she threw a “frightened glance or two into the wings, and the first time the uninvited dancer got close to a
stage hand a strong arm reached out and hooked him in.” Dorothy Parker would have been delighted. For
years she’d been waiting for a moment like this.
A year after the Broadway production closed, the musical revisited New York in a return engagement
of forty-eight performances at the Century Theatre beginning on January 24, 1927. The cast included Ethel
Louise Wright (Rose-Marie), Paul Donah (Jim), Charles Meakins (Malone), Houston Richards (Hard-Boiled
Herman), and Grace Wells (Wanda).
The London production opened on March 20, 1925, at the Drury Lane for 851 performances. The cast
included Edith Day (Rose-Marie), Derek Oldham (Jim), John Dunsmure (Malone), Billy Merson (Hard-Boiled
Herman), Ruby Morriss (Wanda), and Clarice Hardwicke (Lady Jane), and Stothart conducted the premiere.
Friml and Stothart added a new song for the production (“One-Man Woman,” for Lady Jane and the male
chorus). James Agate of the London Sunday Times said this “whoppingest of monuments to inanity” would
no doubt play “one hundred and eleven years and fifteen days.”
The script of the London production was published in paperback by Samuel French in an edition appar-
ently issued in 1931. The lyrics (including “One-Man Woman”) are also included in the hardback collection
The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.
There are numerous recordings of the score. The original London cast and orchestra recorded nine num-
bers from the operetta (including an orchestral medley), and seven are included in a Rose-Marie collection
issued by Sepia Records (CD # 114) (omitted are “Minuet of the Minute” and “Pretty Things”). A 1959 studio
1924–1925 Season 219
cast album by RCA Victor Records (LP # LOP-1001) offers most of the score (including the first-act finale, the
second-act finaletto, and the finale ultimo as well as “Minuet of the Minute” and “Pretty Things”); conducted
by Lehman Engel, the cast includes Julie Andrews (Rose-Marie), Giorgio Tozzi (Jim), Frederick Harvey, John
Hauxvell, Meir Tzelniker, Frances Day, and Marion Keene. The RCA tracks are included in the Sepia release,
along with various recordings of songs from the score (including “Indian Love Call” by Jeanette MacDonald
and Nelson Eddy, “Pretty Things” by Marion Bell, and “Totem Tom-Tom” by Elizabeth Larner).
A studio cast recording released by RCA Victor Records in the early 1950s (LP # LK-1012) includes eight
selections; conducted by Al Goodman, the cast includes Marion Bell (Rose-Marie) and Charles Fredericks
(Jim). In 1975, a two-LP recording of the score sung in Russian was released as Rose Mary (Menoanr Records
# DO33551-54); the text is by Ya. Ziskind, and the leading singers are accompanied by the Great Choir and
Variety Ensemble of Moscow Radio. Another recording of the score is from a 1999 production by the Media
Theatre for the Performing Arts (Media, Pennsylvania) released by Rockwell Productions (CD # 33021) (the
recording noticeably omits “Totem Tom-Tom” and “Lak Jeem” is grammatically if not politically corrected
to “Like Jim”).
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Smithsonian sponsored a brief but ambitious Smithsonian
American Musical Theatre Series in which both archival (Lady, Be Good!, Oh, Kay!, The Band Wagon) and
studio cast (Naughty Marietta) recordings were issued on LP. Rose-Marie was recorded toward the end of
the series in 1981 (with Ron Raines as Jim), but the Smithsonian decided not to issue it. In early 2017, the
recording was announced for CD release in May 2017 by Harbinger Records, but as of this writing hasn’t yet
surfaced.
There have been three film versions of the musical, all produced by MGM. The 1928 silent version was
directed by Lucien Hubbard and starred Joan Crawford (Rose-Marie) and James Murray (Jim). The Rodgers
and Hammerstein Fact Book reports that MGM provided a score for piano, organ, or full orchestra (which
featured the title song and “Indian Love Call”) that could be played in theatres screening the movie, and for
larger houses an off-stage singer performed “Indian Love Call.”
The second version was released in 1936; W. S. Van Dyke directed, and Stothart was the music director.
The film headlined Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, and others in the cast were James Stewart, Allan
Jones, David Niven, Una O’Connor, Reginald Owen, and Lucien Littlefield. The score included numerous
interpolations, including the new song “Just for You” (lyric by Gus Kahn, music by Friml and Stothart). Four
songs from the Broadway production were retained (“Rose-Marie,” “The Mounties,” “Indian Love Call,” and
“Totem Tom-Tom”). The film was released on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
The third film adaptation was released in 1954; directed by Mervyn LeRoy and choreographed by Busby
Berkeley, it starred Ann Blyth (Rose-Marie), Howard Keel (Malone), Marjorie Main (Lady Jane), and in the
roles of newly created characters Fernando Lamas (Duval), Bert Lahr (Barney McCorkle), and Ray Collins
(Inspector Appleby). The four songs retained for the 1936 film were used, and Friml and lyricist Paul Francis
Webster contributed four new ones (“The Right Place for a Girl,” “Free to Be Free,” “I Have the Love,” and
“Love and Kisses,” the latter deleted from the final release print). “I’m the Mountie Who Never Got His Man”
(lyric by Herbert Baker and music by George Stoll) was a specialty number for Lahr that many consider the
film’s highlight (along with the spectacular CinemaScope scenery filmed in the Canadian Rockies and the
one-hundred-strong dancers for “Totem Tom-Tom”). The film was released on DVD by the Warner Brothers
Archive Collection, and includes an outtake of “Love and Kisses” performed by Lahr and Main.
The program for the Broadway production of Rose-Marie didn’t list individual musical numbers, and
instead included a pretentious note that the songs were “such an integral part of the action that we do not
think we should list them as separate episodes.” Further, the notation stated that some songs “stand out, in-
dependent of their dramatic associations,” and so five were listed (the title song, “Indian Love Call,” “Totem
Tom-Tom,” “Why Shouldn’t We?,” and “The Door of My Dreams”). The above song list is mostly based on
the list of songs provided in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book.
Although Metropolitan Opera star Mary Ellis here created the title role in one of Broadway’s biggest hits
and with King introduced the iconic “Indian Love Call,” she never again appeared in a Broadway musical. But
King went on to create a number of leading musical roles in such operettas as Friml’s The Vagabond King and
The Three Musketeers and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s I Married an Angel (1937). (Note that King’s
son John Michael King appeared as Freddie Eynsford-Hill in the original 1956 Broadway production of Alan
Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady and was the first to sing “On the Street Where You Live.”)
Cast member William Kent played Hard-Boiled Herman, and he later created roles in a number of musicals,
including two by George and Ira Gershwin, Funny Face and Girl Crazy (1930); for the latter, he introduced
the memorably masochistic “Treat Me Rough.”
BE YOURSELF!
Theatre: Harris Theatre
Performances: 93
Book and Lyrics: George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly; additional lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Music: Lewis Gensler and Milton Schwarzwald
Based on the unproduced 1917 play Miss Moonshine by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.
Direction: William Collier; Producers: Sidney Wilmer and Walter Vincent; Choreography: Vaughn Godfrey;
Jack Mason; Scenery: H. Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Milton Schwarzwald
Cast: Dorothy Whitmore (Marjorie Brennan), Georgia Caine (Grandma Sarah Brennan), G. P. Huntley (Joseph
Peabody Prescott), Barrett Greenwood (David Robinson), Jack Donahue (Matt McLean), Queenie Smith
(Tony Robinson), Jack Kearney (Eustace Brennan), Jay Wilson (Mordecai Brennan), Ted Weller (Cyrus
Brennan), John Kearney (Hemp McLean), Ralph Brainard (Bull McLean), Teddy Hudson (Betty), James R.
McCann (Adam McLean); Marjorie’s Girl Friends: Peggy Gillespie, Romona Kogan, Faith Cullen, Mabel
Stanford, Ann Summers, Ruth Trott, Louise Wright, Edith Talbot, Christine Bernsman, Gladys Harris,
Mollie Christie, Ray Smith, Helen Evans, Gladys Smith, Eleanor Dana, Florence Murphy, Peggy Ander-
son, Cleo Lombard, Mildred Brown
The action takes place during the present time in the Tennessee Mountains.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Rain” (Girls); “High in the Hills” (Dorothy Whitmore, Girls); “Life in Town” (Georgia
Caine, G. P. Huntley); “My Road” (lyric by Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufman, music by Lewis Gensler)
(Dorothy Whitmore, Barrett Greenwood, Girls); “A Little Bit of This” (lyric by Marc Connelly and George
S. Kaufman, music by Lewis Gensler) (Queenie Smith); “A Good Hand-Organ and a Sidewalk” (Queenie
Smith, Jack Donahue, Barrett Greenwood, Jack or John Kearney, Girls); “The Decent Thing to Do” (lyric
by Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufman, music by Lewis Gensler) (Queenie Smith, Jack Donahue); Finale
(Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Tennessee” (Mountaineers, Girls; Dancer: Teddy Hudson); “Grandma’s a Flapper, Too”
(Georgia Caine, Girls); “I Came Here” (lyric by George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, and Ira Gershwin,
music by Lewis Gensler) (Barrett Greenwood, Dorothy Whitmore, Girls); “The Wrong Thing at the Right
Time” (lyric by George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, and Ira Gershwin, music by Milton Schwarzwald)
(Queenie Smith); “Uh-Uh” (lyric by George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, and Ira Gershwin, music by
Milton Schwarzwald) (Queenie Smith, Jack Donahue); “Money Doesn’t Mean a Thing” (lyric by George
S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, and Ira Gershwin, music by Lewis Gensler) (Queenie Smith, Jack Donahue,
Barrett Greenwood, Dorothy Whitmore, Girls); Dance Interlude (Dorothy Whitmore, Barrett Greenwood,
Teddy Hudson); Dance (Queenie Smith); “Do It Now” (Jack Donahue); Finale (Company)
Be Yourself! boasted book and lyrics by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly (with additional lyrics by
Ira Gershwin) and a cast that included Queenie Smith and Jack Donahue. Kaufman and Connelly had recently
collaborated on such hits as Dulcy (1921; 241 performances), Merton of the Movies (1922; 392 performances),
and Beggar on Horseback (1924; 223 performances), and Be Yourself! promised to be another in their tradition
of sly and satiric comedies (the work was based on their unproduced 1917 comedy Miss Moonshine). The book
received some of the best notices of the era, but sadly the show lasted less than three months in New York.
The musical wryly looked at those a-feudin’ and a-fightin’ backwoods families of the Hatfield and Mc-
Coy variety, and in this case the war was between the Brennans and the McLeans. Their ages-old hostilities
1924–1925 Season 221
are reignited when hapless city boy and distant McLean relative Matt McLean (Donahue) accidentally finds
himself in the middle of the ongoing feud, and, according to Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he
“spends two acts dodging barking gentlemen wearing long whiskers and short shotguns.”
The New York Times decreed that the first act was “the funniest” seen on Broadway in “many years,”
and it “seemed likely to bring about the removal of some members of the audience as public nuisances, what
with the hysterical laughter it induced.” In one scene, G. P. Huntley (who played the part of Joseph Peabody
Prescott, a typical “stage Englishman”) and two “simple” mountaineers had a “hilarious” confrontation that
“mercifully” concluded before audience members passed away “from laughter.” The evening also included
the “extraordinary dancing” of Donahue and Smith, but otherwise the show was “pretty much average musi-
cal comedy” with “rather shabby” and “tasteless” costumes and “uninspired” chorus direction.
Time said the work was “short on music and long on comedy,” and this was a “refreshing departure from
the usual” and was “in itself enough to make” the show “an encouraging addition to the local ranks.” E.D. in
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “mirthful” and “merry doings” and noted that Smith “in a series of mad
dervishing capers whirls herself up to the throne to reign over the dancing realm,” and “in a white blaze she
cyclones through a fury of breathless abandon, startling and captivating.” Moreover, she and Donahue made
an “incomparable” dancing duo that combined “grace with the grotesque.” The critic also noted that Georgia
Caine played Grandma Brennan, “whose hair refuses to gray because she is too busy keeping the feud young”
(note that she also had a musical moment with “Grandma’s a Flapper, Too”).
Variety reported that Smith danced “as she has not danced before—and she always danced splendidly.”
Her “twirls and spins seemed all new, almost bewildering in their fast execution,” and when the second act
was “sagging she propped it just where it needed propping.” Further, Donahue’s “burlesque classical hit [most
likely “Do It Now”] brought a veritable maelstrom of enthusiasm” from the audience, and “he made the most
of the comedy passages” by “amplifying the aim and intent of the authors in a laugh-begetting way.”
H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the evening reached “the summit of up-
roariousness” with “one good laugh after another” and it made “bored New Yorkers rock in their seats with
glee.” But the score lacked “inspiration,” and if the lyrics and music had reached “up to the high level” of
the book then Be Yourself! “might easily be pronounced the best musical comedy in years.” Brett Page in the
Great Falls (MT) Tribune praised Kaufman and Connelly’s “clever lines and situations,” including the notion
that the two clans are similar to college football rivals, and so when a McLean take a potshot at a Brennan,
the shooter is rewarded with a sweater that sports a varsity-styled letter (in this case, “Mc”).
Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer stated that not in ten years had he “seen a musical com-
edy with as comic a libretto” as Be Yourself! Kaufman and Connelly had “filled it to the brim with laughter,”
and the “immensely funny” show had a “delightful” book. However, the score offered just two or three tunes
that were “in any degree fetching,” and the lyrics were “ornate” and “sometimes mildly witty” but generally
were “not particularly singable.” As for Donahue, this was his first “real role” and he ate it up (“nay, he wolfs
it”). He also shared with Will Rogers “the distinction of looking so little like an actor that he seems to have
strayed onto the stage by some superb mistake.” And “then” there was Smith: Woollcott decided he was “the
one surviving native white American who does not adore the shrill and arduous Miss Smith,” and her dancing
left him “in a condition which might best be described as Arctic.”
The hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin includes all extant lyrics of those songs
for which Ira Gershwin contributed lyrics (“I Came Here,” “The Wrong Thing at the Right Time,” “Uh-Uh,”
and “Money Doesn’t Mean a Thing”) as well as songs dropped before the Broadway opening (including “My
Heart Is Yours,” “What of It?,” and “They Don’t Make ’Em That Way Anymore”). Note that during the Broad-
way run the show underwent considerable changes, including the deletion of five numbers (“Life in Town,”
the second-act opening sequence of “Tennessee” and its accompanying dance, “I Came Here,” and “Money
Doesn’t Mean a Thing”) and the addition of two (“Can’t You See That I’m in Love,” with lyric by Owen Mur-
phy, and “Bongo Boo,” lyric by Murphy and music by Milton Schwarzwald). During the run, Norma Terris
succeeded Dorothy Whitmore.
DEAR SIR
Opening Date: September 23, 1924; Closing Date: October 4, 1924
Performances: 15
Book: Edgar Selwyn
Lyrics: Howard Dietz
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: David Burton; Producer: Philip Goodman; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Raymond
Sovey; Costumes: Kiviette; James Reynolds; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: George Sweet (Oliver Russell), Arthur Lipson (Louis), Oscar Shaw (Laddie Munn), Genevieve Tobin
(Dorothy Fair), Walter Catlett (Andrew Bloxom), Francis Murphy (Waiter), Kathlene Martyn (Sukie
Sewell), Joseph Allen (Peters), Helen Carrington (Gladys Barclay), Clair Luce (Clair), Ritchy Craig (Pier-
rot), Lovey Lee (Specialty Dancer); Ladies of the Ensemble: Ida Berry, Trudy Lake, Rita Royce, Geraldine
Reavard, Julia Warren, Marion Donnelly, Beth Meakins, Devah Worrell, Clair Lipton, Madeleine Janis,
Helen Orb, Dorothy Fitzgibbon, Betty Campbell, Janearl Johnson, Josephine Dunn, June Baldwin, Peggy
Watts, Evelyn Plumadore, Dorothea Richmond, Victoire Dutel, Regina Daw, Margery Martyn, Katherine
Kohler, Hazel Bunting; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: William Boren, Will Wilder, Francis Murphy, Ray
Hall, Ainsley Lambert, Austin Clarke, Franz Schulze, Billy Wilson, John McCullough, Norman Jefferson,
Cliff Daly, Allen Stevens
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Grab a Girl” (George Sweet, Clair Luce, Boys and Girls); “What’s the Use?” (Oscar Shaw, Girls); “I
Want to Be There” (Genevieve Tobin, Boys); “A Mormon Life” (Walter Catlett, Girls); “Dancing Time”
(Genevieve Tobin, Oscar Shaw, Ensemble); “To the Fair” (Ensemble); “My Houseboat on the Harlem”
(Walter Catlett, Kathlene Martyn); Scene Three Opening Chorus (Ensemble); Dance (Ritchy Craig); “All
Lanes Must Reach a Turning” (Genevieve Tobin, Oscar Shaw): Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Seven Days” (Genevieve Tobin, Oscar Shaw); “If You Think It’s Love,
You’re Right” (Walter Catlett, Kathlene Martyn, George Sweet, Helen Carrington, Ensemble); “Weeping
Willow Tree” (Oscar Shaw, Ensemble); Finaletto (Ensemble); “Wishing Well Scene” (Genevieve Tobin,
Oscar Shaw); “Waltz” (Ensemble); Dance (Lovey Lee); Finale (Company)
At fifteen performances, Jerome Kern’s Dear Sir was the season’s shortest-running book musical and re-
mains one of the composer’s most obscure scores. The story sounds amusing enough, and if it didn’t include a
Cinderella character or a golf game, at least it followed a few of the era’s musical comedy rules by adhering to
the preferred financial status of the hero (wealthy, as in millionaire) and the location of his home (exclusive,
as in Long Island). Yes, Laddie Munn (Oscar Shaw) is a rich and eligible bachelor bon vivant who lives on his
Long Island estate, and he’s mocked by New York socialite Dorothy Fair (Genevieve Tobin), who disapproves
of his devil-may-care lifestyle. At a charity auction, Dorothy agrees to be the prize: for a period of seven days
she’ll work as maid for the contest winner. Of course, Laddie’s the winner, and although she’s his temporary
maid we know she’ll soon become his permanent Mrs.
The New York Times praised Kern’s “beautiful” and “first-class” score and noted that much of it was
“almost certainly” destined to become popular. And while P. G. Wodehouse was no longer Kern’s lyricist
of choice, the critic praised newcomer Howard Dietz for his “unusually intelligent” lyrics. The “enjoyable
entertainment” was presented in the “grand manner” with “beautiful” décor and “handsome” costumes, and
choreographer David Bennett managed “to achieve several spectacular effects in chorus work.” There was
“enough story to carry the proceedings,” and dancer Clair Luce gave “a good account of herself in an exhibi-
tion of the business of kicking the back of the head with the toes, a pastime that has come into great favor
with the dancers of this decade.” As for Shaw, he was one of the few musical comedy male leads “whose
performance arouses in his audience neither the murder nor the mother instinct.”
Time said the show was “just another one of those things,” but Kern’s score was “amiable.” Although the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “excellent” score, “lively” lyrics, “snappy yet proper” book, and “spectacu-
lar” dances, the show “in some strange way lacked the spark of life” and “after” 11:00 the evening began “to
drag a bit”; and the Scranton Republican said the songs and dances were “highly recommended” and there
was even a plot, “something unusual in a musical play.”
1924–1925 Season 223
Variety found the musical a “disappointment” because Kern’s score lacked “distinction,” the book was bor-
ing, and the production as a whole was bereft of “entertainment.” But the décor and costumes were impressive,
Bennett’s choreography was “distinctive,” and the lyrics by Dietz were “a pleasant surprise for a maiden effort.”
Although Tobin, Shaw, and comedian Walter Catlett were the stars, the thin book and “lack of acceleration
to the proceedings” worked against them. Further, the top ticket price of $4.40 on weeknights and $5.50 on
weekends didn’t give you your “money’s worth,” but such high prices were probably necessary considering the
show’s weekly nut (each of the three principals were reportedly paid $1,000 weekly). “All Lanes Must Reach a
Turning” was the musical’s “outstanding” song and “the nearest approach to the Kern standard.”
The musical was known as Vanity Fair in preproduction, and during the tryout director Clifford Brooke
was succeeded by David Burton and musical director Max Bendix was replaced by Gus Salzer. Three songs
were dropped prior to New York: “There’s Lots of Room for You,” “Follow Handy Andy,” and “Gypsy Cara-
van.” “Dancing Time” had first been heard in Kern’s 1921 London musical The Cabaret Girl (then with a
lyric by George Grossmith); “All Lanes Must Reach a Turning” was revised as the title song for the 1928
London musical Blue Eyes; and “Weeping Willow” was revised as “The Curtsey” for Blue Eyes. “A Mormon
Life” was a rewritten version by Dietz of “If You Will Be My Morganatic Wife” (lyric by Noel Coward) which
Kern and Coward wrote for the aborted musical Tamaran (circa 1923–1924).
The collection The First Rose of Summer: Jerome Kern 1912–1928 (Music Box Recordings CD # MBR-
04003) includes “Gypsy Caravan,” which was dropped during the tryout, and Jerome Kern Treasury (Angel
Records CD # 0777-7-54883-2) includes “I Want to Be There” and “Wishing Well Scene.”
ANNIE DEAR
Performances: 103
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Clare Kummer; additional lyrics by Clifford Grey and additional music by Sigmund
Romberg
Based on the 1916 play Good Gracious, Annabelle by Clare Kummer.
Direction and Choreography: Edward Royce; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Scenery: Karl Koeck; Costumes:
Mme. Frances; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: John Byam (Titcomb), May Vokes (Lottie), Florentine Gosnova (Flower Girl), Edward Allan (Wenceslaus
Wickham), Bobby Watson (Twilly), Billie Burke (Annie Leigh), Spencer Bentley (Alec), Phyllis Cleveland
(Ethel Deane), Mary Lawlor (Gwen Morley), Jack Whiting (Alfred Weatherby), Alexander Gray (Wilbur Jen-
nings), Spencer Charters (James Ludgate), Gavin Gordon (Harry Murchison), Frank Kingdon (Mr. Gosling),
Marion Green (John Rawson), Marjorie Peterson (Muriel Darling); Dance Specialty: Easter and Hazeleton;
The Brown Girls: Anastasia Reilly (Lois Brown), Gertrude McDonald (Hazel Brown), Dorothy Brown (Ruth
Brown), Marguerite Boatwright (Gloria Brown), Pearl Eaton (Gladys Brown), and Catherine Littlefield (Helen
Brown); The Jones Boys: Abner Barnhart (Harry Jones), Gayle Mays (Murray Jones), Norman Knox (Edward
Jones), Ned Hamlin (Thomas Jones), Russell Smith (Charles Jones), and William May (Richard Jones) The
Twilly Girls: Joan Clement (Dogwood), Katherine Sacker (Lipstick), Rona Lee (Shelmerdene), Gladys Co-
burn (Rendezvous), Edna Johnson (Chinese Night), Peggy Steele (Clematis), Virginia Crane (Bonnie), Kath-
leen Barrow (Cherie), Helen Herendeen (Deauville), and Evelyn Grieg (Anne); Hotel Guests: Nyo Lee, Mary
Almonti, Lelia McGuire, Charles Schenck, Harold Hennessey, George Ferguson, Barton Hepburn, Alfred
Wyatt, and Lawrence Crowe; Page Boys: Jason Bauer, James Shelton, Fred Arnold
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Clifford Grey and music by Sigmund Romberg
Act One: Opening (John Byram, Hotel Guests, Page Boys, The Brown Girls, The Jones Boys); “Twilly of Fifth
Avenue” (*) (Bobby Watson, The Twilly Girls); Dance (Bobby Watson, Florentine Gosnova, Mary Lawlor);
“Come to My Party” (Billie Burke, Marion Green); “The Only Girl” (*) (Marion Green, Jack Whiting, Al-
exander Gray, The Jones Boys, Gentlemen of the Ensemble); Finaletto: “Off to Wimblemere” (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “In Love Again” (The Brown Girls, The Jones Boys); “Help, Help, Help” (May Vokes, Spen-
cer Charters, Jack Whiting, Phyllis Cleveland, Mary Lawlor, Alexander Gray); “Dance Eccentric” (music
by Sigmund Romberg) (Edward Allen); “Slither” (Billie Burke, The Jones Boys, Ensemble); Dance (Mary
Lawlor); “One Man Is Like Another” (*) (Marjorie Peterson, The Jones Boys); “I Want to Be Loved” (Billie
Burke, Marion Green); “Whisper to Me” (*) (Marion Green)
Act Three: “Radio Voices” (May Vokes, Bobby Watson); Scene (written by Florenz Ziegfeld and William An-
thony McGuire): “Annie Is Compelled to Cook”; “Annie Dear” (Billie Burke, assisted by Ernest Truex);
“Pajama Party: Louwanna” (lyric by Clifford Grey, music by Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz) (Al-
exander Gray, Phyllis Cleveland, Mary Lawlor, Ensemble; Dancer: Florentine Gosnova); “Gypsy Bride”
(May Vokes); “Bertie” (*) (Ernest Truex, The Brown Girls, The Jones Boys, Ensemble); “A Comic Fantasy”
(words and music by Clare Kummer) (Head Chorister: John Byam; Four Choristers; Four Hotel Guests;
Wilbur: Alexander Gray; Stump: Jack Whiting: Cloud: A Twilly Girl; Moon: A Twilly Girl; Sheep: Hotel
Pages; Bo-Peep: Muriel Darling; Boy Blue: Billie Burke; Four School Children: The Brown Girls; Baker:
Frank Kingdon; Four All-Day Suckers and The Queen’s Tarts: The Twilly Girls; Thunder: The Jones
Boys; Lightning: Edward Allen; Wind and Rain: The Twilly Girls; Witch: A Twilly Girl; Timid (A Violet):
Phyllis Cleveland; Shrinking (A Violet): Mary Lawlor; Golden Pheasants: The Twilly Girls; Gamekeeper:
Ernest Truex; Landlord Tree: Spencer Charters; Baby Birds: “Themselves”; Mother Bird: May Vokes;
Heart of the Woods: A Twilly Girl; Miner: Marion Green; Crock of Gold: Catherine Littlefield; Dance:
“The Dryad and the Faun” (Easter and Hazleton); Finale: “The Rainbow’s End—Annie Dear” (music by
Sigmund Romberg) (Company)
Annie Dear (which was titled Annie during its tryout) was a misfire that Florenz Ziegfeld concocted as a
vehicle for his wife, Billie Burke (whose portrait he would later use for the program covers of shows she didn’t
even appear in). The essentially simple story was dressed up with typical Ziegfeldian lavishness, and part of
the third act morphed into a huge “comic fantasy” woodland spectacle that had nothing to do with the story
and overwhelmed the evening (on the other hand, perhaps the sequence inspired the so-called “Enchanted
Forest” ballet that was quickly ditched from Camelot during its pre-Broadway tryout).
The comedy depended on such stalwarts as Ernest Truex, and note that a character named Twilly (Bobby
Watson) was an interior decorator who, in a not-too-veiled reference to the omnipresent Tiller Girls, had his
own group of chorines, here called the Twilly Girls.
The musical was based on Clare Kummer’s play Good Gracious, Annabelle, and she not only undertook
the adaptation but also wrote the lyrics and music. Ziegfeld brought in Sigmund Romberg and Clifford Grey
(along with an assist from Jean Schwartz) to supplement Kummer’s material, and eight of their songs were
added to the score (various reports indicate that both Harry Tierney and Rudolf Friml were approached by
Ziegfeld to supply extra music, but it seems their contributions weren’t used).
Romberg’s biographer William A. Everett in Sigmund Romberg reports that Kummer demanded the re-
moval of the interpolations and the restoration of her original material, and so she and Ziegfeld clashed, all
of which led him to close down the production after less than three months on the boards. It probably would
have closed anyway, because the reviews were somewhat cautionary and reserved. Further, Burke wasn’t a
superstar of the Marilyn Miller and Eddie Cantor variety, and it seems unlikely she would have inspired a box
office stampede to catapult the show into a Sally-like stratosphere.
The slight story found the heroine in flight from her bearded groom on their wedding day, and she be-
comes a kitchen maid at a Long Island estate. She eventually becomes interested in a man whom she later
discovers is the husband she deserted (he’s shed his beard, and so she didn’t recognize him). Because she’s now
attracted to him, she no longer has any reservations about resuming their marriage.
The New York Times said the “rich and lustrous” musical was one “to be seen,” and the critic noted
that Ziegfeld presented a “first-rate” production such as Kummer “probably never dreamed of.” And while
Burke’s voice wasn’t “robust,” it had a “pleasant quality” and she was “altogether delightful.” But those who
expected to see Kummer’s story would wait “in vain” because the author’s “graceful but slender humors”
came to the surface “only occasionally” and by the third act they had “entirely” disappeared. The third-act
comic fantasy was a “costumer’s holiday,” but “to be quite frank about it” the woodland ballet had “nothing
to do with” the plot. Although the score was pleasant, the book’s “gentle haphazardies” didn’t “seem to be
quite the stuff that riotous musical comedies are made of.”
1924–1925 Season 225
Time found the ballet a “bore,” said the score itself was of “relative unimportance,” and it seemed the
“elusive, airy quality” of Kummer’s original story had “confused” Ziegfeld. (But one notes that it was Kum-
mer who devised the gargantuan ballet, and the program even included a special credit to her for the “words
and music” of the sequence.) Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh Daily Post said the evening began on a “high
tide” and later “drag[ged] a little,” and the “long-drawn-out” ballet was “exceedingly tiresome” and its
whimsy became “heavy-handed and persistent.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune decided “the Ziegfeld family had a lot of fun putting Miss Burke
back into musical comedy,” but he noted her “singing carries nicely to the sixth or eighth row, but is no
more than the twittering of bird tones back of that.” The “tune-spattered” adaptation of Kummer’s play
offered mostly “decorative” songs, and otherwise the cast members were “expensive but not particularly
helpful.” Brett Page in the Muncie Star Press said the musical possessed “a spirit of fine comedy,” the “best
feeling” of musical comedy, and a “daintiness and delicate charm that is of the best.” Director Edward
Royce brought all the evening’s elements together into a “delightful whole” and Burke scored a “personal
triumph.”
Variety didn’t find the musical “satisfying,” said it lacked “punch,” and noted that “strangely enough,
when the book is abandoned in the last act and the production delves into fantasy, the offering gets in its best
innings.” Watson played the interior decorator by “acting and talking in the manner of the ‘third sex’”, but
he later proved to be “thoroughly normal” because his “affectation” was “part of his profession.”
MADAME POMPADOUR
Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre
Performances: 80
Libretto: Original German libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Welisch; book and lyrics
for American adaptation by Clare Kummer
Music: Leo (Leopold) Fall
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producers: Charles Dillingham and Martin Beck; Choreography: Julian Alfred;
Scenery: Willy Pogany; Costumes: Wilhelm; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Oscar Radin
Cast: Wilda Bennett (Madame la Marquise de Pompadour), Frederick Lewis (The King Louis XV), John Quin-
lan (Rene), Eva Clark (Madeleine), Wanda Lyon (Belotte), Florenz Ames (Joseph Calicot), Oscar Figman
(Maurepas), Louis Harrison (Poulard), Edgar Kent (Prunier, The Austrian Ambassador), Henry Vincent
(Collin), Raymond Cullen (Boucher), Curt Peterson (Tourelle), Elliott Stewart (The Lieutenant); Grisettes:
Pauline Miller (Pamela), Margot Greville (Felice), Janet Stone (Caroline), Elaine Palmer (Leonie), Irma
Irving (Valentine), and Dorothy Irving (Amelie); Artists, Bohemians, People of the Court, Soldiers: Betty
Wilson, Leonora Darcy, Anne Makara, Rose Maynard, Marie Lambert, Mabel Knight, Ursula Dale, Mil-
dred Mindell, Betty Lawrence, Joan Lindsey, Florence Fitzwalters, Berte Alden, Marjorie Flynn, Pauline
Miller, Margot Greville, Beatrice Hughes, Pauline Hall, Eileen Seymour, Alice Brady, Margaret Morris,
Loe Moran, Zachary Caulli, Fred Burke, DeWitt Matthews, Ivan Frank, Richard Allen, John Barney, Elliott
Stewart, Raymond Cullen, Curt Peterson, Walter Costello, Herbert Pickett, John Fulco, Christian Holton,
Rene Vanryha, Alexis Havrilla
The action takes place in Paris and Versailles during the mid-eighteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Introduction and Ensemble (Chorus); “Oh! Pom-Pom-Pom-Pompadour” (Florenz Ames, Chorus);
“Carnival Time” (John Quinlan, Grisettes); “Magic Moments” (Wilda Bennett, Wanda Lyon); “By the
Light of the Moon” (Wilda Bennett, John Quinlan); “One Two and One Two Three” (Wanda Lyon, Florenz
Ames); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Introduction and Ensemble (Henry Vincent, Chorus); “I’ll Be Your Soldier” (Wilda Bennett, John
Quinlan); “Tell Me What Your Eyes Were Made For” (Wilda Bennett, Eva Clark, Wanda Lyon, Grisettes);
“When the Cherry Blossoms Fall” (Florenz Ames, Wanda Lyon); “Serenade, Madame Pompadour” (John
Quinlan, Male Chorus); “Oh! Joseph” (Wilda Bennett, Florenz Ames); “Reminiscence, Madame Pompa-
dour” (Wilda Bennett, John Quinlan); “Entrance of the King” (Company); Finale (Company)
Leo Fall’s operetta Madame Pompadour had been a success in Europe, where it premiered at the Berliner
Theatre on September 9, 1922, with a libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Welisch, and
Fritzi Massary in the title role. After its Berlin production, the work was performed in most of the major Eu-
ropean capitals, and its longest run was the English adaptation that opened in London on December 20, 1923,
at Daly’s Theatre for 469 performances with Evelyn Laye (the book was by Frederick Lonsdale and the lyrics
by Harry Graham).
For the Broadway premiere, Clare Kummer provided a new book and a new set of lyrics, but her adapta-
tion received a cool reception by the critics and the operetta had a disappointing run of ten weeks (this was
not Kummer’s season: the week before, Annie Dear had opened, and it too had a short run).
Madame Pompadour was the premier attraction at the Martin Beck Theatre, and most of the attention
was drawn to the new playhouse and to the last-minute addition of Wilda Bennett to the cast when she re-
placed screen actress Hope Hampton, who had played the title role during the tryout engagement.
Bennett was selected to replace Hampton on Thursday, November 6, and had just four full days to learn
the role for the New York opening night of November 11. The New York Times reported that during the
Philadelphia run, rumors had swirled regarding Hampton’s possible departure from the company and the fact
that three singers had been asked to learn the role. The Times also reported that Hampton’s husband, Jules
Brulatour, had requested various theatre-affiliated friends to attend Hampton’s performance “with a view to
offering expert testimony in the event” her dismissal was taken to court.
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune noted that a jury trial could bring in a verdict that Hampton’s “repu-
tation was seriously damaged by being thus openly humiliated on the eve of what she had banked upon as a
triumph.” And it didn’t help matters that the composer took out a public announcement in the New York
papers in support of Hampton. On November 15, the Times quoted Fall, who wrote that Hampton “had all
the qualifications necessary for the making of a splendid Madame Pompadour.” He stated she hadn’t “been
properly rehearsed,” and his criticisms were directed “to the book, the lyrics, the way the music was being
played, some of the acting and the business of the performance.” Mantle noted that Fall clearly believed
Hampton hadn’t been given “competent direction,” and this was “certainly a slap at someone.”
On November 23, the Times indicated Hampton was “likely” to return to the production and give al-
ternate performances with Bennett. She was “in negotiation” with producers Martin Beck and Charles B.
Dillingham, and an unnamed source said the idea of alternate performances had been suggested by Brulatour.
However, on November 30 an article in the Times referenced a letter written by Hampton to the newspaper in
which she stated that “under no circumstances will I return to the leading role of Pompadour, either to sing
it regularly or alternately, and I never sanctioned the authorizing or making of such statements.” (Hampton’s
only Broadway appearance occurred a few seasons later when she starred in Sigmund Romberg’s My Princess,
and note that in 1961 she made a cameo appearance as herself in the film Hey, Let’s Twist!)
The story focused on Madame Pompadour (Bennett), the married mistress of King Louis XV (Frederick
Lewis) who indulges in a brief fling with nobleman Rene (John Quinlan) when she visits cabarets in the Bo-
hemian quarter of Paris. The Times praised the “consistent richness” of Fall’s score and the “handsome” pro-
duction, and said the “vivacious and generally competent” Bennett was “certain to be even better when she
has got past the uncertainties of the early performances.” But Kummer’s adaptation was “pretty uninspired”
with “leaden” dialogue and “hardly a shred of humor.” V.R. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island
Society said Madame Pompadour had “been stricken with the same malady that besets all imported plays,
and especially musicals—‘adaption-itis.’”
Time said Kummer’s adaptation was “dull,” but the “costly and cumbersome” production boasted “su-
perb” décor that made it “the most beautiful show in Manhattan.” And Mantle found the “gorgeous”-looking
evening a “disappointment” with “awful” comedy,” and “somewhere, somehow” the cast had “lost the ro-
mance and charm reported from the London production.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said
the operetta was “melodious but dull,” and Kummer had “never done a less impressive job for the theatre
than she did in adapting this story.” She had fallen down and thus “broke her imagination,” because jokes
“dropped” with “the dullest of thuds,” scenes induced “depression” and “seemed interminable,” and singers
“hung upon the notes as dejectedly as sailors to a spar.” Bennett did “very well under the circumstances but
makeshift performances will not do,” and Quinlan couldn’t “keep on key.”
1924–1925 Season 227
However, Brett Page in the Muncie Star Press said the score was “exceedingly beautiful” to hear, Bennett
played her role “daintily” and sang “her way into the hearts of the audience,” Quinlan cut a “romantic fig-
ure,” and “musically” Madame Pompadour might “achieve a place in favor akin to that held by The Choco-
late Soldier” and other operettas “of kindred melodic distinction.”
Variety said the production was a “disappointment” because the cast couldn’t “cope with the delicate
Vienna strains of Fall, an unfunny book, and a gorgeous production.” And while Bennett was “blessed with
pulchritude and a pleasant musical comedy soprano,” the “difficult” score required “brilliant” casting. The
trade paper also provided what it termed “’inside stuff’”: Massary was reportedly “available” for the New
York production and “could handle it in English,” and Laye was “spoken of favorably” (of course, these re-
placements never happened). Variety concluded that the “massive and elaborate” operetta might get by on
the strength of its score and production values, but otherwise didn’t “merit a prolonged stay” on Broadway.
Besides Laye, the cast of the London production included Derek Oldham and Elsie Randolph, and a num-
ber of songs by Laye and the company were recorded by Columbia Records.
Two German recordings of the score were released, one a two-CD set by Cantus Classics (# CACD-5-
01746-F) and the other a single CD by the Vienna Volksoper (CPO Records # 777795).
As mentioned, Madame Pompadour was the first production to play at the new Martin Beck Theatre (now
the Al Hirschfeld). Pollock said it was New York’s “most beautiful playhouse,” Mantle called it a “dream,”
and the Times hailed it as one of Broadway’s “handsomest” venues.
MY GIRL
“A Smart Musical Farce”

Performances: 291
Book and Lyrics: Harlan Thompson
Music: Harry Archer
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: Lyle D. Andrews; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: P. Dodd Acker-
man; Costumes: Travis Banton; Milgrim; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting
Cast: Jane Taylor (Mary White), Gertrude Clemons (Lily), Marie Saxon (Betty Brown), Russell Mack (Bob
White), Harry Puck (Oliver Green), Helen Bolton (Cynthia Redding), Edward H. Wever or Jack Hartley (see
below) (Harold Grey), Harry G. Keenan (Nathaniel D. Green), Margaret Armstrong (Mrs. Green), Roger
Gray (Pinkie), Patrick Rafferty (Judge Black), Harriet Ross (Mrs. Brown), Lucilla Mendez (Cerise), Frances
Upton (Violet), Blanche O’Brien (Coral), Rose Adaire (Rose), Liane Mamet (Heliotrope), Sybil Bursk (Ruby),
Peggy Watts (Olive), Marie Shea (Orchid), Josephine Bryce (Goldie)
The action takes place during the present time in a large city.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Little Place of Your Own” (Jane Taylor, Marie Saxon); “Rainbow of Jazz” (Marie Saxon, Harry
Puck, Girls); “They Say” (Helen Bolton, Harry Puck, Edward H. Wever or Jack Hartley); “You and I” (Jane
Taylor, Russell Mack, Girls); “A Fellow Like Me” (Marie Saxon, Harry Puck); “Fifteen Minutes a Day”
(Russell Mack, Roger Gray); “Desert Isle” (Helen Bolton, Edward H. Wever or Jack Hartley); “Before the
Dawn” (Jane Taylor); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “It Will Never Get You a Thing” (Russell Mack); “There Was a Time” (Marie Saxon, Girls);
“Women, You Women!” (Harry Puck, Girls); “A Solo on the Drum” (Helen Bolton, Russell); “Love-Sick”
(Marie Saxon, Harry Puck); Finale (Ensemble)
Librettist and lyricist Harlan Thompson and composer Harry Archer had enjoyed a huge hit the previ-
ous year with their intimate musical Little Jessie James, which played for 385 performances and yielded the
popular song “I Love You.” Their current effort My Girl wasn’t quite as successful, but it was popular enough
to run for 291 performances. Like its predecessor, the new presentation had generally modest sets and (for the
era) a small cast, and so it moved into the profit column.
As was rather prevalent during the era, the musical underwent a last-minute cast replacement, and vari-
ous sources don’t agree on who played the role of Harold Grey on opening night: it was either Edward H.
Wever or Jack Hartley (Variety and A Chronology of American Musical Theatre go with Wever, and the New
York Times and the International Broadway Data Base vote for Hartley).
The slight story looked at Mary and Bob White (Jane Taylor and Russell Mack), two social climbers from
the Midwest who move to the big city and hope to join the exclusive Rainbow Club. A secondary plot in-
volved a bootlegger, and when because of Prohibition the Whites host a “dry” party, the bootlegger’s hooch
somehow gets into the drinks given to the guests. Presumably a good time was had by all, and the Whites are
soon blessed with a coveted membership in the tony club.
The New York Times said Archer provided a few “swinging” melodies that “will certainly be danced to all
over town” and Thompson’s lyrics were “frequently excellent.” Although the libretto was “bright in spots”
and some of the scenes were “amusingly written,” the musical was “merely a succession of scenes, all lead-
ing to nothing.” (The critic noted the evening contained a “brilliant idea that yield[ed] moments of fresh and
unspoiled humor,” but unfortunately didn’t elaborate.) Time decided if you were an occasional theatergoer
you’d find the show “acceptable,” but if you were a “suspicious” one “from the midst of the metropolis where
a good joke is an old joke in a week,” then you were “cautioned quietly” against seeing the musical (but the
critic praised the “generally excellent” score).
R.F.S. in the Baltimore Sun said “not one out of 613 musical comedies has an intelligent plot,” and My
Girl was “pretty much” like all of them, with an “asinine” story and characters who were “more or less staple
musical comedy people.” But the production offered a “good” and “enjoyable” jazz orchestra that was “one of
those tinkly-banjo, moaning-oh-you-red-hot-momma-saxophone and soothing violin affairs,” and the evening
was better than Little Jessie James.
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press liked the “tuneful” music and “unusually intelligent” lyrics,
and J.W. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society found the music “catchy and amusing.”
Variety rightly predicted the show would last until summer and return a profit and even suggested the
“thin” story would make “a fairly good film script for a good light comedian, providing it is gagged up some-
what.” As far as the show’s laughs were concerned, the first act was “hot and cold by turn,” but the second
stanza stepped along “on high.” The critic noted that the second number in the first act (“Rainbow of Jazz”)
offered “such a red hot dancing pace” that almost nothing could top it. It was “about the hottest dancing in-
terlude that has been seen in a Broadway show in a long while” and the audience “went to it like duck soup.”
THE MAGNOLIA LADY

Performances: 47
Music: Harold Levey
Based on the 1916 play Come Out of the Kitchen by A. E. Thomas (which in turn was based on Alice Duer
Miller’s novel of the same name published that same year).
Director: Hassard Short; Producer: Henry Miller; Choreography: Chester Hale; Julian Alfred; Scenery: William
E. Castle; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; William H. Matthews; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Harold Levey
Cast: Ruth Chatterton (Lily-Lou Ravenel), Muriel Stryker (Virginia Ravenel), Berta Donn (Betty Fane), Ethel
Martin (Mrs. Hallett), Nellie Fillmore (Liza), Lovey Lee (Stella Hallett), Richard (“Skeets,” aka “Skeet”)
Gallagher (Peter Ravenel), Ralph Forbes (Kenneth Craig), Minor Watson (Robert Ravenel), Worthe
Faulkner (Jefferson Page), Frank Doane (Luther Hallett), Billy Taylor (Wash Brimmage); Bland O’Connell
(Cyril Brent); Specialty Singers: Bob Young’s Dixie Boys; Ladies of the Ensemble: Virginia Beardsley, Ber-
nice Furrow, Virginia Sharr, Harriet Cheywynd, Lucille Osborne, Mary Adams, Catherine Kohler, Hal-
cyone Hargrove, Emma Wyche, Hazel Clayton, Sara Johnson, Julia Lane, Helen Haines; Gentlemen of the
Ensemble: Georgie O’Brien, Carl Rose, Louis Sears, Tom Chadwick, Tom Morrison, Edward McCullough,
George Jefferson, John Munster, Ward Van Ness
1924–1925 Season 229

The action takes place during the present time in Virginia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “On the Washington Train” (Muriel Stryker, Worthe Faulkner, Minor Watson); “Three Little Girls”
(Worthe Faulkner, Minor Watson, Muriel Stryker); “I Will Be Good” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Berta
Donn); “My Heart’s in the Sunny South” (Ruth Chatterton); “When Whiteman Starts to Play” (Billy Tay-
lor, Girls); Songs (songs not identified in the program, performed by Bob Young’s Dixie Boys); “The Magic
Hour” (Worthe Faulkner); Dance (Lovey Lee); “Moon-Man” (Ruth Chatterton, Ralph Forbes)
Act Two: “Liza Jane” (Ruth Chatterton, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Minor Watson); “When the Bell Goes
Ting-a-ling-ling” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); “The Old Red Gate” (Ruth Chatterton, Ensemble); “À la
gastronome” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Minor Watson, Muriel Stryker, Billy Taylor, Lovey Lee); “The
French Lesson” (Ruth Chatterton, Ralph Forbes); “Phantoms of the Ballroom” (Worthe Faulkner; Indians:
Muriel Stryker, Brent O’Connell); “Minuet” (George Jefferson, Tom Morrison, Hazel Clayton, Sara John-
son); “Gavotte” (Edward McCullough, John Munster, Lucille Osborne, Mary Adams); “Polka” (Lovey Lee,
Bland O’Connell); “Jazz” (Billy Taylor); “Tiger Lily-Lou” (Ruth Chatterton, Brent O’Connell, Ensemble);
Finale (Ruth Chatterton, Company)
Much was made of the appearances of dramatic actors Ruth Chatterton, Ralph Forbes, and Minor Watson
in a musical, but critics and audiences were able to contain their excitement and The Magnolia Lady lasted
just six weeks on Broadway. Chatterton followed Fay Bainter and Billie Burke in their recent forays into the
field of musicals, and like theirs, her attempt failed. Bainter had appeared in two musicals in 1912 and 1918,
and Burke in a play with music in 1912, but after their musical comedy visits in 1924 Bainter, Burke, and
Chatterton never again returned to the lyric stage.
Anne Caldwell’s libretto was based on Alice Duer Miller’s 1916 novel Come Out of the Kitchen, which in
turn had been adapted under that title for a stage version by A. E. Thomas, which had played on Broadway the
same year the novel was published. Chatterton had starred in the original play, and for the musical she reprised
her role of Lily-Lou Ravenel, one of the members of an Old Virginia family who are down on their luck. By
leasing the family manse, The Magnolia, they hope to earn enough money to keep up the property, and when
Englishman Kenneth Craig (Ralph Forbes) leases the estate they agree to stay on as servants in order to pay for
their father’s operation. Eventually, magnolias blossom and wedding bells chime for Lily-Lou and Kenneth.
The New York Times liked the “frequently excellent” and “first-rate” musical with “ingratiating” songs
and dances “of a high order.” Chatterton’s singing was a “shade studied” and she acquitted herself “capably”
when she danced. But Time said she was “not a good musical comedienne.” She sang “only mildly,” danced
“doubtfully,” and thus her “experiment” in musical theatre was an “error.” Further, the score was “unevent-
ful” and the “leisurely” book lacked humor. Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the musical’s
qualities “negative” and suggested that his readers wouldn’t find themselves “irresistibly drawn to the Shu-
bert Theatre.” The score was “attractive here and there,” the book was “hardly more than the original [play]
thinned with water,” and Chatterton did “as well as was to be expected, though no better,” her singing was
“nice” but “uneventful,” and she lacked the necessary “liveliness” and “gay sprightliness.”
Heywood Broun in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found the score “feeble” and “inbred” and the humor
lacking. Chatterton sang “only passably” and her dancing was “less than distinguished,” Forbes seemed “to
be somewhat at a loss about what to do,” and Watson did “well enough in this new field, but like the rest he
seems to be pining for a real play rather than this generally dreary stopgap.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer said there were “some pretty tunes” and some
“ghastly” jokes (in response to “what” he did in Washington, D.C., a character states “Who did I do there? Oh,
everybody’s been done already”; and then there was the nifty “Wouldn’t that scare the buttons off the cat’s
raincoat?”). Woollcott noted that Chatterton’s singing was “pleasing” and she danced “moderately well,” but
“it must have been embarrassing to foot it so conspicuously all evening on a stage full of young minxes who
were palpably better dancers.”
Variety reported that although Chatterton’s singing voice was “pleasing” it was of limited range, and her
dancing wasn’t “distinguished” or “particularly graceful.” Had she been supported by “capable” and “compe-
tent” musical comedy players, the show might have succeeded, but there was only comic Richard “Skeets,”
aka “Skeet,” Gallagher “to bear the burden of the show,” and “whatever success the piece achieves goes to
his credit.” As a result, it was “hardly probable” that the musical would “be able to stand up as anything
approaching a success.”
The musical’s source material Come Out of the Kitchen was filmed in 1930 by Paramount as the musi-
cal Honey. The screenplay was by Herman J. Mankiewicz, and the cast included Nancy Carroll, Lillian Roth,
Stanley Smith, Mitzi Green, Jobyna Howland (she of the Kid Boots brouhaha), and Richard “Skeets” Gallagher,
the latter reprising his Broadway role in The Magnolia Lady. The songs were by Sam Coslow and W. Franke
Harling, and the score included the hit “Sing You Sinners.”
LADY, BE GOOD!

Opening Date: December 1, 1924; Closing Date: September 12, 1925
Performances: 330
Book: Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson
Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
Direction: Felix Edwardes; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scen-
ery: Norman Bel-Geddes; Costumes: Kiviette; Jenkins; Brooks Costume Company; P. Leone; Iverson and
Henneage; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Paul J. Lannin
Cast: Fred Astaire (Dick Trevor), Adele Astaire (Susie Trevor), Alan Edwards (Jack Robinson), Jayne Auburn
(Josephine Vanderwater), Patricia Clark (Daisy Parke), Gerald Oliver Smith (Bertie Bassett), Walter Catlett
(J. Watterson, aka Watty, Watkins), Kathlene Martyn (Shirley Vernon), Cliff Edwards (Jeff), Bryan Lycan
(Manuel Estrada), Edward Jephson (Flunkey); Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil Ohman; James Bradbury
(Rufus Parke); Ladies of the Ensemble: Mary Hutchison, Lillian Michell, Esther Morris, Tony Otto, Peggy
Hart, Dorothy Hollis, Paulette Winston, Sylvia Shawn, Gertrude Livingstone, Janearl Johnson, Jessie
Payne, Edna Farrell, Dorothy Hughes, Madeline Janis, Mildred Stevens, Dorothy Donovan, Frances Lin-
dell, Peggy Pitiou, Doris Waldron, Peggy Quinn, Ethel Lind, Elmira Lahmann, Irene Wiley, Grace Jones,
Maxine Henry; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Dan Sparks, Richard Devonshire, Alfred Hale, Jack Fraley,
Harry Howell, Charles Bannister, Lionel Maclyn, Richard Renaud, Hal Crusius, Ward Arnold, Francis
Murphy, Charles LaValle
The action takes place during the present time in Beacon Hill, Rhode Island, and Eastern Harbor, Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hang on to Me” (Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire); “Wonderful Party” (Guests); “End of a String”
(Ensemble); “We’re Here Because” (Patricia Clark, Gerald Oliver Smith, Guests); “Fascinating Rhythm”
(Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire, Cliff Edwards); “So Am I” (Alan Edwards, Adele Astaire); “Oh, Lady, Be
Good!” (Walter Catlett. Girls); Piano Specialty (Victor Arden and Phil Ohman); Finale (Adele Astaire,
Walter Catlett, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Weatherman” and “Rainy-Afternoon Girls” (Ensemble); “The Half of It, Dearie, Blues” (aka “I’ve
Got the You-Don’t-Know-the-Half-of-It-Dearie Blues”) (Kathlene Martyn, Fred Astaire); “Juanita” (Adele
Astaire, Boys); “Leave It to Love” (Adele Astaire, Alan Edwards, Kathlene Martyn, Fred Astaire); “Little
Jazz Bird” (Cliff Edwards); Specialty (Cliff Edwards): Sequence included (a) “Insufficient Sweetie” (lyric
and music by Cliff Edwards and Gil Wells); (b) “Who Takes Care of the Caretaker’s Daughter (While the
Caretaker’s Taking Care)?” (lyric and music by Chick Endor); and (c) “It’s All the Same to Me” (lyric and
music by Chick Endor); “Carnival Time” (Ensemble); “Swiss Miss” lyric by Arthur Jackson and Ira Ger-
shwin) (Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire); Finale (Company)
For all purposes, Lady, Be Good! put brothers George and Ira Gershwin as well as brother-and-sister Fred
and Adele Astaire in the pantheon of theatre immortals. The composer and lyricist had for years been sepa-
1924–1925 Season 231
rately busy on Broadway, and never before had teamed up for a full-fledged Broadway collaboration. Of course,
George Gershwin had composed a number of hits, such as “Swanee,” “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” and
“Somebody Loves Me,” and Ira Gershwin had enjoyed the successful Two Little Girls in Blue (where he wrote
under the pseudonym of Arthur Francis).
Lady, Be Good! was a huge hit that ran over three-hundred performances and yielded a treasure-trove of
memorable songs, including “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Oh, Lady, Be Good!,” “The Man I Love,” “Hang on to
Me,” “Little Jazz Bird,” and “The Half of It, Dearie, Blues” (“The Man I Love” was cut during the tryout, and
“Little Jazz Bird” was dropped when featured performer Cliff Edwards left the show during the Broadway run).
This was a superb and exciting score, and some even praised the ballad “So I Am” (which is somewhat plod-
ding and predictable). With Lady, Be Good!, the brothers embarked on a series of “smart” musical comedies
(including Oh, Kay! and Funny Face), and then explored the satiric political waters of Strike Up the Band
(1930), Of Thee I Sing (1931), and Let ’Em Eat Cake (1933).
As for the Astaires, during the late 1910s and early 1920s, the team had appeared regularly on Broadway
in such shows as The Love Letter, For Goodness Sake, and The Bunch and Judy, and while they garnered
enthusiastic notices their shows weren’t blockbusters. In fact, in 1923 they were bigger stars in London than
New York when they appeared in Stop Flirting (the London edition of For Goodness Sake). But Lady, Be
Good! changed all that, and they emerged as Broadway royalty in Lady, Be Good!, Funny Face, and the 1931
Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz revue The Band Wagon. (With Marilyn Miller, they starred in Ziegfeld’s
sure-fire 1930 musical Smiles with music by Vincent Youmans, a short-running misfire where no one smiled.)
After The Band Wagon, Adele Astaire married and retired from the stage, and Fred Astaire appeared in just
one more Broadway musical, Cole Porter’s Gay Divorce (1932). And then he headed for Hollywood immortal-
ity. Note that the Astaires took Lady, Be Good! and Funny Face to London, and that after the New York run
of Gay Divorce Fred Astaire appeared in its London edition.
Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson’s airy book for Lady, Be Good! supported the Gershwins’ songs with a
lighthearted story about brother and sister Dick and Susie Trevor (the Astaires) and their romantic complica-
tions, he first with society girl Josephine Vanderwater (Jayne Auburn) and then with Shirley Vernon (Kath-
lene Martyn) and she with Jack Robinson (Alan Edwards), who is trying to both rid himself of an unfortunate
marriage to South-of-the-Border Juanita and to prove to his rich uncle that he’s not irresponsible. It turns out
Jack’s marriage is illegal because Juanita ignored the inconvenient fact that her first husband was still alive.
Jack’s uncle forgives him, and Jack is free to marry Susie, who for musical comedy reasons had impersonated
Juanita. Added to the mix were comic Walter Catlett as a good-natured lawyer, ukulele-playing Cliff Edwards
and his specialties, and the duo-pianists Victor Arden and Phil Ohman.
The New York Times didn’t single out any particular songs but noted the music was “excellent” and the
lyrics “capable throughout and at moments excellent.” The décor by Norman Bel-Geddes was “exceptionally
handsome,” and the choreography by Sammy Lee was “excitedly and rhythmically” danced by the chorus.
The review’s headline exclaimed that “Adele Astaire Fascinates in Tuneful Lady, Be Good: She Vividly
Recalls Beatrice Lillie.” The reviewer found her “as charming and entertaining a musical comedy actress as
the town has seen on display in many a moon.” She was as “hilarious a comedienne” as Beatrice Lillie, and
after her London stint in Stop Flirting she returned to Broadway “with an added freshness and a previously
unrevealed dancing talent.” And Fred Astaire gave a “good account” of himself and participated “enthusiasti-
cally and successfully” in most of his sister’s dance sequences.
Time praised Gershwin’s music, Bel-Geddes’s décor, the “agile and pictorial” chorus, and the Astaires,
Catlett, and Edwards. Brett Page in the Great Falls (MT) Tribune said the Astaires “hit the high spot of their
career” with Lady, Be Good!, and they were supported by Gershwin’s “excellent” music and a “capital” com-
pany. And Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentioned that the Astaires had “just returned from
London and are much improved because their success over there has given them a new confidence.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said “no musical entertainment of the season has revealed
so much originality.” The Astaires had a way of “avoiding the hackneyed that makes their work fresh
and fetching.” Adele Astaire was a “delight” who had “grown considerably as a comedienne,” and when
she and her brother danced there was “no pair on our musical comedy stage that can quite equal them.”
Gershwin’s “resourceful” and “ambitious” music was “tricky, witty, clever, jazzy stuff,” and among his
“intriguing airs” were “So Am I,” “Oh, Lady, Be Good!,” “Little Jazz Bird,” and “The Half of It, Dearie,
Blues.” Heywood Broun in the New York World liked the “bright and sometimes brilliant” music, the
“strikingly tasteful” sets, and the crackling comedy. As for the Astaires, “London’s loss is one of the local
season’s longest gains.”
During the Broadway run, “Leave It to Love” and the “Weatherman” and “Rainy-Afternoon Girls” se-
quence was dropped (the two latter numbers were replaced by “Linger in the Lobby”). When Cliff Edwards
left the show during the run, “Little Jazz Bird” and his specialty numbers were dropped and replaced by a
sequence performed by the team of Barney Barnum and Bill Bailey. In preproduction, the musical was titled
Black-Eyed Susan. Three songs were cut during the tryout (“Seeing Dickie Home,” “The Bad, Bad Men,” and
“The Man I Love”; see below for more information about the latter), and four were dropped in preproduction
(“Evening Star,” “Singin’ Pete,” “Will You Remember Me?,” and “Little Theatre”).
The London version opened on April 14, 1926, at the Empire Theatre for 325 performances. The Astaires
reprised their Broadway roles, and others in the cast were William Kent (J. Watterson Watkins), Buddy Lee
(Jeff), George Vollaire (Jack Robinson), and Irene Russell (Shirley Vernon). The London edition didn’t include
“Weatherman,” “Rainy-Afternoon Girls,” “Leave It to Love,” and “Little Jazz Bird.” George Gershwin wrote
additional songs for the London production, all with lyrics by Desmond Carter, including the ingratiating “I’d
Rather Charleston.” It may be that “Laddie Daddie” was one of the songs added for London, or, more likely,
the lyric might have been written by Ira Gershwin and dropped prior to the London production.
Except for the presumed lost lyrics for “Leave It to Love” and “Laddie Daddie,” the hardback collection
The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin includes the lyrics for all the songs he wrote for the musical.
Thanks to the London production, we have original cast performances of the Astaires. These record-
ings were later issued by World Record Club Limited (LP # H-124): the title song (William Kent); “So Am
I” (Adele Astaire and George Vollaire); “Fascinating Rhythm” (the Astaires with George Gershwin at the
piano); “I’d Rather Charleston” (the Astaires with Gershwin); “Hang on to Me” (the Astaires with Gersh-
win); “Swiss Miss” (the Astaires); and “The Half of It, Dearie, Blues” (Fred Astaire with Gershwin). “So
Am I” is included in the collection Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls (Elektra Nonesuch CD #
9-79287-2). The unused “Evening Star” is included in the collection Philip Chaffin: Warm Spring Night (PS
Classics CD # PS-527).
These recordings are also part of an archival reconstruction released on the Smithsonian American
Musical Theatre Series (CBS/Columbia Special Products LP # P-14271/R-008). The album also includes
duo-pianists and cast members Victor Arden and Phil Ohman playing “Fascinating Rhythm” and “So Am
I”; Gershwin at the piano with “Fascinating Rhythm,” “So Am I,” and “The Man I Love”; and cast member
Cliff Edwards singing “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Oh, Lady, Be Good!,” and “Insufficient Sweetie” (the lat-
ter isn’t by the Gershwins and was an interpolation for Edwards which he performed during his specialty
sequence).
A studio cast album was released by Elektra Nonesuch (CD # 79308-2), and includes such esoterica as
“A Wonderful Party,” “End of a String,” “We’re Here Because,” “Linger in the Lobby,” “Juanita,” “Little
Jazz Bird,” “Carnival Time,” “Swiss Miss,” the first and second act finales, and “I’d Rather Charleston”
from the London production. Three numbers heard in the original Broadway production are omitted (the
interrelated “Weatherman” and “Rainy-Afternoon Girls” and, of course, “Leave It to Love,” which is pre-
sumed lost).
The musical was revived by Encores! for the period February 4–8, 2015, at the New York City Center,
and the limited engagement was recorded by Ghostlight Records (CD # 8-4491); like Nonesuch’s studio cast
album, the recording includes “I’d Rather Charleston.”
Adele Astaire was the first to sing “The Man I Love,” when she introduced it during the tryout of Lady,
Be Good!, but the song was cut prior to Broadway. It was next heard during the tryout of the 1927 production
of Strike Up the Band, which closed prior to New York; it was sung by Vivian Hart and Roger Prior, and later
reprised by Morton Downey as “The Girl I Love.” It was next intended for Marilyn Miller to sing in Rosalie,
but wasn’t used (because of Miller’s small voice, it’s doubtful she could have put over the song).
The 1928 silent film version was released by First National Pictures; directed by Richard Wallace, the cast
includes Jack Mulhall, Dorothy Mackaill, and John Miljan.
Note that the 1941 MGM musical Lady Be Good isn’t a film version of the Broadway production, and
all the film retains is the show’s title and a handful of songs. The Movies’ Greatest Musicals reports that “So
Am I,” “Oh, Lady, Be Good!,” and “Fascinating Rhythm” were performed in the film and that “Hang on to
Me” is heard as background music. The other songs heard in the film were by various lyricists and composers,
including the Academy Award-winning “The Last Time I Saw Paris” (lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music
by Jerome Kern).
George and Ira Gershwin were represented on Broadway later in the season with Tell Me More.
1924–1925 Season 233
PRINCESS APRIL
“A Musical Comedy of Youth, Vitalizing the American Girl”

Opening Date: December 1, 1924; Closing Date: December 20, 1924
Performances: 24
Book: William Cary Duncan and Lewis Allen Browne
Music: Monte Carlo
Based on an unidentified story by Frank R. Adams.
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Barry Townly; Choreography: Raymond Midgley; Scenery: William Weaver;
Costumes: D. Gilman; William Weaver; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Kroll
Cast: Louise Mele (Flo), Sydney Reynolds (Lisbeth), Stanley Forde (Sam Barry), Harry Clarke (A. Sharpe Quill),
Nathaniel Wagner (Roger Utley), Harry Allen (Patrick Daly), Audrey Maple (Kathryn Utley), May Boley
(Mrs. Swifte), Dorothy Appleby (Marjorie Hale), Tessa Kosta (April Daly), Alexis Luce (Robert Ballou),
Sibylla Bowman (Dancer); April Girls: Edith Shaw, Ardath DeSales, Dorothy Brown, Jane Sels, Blanche
O’Donohue, Ann Langdon, Pauline Huss, Kitty Huss, Dorothy Hordern, Betty Myers, Marjorie Ross, Jane
McCurdy
The action takes place during the present time at a seaside resort in Saskanet, New Jersey.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We’re All in the Swim” (Bathing Girls); “One Piece Blues” (Louise Mele, Sydney Reynolds, April
Girls); “Dreamy Eyes” (Nathaniel Wagner, April Girls); “Society” (Audrey Maple, Sibylla Bowman, April
Girls); “Sweetheart of Mine” (Tessa Kosta); “Dumbells May Be Foolish” (Harry Clarke, Dorothy Appleby,
April Girls); “Tantalizing April” (Tessa Kosta, Nathaniel Wagner); “Sweetheart of Mine” (reprise) (Tessa
Kosta)
Act Two: “Fantastic Dream Ballet” (Dancers); “Ballerino” (Ardath DeSales, Jane Sels); “Tantalizing April” (re-
prise) (Tessa Kosta); “Scandal” (Harry Clarke, Louise Mele, Sydney Reynolds, April Girls); “An Irish Rose
for Me” (Harry Allen, Louise Mele, Sydney Reynolds, April Girls); “Champagne” (Tessa Kosta, Ensemble)
Act Three: “Page a Man for Me” (Louise Mele, Sydney Reynolds, April Girls); “When Knights Were Bold”
(Audrey Maple, Nathaniel Wagner, April Girls); “The Love Clock” (Tessa Kosta, Nathaniel Wagner, April
Girls); “String ’Em Along” (Harry Clarke, Dorothy Appleby); Finale
Alma M. Sanders and Monte Carlo met with their second failure of the season when their Cinderella mu-
sical Princess April shuttered after three weeks; but it did measurably better than Bye, Bye, Barbara, which
lasted for two.
April (Tessa Kosta) is another poor Irish colleen, but instead of living on the East Side she calls Saskanet,
New Jersey, her home, and there she lives with her kind if rough-edged father, Patrick (Harry Allen), who dubs
her “princess” and sings the pseudo-Irish air “An Irish Rose for Me,” which was the musical’s best-received
number. April and society boy Roger Utley (Nathaniel Wagner) fall in love, but she’s snubbed by his family,
particularly his snooty sister Kathryn (Audrey Maple). But when April saves Kathryn’s reputation from scan-
dal, April is deemed worthy to become part of the Utley family. Note that one of the characters is A. Sharpe
Quill (Harry Clarke), a society reporter for Gotham Gossip whom the New York Times described (in perhaps
purposely coded words) as “glib” with a “confident manner,” and who wore “exotic attire.”
The Times said the evening was a “gay and pleasant diversion” that didn’t particularly “excel” in any
one area. But Kosta was in “good voice,” Wagner was “refreshing,” and the score was “uncommonly tuneful”
(the critic singled out “An Irish Rose for Me,” “When Knights Were Bold,” and “Tantalizing April”). Time
mentioned that a couple numbers were “designed for repetition,” but the book was “exceptionally futile” and
was “so leaden a liability” and “so halting” in humor that the show had a “doubtful destiny.” The New York
Herald said Princess April was “just another musical comedy” and “that is the best that can be said about it.”
The plot was “negligible,” there was one “attractive” song (“Tantalizing April”), and one of the so-called jests
stated that on the family tree you are the “sap.” If the latter wasn’t bad enough, later a man is asked where
his “chivalry” is, and he responds that he never rides in cheap cars. But the critic liked “the frankest of song
cues” when a comic says “Sounds like a dumb-bell” and the ingénue replies “Sound more like a song-cue.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the creators came up with a “fearfully feeble” show that had “no intrinsic
interest” and didn’t develop “into anything,” and although Kosta indulged “in her customary high school
histrionics,” her voice was “recompense for many bad things.” Heywood Broun in the New York World found
the score “faintly sweet” and the book “amazingly inefficient,” but overall the evening was “fair” and he
liked the supporting players Dorothy Appleby and tenor Harry Allen, whose “colleen song” stopped the show.
Variety noted that Appleby was perhaps the most “interesting” aspect of the production because she not only
stopped the show but threatened to run away with it. Otherwise, the book was obvious and thin and the score
“lilting” but “undistinguished” (with “Tantalizing April” the only “outstanding” number).
Dixie Hines in the Scranton Republican praised the “delightful” musical with its “attractive” score and
“original” choreography, and noted there was “hardly a dull moment” in the production. H.H. in Brooklyn
Life and Activities of Long Island Society suspected the musical wasn’t “destined to enjoy very great popular-
ity” because it lacked both “good music” and “good comedy.” But it wasn’t “entirely devoid of merit” and it
had the “high standard” of Kosta’s “lovely voice and delightful presence,” an “extraordinarily good dance” by
Sibylla Bowman, and “some good laughs.”
THE STUDENT PRINCE IN HEIDELBERG

(aka THE STUDENT PRINCE)
“The Spectacular Operetta” / “The Greatest of All Musical Plays” /
“The Most Glorious Musical Play of Our Time”
Theatre: Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Ambassador and Century
Theatres, and then returned to Jolson’s Theatre)
Performances: 608
Based on the 1898 novel Karl Heinrich by Wilhelm Meyer-Forster, which was adapted by Rudolf Bleichmann
in 1901 as the play Alt-Heidelberg (as Heidelberg, or When All the World Was Young, the play by an
unknown adaptor opened on Broadway in 1902, and the following year was again produced on Broadway,
this time as Old Heidelberg in an adaptation by Aubrey Boucicault).
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Max Scheck; Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Costumes: Vanity Fair Costume Company; Weldy of Paris; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Oscar Bradley
Cast: Frank Kneeland (First Lackey), William Nettum (Second Lackey), Lawrence Wells (Third Lackey),
Harry Anderson (Fourth Lackey), Fuller Mellish (Von Mark), Greek Evans (Doctor Engel), Howard
Marsh (Prince Karl Franz), W. H. White (Ruder), Violet Carlson (Gretchen), Adolph Link (Toni), Ray-
mond Marlowe (Detlef), Frederic Wolff (Lucas), Paul Kleeman (Von Asterberg), Fred Wilson (Nicolas),
Ilse Marvenga (Kathie), George Hassell (Lutz), Charles Williams (Hubert), Florence Morrison (Grand
Duchess Anastasia), Roberta Beatty (Princess Margaret), John Coast (Captain Tarnitz), Dagmar Oak-
land (Countess Leyden), Robert Calley (Baron Arnheim), Martha Mason (Premier Dancer), Lucius Metz
(Rudolph Winter), Elmer Pichler (Freshman), C. Sparin (Captain of the Guard); Flower Girls: Alice
Bussy, Edith Alexander, Viola Green, Sylvia LaMarde, Cleo Lombard, Florence Turner, Gertrude Clif-
ford, Rosemary Otter, Patricia O’Connell; Waitresses: Marion Barclay, Peggy Hansel, Miriam Stock-
ton, Jane Waye, Olive Thornton, Isabelle Allen, Madeline Parker, Ann Webber, Phyliss Newkirk, Mar-
tha McDonald; Ladies in Waiting: Peggy Hansel, Isabelle Allen, Olive Thornton, Jane Waye, Phyliss
Newkirk, Marion Barclay; Maids: Rosemary Otter, Edith Alexander, Alice Bussy, Martha McDonald;
Guests at the Palace: Marion Barclay, Miriam Stockton, Cleo Lombard, Jane Waye, Rosemary Otter,
Olive Thornton, Peggy Hansel, Patricia O’Connell, Isabelle Allen, Ann Webber, Madeline Parker, Viola
Green, Edith Alexander, Florence Turner, Gertrude Clifford, Sylvia LaMarde, Phyliss Newkirk, Alice
Bussy, Martha McDonald; Waiters: Cliff Whitcomb, James Bitman, Michael Kavanaugh; Students at
1924–1925 Season 235
Heidelberg (Saxons): M. C. Scott, Jerry Merrick, Harry Anderson, William Galpen, George Elliott, Arthur
Singer, James Currier, O. A. Olson, Charles Packer, Arthur King, Willard Fry, A. Gellert, J. Spira, Jack
Jordan, Elmer Pichler, Chester Bennett; Students at Heidelberg (Rheinishers): Donald Jackson, William
Clark, William Rogers, Harvey Howard, William Ehlers, C. Sparin, Frank Miller, Tom Ryan, Eric Hen-
ning, John Merkle, John Helmken, Maurice Autier, F. Rassmussen, Clarence Scott, C. Pichler, Lawrence
Wells, James Hallgreen (Note: The members of the ensemble also played other roles, including Ambas-
sadors, Officers, Soldiers, Gentlemen of the Court, and Ladies of the Court.)
The musical was presented in a prologue and four acts.
The action takes place in 1860 and 1862 in Karlsberg and at the University of Heidelberg.
Musical Numbers
Prologue: “By Our Bearing So Sedate” (Four Lackeys); “Golden Days” (Howard Marsh, Greek Evans)
Act One: “Garlands Bright” (W. H. White, Violet Carlson, Flower Girls, Waitresses); “Drinking Song” (aka
“Drink, Drink, Drink”) (Raymond Marlowe, Students); “To the Inn We’re Marching” (Raymond Mar-
lowe, Paul Kleeman, Frederic Wolff, Ilse Marvenga, Students); “You’re in Heidelberg” (Howard Marsh,
Greek Evans); “Welcome to Prince” (Ilse Marvenga, W. H. White, Violet Carlson, Girls); “Deep in My
Heart, Dear” (Howard Marsh, Ilse Marvenga); “Serenade” (aka “Overhead the Moon Is Beaming”) (How-
ard Marsh, Raymond Marlowe, Frederic Wolff, Paul Kleeman, Students); Finale (including “Come, Sir,
Will You Join Our Noble Saxon Corps?”) (Howard Marsh, Ilse Marvenga, Raymond Marlowe, Frederic
Wolff, Paul Kleeman, W. H. White, George Hassell, Greek Evans, Violet Carlson, Charles Williams,
Students, Girls)
Act Two: Opening: “Farmer Jacob” (Raymond Marlowe, Students); “Student Life” (Howard Marsh, Ilse Mar-
venga, Greek Evans, Violet Carlson, Raymond Marlowe, Frederic Wolff, Paul Kleeman, Eight Students);
“Farewell, Dear” (Howard Marsh, Ilse Marvenga); Finale (including “We’re Off to Paris, the City of Joy”)
(Howard Marsh, Ilse Marvenga, Fuller Mellish, Greek Evans)
Act Three: Opening: “Waltz Ensemble” (Ambassadors, Officers, Dagmar Oakland, Robert Calley, Ladies of
the Court); “Solo Ballet” (Martha Mason); “Just We Two” (Roberta Beatty, John Coast, Officers); “Ga-
votte” (Howard Marsh, Roberta Beatty, Robert Calley, John Coast, Officers, Ambassadors, Ladies of the
Court); “What Memories” (aka “Thoughts Will Come [Back] to Me of Days That Are No More”) (Howard
Marsh); Finale (Howard Marsh, Ilse Marvenga, Greek Evans)
Act Four: Opening: “Sing a Little Song” (Students, Girls); “To the Inn We’re Marching” (reprise) (Raymond
Marlowe, Paul Kleeman, Students); “Serenade” (reprise) (Raymond Marlowe, Students); “Come, Boys”
(Students, Raymond Marlowe, Paul Kleeman); Finale: “Deep in My Heart, Dear” (reprise) (Howard Marsh,
Roberta Beatty, Ilse Marvenga, Lucius Metz, Violet Carlson, Charles Williams, George Hassell, Florence
Morrison, Raymond Marlowe, Paul Kleeman, Students, Girls) (Note: The score and most of its recordings
include the traditional “Gaudeamus Igitur.”)
Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince in Heidelberg (which over the years shortened its title and is now
known as The Student Prince) was the longest-running Broadway musical of the 1920s, and when it closed
was the third-longest-running book musical in Broadway history, after Irene (1919) and A Trip to Chinatown
(1891). With its bittersweet story and its richly melodic score, the work has come to define the word operetta.
In the Old Germany of the early 1860s, Prince Karl Franz (Howard Marsh) goes to the University of
Heidelberg and falls in love with the barmaid Kathie (Ilse Marvenga), who serves ale at the Inn of the Three
Golden Apples. When royal duty calls, he must ascend the throne and enter into an arranged marriage with
Princess Margaret (Roberta Beatty), who loves military officer Captain Tarnitz (John Coast). The operetta
didn’t offer the traditional happy ending and instead the final curtain fell upon the four unhappy principals,
all of whom have lost the one they love.
The score was Romberg’s masterpiece. It included the soaring ballads “Deep in My Heart, Dear” and “Ser-
enade (Overhead the Moon Is Beaming),” the brooding “What Memories,” the lilting waltz “Just We Two,”
the stirring march “To the Inn We’re Marching,” the jubilant drinking song to end them all (“Drink, Drink,
Drink” was a number dear to the hearts of Prohibition audiences), the sly look at not very prudent “Student
Life,” and the shimmering and nostalgic days-gone-by theme song “Golden Days.”
The New York Times said the “romantic operetta” was an “almost perfect example of its kind” in a
“richly scored and magnificently sung” production. Librettist Dorothy Donnelly did a “first-rate job” and the
minimal dialogue cleared “the decks rapidly for the business of an operetta, which is music.” The score was
the best Romberg had composed, and the “clicking heels of the students and the high patent leather boots
of the court are not alone” on the stage because “they are woven deep into Romberg’s music.” And when
the “forty or fifty strong” male voices together sang the “rousing” drinking song, you were “well aware that
something is taking place.”
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated the musical and its “gorgeous” score would be “the
light opera hit of the season and the most popular of touring music plays for some years to come,” and L.V.
in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said with this “magnificent” production the Shuberts
had “reached out just a little farther than the zenith of perfection” and for “the first time” in the critic’s life,
“after three hours of glorious singing by one of the greatest ensembles of male voices that we have ever heard,
we still sat and wished that the final curtain would be taken up and the entire performance repeated.”
Dixie Hines in the Scranton Republican praised the “real musical and theatrical event,” and said that
never before had the Shuberts produced a show with such “beauty, charm and interest.” Donnelly wrote
“clever” lyrics, Romberg’s score would “live” and “be remembered when most of his music is forgotten,”
and Howard Marsh “looks the prince and sings like a king.” W.G.H. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that
“caution” prompted one “to doubt whether any musical” could be “as lovely” as The Student Prince. It left
one “breathless and a little unnerved by the beauty of it,” for here was “music beautifully sung” by a “uni-
formly excellent” cast. The male chorus sang Romberg’s drinking song with “thunderous beauty,” and the
composer brought “haunting agony” to the music sung by the prince when he must leave Heidelberg to face
his royal destiny. And Romberg created music of “ridiculous joyousness” for Kathie before “she realizes that
her dream has evaporated.” If you missed this musical, you’d “be ashamed to face your grandchildren,” but
there was the certainty that the work would “surely be revived for them.”
Variety said the “spectacular and triumphant” production was a “musical smash, colorful, gorgeous and
beautiful” and warranted a “healthy run.” The work had “it all over Madame Pompadour in entertainment,”
and “compared to the $5.50 scale for Pompadour, the Heidelberg operetta is a bargain at $4.40.”
The operetta has been revived in New York seven times. The first opened at the Majestic Theatre on
January 29, 1931, for forty-five performances, and the second on June 8, 1943, at the Broadway Theatre for 153
showings (for the latter, Everett Marshall was Doctor Engel and Ann Pennington was Gretchen). The New
York City Opera (NYCO) Company revived the work five times, all at the New York State Theatre: August
29, 1980 (thirteen performances); August 27, 1981 (six); July 5, 1985 (nine); July 7, 1987 (fourteen); and August
17, 1993 (thirteen). For the NYCO productions, Donnelly’s book was adapted by Hugh Wheeler.
During Summer 1973, two beautifully sung revivals of Romberg’s The Desert Song and The Student
Prince were presented in full-scale productions that enjoyed reasonably lengthy national tours intended for
Broadway. The former played at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre for just two weeks, and the latter closed at
the conclusion of its scheduled tour and never opened in New York.
The original London production opened at His Majesty’s Theatre on February 3, 1926, for ninety-six per-
formances. Allan Prior was Prince Karl, and Ilse Marvenga, Raymond Marlowe, John Coast, and Oscar Figman
reprised their Broadway roles.
There were two film versions produced by MGM. The 1928 silent version (as The Student Prince in Old
Heidelberg) was directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and the cast included Ramon Navarro and Norma Shearer. The
colorful 1954 adaptation was directed by Richard Thorpe and possessed a sweetly romantic and old-fashioned
charm. Mario Lanza had been signed for the title role, but because of weight problems was replaced by Ed-
mund Purdom (whose singing voice was dubbed by Lanza). Others in the cast were Ann Blyth (Kathie), Louis
Calhern, S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, Edmund Gwenn, John Williams, Evelyn Varden, Richard Anderson, and, as
Princess Margaret, Betta St. John (who had created the role of Liat in the original 1949 production of South
Pacific). The film included three pleasant new songs (“Summertime in Heidelberg,” “I’ll Walk with God,” and
“Beloved”) with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster and music by Nicholas Brodszky. Lanza recorded songs from
the score (including the three new ones) that were issued by RCA Victor Records (LP # LM-2339) and later on
Sepia Records (CD # 1200). Both films were issued on a laserdisc double-feature set, and the 1954 version was
released on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
The most complete recording of the score was released by That’s Entertainment Records on a two-CD
set (# CDTER2-1172) which includes sequences that were part of the finales, such as “We’re Off to Paris,
1924–1925 Season 237
the City of Joy” and “The Flag That Flies Above Us.” Another two-CD set (sung in German and conducted
by John Mauceri) was released by CPO Records (# 555-058-2). Columbia Records also released a studio cast
album (LP # OS-2380 and OL-5980) conducted by Franz Allers with Jan Peerce, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi,
and Anita Darian.
Romberg’s musical adaptation of the material wasn’t the first. The opera Eidelberga mia premiered in
Genoa, Italy, in 1908 with libretto by Alberto Colantuoni and music by Ubaldo Pacchierotti.
TOPSY AND EVA

“A Musical Comedy” / “Sensational Musical Comedy Success”
Theatre: Harris Theatre

Performances: 165
Book: Catherine Chisholm Cushing
Lyrics and Music: The Duncan Sisters (Rosetta and Vivian)
Based on the 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Tom Wilkes; Choreography: Jack Holland; Scenery: Dickson Morgan; Cos-
tumes: Madam Keeler; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Jerome Stewardson
Cast: Aimee Torriani (Chloe), Glory Minehart (Harry), Basil Ruysdael (Uncle Tom), Robert Halliday (George
Shelby), Helen Case (Mrs. Shelby), Renee Lowrie (Helen), Lea Swan (Ann), Edith Maybaun (Jane), An-
toinette Boots (Bessie), Wilbur Cushman (Augustine St. Clare), Harriet Hoctor (Henrique, Danseuse
Premiere), Frank K. Wallace (Simon Legree), Davis Goodman (Gee Gee), Florence Martin (Eliza), Nydia
D’Arnell (Mariette), Ashley Cooper (Erasmus Marks), Myrtle Ferguson (Ophelia St. Clare), Rosetta Dun-
can (Topsy), Vivian Duncan (Eva St. Clare), Ross Himes (Rastus); Plantation Quartette: Phillip Ryder,
Harry Furney, Roy Collins, and Floyd Carder; Old-Fashioned Girls: Ernay Goodleigh, Alice Averill, Dixie
Harkins, Renee Lowrie, Lea Swan, Antoinette Boots, Shirley Beauford, Jessie Pollard, Edith Maybaun, Na-
tasha Verova, Lorraine Ray, Patricia Pattison, Hazel Cushman; Pickaninnies (The London Palace Theatre
Dancers): Billie Bart, Hettie Ward, Toresa McSpirit, Rosie Swettenham, Violet Little, Rosa Thompson,
Ethel Swettenham, Minnie Shaw, Elsie Thompson, Kitty Dolan
The action takes place during the 1850s in Kentucky and New Orleans.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Selection: Plantation Melodies (Basil Ruysdael, Aimee Torriani, Glory Minehart, Dar-
kies); Dance (Ross Himes); Dance (Harriet Hoctor); “Give Me Your Heart and Give Me Your Hand”
(Nydia D’Arnell, Robert Halliday); “Um-Um-Da-Da” (Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan, Girls, Picka-
ninnies); “Moon Am Shinin’” (Basil Ruysdael, Aimee Torriani, Pickaninnies); “Rememb’wring” (aka
“Rememb’ring” and “Rememberin’”) (Nydia D’Arnell, Robert Halliday, Helen Case); Finale (Principals,
Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Land of Long Ago” (Nydia D’Arnell, Girls); The Music Lesson: “Do-Re-Mi” (Rosetta Dun-
can, Vivian Duncan, Myrtle Ferguson); “In the Autumn” (Robert Halliday, Girls, The London Palace
Theatre Dancers); “Give Me Your Heart and Give Me Your Hand” (reprise) (Nydia D’Arnell); “Uncle
Tom Cabin Blues” (Basil Ruysdael, Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan); “Bird Dance” (Harriet Hoctor);
“Rememb’wring” (reprise) (Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan)
Act Three: “Cotton Time” (Plantation Quartette); “Mariette” (Southern Belles, Beaux, Pickannnies); “Kiss
Me” (Nydia D’Arnell, Robert Halliday, Girls); Dance (Harriet Hoctor); “Moon Am Shinin’” (reprise) (Basil
Ruysdael); “Kiss Me” (reprise) (Davis Goodman, Ross Himes, Pickaninnies); Dance (Florence Martin);
Dance (Davis Goodman, Ross Himes, Florence Martin, Pickannnies); “I Never Had a Mammy” (Rosetta
Duncan, Vivian Duncan); Dance (Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan); “Wedding Procession” (Principals,
Ensemble); Finale (Principals, Ensemble)
Topsy and Eva was a vehicle for the sisters Rosetta and Vivian Duncan, both of whom were credited with
the show’s lyrics and music. Based on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the musical
followed the book’s general story line of Southern life during pre–Civil War days and included the familiar
characters of Uncle Tom, Topsy (Rosetta in blackface), Eliza, Simon Legree, and Little Eva (Vivian). The show
had played almost a full year in Chicago, but New York was somewhat cool to the production and the musi-
cal could muster no more than about four months on Broadway. After the New York closing, the sisters took
the show on tour. During the era they recorded at least three songs from the production (“Rememb’wring,”
“I Never Had a Mammy,” and “Um-Um-Da-Da”).
The New York Times dismissed the show in four short paragraphs, stating it was “a reasonably discourag-
ing” musical. And while the sisters did their “best” and “as usual were themselves,” they weren’t “terrifically
amusing.” Time reported there was “savage disagreement” in regard to the show’s entertainment value: some
“liked it” and others found it “terrible.” Time’s critic noted that he enjoyed the Duncan Sisters, and said the
evening offered “considerable Negro harmony and soft-shoe shuffling of eminent excellence.” The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle said but for the Duncan Sisters the musical “would have been more or less of a discouraging
entertainment.” Rosetta’s Topsy “was the whole works,” her performance was “in a class by itself,” and she
was “the funniest little thing in town.” And Vivian was “sweet and pretty in the impossible role” of Eva.
Brett Page in the Lincoln (NE) Star liked the “rousing good show,” which presented the classic story in
an “ingenious and amusing” adaptation. He liked the two sisters, but noted Vivian’s Eva was portrayed in a
manner that would “delight all the college boys in the world” but that “might not be so deliriously greeted
by the wraith of Harriet Beecher Stowe.” In what was probably a misprint of one sort or another, Page said
he liked the “capital” lyrics and then stated the show had “some of the worst lyrics which have ever been
written.” Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the musical was “a Wow” and Rosetta was
“the big hit of the show” and “the premier clown of our stage.” She was an “institution,” and “we have had
nothing like her here for many years.”
Variety found the show “dull” and “dreary” and noted that how it “managed to please the prairie dwell-
ers for so long will ever remain a conundrum.” If it clicked in New York, then “a tea-house on the Bowery
ought to clean up.” As for the Duncans, the critic contained himself. Although Rosetta had her “moments,”
she clowned and ad-libbed “all over the stage” and this grew “mighty thin over more than two hours.” In
an apparent reference to Vivian (although he called her Rosetta), the critic noted that “Rosetta, however, is
mistress of about every standard hoke low comedy piece of business released in the last decade.”
During the tryout, “Just in Love with You,” “We’ll Dance Thru Life Together” (lyric by Catherine
Chisholm Cushing), and “Sighin’” were cut, although the latter may have been an early title for “Uncle
Tom Cabin Blues.” For the post-Broadway tour, various numbers were deleted and new ones added. A
Chronology of American Musical Theatre indicates that “Sweet Onion Time in Bermuda” (lyric and music
by Rosetta Duncan, Vivian Duncan, and Sam Coslow) was added for this tour, but note that the critic for
Brooklyn Life references the song in his New York opening night review (“the audience was in tears over
this song—tears of laughter; not because of the onions”).
A silent film version of the musical was released in 1927 by United Artists Corp.; the film was directed
by Del Lord, Rosetta and Vivian Duncan reprised their stage roles, and Noble Johnson played Uncle Tom.
BETTY LEE
Performances: 98
Book: Otto Harbach
Lyrics: Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach
Music: Louis (Lou) A. Hirsch and Con Conrad
Based on the 1909 play Going Some by Paul Armstrong and Rex Beach.
Direction: Bertram Harrison; Producer: Rufus LeMaire; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery:
P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John L.
McManus
1924–1925 Season 239
Cast: Jack Kearns (Doc), Ed Poole (Slim), William Brandt (Hypo), Harry F. Sievers (Silent Pete), Howard Boulden
(Stover), James S. Barrett (Willie Wolf), Paisley Noon (Carara), Charlotte Woodruff (Mrs. Lila Keep), Mad-
eline Cameron (Jeanne Chapin), Alfred Gerrard (Berkley Fresno), Gloria Foy (Betty Lee), Dorothy Barber
(Maridetta), Hal Skelly (Wallingford Speed), Joe E. Brown (Lawrence Glass), Clifford J. O’Rourke (Buck),
James Kearney (Gabby Gallagher), George Sweet (Culver Covington), Anthony Hughes (Skinner), Carlo
(Whitey), Kathryn O’Hanlon (Conchita), Theodore Zambouni (Chico), Inez (Specialty Dancer), M. Finley
(Specialty Dancer), Katherine Frey (Our Nell); The Betty Lee Girls: Dorothy E. Fitzgibbon, Grace M. Smith,
Olive Lindsay, Edna Luce, Ada Winston, Helen Orb, Betty Colker, Madeleine Dare, Verdi Milli, Lucille
Arden, Kay Karyll, Florence Courtney, Neida Snow, Isobel Graham, Yvonne Kent, Claire Daniels, Frieda
Fitzgerald, Kathleen McLaughlin, Ann Page, Elizabeth Wallace, Marjorie Bailey, Harriet Hasbrook, Nancy
Lay, Marion Swords, Pearl Bennett, Jeanne West, Kathryn Brown, Penelope Rowland
The action takes place during the present time in Southern California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Along the Rio Grande” (Quintette, Dorothy Barber, Pasiley Noon); “Little Pony of Mine” (Mad-
eline Cameron); “Betty Lee” (Hal Skelly, Gloria Foy, Cowboys, Ensemble); “Sweet Cactus Rose” (Dorothy
Barber, Joe E. Brown); “Athletic Boy” (Gloria Foy, Madeline Cameron, Alfred Gerrard, Ensemble); Finale
Act Two: “Monterey” (Charlotte Woodruff, Girls); Dance (Carlo, Theodore Zambouni); “The Daily Dozen”
(Gloria Foy, Hal Skelly, Ensemble); “They Always Run a Little Faster” (Joe E. Brown, Cowboys); “Sweet
Arabian Dream” (Gloria Foy, Hal Skelly); Dance (Dorothy Barber); “Sweet Cactus Rose” (reprise) (Dorothy
Barber, Joe E. Brown); “Give Him Your Sympathy” (Charlotte Woodruff, Hal Skelly, Joe E. Brown, Alfred
Gerrard, Ensemble); Specialties (Dorothy Barber, M. Finley, Carlo, Inez); “Baby, Be Good” (Madeline Cam-
eron, Ensemble); Finale
Act Three: Cowboy Songs (including “Pony Boy”) (Gloria Foy, Quintette); “Apache Argentine” (Kathryn
O’Hanlon, Theodore Zambouni); “I’m Going to Dance at Your Wedding” (Gloria Foy, Hall Skelly, Alfred
Gerrard, Girls); “Just Lean on Me” (Madeline Cameron, George Sweet); “Cheer, Girls, Cheer” (Gloria Foy,
Ensemble); Finale
Betty Lee was based on Paul Armstrong and Rex Beach’s comedy Going Some, which played on Broadway
for ninety-six performances in 1909. The musical did slightly better with ninety-eight showings. Beach wrote
a novelization of the play, which was published as Going Some in 1910.
The story centered on two zanies (Wallingford Speed and Lawrence Glass, played by Hal Skelly and Joe E.
Brown) who respectively impersonate a famous runner and his trainer so that Wallingford can impress Betty
Lee (Gloria Foy). But Wallingford has no athletic prowess, and to make matters worse the real runner shows
up to compete with him, and in the background are a group of ornery cowboys just itching to plug Wallingford
if he doesn’t win the race. Somehow our boy manages to win both the race and the hand of Betty Lee.
The New York Times said the show was “reasonably certain to satisfy musical comedy audiences.” The
dancers were of a “high order,” the costumes were “bright and good-looking,” the chorus “well-trained,” and
the songs were “catchy.” Although he didn’t identify it by title, the critic said one song bid to become the
score’s “hoped-for hit.” However, the book was “lamentably weak” and the humor all but “non-existent.”
As for Joe E. Brown, he was both a “wide-mouthed, impish-looking comedian” who was “quite fascinating
to watch” and an eccentric dancer “of no minor attainments.” Time reported that the “huge trousers” worn
by Brown were “easily the most important feature of the entertainment,” and both Brown and Skelly did all
they could “to squeeze comedy out of commonplaces.” Otherwise, Betty Lee was a “moderately dull” show
“forced into furious and agreeable activity by desperate dancing.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “lively entertainment” and “good dancing show”
was short on humor but amusing enough with “good, catchy songs with a simple swing to them.” The Cin-
cinnati Enquirer found the score “light but pleasing,” said the title song was the evening’s hit, and remarked
that Brown had a mouth “like the hippodrome” and “could make a fish laugh when he opens it to its full
extent, which he does frequently.” And H.L. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the
“moderately clever” musical included the “good dancer” and “clever” comedian Brown, “some quite manly”
cowboys who provided “good ensemble singing,” and Foy, who “was not at her best” because she was “very
evidently ill and did not try to sing at all.” Variety said Foy was “needlessly handicapped” and her perfor-
mance was “naturally ragged” because of a high temperature, but apparently, she went on for the next night
as well. The critic said she was “suitably cast despite her shortcomings for reasons mentioned.”
Betty Lee was Louis (Lou) A. Hirsch’s final Broadway score. The composer had died the previous spring at
the age of thirty-six, and in order to supplement the score Con Conrad stepped in to write a song or two and
to reportedly complete a couple of songs Hirsch hadn’t finished.
BIG BOY
“The New Musical Comedy” / “The Greatest of All Jolson Triumphs”

Performances: 56
Book: Harold Atteridge
Music: James F. Hanley and Joseph Meyer
Direction: J. C. Huffman (dialogue directed by Alexander Leftwich); Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee
and J. J.); Choreography: Larry Ceballos; Seymour Felix; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Uncredited;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Maude Turner Gordon (Mrs. Bedford), Edythe Baker (Phyllis Carter), Hugh Banks (Joe Warren), Flo
Lewis (Tessie Forbes), Patti Harrold (Annabelle Bedford), Frank Beaston (Jack Bedford), Ralph Whitehead
(“Coley” Reid), Leo Donnelly (“Doc” Wilbur), Franklyn Batie (Jim Redding, Tucker), George Gilday (Jud-
kins), Colin Campbell (Steve Leslie), Al Jolson (Gus), Edith Scott (Caroline Purdy), William L. Thorne
(“Bully” John Bagby, Wainwright), George Spelvin (“Silent” Ransom), L. C. Sherman (Manager), William
Bonelli (Legrande), Irving Carter (Danny), Charles Moran (Mr. Gray, Tout), Frankie James (Dolly Graham),
Dorothy Rudac (Dancer), George Andre (Dancer); Dancers: Peggy Bernier, Elsie Carroll, Lee Cutler, Jewel
Dalores, Helen Doyle, Milie Dupree, Ethel Fuller, Peggy Gillespie, Janice Glenn, Mabel Grete, Alma
Hookey, Naoe Kondo, Dottie Mae, Dinky Ormont, Thelma Robinson, Ruth Savoy, Rose Stone, Esther
Tanney, Helen Wallace, Minnia White; Show Girls: Marion Andre, Wyn Ayres, May Birt, Freddie Bond,
Nancy Carroll, Terry Carroll, Flo Evers, Rose Gallagher, Louise Hersey, Madge Lorraine, Mary Phillips,
Madeline Smith, Dorothy Wegman; Boys: Adolphe Beck, Bobbie Brandeis, Irving Carter, Al Clair, Clif-
ford Daly, Albert Ford, Harry Lake, Lewis Laub, Walter Lowery, Jack Ray, Ralph Reader, Walter Wandell;
The Jubilee Singers: William C. Elkins, Walter A. Gray, Wilbert B. Howard, George E. Jackson, Arthur H.
Payne, Mose E. Ross, Arthur S. Shaw, Kelly Thompson, Casco Williams, Carl T. White
The action takes place during the present time on an estate in Kentucky and in Louisville (with one “flash-
back” scene set in 1870).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Welcome Home” (Ensemble); “Born and Bred in Old Kentucky” (Patti Harrold, Ensemble); “Lead
’Em On” (Edythe Baker, Flo Lewis, Hugh Banks); “The Day I Rode Half Fare” (Colin Campbell, Ensem-
ble); Song (not identified in program) (Al Jolson); “True Love” (Patti Harrold, Girls); Negro Spirituals (Al
Jolson, The Jubilee Singers); Song (not identified in program) (Al Jolson); “Tap the Toe” (Patti Harrold,
Hugh Banks, Frank Beaston, Ensemble); “Come On and Play” (Edythe Baker, Boys); “The Dance from
Down Yonder” (Patti Harrold, Edythe Baker, Flo Lewis, Ralph Whitehead, Frank Beaston, Hugh Banks,
Ensemble); Song (not identified in program) (Al Jolson)
Act Two: “Tamborina” (Ensemble); “Something for Nothing” (Flo Lewis); “Lackawanna” (Frankie James);
Song (not identified in program) (Al Jolson); “Bookies and Cookies” (Girls and Boys); “The Race Is Over”
1924–1925 Season 241
(Ensemble); “By Himself” (sequence of songs not identified in program) (Al Jolson); Dance: “The Hunt
Ball” (George Andre, Dorothy Rudiac, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Al Jolson returned to Broadway in Big Boy, and he received some of the most ecstatic notices of the era.
He was back at his old haunt, the Winter Garden, and in his familiar blackface role of Gus, and critics and
audiences made it clear that here was indeed the world’s greatest entertainer. The musical seemed poised for
a long run, but due to Jolson’s health it closed after just seven weeks. About three weeks after the opening,
the New York Times reported that Jolson had already missed four performances, and now the show would
close for two full weeks in order to give the entertainer enough time to recover from a cold (Jolson spent his
“enforced vacation” in Florida). When Jolson rejoined the production, it played a few more weeks, and then
closed again. But it returned on August 24, 1925, for 120 performances at the 44th Street Theatre, and the two
runs totaled 176 showings. And then Jolson took the show on the road.
Big Boy had a plot of sorts, but no one really cared because despite the lavish production values and the
large cast, it was Jolson’s name that sold the tickets. The audience waited for his solo spots throughout the
show, all of which culminated in a late-second act sequence when he sang a medley of songs. But for those
who cared, the plot had something to do with faithful stable boy and jockey Gus who always races the horses
owned by the wealthy Bedford family. Skullduggery is afoot when racetrack wise guys plan to substitute Gus
with a famous English jockey. But their scheme is foiled, and Gus and the horse Big Boy win the Kentucky
Derby.
Variety said Big Boy “cannot be called a good entertainment outside of Jolson. It is Jolson, Jolson, Jolson,
some more Jolson and then Jolson again, and after that, for good measure, a little more of Jolson.”
The Times said Jolson held the audience in “the hollow of his hand,” and to say “that he triumphed is
to use one of the weaker words.” The premiere “provided a night that should live in theatrical history,” and
“never before did all present seem so distinctly the property of the actor as they did” on opening night. Jolson
sang serious and comic songs, and his repertoire ran the gamut of “a Mammy number, a cheer-up number,
and every other kind of number,” and he told stories both in and out of character, including one about Pola
Negri, which was “probably the high point of all time” (according to Variety, Negri told Jolson she couldn’t
buy seats for “love or money,” and so Jolson gave her two).
Time said it was well-established that Jolson was “the most valuable entertainer in the world” and “more
than any living man or woman, can summon the audience to the palm of his white-gloved hand and hold
it there.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle compared Jolson to John Barrymore, and noted Barry-
more’s “gifts are merely of a sort that makes him a leader in a line considered higher than Jolson’s.” But Bar-
rymore could “do nothing without a play,” whereas “Jolson’s voice, his eyes, his whole person and personality
are play and plot enough for him” because “he needs no author” and thus “no other actor on our stage has so
great a vitality nor the ability to make of it so big an asset.”
Burns Mantle in the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle mentioned the “remarkable hold” Jolson
had on the public. At the premiere, all the orchestra seats in the Winter Garden sold for the exorbitant amount
of $11 each, and every single one of them was filled; the standees “were six deep the width of the foyer”; and
it was “like a night at the opera so far as the crush could make it so.” Mantle noted the audience’s “hearti-
est” laughter came when Jolson gently chided President Coolidge for serving him pork sausage at a White
House breakfast, and Mantle also reported the evening’s flashiest stage effect was a treadmill on which four
live horses made a “head-on dash for the orchestra leader” and then turned “toward the wings” just as the
curtain was lowered.
Note that the program didn’t identify the songs performed by Jolson in his solo spots and his late second-
act specialty. Among them were “I Got a Lot as Long’s I Got My Mammy” (aka “As Long as I’ve Got My
Mammy”) (lyric by B. G. DeSylva, music by James F. Hanley and Joseph Meyer), “Trouble’s a Bubble” (lyric by
Jolson and B. G. DeSylva, music by Lewis Gensler), “I’m Tellin’ the Birds, Tellin’ the Bees” (lyric and music
by Cliff Friend and Lew Brown), and “It All Depends on You” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music
by Ray Henderson).
Jolson starred in the 1930 film adaptation released by Warner Brothers and directed by Alan Crosland. The
cast also included the Jubilee Singers, who had appeared in the Broadway version. No songs were retained
from the stage production, and at least two new ones, “Liza Lee” and “Tomorrow Is Another Day,” were by
Bud Green and Sam H. Stept. The film was released on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
The Broadway Musicals of 1925 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-024) includes “Lackawanna,” “As Long
as I’ve Got My Mammy,” “It All Depends on You,” and the film version’s “Liza Lee.”
THE LOVE SONG

“A New Operetta of the Second Empire Based on Offenbach’s Life and Music”

Performances: 157
Book and Lyrics: Harry B. Smith (adaptation based on plays by Eugene Ferago, Michael Nador, James Klein,
and Carl Bretschneider)
Music: Jacques Offenbach (music selected and arranged by Edward Künneke, and original music by Künneke)
Based on the Hungarian play Offenbach by Eugene (aka Jeno) Ferago and Michael (aka Mihaly) Nador and its
German adaptation Meister von Montmartre by James Klein and Carl (probably Karl) Bretschneider.
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: dances choreo-
graphed by Max Scheck and ballet choreographed by Alexis Kosloff; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes:
first and third acts by E. R. Schraper (later known as Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp,
Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro) and second act by Pascaud (from sketches by Hubert of Paris);
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: (Note that the program didn’t provide first names of some of the ensemble members.); Cooper Lawley
(Pierre), Zella Russell (Lizette), Evelyn Herbert (Herminie), Harry K. Morton (Petipas), Odette Myrtil
(Hortense), Allan Prior (Offenbach), William St. James (Bourbon), John Dunsmure (Colonel Bugeaud),
Dorothy Francis (Eugenie de Montijo), Eda Von Bulow (Countess de Montijo), Zola Talma (Gypsy Girl), Is-
abelle Rodriguez (Spanish Dancer), John Moore (The Duke de Persigny), Harry Glover (Prosper Merimee),
Warren Hull (Victorian Sardou), Harrison Brockbank (The Emperor Napoleon III), Grace Carlyle (Count-
ess Castiglione), Walter Kelly (Lackey), James Alderman (Duroc), Edna Starck (Babette), Camille Roben-
ette (Margot), Vivian Marlowe (Mme. de Marsac), Vera Hoppe (Mlle. Marceau), Master Charles Walters
(Jacques d’Alcain; the performer is most likely not the later famous dancer, choreographer, and director),
Adele Howard (Fanchette), Laura Hastings (Corinne), Donald Kinleyside (Lieutenant), Paul Keast (First
Officer), W. L. Robertson (Second Officer); Peasants: Messrs. Stone, Moore, Cordon, Dettinger, Whited,
Kelly, Moste; Soldiers: Messrs. Harold, Moran, Archer, Ismailov, Deits, Van Rhyn, Norman, Greenwood,
Burns, Miller, Hull, Clifford, Evans, Klug, O’Neil, Robertson, Keast, Webb, Doctoroff, Willis, Vecsey,
Glover, Caruso, Snyder, Black, Townsend, Beck, Jacobson, Conway, Rennie, Raymond, Kellar; Ladies of
Honor: Bobby Muir, Fay Gilmore, Julia Strong, Evelyn Stone; Ladies in Waiting: Edna Starck, Margaret
Draper, Eleanor Whitmore, Nancy Corrigan, Mary Arnoldi, Adele Howard, Jeanne Voltaire, Laura Hast-
ings, Charlotte Sprague, Nikola Cunningham, Eleanor Wilson, Ethel Darcy; Guests at the Court: Vivian
Marlowe, Berma Deane, Doris Stewart, Mirriam Franklin, Alvina Zolle, Louise Farrar, Beatrice Durant, Lu-
cita Arnold, Catherine Smith, Marie Lavelle, Mary Graham, Antoinette LaFarge, Nita Lamabrid, Vera Hoppe,
Dorothy Harrington, Ila McCall, Virginia Allen, Camille Robinette, Inga Neilson, Florence Cazelle, Sophie
Lubin, Helen Allerton, Shelton Bentley; Girls from the Bouffes Parisiennes: Misses Corrigan, Whitmar, Far-
rar, Deane, Starck, Arnold, Voltaire, Hastings, Arnoldi, Strong, Draper, Howard
The action takes place from the 1840s through the 1870s near Prades in the Pyrenees and in Paris.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by Edward Künneke
Act One: Opening Ensemble—Vintage Chorus (Peasant Girls and Boys); “When Your Life Seems a Rainy
Day” (Cooper Lawley); “Tell Me Not That You Are Not Forgetting” (Evelyn Herbert, Cooper Lawley);
“All Aboard for Paris” (Odette Myrtil, Harry K. Morton, Zella Russell); “Love Is Not for a Day” (Allan
Prior, Girls); “In Gardens Where Roses Bloom” (Allan Prior, Evelyn Herbert); “The Hall of Fame Awaits
for Me” (Odette Myrtil, Allan Prior); “Follow the Flag We Love” (Male Chorus); “When the Drum Beat
1924–1925 Season 243
Calls to Glory” (John Dunsmure, Soldiers); “Fair Land of Dreaming” (*) (Dorothy Francis); “He Writes
a Song” (Allan Prior, Dorothy Francis, Evelyn Herbert, Odette Myrtil); “The Love Song” (“Remember
Me”) (*) (Dorothy Francis, Allan Prior); Finale (Harry K. Morton, Cooper Lawley, William St. James, John
Dunsmure, Dorothy Francis, Eda von Bulow, Odette Myrtil, Allan Prior, Soldiers, Peasants) (the finale
sequence included “Spanish Dance,” performed by Isabelle Rodriguez)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Officers) and Entrance of the Emperor and Empress; “Not for a Year, Not for a Day”
(Evelyn Herbert, Cooper Lawley); “A Farmer’s Life” (Zella Russell, Harry K. Morton); “When My Violin Is
Calling” (Allan Prior, Girls); “I Know It Is Only a Dream” (Dorothy Francis, Allan Prior); “Military Men
I Love” (Odette Myrtil, Officers); “Make Up Your Mind” (Odette Myrtil, Harry K. Morton); Scenes from
La Belle Helene Ballet (Odette Myrtil, Harry K. Morton, Dorothy Francis, Ensemble, Kosloff Ballet); “The
Love Song” (“You Will Forget”) (*) (Dorothy Francis, Allan Prior); Finale (Odette Myrtil, John Dunsmure,
Dorothy Francis, Evelyn Herbert, Allan Prior, Cooper Lawley, Grace Carlyle, John Moore, William St.
James, Zella Russell, Officers, Guards, Ambassadors, Ladies in Waiting, Court Guests)
Act Three: “Violets” (Allan Prior, Girls); Reprise (song not identified in program [probably “The Love Song”])
(Evelyn Herbert, Allan Prior, Cooper Lawley); “March On” (John Dunsmure, Members of the Jockey
Club); “Barcarolle” (Dorothy Francis, Ensemble); Finale (Dorothy Francis, Ensemble)
The Shuberts made a mint with Blossom Time, which purported to tell the story of composer Franz
Schubert and his lifetime of unrequited love. So why not one about Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) and his
unrequited love? But the producers apparently forgot that Blossom Time was a relatively modest production
that played at the intimate Ambassador Theatre with a small cast and sets that depicted scenes mostly of liv-
ing rooms and modest lodgings. The Love Song was a grandiose affair with one of the largest companies of the
era, and its décor included a second act that created the grand ballroom at Tuileries. Moreover, the musical
played at the cavernous Century Theatre. Such a production was expensive to maintain, and certainly most
performances would need to reach sell-out or near sell-out status in order to recoup the show’s capitalization.
And a tour would have been prohibitive unless the musical underwent massive revision in order to make it
a viable and profitable road show.
Like Blossom Time, the production recycled the music of its hero-composer. Sigmund Romberg had
adapted Schubert’s compositions for the former musical, and for The Love Song Edward Künneke (who had
composed the score for Caroline) adapted Offenbach’s music and also added a few of his own songs to the
score. The critics were kind to the lavishly appointed production, but potential customers must have been
somewhat wary. As a result, there was no box office stampede and the musical closed less than five months
after its opening.
Someone on the production team decided the sprawling story needed clarification, and so the programs for
The Love Song included an overly detailed plot summary that took up one and one-quarter small-print pages
and probably took as long to read as the length of the first act.
The story followed Offenbach (Allan Prior) from the time he was a young and unknown composer to his
declining years when he became an invalid. Harry B. Smith’s libretto cooked up a story in which Offenbach
and Eugenie (Dorothy Francis) sing about love but otherwise go about their lives. He may carry a torch for her,
but she marries Bonaparte and becomes Empress of France. (According to history, the composer met Eugenie
just one time during his entire life.)
Although the New York Times said the evening was more “fancy than fact,” The Love Song was “the
most stupendous” of musicals and was “by all odds the best thing of its kind since The Merry Widow.” It
“dazzled the beholder with the extravagance of its investiture,” and the décor and effects were “gorgeous”
with the “appurtenances and manner of old-time operetta on the grand scale.” Time noted the evening offered
a “generous interpolation of fancy and invention,” and a production with “hundreds of people and masses of
scenery” didn’t lend itself to “subtlety.” But the production had “just about the most gorgeous series of pic-
torial effects in town” and it supplied “full money’s worth.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “spectacle”
lasted until almost midnight, and so the show was as “ponderous” as it was “magnificent.” The critic (prob-
ably Arthur Pollock) noted the evening “drags at times, but this may readily be corrected.”
Burns Mantle in the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle said the musical was “less romantic” and
“not so sentimentally appealing” as Blossom Time, but the production was “gorgeously and expensively
staged” with “magnificent” scenery. Sometimes the ballet dancing was “quite raggedly,” Prior was “a good
tenor but a pretty bad actor,” and the plot ensured that Offenbach and Eugenie “were always singing duets”
and then “parting unhappily from each other.”
Mantle noted that Marguerite Namara (who for a time was Mrs. Guy Bolton) had created the role of Eug-
enie during the tryout but left the show when she “found the part too small to suit her” (Variety said Francis
took over the role “at the last minute”). Note that later in the year Namara also left Princess Flavia during
its tryout. She created two roles on Broadway when she appeared in Franz Lehar’s Alone at Last (1915; 180
performances; this operetta had premiered in Vienna in 1914 as Endlich Allein) and Robert Stolz’s Night of
Love (1941; 7 performances). Incidentally, she starred opposite featured player and soon-to-be leading man and
film legend Rudolph Valentino in the 1920 film Stolen Moments.
Mantle also reported that the Century Theatre had added four-hundred seats by removing many “roomy”
seats and replacing them “by smaller and narrower seats, a little tight for some.” But, of course, this economy
plan brought in “a better percentage of revenue per seat.” (Were these theatre or airline seats?)
Variety said the production was “stupendous and gorgeous,” and it impressed with “its lavishness and
large cast.” Otherwise, the operetta was “tepid” and “a good musical show as averagely good musical shows
go, but not a great show by any reach.” And compared to the Shuberts’ The Student Prince in Heidelberg,
The Love Song “at $5.50 alongside the Prince at $4.40 is a larceny.” Further, the Romberg operetta was “a far
better show” and was “$1.10 cheaper.”
Once the musical settled into its Broadway run it underwent drastic revision, particularly in the first and
second acts. A total of six musical numbers were cut (“When Your Life Seems a Rainy Day,” “The Hall of
Fame Awaits for Me,” “When the Drum Beat Calls to Glory,” “Not for a Year, Not for a Day,” “Make Up
Your Mind,” “and “March On”) and seven were added (“Take a Walk with Me,” “Love Will Find You Some
Day,” “When Your Country Needs You,” “Home from Algeria,” “Yes or No,” “Only a Dream,” and a third-
act violin solo for Odette Myrtil).
CHINA ROSE
“An Oriental Operetta”
Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Wallack’s and Knickerbocker Theatres)
Performances: 120
Book and Lyrics: Harry L. Cort and George E. Stoddard
Music: A. (Alfred) Baldwin Sloane
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: John Cort; Choreography: most likely R. H. Burnside; Scenery: Walter
Schaffner; Costumes: Brooks Co.; Chinese-American Importing Co., Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Alfred Kappeler (Bang Bang), Viola Gillette (O Mi), Miti Manley (Fli Wun), George E. Mack (Wi Lee),
Pa Pa Wu (Robinson Newbold), Billy Taylor (Sing Sing), Harry Clarke (Lo), J. Harold Murray (Cha Ming),
Olga Steck (Ro See; for evening performances), Nita Martan (Ro See; for matinees), Harry Short (Hi), Alice
Bell (Wee Nee), Kathryn Miley (Sis Ta); Specialty Performers (Princess Mikeladz, Joseph Daniels, Marga-
ret Dailey); Ensemble (program didn’t identify performers by their first names)—Misses Leona, Konegay,
Seeley, George, Francis, Phillips, Abernathey, Gray, Joy, Reed, Rider, Barry, Hardy, Mercer, Steiner, Price,
Meyers, Lewis, Gallagher, Merill, Britton, LeVines, Hennessy, Douglas, Hawkes, and Martin; Messrs. Lo-
gan, Lessman, Martin, Kessler, Douglass, Monty, Byrnes, Johnston, Eastman, Cowley, Sheldon, Werner,
Niles, Whitney, Marlo, Treggett, Carmin, Rice, Cross, and Finn
The action takes place during the present time in Manchuria.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Sun Worship” (“Real Chinese”) (Natives); “Soldiers True” (Soldiers); “Maiden Fair” (Al-
fred Kappeler); “Legend of the Rose” (Viola Gillette); “Chinese Potentate” (Robinson Newbold); “Bam-
boo Bungalow” (Miti Manley, Billy Taylor); “I’m Hi, I’m Lo” (Harry Short, Harry Clarke); “China Rose”
(J. Harold Murray); “I’m All Alone” (Olga Steck, Girls); “Who Am I Thinking Of?” (Alfred Kappeler, Olga
Steck, Maids); “I Like the Girls” (Robinson Newbold, Girls); Finale (Company)
1924–1925 Season 245
Act Two: Opening: “Through the Bamboo” (Girl in Moon); “Chinese Lantern Man” (Men); “Home” (J. Harrold
Murray, Men); “China Bogie Man” (Olga Steck, Robinson Newbold, George E. Mack, Viola Gillette, Al-
fred Kappeler, Miti Manley); “Just a Kiss” (J. Harold Murray, Olga Steck); “Hail the Bridegroom” (Chorus);
“Entertainers for Royal Court” (Princess Mikeladz, Joseph Daniels, and Margaret Dailey);”Tomorrow”
(J. Harold Murray); “Great White Way in China” (Miti Manley, Billy Taylor); “I’m No Butterfly” (Kath-
ryn Miley, Harry Short, Harry Clarke); “Calling You My Own” (Olga Steck); “Why Do They Make ’Em
So Beautiful?” (Robinson Newbold); “Happy Bride” (Chorus); “Wedding Ceremony” (Company); Finale
(Company)
Perhaps the program told you all you needed to know about the self-described “Oriental Operetta”
China Rose. Among the names of the characters were: Bang Bang, O Mi, Wi Lee, Sing Sing, Hi and Lo, Wee
Nee, Sis Ta, Fli Wun (identified in the program as The Flapper), and the hero Prince Cha Ming and the title
heroine Ro See. And the titles of some of the songs were definite giveaways, too: “Bamboo Bungalow,” “I’m
Hi, I’m Lo,” “Chinese Lantern Man,” “China Bogie Man,” “I’m No Butterfly,” and “Great White Way in
China.”
Prince Cha Ming of Manchuria (J. Harold Murray, who would go on to better things when he intro-
duced Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee” and “Soft Lights and Sweet Music” in the 1932
musical Face the Music and Vernon Duke’s “Autumn in New York” in the 1934 revue Thumbs Up!) is
charmed by Ro See (Olga Steck), who travels to his palace with Hi and Lo (two bumbling escorts played
by Harry Short and Harry Clarke). Because Ro See has never seen Cha Ming, and because he wants to be
loved for himself and not for his title and wealth, he dons the disguise and persona of a bandit in order to
win her hand. And just imagine her surprise when she discovers the daring bandit is the prince and her
future husband!
The New York Times said China Rose was “the most astonishingly rubber-stamp musical comedy of
years and years, and likewise just about the dullest” (the “rubber-stamp” description popped up in a number
of the reviews). The production was “sufficiently handsome” and some of the tunes were “mildly catching,”
but then you had to suffer through the comic interludes, such as when a Chinese maiden comes upon a book
of American slang and peppers the action (or perhaps non-action) with such phrases as “Hot stuff!”
Time said there had been a “lull” that week on Broadway with China Rose the only premiere. And when
China Rose opened, the lull was “complete.” The chorus members “shuffled about with very short steps,”
and, to be sure, there was a scene set in a bamboo forest. The show had one good song (the title number) and
one good joke (the chief comic tells a chorine they should meet in the revolving doors and start going around
together).
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show would be “lucky” if it lasted a week. He
decided if someone asked theatergoers what they thought about the musical, they would no doubt say the
Martin Beck was a “delightful” playhouse because that was “the only polite thing” they could say. The show
was “dumb” with songs “full of rubber-stamp sentimentalities set to elementary music,” and although the
actors worked “hard” and the librettists and composer “probably worked hard also,” it was the audience who
“had the hardest time of it.”
Heywood Broun in the Indianapolis Star confided that he’d become tired of revues and had yearned “for
comic opera, old style.” But once he sat through China Rose he was with the “moderns” again. And when
Harry Short (as Hi) said “If I’m decapitated, it will be the first time I have lost my head,” Broun was certain
“a touch of tarnish fell upon the sunlight of the world” and “all of us were condemned to labor and to suffer
pain” and “to continue to the end of time shackled to feeble jests which will not die.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer said he didn’t “recall ever having spent a less eventful
evening in the theatre.” The songs and the jokes had “more use of the stencil than in any undertaking of this
kind experienced in years by these eyes and ears” and the “whole thing seems to have been managed with a
rubber stamp.” He noted that during the first act he saw more empty seats at an opening night performance
than he’d seen in ten years, and among those members of the audience who remained until the final curtain
“there was an ungracious disposition to snarl and say there never was such an incompetent entertainment in
our town.” But he had to admit the score was “reasonably melodious,” the production “ambitious and some-
times good-looking,” and the company “not without its good voices,” including Steck (“a sweet, strong, true
voice”) and Murray (“personable and no slouch as a vocalist”). But the “total effect is one pale carbon copy of
all the musical comedies produced in this town between 1894 and 1910.”
Variety noted China Rose was “just another musical comedy” although the program described it as “An
Oriental Operetta,” but either way it was “a flop musical.” The book was “ordinary,” the lyrics “weak,” and
the music “reminiscently tuneful” and “uninspired.” The Martin Beck had hosted the “flop” Madame Pom-
padour, and now China Rose, and so was “still batting 1,000.”
Variety mentioned that Steck played the role of Ro See, a part “originally slated” for Nita Martan, and
now Martan would sing the role at matinees while Steck played evening performances. The trade paper sur-
mised that “Miss Martan will seemingly have a lazy season as far as China Rose is concerned.”
The Broadway Musicals of 1925 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-024) includes “I’m All Alone.”
Composer A. Baldwin Sloane died a month after the New York opening night of China Rose.
NATJA
Performances: 32
Music: Peter Illytch Tschaikowsky; music adapted by Karl Hajos
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producers: B. C. and F. C. Whitney; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Tri-
angle Scenic Studios; H. Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Mme. Freisinger; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Cast: Mary Mellish (Catherine II, the Czarina; Fanille Davies, alternate), George Reimherr (Prince Potemkin),
Alexander Clark (Count Panin), Warren Proctor (Lieutenant Vladimir Stroganoff), Madeline Collins (Natja
Narishkin; Ira Jeane, alternate). Claire Grenville (Mme. Mellin), Marguerite Austin (Princess Lubina),
Matthew Hanley (Baron Wronsky), John Willard (Ali), Jamie Zucca (The Czarina’s Maid), Leon Kartavin (A
Crimean Peasant), Theresa Fellegi (A Peasant Girl); Pages: Betty Archer, Anne Tunney; Ladies in Waiting:
Laura Saunders, Theola Vincent; Unnamed members of the ensemble played the roles of Court Ladies,
Courtiers, Pages, Officers, Cossacks, and Crimeans.
The action takes place in Russia and Crimea during the reign of Catherine II (who ruled during the period
1762–1796).
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Ups and Downs” (Alexander Clark, Four Maids); “Honor and Glory” (George Reimherr,
Male Chorus); “Comrade, You Have a Chance Here” (Madeline Collins, Warren Proctor); “Love Calls Me”
(Madeline Collins, George Reimherr); “Entrance” and “Song of Czarina” (aka “For Queen and for Coun-
try”) (Mary Mellish, Ensemble); First Act Finale: “In My Homeland” (aka “Chanson Triste”) (Madeline
Collins, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus and Dance (Chorus); “Beside the Star of Glory” (George Reimherr); “Entrance of
Czarina” (Chorus); “You’ll Have to Guess” (Alexander Clark, Matthew Hanley); “The Magic of Moonlight
and Love” (Madeline Collins, Mary Mellish); “Shall I Tell Him?” (Madeline Collins); Second Act Finale
(Ensemble)
Act Three: “Reveille” (this sequence was apparently a violin solo by Bela Loblow); “March On” (Warren
Proctor, Male Chorus); “Eyes That Haunt You” (Madeline Collins, Warren Proctor); “There Is a Garden
in Loveland” (Mary Mellish, Chorus); “Reminiscence” (Madeline Collins, George Reimherr); Third Act
Finale (Ensemble)
Like Blossom Time of the past and Song of Norway in the future, Natja was one of those operettas that
borrowed various compositions by a classical composer (in this case, Peter Illytch Tschaikowsky) and fash-
ioned the music into songs for a Broadway show. The critics agreed that Tschaikowsky was well served by
Karl Hajos’s skillful musical adaptation, that the score was well played by a large symphonic orchestra con-
ducted by Max Hirschfeld, and that the songs were beautifully performed by a company that included opera
1924–1925 Season 247
and concert singers Madeline Collins (Natja Narishkin), Mary Mellish (Catherine II), and George Reimherr
(Prince Potemkin). But audiences weren’t interested, and the musical collapsed after four weeks.
Disguised as her twin brother, Natja beseeches Catherine II (Mary Mellish) to ensure that the queen’s
favorite Prince Potemkin treats her homeland of Crimea in a fair and just manner. Along the way, Natja also
finds romance in the person of a military officer with the somewhat extravagant name of Vladimir Stroganoff
(Warren Proctor).
The New York Times said that musically the production was “in capable hands,” but “not as much can
be said for the dramatic part.” Collins lacked dramatic ability, and was “unfortunately unsuccessful” in
maintaining “the illusion that she was disguised as a young man.” And while Reimherr was supposed to be
a “sympathetic villain,” he was so “given to imitating the postures of the gramophone advertisements” that
one was “unwilling to credit him with even an indifferent participation in the proceedings.” The book was
“decidedly old-style,” and there had been “no real attempt” to bring “elements of plausibility and coherence”
to the production.
Time said those with an appetite for operetta who attended Natja would have to “eat a thick slab of taste-
less bread thinly spread with honeyed harmonies.” The producers had borrowed singers from the world of
opera, but where they borrowed the comedy could “be disclosed only by those who study ancient operettas
as a habit.” H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society noted that the attempts at comedy
were “rather heavy-footed and might well have been omitted.” Otherwise, the evening was “amusing” and
“delightful,” and the large orchestra and the singers “of unquestioned rank and ability” combined to provide
an “exceptional” performance that allowed Natja to live up “to its promise.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle also
remarked that the combination of orchestra and singers brought “beauty and brilliancy and rhythm through-
out the evening.”
Variety reported there were forty-four musicians in the pit, including “a score of violins and other stringed
instruments, backed by oboes and French horns.” The ten-minute overture was “rich in music” and held
“great promise for the evening,” but as soon as the curtain was up it became clear that the musically rich pro-
duction was “all off” in regard to the book and the acting. The book weighed down the operetta “very badly”
and the lyrics were “neither well sung nor written.” The score’s “loveliness” might briefly carry the show,
but Madame Pompadour wasn’t helped by its “fine score” (and even that show’s “much maligned humor”
was “superior to that in Natja”).
In later years there were three interrelated productions that used Tschaikowsky’s music to depict his life,
and all were failures: Song without Words (1945) closed during its pre-Broadway tryout; Music in My Heart
(1947) lasted for 124 performances on Broadway (Robert Coleman in the New York Daily Mirror called the
show a “musical bowwow”); and The Lady from Paris (1950) closed prior to New York. Incidentally, Pleasures
and Palaces looked at the relationship of Catherine II (Hy Hazell) and Potemkin (Alfred Marks, who during
the tryout was replaced by Jack Cassidy), but despite lyrics and music by Frank Loesser and direction and
choreography by Bob Fosse, the show closed during its pre-Broadway engagement in Detroit.
SKY HIGH
“A New Musical Play” / “The Supreme Musical Play”
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Winter Garden and Casino Theatres)
Opening Date: March 2, 1925; Closing Date: September 5, 1925
Performances: 217
Book and Lyrics: Harold Atteridge and Harry Graham; additional lyrics by Clifford Grey
Music: Robert Stolz, Alfred (Al) Goodman, Maurice (Maurie) Rubens, and Carlton Kelsey
Direction: Fred G. Latham and Alexander Leftwich; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.) in asso-
ciation with Eugene Howard; Choreography: Seymour Felix; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Paul
Arlington, Inc.; Vanity Fair Costume Co.; Vandewart Co., Inc.; Bayer-Schumacher Co., Inc.; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Carlton Kelsey
Cast: Dorothy McNulty (later known as Penny Singleton) (Cloak Room Girl), Lily McNeil (Bar Maid), Joyce
Barbour (Florence Horridge), Marcella Swanson (Helen), Emily Miles (Marian), Walter Johnson (Attendant,
Philips), Roland Hogue (Montague Lush), Dorothy Hathaway (Patricia Devere), Edward Douglas (Lord
Brancaster), Ann Milburn (Aggie), Willie Howard (Sammy Myers), Bert Shadow (Ratwell of Scotland Yard),
Thomas Whitely (Mr. Gray, Doctor Carter), Vannessi (Delphine de Lavalliere), James R. Liddy (Horace
Deveridge), Florenz Ames (Alfred Horridge, Esq.), Violet Englefield (Mrs. Horridge), Roland Hogue (Duke
of Dulchester), Stella Shiel (Duchess of Dulchester), Betty Pecan (Lily); Ushers, Manicure Girls, Guests,
Dancing Girls: Lucile Vinik, Elsie Frank, Norma Gould, Bella Heyman, Billie Smart, Billie Wagner, Carol
Grey, Margy Lane, Ysabel Cayer, Gladys Smith, Mildred Morgan, Catherine Huth, Lorene Mumma, Betty
Sherman, Jeanne Tanny, Lucile Osborne, Emma Wyche, Margy Whitney, Emily Sherman, Emmy La
Mar, Gene Philips, Ethel Guerard, Beatrice Reiss, Marie Warner, Marcia Mack, Betty Lee, Ruth Mayon,
Peggy Brown, Helen Veronica, Hazel Beamer, Edith Pierce, Dorothy McNulty, Charlotte Ayers, Dorothy
Hathaway; Johnnies, College Boys, Guests, Patrons: Wallace Milam, Allen Blair, Freddie Murray, Albert
Royal, Joe Hughes, William Birdie, Arthur Appel, Jack Baker, John Creighton, William Brown, Hal Gib-
son, Charlie Dodge; Specialty Dancers: Margy Whitney, Emma Wyche, Peggy Brown, Freddie Murray;
Six Little Dippers: Ruth Mayon, Dorothy Hathaway, Ysobel Cayer, Dorothy McNulty, Hazel Beamer,
Charlotte Ayers, Marjorie Lane (Note: Despite the designation of six little dippers, the program identified
seven of them.)
The action takes place during the present time in London.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Clifford Grey, music by Carlton Kelsey and Maurice Rubens; when authorship known, all
other lyricists and composers are credited in the song list below.
Act One: Opening Chorus: “London Johnnies” (*) (Johnnies, Ushers); “Hello, the Little Birds Have Flown”
(lyric by Harry Graham, music by Robert Stolz) (Joyce Barbour, Girls); “The Best Songs of All” (*) (Willie
Howard, Ann Milburn, Girls); “Intermezzo” (Joyce Barbour, James R. Liddy, Girls); “Give Your Heart in
June-Time” (lyric by Clifford Grey and Harold Atteridge, music by Victor Herbert) (Joyce Barbour, James
R. Liddy, Girls); “There’s Life in the Old Dog Yet” (lyric by Harold Graham, music by Robert Stolz) (Van-
nessi, Florenz Ames, Girls); “Find a Good Time” (*) (Roland Hogue, Vannessi, Florenz Ames, Company)
Act Two: Opening Chorus: “Gossiping” (*) (Violet Englefield, Thomas Whitely, Marcella Swanson, Emily
Miles, Guests); “Why Are They Following Me?” (*) (Willie Howard, Girls, Ann Milburn, Boys); “Some-
where in Lovers’ Land” (music by Robert Stolz) (Joyce Barbour, Girls); Ballet Specialties (Six Little Dip-
pers); “The Letter Song” (Joyce Barbour, James R. Liddy); “Man o’ My Dreams” (Vannessi, Florenz Ames);
“Sky High” (Joyce Barbour, James R. Liddy, Vannessi, Florenz Ames, Ann Milburn); “The Entertain-
ment—Broadcasting”: (a) Willie Howard; (b) Lancashire Lassies (Specialty Dance: Marjorie Whitney); (c)
Ann Milburn; (d) Vannessi; (e) Willie Howard, “If You Knew Susie” (lyric and music by B. G. DeSylva) and
“Keep on Croonin’ a Tune” (lyric and music by Sammy Fain, Irving Weill, and Jimmy McHugh); “Let It
Rain” (lyric and music by James Kendis and Hal Dyson) (Willie Howard, James R. Liddy); Finaletto (Ro-
land Hogue, Stella Shiel, Joyce Barbour, James R. Liddy, Florenz Ames, Violet Englefield, Vannessi, Ann
Milburn, Chorus) and “Let It Rain” (reprise) (Willie Howard, James R. Liddy, Ann Milburn)
Act Three: Opening Chorus: “Manicuring” (Manicure Girls, Patrons); Specialty (Marjorie Whitney); “Trim
Them All but the One You Love” (*) (Ann Milburn, Six Little Dippers); “The Barbering Wop of Seville”
(*) (Willie Howard); “We Make the Show” (Six Little Dippers); “Whirled into Happiness” (lyric by Harry
Graham, music by Robert Stolz) (Willie Howard, Ann Milburn, Roland Hogue, Vannessi, Edward Douglas,
Company); Finale (Company)
Sky High and Louie the 14th opened on successive nights, both were vehicles for their respective star
comics Willie Howard and Leon Errol, both were based on a combination of European plays or musicals, and
both were successful in New York with Howard’s show topping 200 performances and Errol’s running some
one hundred more.
Sky High was based on the 1921 Viennese operetta Der Tanz ins Gluck (Dance into Happiness) (libretto
by Robert Bodansky and Bruno Hardt-Warden and music by Robert Stolz), which was adapted for the London
stage as Whirled into Happiness with book and lyrics by Harry Graham. The London production opened on
May 18, 1922, at the Lyric Theatre for 246 performances. Counting the creators of the Vienna and London
1924–1925 Season 249
productions as well as the additional lyricists and composers for New York (including a song added during the
run, but not including specialty interpolations for Howard), over a dozen librettists, lyricists, and composers
had a hand in the three productions.
Howard played Sammy Myers, a hat check boy at London’s Majestic Music Hall, who gives up his job to
become the valet for the handsome British lord Horace Deveridge (James R. Liddy). But Horace isn’t a lord
at all, and is in fact a barber who has assumed the masquerade in order to impress Florence Horridge (Joyce
Barbour) and to win “the duet privilege” with her (this last according to Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette). The fast-and-loose story gave Howard a chance to haul out his famous Barber of Seville rou-
tine (one that stood him in good stead for a number of shows), and in this case his song was “The Barbering
Wop of Seville.” He also found time to impersonate such celebrities as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Harry
Lauder, and at one point featured player Ann Milgrim caricatured Mary Ellis, who had created the title role
in Rose-Marie.
Mantle found the piece “sluggish,” and the New York Times said it would be kind “not to speak further”
of the “flabby” book and to instead report that the music was “catchy” and the “costuming” was “all that
musical comedy demands, which is a lot.” Time decided the evening was “like a pair of renovated shoes”
with “new” polish and “old” cracks, but noted Howard sang “with extraordinary results” a “philosophic
anthem” (“Let It Rain”). Howard also commented that a talkative woman must have been vaccinated with
a phonograph needle, and in response to someone who boasts of coming from a long line of “peers,” Howard
said he’s leaped from a few “docks” too. Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register also enjoyed the show’s
gags (in response to the question of what the fortune teller said when she read his mind, Howard reported
she’d enjoyed her vacation). Hammond like most of his peers praised the choreography and said “the show is
one of the best displays of musical comedy dancing I have ever seen.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Sky High offered “some of the most spirited danc-
ing recently seen on Broadway by white performers,” and “in fact, it is as spirited and swift as the colored
shows.” The evening was long enough “to make two song shows” and the final curtain fell near midnight, but
most of the show was “diverting” and “Let It Rain” was destined to become the musical’s hit song. Pollock
mentioned that “courageous” chorus girl Dorothy McNulty did a round of cartwheels, “banged her ankles
tremendously against the sharp edge of a bar at the side of the stage,” landed on her feet, finished the dance,
between dances had her leg “reinforced with adhesive tape,” and then returned to the stage and proceeded
to dance some more. Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Inquirer said there was “much lofty kicking,
much talented prancing, many a masterly clog, and all ticked off” with “breathless speed.” He especially re-
joiced “over the nimbleness of one whom I think I have identified as Dorothy McNulty. So she will doubtless
turn out to be someone else.”
L.V.A. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said Sky High was “the best staged and
costumed show on Broadway, with the best dancing and fastest working chorus we have yet seen.” The critic
singled out “Let It Rain” (which was accompanied by “a downpour of real water”) and “Give Your Heart in
June-Time” (with a lyric by Clifford Grey and Harold Atteridge, the song was identified in the program as
Victor Herbert’s “last waltz” [the composer had died the previous year, on May 26, 1924]).
Variety noted that “rarely” had the Shuberts “presented so tasty, fleet and innocent” an entertainment,
with “refreshing” costumes, “splendid” scenery, and staging that had “the breath of the whirlwind.” For
all that, the critic had a number of qualifications. Howard was “funny enough,” but he’d gotten “far more
volume of laughter” in other shows, and the music was “nothing to throw handsprings about, although one
or two jingles are simple and bromidic enough to be remembered.” As for the story’s “complications,” ev-
erything was “cleared up in three-quarters of a minute” with “no reason and no solution except that all the
lovers agree to love and all the character actors agree to take their noses out of the plot.”
During the run, “Man o’ My Dreams” was cut and “Give a Little, Get a Little Kiss” (lyric by Irving Cae-
sar) was added.
Whirled into Happiness enjoyed a few contemporary recordings, including at least two original London
cast performances, and those songs recorded from the West End production that were also heard in New York
are “Hullo (Hello), the Little Birds Have Flown,” “Somewhere in Fairyland (Lovers’ Land),” and “(There’s) Life
in the Old Dog Yet.” “Give Your Heart in June-Time” is included in the four-CD collection Collected Songs:
Victor Herbert (New World Records # 80726-2).
Chorus dancer Dorothy McNulty later changed her name, and as Penny Singleton was Hollywood’s
Blondie in a series of twenty-eight Blondie movies released during the years 1938–1950. She ran away with
the 1930 movie version of Good News with her energetic performance and led the gang through the exhaust-
ing and breathless paces of “The Varsity Drag.”
Willie Howard’s appearance without his brother Eugene was an unusual one (but note that Eugene shared
producing credit with the Shuberts). Of Willie’s twenty-three Broadway appearances in revues and book mu-
sicals, seventeen were with Eugene, who played his straight man. Willie’s most famous role is probably that
of Gieber Goldfarb, the New York taxi driver with the Yiddish accent who finds himself in the Wild West of
cowboys and Indians in the Gershwins’ Girl Crazy (1930). As noted, the night after the premiere of Sky High,
Louie the 14th opened with Leon Errol, and in 1948 Willy played Errol’s old role of Connie in the Broadway
revival of Sally.
LOUIE THE 14TH

Theatre: Cosmopolitan Theatre

Opening Date: March 3, 1925; Closing Date: December 5, 1925
Performances: 319
Book and Lyrics: Arthur Wimperis
Based on the play Ludwig XIV by Paul Frank and Julius Wilhelm.
Direction: Edward Royce (T. B. McDonald, Technical Director); Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography:
most likely Edward Royce; Scenery: Gretel Urban; Costumes: James Reynolds; Mme. Frances of New
York; John E. Stone; Eaves Costume Co.; Brooks Uniform Co.; Milgrim of New York and Chicago; Light-
ing: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Hugh Wakefield (Major the Honorable Harold Byngham, D.S.C., M.C.), Frederick Graham (The Vil-
lage Cure), Joseph Lertora (Captain Gallifet), Doris Patston (Colette de Cassagnac), Charles Mast (Bill,
Sergeant, A.E.F.), Al Baron (Spud), Al Havrilla (Bob), Edouard Durand (Francois Bochard), Harry Fender
(Captain William Brent, A.E.F.), Leon Errol (Louie Ketchup), Ethel Shutta (Gabrielle Trapmann), Alfred
James (General Chanson, Aristide Brissac), Judith Vosselli (The Countess de Bellac), Simone de Bouvier
(Marie Pochard), Pauline Mason (Patricia Brent), J. W. Doyle (Paul Trapmann), Catherine Calhoun Doucet
(Madame Trapmann), Frederick Graham (Dominique Dindon), Florentine Gosnova (Florentine), Evelyn
Law (Evelyn), Louis Casavant (The Major Domo); The Ziegfeld Cosmopolitan Girls: Virginia King, Mar-
guerite Boatwright, Catherine Littlefield, Gertrude McDonald, Louise Brooks, Anastasia Reilly, Mabelle
Swor, Maryland Jarboe, Consuelo Owens, Elsie Behrens, Mabel Baade, Ruth Fallows; Specialty Dancers:
The Messrs. Milek and Kindl (Kiendl); The Ladies: Vera Colburn, Joan Clement, Anna May Denehy, Ag-
atha DeBussy, Neel Francis, Helene Herendeen, Edna Johnson, Dorothy Leslie, Rona Lee, Nyo Lee, Betty
Nevins, Teddy King, Fern Oakley, Dorothy Dickerson, Helen Haines, Therese Kelly, Marie Lambert, Lucy
Monroe, Lelia McGuire, Elonora Ruggeri, Gertrude Selden, Claire Wayne, Gene Wayne, Lee Baron, Lor-
raine Webb, Helen Reinecke, Camille Griffith, Peggy Fears, Louise Scott, Pearl Sodders, Ida Barry, Jessie
Madison, Julia Warren, Lilyan Dawn, Dorothy Dahm, Margaret Langhorne, Florence O’Neill, Ethel Kelly,
Dorothy Brown; The Gentlemen: Billy Walsh, George Plank, Camine DiGiovanni, Sam Guncharoff, Al-
bert Kouiznetzoff, Robert Walker, John Fluco, Robert Moan, Moris Ruben, Al Small, Jack Rouger, Frank
Vonne, Richard Powell, Norman Colvin, Murray Minehart, Haal Hennessy, Warren Crosby, Lawrence
Chrow, Carl Rose, Morton Croswell, Owen Hervey, Leslie Kingdon, Jack Cronin, Al Wyatt, Ned Hamlin,
Jack Leahy, William May, Al Stevens, Morris Wagman, Walter Costello, Al Havrilla, Al Baron
The action takes place in France during July 1919 (just after the Armistice).
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Market Day” (Company); “Little Peach” (Doris Patston, Ladies and Gentlemen); “Home-
land” (Harry Fender, Doughboys); “Wayside Flower” (Doris Patston, Harry Fender); “Regimental Band”
(Hugh Wakefield, Ladies and Gentlemen); Finaletto (Harry Fender, Leon Errol); “Taking a Wife” (Leon
Errol, The Ziegfeld Cosmopolitan Girls); “The Little Blue Pig” (Ladies and Gentlemen); Dance: “Schoe
Plattler Tanz” (Catherine Littlefield, Florentine Gosnova, Milek and Kindl); “Pep” (Pauline Mason, La-
1924–1925 Season 251
dies); “True Hearts” (Harry Fender, Doris Patston); “Rin-tin-tin” (Ethel Shutta, The Ziegfeld Cosmopoli-
tan Girls, Ladies and Gentlemen); “Celebration of St. Joan the Good” (Saint Joan of Arc: Doris Patston;
The Knight: Harry Fender; Ensemble: Men-at-Arms, Haukers, Archers, Pickmen, Standard Bearers, Nuns,
Choir Girls, Chatelaines, Duchesses, Censer-Bearers, Cardinal, Flower Girls and Boys, Primavera)
Act Two: Opening: “The Major Domo” (Louis Casavant, Gentlemen); Dance (Evelyn Law); “Follow the Ra-
jah” (Leon Errol, Doris Patston, Pauline Mason, Ethel Shutta, Catherine Calhoun Doucet, Joan Clement,
Helene Herendeen, Betty Nevins, Hugh Wakefield, Harry Fender, J. W. Doyle, Joseph Lertora, Frederick
Graham, Alfred James, Ladies and Gentlemen); “I’m Harold, I’m Harold” (Hugh Wakefield, Anastasia
Reilly, Virginia King, Catherine Littlefield, Marguerite Boatwright, Louise Brooks, Gertrude McDonald);
Finaletto (Doris Patston, Judith Vosselli, Harry Fender, Joseph Lertora); “Moon Flower” (Elonora Rug-
geri, Ladies and Gentlemen); Dance (Florentine Gosnova); “Don’t Let Anybody Vamp Your Man” (Ethel
Shutta, The Ziegfeld Cosmopolitan Girls); Finale (Company)
Sigmund Romberg’s Louie the 14th was a crowd-pleasing vehicle for comedian Leon Errol which played
over three hundred performances. This was Romberg’s second musical of the season, but unlike The Student
Prince in Heidelberg the generally well-received score failed to yield any evergreens.
The story was set in France (or, as Time noted, “musical-comedy France”) just after the Armistice in
1919, and Errol played the role of Louie Ketchup, a hapless former U.S. Army cook and now an Alpine guide
(“with and without yodel,” according to Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press) who finds himself a guest at
a grand dinner held by American oil magnate Paul Trapmann (J. W. Doyle). Because thirteen will be at dinner,
the superstitious Trapmann requires a fourteenth guest, and hence our Louie is invited to the affair where he
masquerades as a nobleman. Throughout the evening Errol made merry with his welcome shticks. There was
a drunk scene, and there were moments when his rubber legs ensured that he toppled down at almost every
available opportunity. And when he was required to carry an Everest of packages, you could be certain that
his equally wobbly arms would swing and sway with them before they tumbled to the floor.
Despite its occasional “intrinsic weaknesses,” the New York Times liked the “abundant and gorgeously
staged” musical with Romberg’s “rich and variegated” score (the critic singled out “Homeland”). Several
scenes required trimming, or least better pacing, and some of the comic situations devised for Errol seemed
“about to become a little funnier than they ever do.” But if he was “somewhat limited” by the material, Errol
was still “highly humorous” and it was “vastly” amusing to watch “his distress over the legs that simply will
not support him.” The evening also offered “effective work” by Ethel Shutta, whom the critic said looked like
both Billie Burke and Queenie Smith.
But Time thought Shutta looked like Nora Bayes “stretched to the nth degree,” and noted that Doris
Patston, who played French fruit-seller Colette (“with an English accent”), was “gracious, with a cool reas-
suring voice, nimble limbs, [and] modish good looks.” And the “tumbling” Errol was “as potent as ever” with
his falls, his facial grimaces, and his fumbling attempts to balance a load of packages. The critic noted that
Errol and Shutta performed a “rowdy” dance, and Romberg’s score was “resonant.” Brett Page in the Great
Falls (MT) Tribune liked Errol’s “slapstick humor” when his “mystic, mazy, melting legs” crumbled “under
him like a quail on a hot fire,” Romberg’s “varied and well-woven” score included such highlights as “Home-
land” and “Little Peach,” and a second-act Charleston was “extraordinary” (and danced “by an unidentified
girl, but what a girl!”).
Mantle said the story wasn’t “much” and Errol wasn’t “the funniest man in the world,” but with the
Ziegfeldian “sense of form, pace, color and general effectiveness of scene” the show “satisfies.” Shutta was
one of “the rougher but funnier soubrettes,” and Romberg’s score included the oft-encored “Homeland” and
the “good topical” song “Taking a Wife.” Percy Hammond in the Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner said Zieg-
feld gave the musical “all the splendor that money can imagine” and the show was a “magnificent display
of girls, costumes and scenery” that “delights the eye.” But the evening offered only “physical beauty,” and
although Romberg had composed some “good” songs his score didn’t have “a vestige of wit or originality.”
Variety said there was “no question” that the $235,000 production was “the richest and most lavishly
bedecked that has ever been seen in New York.” The show “veritably screams money” and was a “stupendous
eyeful.” But the ability of Ziegfeld to recoup his investment seemed “beyond possibility” unless it played on
Broadway for a year, which didn’t seem likely because “the actual performance hasn’t sufficient entertaining
qualities to hold it in for that length of time.” The show began at a slow pace, and Errol didn’t make his first
entrance until thirty-two minutes after the curtain went up, and even the star did “little to relieve the situ-
ation” because the “lightweight” book didn’t give him fresh material and Romberg’s score didn’t “equal the
tunefulness” he’d brought to The Student Prince in Heidelberg. But Shutta rivaled Errol for “comedy honors
and especially clicked in a comedy dance with him.”
A few critics noted that the dinner scene included a table laden with Gorham gold-plated dinner service
(one source indicates the service belonged to Ziegfeld, but a program note thanked the Gorham Company
for supplying the service). In this scene, the dinner table emerged from beneath the stage, and Brooklyn Life
and Activities of Long Island Society reported that dancer Evelyn Law took out a $50,000 insurance policy
because it provided for “extra hazardous risk.” It seems that the dancer was “catapulted from beneath the
stage, through a trap door, and through an enormous basket of flowers.” In effect, she “literally” shot “into
the air” and landed “on her toes on the top of the table in the center of the astonished guests.”
During the run, two songs were cut (“True Hearts” and “Don’t Let Anybody Vamp Your Man”) and two
added (“Give a Little, Get a Little Kiss” and “Edelweiss,” with respective lyrics by Irving Caesar and Clifford
Grey).
Note that featured dancer Catherine Littlefield, who earlier in the season had made her Broadway debut in
Annie Dear, later choreographed such musicals as Hold On to Your Hats (1940), Follow the Girls (1944), and
The Firebrand of Florence (1945). But she’s best remembered as the choreographer of the series of blockbuster
ice extravaganzas coproduced by Sonja Henie which played at the Center Theatre throughout the 1940s and
early 1950s.
Much was made of Ziegfeld’s five-year lease of the Cosmopolitan Theatre, which was owned by William
Randolph Hearst. Located at Columbus Circle, the venue had originally opened its doors in 1903 as the Ma-
jestic (not the current Majestic, located on West 44th Street), and throughout its history was known under a
variety of names. As the International, its final musical production was the 1947 revue Caribbean Carnival,
and then for many years the theatre served as a television studio before being demolished in 1954.
Ziegfeld renamed the playhouse the Ziegfeld Cosmopolitan, and he was both lessee and manager, and in
effect had complete control of all aspects in the operation of the playhouse, which was redesigned by Joseph
Urban. The cover of the programs announced the venue was “Home of Musical Comedy,” and, as usual, the
producer felt compelled to include on a portion of the cover a black-and-white drawing of his wife, Billie
Burke. And to ensure that everyone knew who she was, he added her name beneath the portrait. No doubt
some audience members thought Burke was the star of Louie the 14th.
For all the brouhaha about the lease, Ziegfeld still didn’t own the playhouse. But in 1927 his own theatre
(the Ziegfeld) opened its doors for the first time with the premiere of the long-running hit Rio Rita. Designed
by Urban, the Ziegfeld was immediately acclaimed as one of Broadway’s most beautiful playhouses. And, yes,
for a few years most of the program covers for the Ziegfeld boasted Burke’s likeness, but now it was in vivid
Technicolor-like tones and dominated the complete program cover.
BRINGING UP FATHER
“A Comedy Treat” / “Cartoon Musical Comedy”

Performances: 24
Book: Nat Leroy
Lyrics: Richard F. Carroll
Music: Seymour Furth
Based on the comic strip Bringing Up Father, written and illustrated by George McManus.
Direction: Richard F. Carroll; Producer: Gus Hill; Choreography: William Koud; Scenery: William Weaver;
Costumes: Benjamin O. Davis; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Seymour Furth
Cast: Danny Simmons (Jiggs Mahoney), Beatrice Harlowe (Maggie Mahoney), Gertrude LaVella (Kitty),
Leo Henning (Patsy Moore), James Collins (Dinty Moore), Mary Marlowe (Eugenia Mendoza), William
Cameron (Sandy MacPherson), Ollie Mack (Captain Steve McKenna), William Tomkins (Commander),
James Sullivan (Captain), Dorothy Hale and Lloyd Mann (Specialty Dancers); Ladies of the Ensemble: Iris
Navarro, Kaye Renard, Ethel Jones, Gloria Sylvia, Yvonne Bacon, Ruth Rider, Lee Arnold, Eva Barborik,
Margaret Gordon, Marion Meredith, Jayne Fillat, June Preston, Marion Currie, Margie Henley, Babe Joyce,
Charlotte Koar, Carol Rogers
1924–1925 Season 253

The action takes place during the present time in Ireland and Spain.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Leo Henning, Gertrude LaVella, Gossoons, Colleens); “When It Gets Dark” (Ger-
trude LaVella, Leo Henning; The Pajama Girls: Kaye Renard, Ethel Jones, Yvonne Bacon, Ruth Rider,
Margaret Gordon, June Preston, Margie Henley, Gloria Sylvia; The Jazz Girls: Iris Navarro, Eva Barborik,
Jayne Fillat, Marion Meredith); “They Hope to Make a Hit” (James Collins; Toe Dancer: Iris Navarro; The
Castinet Girl: Kaye Renard; The Russian Dancer: Eva Barborik; The Girl with the Violin: Gloria Sylvia;
The Singer: Carol Rogers; The Acrobatic Girl: Lee Arnold); “Play Me a Bagpipe Tune” (William Cameron,
Scotch Lassies); “Legmania Dance” (Dorothy Hale); “When Dad Was Twenty-One” (Leo Henning; On the
Clock—The Minuet Girls: Marion Currie, Iris Navarro; The Violin Girl: Gloria Sylvia; The Polka Girl:
June Preston; The Waltz Girl: Margaret Gordon); “Dance of the Present” (Lloyd Mann and Dorothy Hale);
“In Little Old New York” (Danny Simmons); “The Gainseboro Glide” (Mary Marlowe, Gainseboro Girls);
A Few Moments with Miss Mary Marlowe; “The Merry Go Round” (Company); Finale: “On the Way to
Spain” (Company)
Act Two: Opening (Company); “Moonlight” (James Sullivan); “Jiggs” (Danny Simmons); “Poppy the Dream
Girl” (The Lover: James Sullivan; The Princess: Gertrude LaVella); Maggie Makes Her Bow (Beatrice
Harlowe); “My Lady’s Fan” (Mary Marlowe, Girls; Dancers: Dorothy Hale and Lloyd Mann); “Wedding
Chimes” (Danny Simmons, Beatrice Harlowe, Gertrude LaVella, Leo Henning, Flower Girls, Bridesmaids);
Finale (Company)
George McManus wrote and illustrated the comic strip Bringing Up Father, which made its debut on
January 12, 1913, and was a daily feature in the comic pages until May 28, 2000. Its Broadway production
should have lived so long.
Musical adaptations of Bringing Up Father began tours of the hinterlands in one-night stands beginning
in 1914, sometimes with six road companies crisscrossing the country at the same time. Over the years there
were various editions, including Bringing Up Father Abroad and Bringing Up Father on Broadway. The
Manhattan Opera House presented Bringing Up Father at the Seashore in 1921 and 1928 for limited runs, ap-
parently as part of touring engagements that were not officially considered Broadway presentations. Only the
current version risked a full-fledged Broadway production, and it lasted for just three weeks. (Variety reported
that the producer said an “improved” cast was assembled for New York, and the weekly commented that if
the players were improvements, it could only “speculate on what the preceding ones must have been like.”)
During the summer of 1924, the current version began life as Bringing Up Father in Ireland. It seems
to have been set to kick off its national tour on Broadway at the Globe Theatre (a flyer announced it would
play a limited engagement of six weeks beginning on August 18), but any talk of a New York production was
scuttled, and the show embarked on a series of one-night bookings that often included a matinee as well as an
evening performance. By the time the musical reached Broadway during the following spring, it had dropped
the last two words of the title.
The story followed the comic strip’s basic formula. Jiggs Mahoney (Danny Simmons) is a nouveau-riche
Irish American with rough edges and a taste for corned-beef and cabbage, much to the chagrin of his social-
climbing wife, Maggie (Beatrice Harlow), a scold not above brandishing her rolling pin as a means to keep the
bad boy in line. For the current musical installment, Maggie and Jiggs are in Ireland for the first act and Spain
for the second, and the plot centered on Maggie’s search for a titled husband for their daughter Kitty (Gertrude
LaVella), who seems to prefer boy-next-door Patsy Moore (Leo Henning).
The New York Times said the evening’s mood was “thoroughly” in keeping with the comic strip and
wouldn’t disappoint those who felt a day wasn’t complete without a visit to the newspaper and Bringing Up
Father. The critic noted that the first-night audience “rewarded the production with considerable laughter
and applause” and quickly cautioned that not all of it was “in the right places.” Time reported that “loud
was the cynics’ laughter” and said Broadway wouldn’t “endure for many nights a one-night-stand company
dressed up in 42nd Street clothing.” For its “wit, music and performance,” the show was “generously con-
demned as the season’s dead low.”
Variety decided the non-Equity production might encourage someone “philanthropically inclined to
establish a fund for the protection of guileless playgoers” because “at $2.75 a crack” the show “should be
classified as petty larceny.” The book was “probably the most feeble ever perpetrated” and was “the talki-
est and most witless ever.” And while the playhouse was full at the beginning of the first act, only about 20
percent of the audience was still in attendance by the final curtain (even those with complimentary tickets
couldn’t “resist the lure of the exit signs”). Many in the audience “decided to kid” the cast members, and so
the performers took the mock applause “seriously” and strung out their encores. The critic noted that the pro-
duction’s dance duo “seemed frightened or not sure of their stuff,” and whenever the girl “leaped and landed
safely in her partner’s arms she looked at him with seeming surprise that he caught her.”
Note that one of the characters in the musical (and the comic strip) is named Dinty Moore. One of Mc-
Manus’s friends was restaurant owner James Moore, who adopted the name for his famous restaurant on West
46th Street, which first opened its doors in 1914. And of course, throughout the years Dinty Moore’s was
Jiggs’s favorite eatery.
MERCENARY MARY

Opening Date: April 13, 1925; Closing Date: August 8, 1925
Performances: 136
Book: William B. Friedlander and Isabel Leighton
Lyrics and Music: William B. Friedlander and Con Conrad
Based on the 1923 play What’s Your Wife Doing? by Emil Nyitray and Herbert Hall Winslow.
Direction: William B. Friedlander; Producer: L. Lawrence Weber; Choreography: William Seabury; Scenery:
Karle O. Amend; Costumes: Hugh Willoughby; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.;
Musical Direction: The Ambassadors (orchestra) conducted by Ira Jacobs (for opening night, the musical’s
arranger Louis Katzman conducted the overture and entr’acte)
Cast: Allen Kearns (Jerry), Nellie Breen (Norah), Madeleine Fairbanks (Edith Somers), Jere Delaney (Patrick
O’Brien), John Boles (Lyman Webster), Frank Kingdon (Judge Somers), Margaret Irving (June), Winnie
Baldwin (Mary Skinner), Louis Simon (Chris Skinner), Sam Hearn (Grandpa Skinner), G. Davison Clark
(Bellamy Shepard), Monya (Dancer); The Guests: Joyce Booth, Shirley Dahl, Sally Doran, Florence For-
man, Mary Grace, Madelyn Killeen, Virginia Marchant, Frances Marchant, Elizabeth Mears, Louise Mele,
Blanche O’Donahoe, Anita Pam, Dorothy Roy, Cecelia Romeo, Claire Stone, Joan Carter-Waddell
The action takes place during the present time, probably in and around New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (“excerpts from the score,” per the program) (The Ambassadors); “Over a Garden Wall”
(Allen Kearns, Madeleine Fairbanks, Guests); “Just You and I and the Baby” (Jere Delaney, Nellie Breen);
“Charleston Mad” (Margaret Irving, Guests); “Honey, I’m in Love” (Allen Kearns, Madeleine Fairbanks);
“They Still Look Good to Me ” (Sam Hearn, Guests); “Tomorrow” (music suggested by Chopin’s Twelfth
Nocturne) (Margaret Irving, John Boles); Dance (Nellie Breen, Jere Delaney); “Come on Along” (Louise
Mele, Guests); “Mercenary Mary” (Winnie Baldwin, Company); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (The Ambassadors); Dance (Nellie Breen); “Beautiful Baby” (Allen Kearns, Guests); “Chaste
Woman” (aka “I Want to Be a Chaste Woman”) (Winnie Baldwin, Allen Kearns); Dance (Monya); “Cherchez
la Femme” (Jere Delaney, Nellie Breen, Guests); “Everything’s Going to Be All Right” (John Boles, Marga-
ret Irving); Specialties (Joan Carter-Waddell, Cecelia Romeo, Anita Pam, Louise Mele, Frances Marchant,
Madelyn Killeen, Florence Forman, Shirley Dahl, Claire Stone, Dorothy Roy, Blanche O’Donahoe, Elizabeth
Mears, Virginia Marchant, Mary Grace, Sally Doran, Joyce Booth); Finale (Company)
For the second time during the season, Con Conrad shared composing credits, first with Louis (Lou) A.
Hirsch for Betty Lee and now with William B. Friedlander for Mercenary Mary. The two shows had relatively
1924–1925 Season 255
short runs with ninety-eight showings for the former and 136 for the latter, but Mercenary Mary doubled its
New York run when it opened in London later in the year. Both Mercenary Mary and Tell Me More opened
on the same night.
The musical was based on What’s Your Wife Doing? (which at least two newspaper critics referred to as
What a Wife), a farce that ran for nine weeks on Broadway in 1923. Chris Skinner (Louis Simon) has gone
against the wishes of his wealthy grandfather (played by Sam Hearn) and has wed Mary (Winnie Baldwin). As
a result, Chris has been disinherited of $1 million, and so the couple decides to divorce, the idea being that
when Chris eventually inherits the two can marry again. Their friend Jerry (Allen Kearns) agrees to be cor-
respondent, and so Mary and Jerry arrange to be found by the grandfather in a compromising situation. But
chaos ensues when Mary’s nervousness causes her to sip one too many glasses of champagne, and it doesn’t
help that Jerry’s fiancée, Edith (Madeleine Fairbanks), suddenly arrives upon the scene. But in true musical
comedy fashion, all is happily resolved by the final curtain.
Louis Simon, who played Chris in both the straight play and musical version, was surprisingly given
nothing to sing, and in the title role Winnie Baldwin had just two numbers when she led the company in the
title song and later shared a duet with Kearns. With Kearns and chorus, Madeleine Fairbanks (here appearing
without her twin sister Marion) sang the opening number and then later with Kearns introduced “Honey,
I’m in Love,” the show’s best received song. Note that future film star John Boles was prominently featured
in the cast (his most famous New York role was in 1943’s One Touch of Venus, where he introduced “West
Wind”).
The New York Times said that for the lyric version the adaptors had “worked not so much with scissors
as with an axe, but the shreds of the story fitted musical treatment” and the “lively” plot was “full of laughs”
with “riotous” moments. “Honey, I’m in Love” was the “song hit for the town to whistle,” “Charleston Mad”
provided “the most noise of the night,” and Hearn as the grandfather won “honors” with his fiddle in “They
Still Look Good to Me.” Time said the evening was “only vaguely entertaining,” and noted there was “one
good song” with a “severely original title” (“Honey, I’m in Love”). The Cincinnati Enquirer said the “lively”
production was “neither refreshingly new nor startlingly old” with “peppy” ensembles, “plenty of dances,”
and “all the jazz one’s ear can stand.”
G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle complained that the opening night “threatened to run on forever, but
by tonight may have a destination in sight about 11 o’clock.” Much of the score seemed “tremendously like
a lot of vague ragtime tunes from out of the distant past,” but “thanks to the world’s largest tuba and some
superheated saxophones in the orchestra pit, the music was sufficiently distinguished.” He noted that the
chorus was “swell,” the show was “all dressed up” in “Easter clothes,” Madeleine Fairbanks wore clothes
“gorgeously,” and the evening offered “some cream-puff comedy.”
Variety said the show was an “in-betweener” that would probably sustain a run because of the “infec-
tious” score. “Honey, I’m in Love” was the show’s “outstanding” song with its “syncopated fox trot” and
“fetching” lyric. Another “fetching” number was the title song, and “Charleston Mad” also “clicked.” The
reviewer noted that in “an unusual display of professional courtesy,” two (unnamed) songs by Irving Berlin
were heard as “accompaniments for two of the chorus girls’ solo specialties,” including one song from Berlin’s
current Music Box Revue.
The West End version opened at the London Hippodrome on October 7, 1925, for 262 performances with a
cast that included A. W. Baskcomb, Sonnie Hale, Lew Hearn, Peggy O’Neill, and a performer known as June.
The book was credited to Fred Jackson and the lyrics to Irving Caesar, and it seems that most of the lyrics
were either rewritten by Caesar or were new lyrics he wrote for newly composed songs. Much of the London
score was recorded by original London cast members and by contemporary vocalists and orchestras on Colum-
bia and HMV Records, including at least five songs that were also heard in the Broadway version (“Honey, I’m
in Love,” “Charleston Mad,” “They Still Look Good to Me,” “Beautiful Baby,” and the title song).
TELL ME MORE
Theatre: Gaiety Theatre
Opening Date: April 13, 1925; Closing Date: July 11, 1925
Performances: 100
Book: Fred Thompson and William K. Wells
Lyrics: B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Ira Gershwin

Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Alexander Aarons; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Walter Harvey;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Ruth Raymond (Gertrude), Eddie Dowling Jr. (Harry), Alexander Gray (Kenneth Dennison), Phyllis
Cleveland (Peggy Van de Leur), Andrew Tombes (Billy Smith), Emma Haig (Bonnie Reeves), Charlotte
Esmone (Estelle), Nita Jacques (Lucy), Marion Mueller (Heather), Dolla Harkins (Toots), Vivian Glenn
(Edith, Specialty Dancer), Mary Jane (Page, Specialty Dancer), Dotty Wilson (Page, Specialty Dancer),
Florence Auer (Mrs. Pennyfeather), Lou Holtz (Monty Sipkin), Esther Howard (Jane Wallace), Maud
Andrew (Mrs. Wallace), Robert C. Ryles (George B. Wallace), Eugene Redding (Monsieur Cerise), Cecil
Brunner (Cashier), Willie Covan (Waiter, Specialty Dancer), Leonard Ruffin (Waiter, Specialty Dancer),
Morton McConnachie (Doorman); Debutantes and Shop Girls: Sofia Howard, Mildred Brown, Maxine
Marshall, Blossom Vreeland, Penelope Rowland, Gay Worrell, Jane Brew, Portland Hoffa, Betty Whitney,
Margaret Lee, Ruth Mosley, Betty Waxton, Trudy Lake, Polly Luce, Virginia McCune, Betty Wright, Edna
Locke; Escorts: Frank Cullen, Richard Oakley, Robert Gebhardt, Robert Samuels, Kenneth Smith, George
Hughes, Daniel Oltash, Willie Scholer
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and New Hampshire.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Tell Me More” (Phyllis Cleveland, Alexander Gray); “Tell Me More” (reprise) (Phyllis Cleveland,
Alexander Gray); “Shopgirls and Mannequins” (Shop Girls, Debutantes, Escorts); “Mr. and Mrs. Sipkin”
(Lou Holtz, Shop Girls); “When the Debbies Go By” (Esther Howard, Debs, Boys); Reprise (song not
identified in program) (Phyllis Cleveland, Alexander Gray); “Three Times a Day” (Phyllis Cleveland,
Alexander Gray); “Why Do I Love You?” (Esther Howard, Lou Holtz, Pages, Boys and Girls); “How Can I
Win You Now?” (Emma Haig, Andrew Tombes); “Kickin’ the Clouds Away” (Esther Howard, Lou Holtz,
Andrew Tombes, Girls); Specialty Dance (Dotty Wilson); Specialty Dance (Mary Jane); Finale (Principals,
Ensemble)
Act Two: “Love Is in the Air” (Girls and Boys); Specialty Dance (Mary Jane); “My Fair Lady” (Phyllis Cleveland,
Esther Howard, Boys); Specialty Dance (Vivian Glenn); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Phyllis
Cleveland, Alexander Gray); “In Sardinia” (Lou Holtz, Girls); “Baby!” (Emma Haig, Andrew Tombes, Boys
and Girls); Finaletto (aka “Kenneth Won the Yachting Race”) (Principals, Ensemble); Dance: “The Poetry
of Motion” (Willie Covan and Leonard Ruffin); “Ukelele Lorelei” (Emma Haig, Girls); Specialty (Emma
Haig); “Oh, So ‘La’ Mi” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Lou Holtz); Finale (Principals, Ensemble)
George and Ira Gershwin’s Tell Me More (which opened the same night as Mercenary Mary) was their
second musical of the season, but unlike the earlier Lady, Be Good! the show and its pleasant score (which
included the outstanding “Kickin’ the Clouds Away”) never took off and the production closed after three
months. But the concurrent London version did quite well (see below).
During preproduction, Tell Me More was known as My Fair Lady, and during the following year Lady
Fair was the tryout title for The Desert Song. Happily, these awkward titles were dropped when cooler heads
prevailed and realized they were completely inappropriate and certainly uncommercial ones for a Broadway
musical. (But the song “My Fair Lady” remained in the score for Tell Me More.)
Like all good musicals of the era, the story focused on a poor shop girl who works in a millinery establish-
ment and meets a millionaire at a ball. In this case, the two are Peggy Van de Leur (Phyllis Cleveland) and
Kenneth Dennison (Alexander Gray), and into the mix were two other musical comedy couples and many
musical comedy misunderstandings, impersonations, and complications, all of which were resolved by the
final curtain.
As noted, “Kickin’ the Clouds Away” was the score’s highlight, but comedian Lou Holtz (as a tailor
named Monty Sipkin) made merry with “In Sardinia,” a humorous salute to his homeland, a “quaintly” sub-
urban landscape most worthy of Urban that is situated on the banks of the Delicatessen, where you can catch
gefilte fish, and nearby you can stroll through the salami fields (the number spoofed “The Schnitza Komisski”
from Jerome Kern’s Sally, for which Tell Me More’s co-lyricist B. G. DeSylva was also co-lyricist).
1924–1925 Season 257
The New York Times praised George Gershwin’s “lovely” and “first-class” music (and singled out
“Kickin’ the Clouds Away,” “My Fair Lady,” and the title song), and said the lyrics by DeSylva and Ira Ger-
shwin were mostly “intelligent and bright” (but the lyric for “In Sardinia” was “cheap and rubber-stamped”).
The evening offered “fast and furious” dancing, and the chorus was “thoroughly expert” in “acrobatics,”
which was what “modern dancing has come to.” Moreover, the specialty dancers reduced “to an absurdity the
doctrine of speed, and particularly of touching the back of the head with the toe,” a gesture that had become
of “great musical comedy importance.” Time said the show included “the usual hysterical dancing chorus.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the title song was “one of a dozen scintillating compositions that
will probably cause this new piece to be remembered as one of the best musical shows of this season,” and the
Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “gay and merry” musical, which was one of “the dancingiest, peppiest shows
of the season,” with several “tuneful” songs.
The lyrics are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin, and the score
was recorded by New World Records (CD # 80598-2) on a two-CD set that includes George and Ira Gershwin’s
Tip-Toes. “Kickin’ the Clouds Away” is part of the collection Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls
(Elektra Nonesuch CD # 9-79287-2).
During the run, “How Can I Win You Now?” was dropped and replaced by “Once” (lyric by Ira Gershwin
and music by William Daly). Other songs cut during the Broadway run were “When the Debbies Go By” and
“In Sardinia.” Dropped during preproduction and the tryout were “I’m Somethin’ on Avenue A,” “The He-
Man,” and “Gushing.” Note that Lou Holtz’s second-act specialty “Oh, So ‘La’ Me” (lyricist and composer
unknown) was an interpolation that the comedian had performed in vaudeville. Variety reported that in “a
sudden cast shift” Andrew Tombes joined the production for the Atlantic City tryout and had just two days
to get up in the role. He was under a “natural handicap” because he’d “had no chance to rehearse dance
numbers.”
The London production opened on May 26, 1925, just a few weeks after the Broadway premiere, and so
for a while both productions played concurrently in New York and London. The West End version premiered
at the Winter Garden Theatre, and with 264 performances it more than doubled the run of the Broadway
production. Sammy Lee re-created the dances for London, and among the leads were Elsa Macfarlane (Peggy),
Arthur Margetson (Kenneth), and Leslie Henson (Sipkin). This production included “Murderous Monty (and
Light-Fingered Jane)” (lyric by Desmond Carter and music by Gershwin), and the number is included in The
Broadway Musicals of 1925 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-024).
1925–1926 Season
LUCKY SAMBO
“A Musical Mirthquake of Laughter in Two Shocks and Thirteen Shivers”

Performances: 7
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Porter Grainger and Freddie Johnson
Direction: Leigh Whipper and Freddie Johnson; Producer: Harlem Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Freddie
Johnson; Scenery: Cirker and Robbins; Costumes: Mrs. A. E. Mathison; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Fred Tunstall
Cast: Westley Hill (John Whitby), Gertie Moore (Mrs. Whitby), Monette Moore (June), Arthur Porter (“Doc”
August), Joe Byrd (Rufus Johnson), Tim Moore (Sambo Jenkins), Freddie Johnson (Jack Stafford), Lena Wil-
son (Lena March), “Happy” Williams (Edith Simpson), Billy Ewing (John Law), Clarence Robinson (Jim
Nightengale), Porter Grainger (Hitt Keys), Jean Starr (Vera Blues), Amelia Loomis (Nimble Foote), Mildred
Brown (Minnie Tree), Anna White (Twilight Gadson), Johnny Hudgins (Shoo Nuff), Louis Keene (Dancer),
Mae Barnes (Dancer), Julia Mitchell (Singer); Ensemble—Ladies: Julie Sanchez, Roberta Lowery, Edith
Oliver, Dorothy Wilson, Edna Young, Grace Michael, Anna Moore, Alice Samons, Creola Mays, Lottie
Ames, Evelyn Keyes, Margaret Fiall, Elizabeth Still, Florence Laster, Jerry Wiley, Adelaide Jones; Gentle-
men: James Gaines, James Harrison, Edward Shinault, Abdeen M. Ali, Charley Saltus, Herbert Walker,
David Robinson, Brownie Campbell
The action takes place during the present time in Boley, Oklahoma.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble: “Happy” (Town Folk); “Stop” (Amelia Loomis, Town Folk); “June” (Monette
Moore, Freddie Johnson); “Don’t Forget Bandana Days” (Arthur Porter, Bandana Girls); “Anybody’s Man
Will Be My Man” (Lena Wilson); “Aunt Jemima, I’m Comin’ Home” (Monette Moore, Plantation Folk);
“Coal Oil” (Freddie Johnson, Oil Prospectors); “Charley from That Charleston Dancing School” (Mae
Barnes, Stockholders); “If You Can’t Bring It, You’ve Got to Send It” (Lena Wilson, Joe Byrd); “Strolling”
(Amelia Loomis, Clarence Robinson); “Dreary, Dreary, Rainy Days” (Julia Mitchell, Town Folk); “Take
Him to Jail” (Stockholders); “Legomania” (Louis Keene)
Act Two: “Always on the Job” (Maids, Bellboys); “Singing Nurses” (The Running Wild Four); “Dandy Dan”
(Clarence Robinson, Dandies); “Porterology” (Johnny Hudgins); “Love Me While You’re Gone” (Jean Starr,
Clarence Robinson); “Keep A-Diggin’” (Arthur Porter); “Runnin’” (Tim Moore, Joe Byrd); “Midnight Cab-
aret” (Dancing Waiters); “Havin’ a Wonderful Time” (Jean Starr); Selections by Two Composers (Porter
259
Grainger, Freddie Johnson); “Not So Long Ago” (Jean Starr); “Alexander’s Ragtime Wedding Day” (Arthur
Porter, Wedding Party); “Keep A-Diggin” (reprise) (Company)
The Broadway season began on an unlucky note when the black musical Lucky Sambo collapsed after
seven performances. It was the shortest-running musical of the season, and things didn’t really pick up until
mid-September when during a truly historic week four smash hits opened within a seven-day period, an oc-
currence that had never happened before and would never happen again. Vincent Youmans’s No, No, Nanette,
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Dearest Enemy, Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond King, and Jerome Kern’s
Sunny all premiered that week, and there were more successes to come later in the season when Irving Ber-
lin’s The Cocoanuts and Rodgers and Hart’s The Girl Friend opened.
Variety indicated that Lucky Sambo had originally been titled Aces and Queens. The title character
Sambo Jenkins (Tim Moore) and his buddy Rufus Johnson (Joe Byrd), both of whom work on the grounds of
the Whitby Hotel in a small town in Oklahoma, are tricked by cabaret owner Jim Nightengale (Clarence Rob-
inson) into investing their money in a phony oil well. But the duper is himself duped when the well proves
to be a gusher.
The characters, comedy, and songs followed familiar patterns that promised plenty of the welcome if well-
worn clichés of the era’s black musicals. There was the town vamp, the town gossip, the policeman John Law,
the songwriter Hitt Keys, the singer Vera Blues, the dancer Nimble Foot, and a red-cap porter named Shoo
Nuff (dancer Johnny Hudgins) who sang about “Porterology.”
And the song titles of Porter Grainger and Freddie Johnson’s score said it all, too: “Don’t Forget Bandana
Days,” “Aunt Jemima, I’m Comin’ Home,” “Charley from That Charleston Dancing School,” “Legomania,”
and “Alexander’s Ragtime Wedding Day.” And because other black shows sometimes offered a late second-
act spot when their lyricists and composers performed a medley of songs, Grainger and Johnson provided a
similar sequence. As Variety pointed out, Lucky Sambo offered all the shtick expected in a black show, with
the notable exception of the usually de rigueur graveyard scene.
But the songs didn’t ignore the plot, and so the evening offered “book” numbers such as “Coal Oil,” “Take
Him to Jail,” and “Keep A-Diggin.’”
The New York Times praised the “excellent specimen of negro musical comedy” with its “fast and furi-
ous” dancing and “broad, robust and plaintive comedy.” There was also the “obligatory” plot (“there always
is”), and the evening’s highlight was the “mad” Charleston number. The critic also quoted one of the show’s
best lines (“What did you do with the four dollars I promised you last night?”), which Time quoted as well.
The magazine noted that overall the music was “fair,” the comedy “humorously to type,” and the dancing
“uncontrollable.” The New Yorker said Hudgins had “replaced” James Barton “in our affections,” and the
chorus danced the Charleston “as it should be done.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle regretted that more and more black shows were imitating white ones, and as
a result “each new colored show is found to have lost a little of the savor and flavor and color that gave dis-
tinction to its predecessors.” The reviewer concluded with the comment that “colored shows are best when
highly colored.” Floyd G. Snelson Jr., in the Pittsburgh Courier, hoped that “someday some scenic designer
with a genius for violent Gauguin settings is going to give these colored shows the background they deserve
and the result will justify the fondest hopes of those enraptured souls who are seeking a new art in native
entertainment.” Otherwise, the dancers presented the “violent convulsions” of the Charleston, and by eve-
ning’s end they danced “their way to a wildly hilarious finish”; Hudgins gave a “red-cap pantomime with
an extraordinary grotesque grace”; and “I’m Coming Home” seemed poised to become the show’s hit song.
Snelson’s longing for appropriately “violent Gauguin settings,” would probably have been satisfied by
Oliver Messel’s sets and costumes for House of Flowers (1954), which took place in the West Indies: Walter
Kerr in the New York Herald Tribune described “crawling flora calculated to knock your eye out” with “enor-
mous” sunflower vines, a “morning-glory” painted gramophone, and a “red-fringed” hammock, and Brooks
Atkinson in the Times said Messel’s “modernistic rococo” offered “barbarically lovely” flowers and costumes
that had the “flamboyance and bizarreries of the opulent tropics.”
Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star said Hudgins was “a colored edition of James Barton” who offered
“a very versatile line of stepping,” and the “excellent dancing show” set a “stiff pace” for both ensemble and
acrobatic dancers. The black publication The New York Age said Lucky Sambo followed the Shuffle Along
formula, and while it could have used some occasional trimming, there was a “wealth of talent” on stage and
“those who like singing and dancing shows will find a corking entertainment of this type.” Hudgins was the
1925–1926 Season 261
“hit” of the evening, and overall the musical was “the kind of light entertainment that New Yorkers like
in the summer.” The critic noted there was one “departure from the conventional type of colored musical
show,” and this was in the selection of the chorus members. Usually the chorus girls were “uniformly light-
complexioned girls,” but the chorus of Lucky Sambo was “composed of real brown skins about whom there
can be no mistake as to their race.”
Note that Mae Barnes led the show-stopping Charleston number. She made her debut in the musical,
and although her Broadway visits were infrequent (but included Youmans’s Rainbow) she was on Broadway
during the cast album era and her final appearance, in Arthur Schwartz and Dorothy Fields’s By the Beauti-
ful Sea (1954), was captured on vinyl. Listeners can enjoy her crisp, jubilant, and take-charge deliveries of
“Happy Habit” and “Hang Up” (Atkinson said that the Schwartz-Fields score was filled with “good picnic
song numbers”).
KOSHER KITTY KELLY

“A Unique Comedy with Several Singable Songs”
Theatre: Times Square Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre)
Opening Date: June 15, 1925; Closing Date: December 12, 1925
Performances: 166
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Leon DeCosta
Direction: A. H. Van Buren; Producer: Arch Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Ralph Riggs; Scenery: Walter
Harvey, Art Director; Robert Law Studios; Costumes: Russek’s and Brooks-Mahieu; Lighting: Duwico
Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: George Hirst
Cast: Helen Shipman (Kitty Kelly), Basil Loughrane (Morris Rosen), Dorothy Walters (Mrs. Mary Kelly), Paul
Porter (Wang Lee), Jennie Moscowitz (Mrs. Sarah Feinbaum), Fred Santley (Patrick, aka Pat, O’Reilly), Bea-
trice Allen (Rosie Feinbaum), Robert Leonard (Moses Ginsburg), Charles F. O’Connor (Joe Barns), Dorothy
Gay (Zella Barnes), William Brainerd (A Stranger)
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Dancing Toes” (Helen Shipman, Basil Loughrane); “Kosher Kitty Kelly” (Fred
Santley, Helen Shipman)
Act Two: Entr’acte: “Kosher Kitty Kelly” (Orchestra); Specialty (Charles F. O’Connor, Dorothy Gay); “What’s
in Store for You” (Beatrice Allen, Robert Leonard, Basil Loughrane); “I’ll Cuddle Up to You” (Helen Ship-
man, Fred Santley, Basil Loughrane)
Act Three: Entr’acte: “I’ll Cuddle Up to You” (Orchestra); “I Want to Dance with You” (Company); “Where
We Can Be in Love” (Helen Shipman, Fred Santley); “Kosher Kitty Kelly” (reprise) (“Omnes”)
Well, you have to admit it had a great title. In two slightly separate engagements Kosher Kitty Kelly
played almost six months and chalked up 166 performances, and so for those unlucky theatergoers whose
busy schedules didn’t give them time to catch one of the 2,327 performances of Anne Nichols’s masterpiece
Abie’s Irish Rose, here was a golden opportunity to see a musical variation of the familiar story.
And what a variation. Yes, in Nichols’s magnum opus (which was three years into its more than five-year
run when Kosher Kitty Kelly opened), our Irish Rose marries Jewish Abie. In Leon DeCosta’s story, Irish Kitty
Kelly (Helen Shipman) and Jewish Morris Rosen (Basil Loughrane) are in love, much to the consternation of
their respective families. But soon Kitty gives her heart to one of New York’s Finest and Irish (Pat O’Reilly,
played by Joseph Santley) and Morris gives his to that nice Jewish girl Rosie Feinbaum (Beatrice Allen).
But that wasn’t quite the ending. There was more (much more) to come. It seems that way, way back in
some distant past Kitty’s mother Mary (Dorothy Walters) and Rosie’s mother Sarah (Jennie Moscowitz) had
once been married to the same man, one Terrence (aka Mike) Kelly. Terrence left Sarah long before he met
and married Mary (and fathered Kitty), but he and Sarah had a child, and that child is . . . Rosie. Which means
Rosie is half-Jewish and half-Irish! And Kitty and Rosie are half-sisters! Which just goes to show that in this
life you never know. And it sure seems Sarah didn’t know, although she should have; after all, when she and
Mike were Mr. and Mrs., didn’t she have an inkling he was Irish and that their daughter was thus half Irish?
Well, the genealogical trails in Kosher Kitty Kelly were a bit confusing, and the critics can be forgiven for
their differing interpretations of the blood lines. H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker declared
that Rosie was “a Jewish girl,” but Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune decided she was “not Jewish at all,
but Irish.”
And wait, there’s even more. It turns out that the prejudiced Mary and Sarah are burned in a fire, and re-
quire skin grafts. A Chinese man named Wang Lee (who’s a laundryman, what else?) and played by Paul Porter
donates some of his skin to Mary, and our Irish cop donates some of his to Sarah. And so, as the curtain falls,
everyone has learned the lesson that we’re all brothers and sisters under the skin, and that racial and religious
barriers must be overcome. So here was a serious musical that transcended the era’s Cinderella stories and
chose to inspire its audience with an uplifting message.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said there were one or two “lively” songs. Otherwise, Kosher
Kitty Kelly was “dumb, dull and dreadful” with a “stupid” story and “a joke a minute, each joke a bad one.”
But he assumed the musical’s denouement sent the audience home in a “deliriously happy” mood, or “at
least as happy as possible under the circumstances.” Mankiewicz wanted to be “the first” to tell you the “hot
news” about the musical’s “scholarly program,” which noted that the final number in the show was sung by
“Omnes.” And he wanted you to know the show wasn’t “as good as our absurdly fair outline of the plot may
indicate.” As for the two Irish and two Jewish lovers pairing up, “it was fine with us and no different than
it should be. . . . All right, you’re so liberal. Would you want your sister to marry an Irishman? You see, it’s
different when it affects you personally, isn’t it?”
Time reported that the evening included “brief but maudlin orations on behalf of race tolerance,” and
Variety stated the “obnoxious” show was “the most feeble attempt at rivalry ever purloined for an unsus-
pecting public who are inclined to dispense with $2.75 for amusement.” Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star
noted that the New York critics “panned it hard,” just as they had Abie’s Irish Rose. But “like children once
burnt by the fire, scarcely one of them dared to predict the early death of” Kosher Kitty Kelly because “they
remembered what happened to them before.”
During the run, the unnamed second-act specialty for Charles F. O’Connor and Dorothy Gay was dropped
and replaced (or perhaps retained and renamed) by the song “Why Should a Little Girl Be Lonely?”
A few days after the opening of Kosher Kitty Kelly, the New York Times reported that the show’s libret-
tist, lyricist, and composer Leon DeCosta was hit by a cab as he was riding in another cab. The event occurred
on 42nd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, and the writer-composer suffered cuts and contusions.
But a year later he was again represented on Broadway with The Blonde Sinner.
ENGAGED
“A Burlesque”
Theatre: 52nd Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 48th Street Theatre)
Opening Date: June 18, 1925; Closing Date: August 1, 1925
Performances: 44
Book: Brian Hooker
Lyrics: W. S. Gilbert (and other unidentified period lyricists); new lyrics by Brian Hooker
Music: Arthur Sullivan, James Lyman Molloy, Joseph Leopold Roeckel, Ciro Pinsuti, “and others”; new music
by Porter Steele
Based on the 1877 play Engaged by W. S. Gilbert.
Direction: Edward T. Goodman; Producers: The Stagers, Inc. (Edward T. Goodman, Director); Choreography:
Carroll Weller; Scenery: Robert E. Locher; Cleon Throckmorton; Costumes: Robert E. Locher; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Macklin Marrow
Cast: Marjorie Vonnegut (Maggie Macfarlane), Albert Hecht (Angus McAlister), Margaret Love (Mrs. Macfar-
lane), Jay Fassett (Belvawney), Antoinette Perry (Belinda Treherne), George Riddell (Mr. Symperson), J. M.
Kerrigan (Cheviot Hill), Peavey Wells (Major McGillicuddy), Dolle Gray (Parker), Rosamond Whiteside
(Minnie); The Stagers’ Quartet: Macklin Marrow (Musical Director, First Violin), Hyman Piston (Second
Violin), Francis Baldwin (Cello), and William Irwin (Piano)
1925–1926 Season 263

The action takes place during 1877 in a cottage near Gretna (on the border between England and Scotland)
and in London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Braes o’ Ballachlose” (Marjorie Vonnegut, Albert Hecht); “Love Is Enough” (Antoinette Perry, Jay
Fassett); “Love, I Will Love You Ever” (J. M. Kerrigan); “All for Love” (Marjorie Vonnegut, Albert Hecht,
J. M. Kerrigan); Finale: “What Is This I See?” Antoinette Perry, Marjorie Vonnegut, Margaret Love, J. M.
Kerrigan, Jay Fassett, Albert Hecht, Peavey Wells)
Act Two: “I’m Going to Be Married Today” (Rosamond Whiteside, Dolle Gray, George Riddell); “A Little
Kiss” (Dolle Gray, J. M. Kerrigan); “Prince Charming” (Rosamond Whiteside, J. M. Kerrigan); “The Story
of a Sheep” (Jay Fassett, J. M. Kerrigan); Finale: “A Joyful Wedding Day” (Rosamond Whiteside, Antoi-
nette Perry, Marjorie Vonnegut, Margaret Love, Dolle Gray, J. M. Kerrigan, Jay Fassett, George Riddell,
Albert Hecht)
Act Three: “Sometimes” (Rosamond Whiteside, Antoinette Perry, Jay Fassett); “Dear, Dear Sisters” (Antoinette
Perry, Rosamond Whiteside); “A Jury of His Peers” (Rosamond Whiteside, Antoinette Perry, J. M. Kerrigan,
George Riddell); “Liberty” (Jay Fassett, J. M. Kerrigan); Finale (Antoinette Perry, Rosamond Whiteside, Mar-
jorie Vonnegut, Margaret Love, Dolle Gray, J. M. Kerrigan, Jay Fassett, George Riddell, Albert Hecht)
The new theatre company known as The Stagers offered its first subscription series of limited runs during
the 1924–1925 season, and their musical version of W. S. Gilbert’s comedy Engaged was the fourth and final
offering of the current series, which ended in mid-June 1925; the group presented four more plays during the
1925–1926 season; and in 1927 offered just one production before it disbanded.
Engaged had first been presented in London on October 3, 1877, at the Haymarket Theatre, and its New
York premiere took place at the Park Theatre on February 17, 1879. The Stagers’ production was adapted by
Brian Hooker, who according to the program “found” original period songs by composers Arthur Sullivan,
James Lyman Molloy, Joseph Leopold Roeckel, Ciro Pinsuti, and “others.” Supposedly the original lyrics were
used for some of these numbers, and others were either revised or rewritten by Hooker (who also wrote the
lyrics for new songs by Porter Steele). But one or two critics noted the lyrics were too plot specific, and some
speculated that most if not all had been written by Hooker.
The comedy looked at Cheviot Hill (J. M. Kerrigan) who has the habit of declaring love and then becom-
ing engaged to virtually every woman he meets, and here he’s juggling no less than three fiancées. And while
romance may seem to be on the minds of the engaged individuals, some of the characters are also engaged in
ensuring their financial solvency.
The New York Times praised the “merry and hilarious” evening, which was “as amusing and intelligent
a musical comedy as the season has seen” with “an endless amount of hilarious situations and even of what
the Broadway stage knows as nifties” (the hero tells one of his fiancées that he’s “full of anecdotes,” and is
quick to note that “many of them are in good taste”). The lyrics were of “unusual excellence” and two songs
had a “comic content as high as the season has seen” (the critic mentioned that “lobby gossip” had it that
Hooker had written most of the lyrics).
Time said “one might be tempted to say that nothing like such perfect work as appears [at] the end of the
second act has been done on the musical comedy links this season.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the
New Yorker praised the “boisterous merriment” and noted the audience was “given countless opportunities
to perish of laughter.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “extremely clever” lyrics and said
the burlesque was “all very involved, sharply-pointed fun, fun of the most sophisticated and intelligent kind.”
And Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the “ideal” summer entertainment was “amusing”
and was “one of those few particularly fortunate musical productions that has the foundation of a genuinely
entertaining story” that “keeps the audience in laughter.”
C.G.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society liked the “most interesting” production
and said “no theatre lover should miss it.” Further, it would be “interesting to the student as well as to those
who merely go to be amused.” The critic singled out “Dear, Dear Sisters,” “A Jury of His Peers,” “I’m Going
to Be Married Today,” and “Liberty,” and commented that the latter was “too subtle to be understood at once
by the average person.”
There have been at least two other lyric adaptations of Gilbert’s play. In 1957, the college musical Be-
linda! opened at Catholic University for a limited run. Directed by Robert Moore and with a cast that in-
cluded Philip Bosco, the book was by Jack Carr and the lyrics and music by Jack Olsson. A second adaptation
circa 1970 went unproduced; titled A Wee Bit o’ Scotch, the book was by Jerome Chodorov and the lyrics and
music by Harold Rome.
JUNE DAYS
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Success of the Season”
Theatre: Astor Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Central Theatre)
Performances: 84
Book: Cyrus Wood
Based on the 1920 play The Charm School by Alice Duer Miller and Robert Milton (which in turn was based
on Miller’s 1919 novel The Charm School).
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Seymour Felix; Scen-
ery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John L. McManus
Cast: Ralph Reader (Butler), Gladys Walton (Susie Rolles), Winifred Harris (Mrs. Rolles), Berta Donn (Sally
Boyd), Maurice Holland (George Boyd), Lee Kohlmar (Herman Van Zandt), George Dobbs (David Stewart),
Roy Royston (Austin Bevans), Claire Grenville (Miss Hayes), Millie James (Miss Curtis), Elizabeth Hines
(Elise Benedotti), Jay C. Flippen (Johnson), Aileen Meehan (Helen), Bobbie Perkins (Dorothy), Sylvia Carol
(Edna), Bebe Stanton (Muriel), Joan Lyons (Renee); Pupils of the Bevans School: Clara Bauer, Winifred
Beck, Isabelle Brown, Adelaide Candee, Sylvia Carol, Wilhemina DeBrauw, Dorothy Deeder, Helen Doyle,
Frances Ebert, Ethel Fuller, Shirley Guistin, Jean Lyons, Aileen Meehan, Mabel Olsen, Jacqueline Paige,
Bobbie Perkins, Bebe Stanton, Flora Watson, Beatrice Wendell, June Zimmerman
The action takes place during the present time in a suburb near New York City and in and around Bevanstown,
New York.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Ralph Reader, Gladys Walton, Girls); “Something Wrong with Me” (Roy Royston, George
Dobbs, Girls); “Rememb’ring You” (Gladys Walton, Roy Royston, Girls); “Lucky” (music by Alfred, aka
Al, Goodman and Maurice Rubens) (Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston); “June Days Waltz” (Elizabeth Hines,
Roy Royston, Maurice Holland); “A Busy Evening” (George Dobbs, Maurice Holland, Berta Donn, Gladys
Walton, Girls); “Why Is Love” (Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Arithmetic Dancing Bee” (George Dobbs, Girls); “You Can’t Shush Katie” (J. C. Flippen); “Strike”
(Roy Royston, Girls); “Charming Women” (Roy Royston, Girls); “Anytime, Anywhere, Anyhow” (lyric
by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers) (Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston); “How Do You Doodle Do?”
(Elizabeth Hines, Roy Royston, Berta Donn, George Dobbs); “Naughty Little Step” (Jay C. Flippen, Girls);
Reprise (song not identified in program)
Act Three: “Girls Dream of One Thing” (Berta Donn, Girls); “Safety in Numbers” (Roy Royston, Berta Donn,
Girls); “Please, Teacher” (Girls); “Take ’Em to the Door Blues” (J. C. Flippen); Finale (Company)
June Days was based on Alice Duer Miller’s 1919 novel The Charm School, which during the following
year was adapted by Miller and by Robert Milton for the stage as The Charm School (the play included one
song, “When I Discover My Man,” lyric by Miller and music by Jerome Kern). Burns Mantle in the Chicago
Tribune reported that the Shuberts had later produced School Belles, a musical version of The Charm School
adapted by Dorothy Donnelly with music by “Ayer” (probably lyricist and composer Nathaniel D., aka Nat
D., Ayer); this musical starred Lynne Overman and June Walker, and closed on the road. Eventually, the
1925–1926 Season 265
Shuberts tried again, this time with June Days, and the new version was a hit in Chicago (the book was by
Harry Wagstaff Gribble, but by the time the production reached New York the adaptation was credited to
Cyrus Wood).
The long run in Chicago didn’t translate to Broadway success, and after two months in New York June
Days was back on the road (the Boston flyers announced that the production boasted “the fastest stepping
chorus ever seen in New York and Chicago!”). For Chicago and New York, Elizabeth Hines and Roy Royston
were the young lovers of the piece, and in blackface Jay C. Flippen played the role of a gardener. For the post-
Broadway tour, Flippen reprised his character, and Wyn Richmond and Jack McGowan were the romantic
leads.
The plot was simple enough. Austin Bevans (Royston) inherits a girls’ boarding school, and decides the
educational mission of the Bevans School is to teach charm to young women. And soon Austin is charmed
off his feet by pupil Elise Benedotti (Hines).
The New York Times noted that the chorus girls played the pupils and danced at every opportunity, and
a good thing, too, because without their dancing and kicking the show would “have seemed much longer
than it actually proved to be.” And of course, there was a dormitory scene, which ensured that the chorines
cavorted about in flimsy nighttime apparel. Of the songs, “June Days Waltz” had an “agreeable air,” “Why Is
Love” afforded the two leads a chance “to pose and pirouette gracefully,” and “Anytime, Anywhere, Anyhow”
had “real musical quality.” Flippen provided “boisterous amusement,” and more than one critic liked his
comment about a girl who was “so stingy that during the eclipse she tried to send a night letter.”
Time mentioned that the musical had been successful in Chicago because “possibly it was different out
there.” The musical was adapted “with sedulous aridity of wit,” and if you could “stand stretches of ram-
blings unrelieved” to watch Hines and the chorus you might like it. Variety said the book was “deadly dull”
and not one song promised to be “an outstanding hit.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that
June Days was “in no way striking,” and “at times it doesn’t strike at all” and goes on “aimlessly.” Mantle
said that for all the iterations of the material, he didn’t see “just how it could be more stupid than it is now.”
And Heywood Broun in the Oakland Tribune said the book was “simply impossible,” the music “only fair,”
and although Hines and the “feverish” dancers “helped now and then” they were “wading through severely
heavy sand.”
Leading man Royston received a pack of negative notices, ones which were surprisingly adverse for the pe-
riod, and most of the critical animosity revolved around his smug self-assurance. Time said he “seems terribly
sure that he is funny” and “that is where he is wrong.” Pollock felt that both Hines and Royston “would be
easier to admire unreservedly if they were on less good terms with themselves,” and Royston’s “falsettos and
ventriloquial tricks are less than fascinating” because “he likes to glitter a bit too much” and “wants above all
to be cunning.” And Broun said he was a “nervous bore.” Mantle decided the musical was “fearfully blasted”
by the actor, said he’d “seen few worse performances” than the one given by this “self-conscious” performer,
and wondered “how he escaped suppression in Chicago.” In fact, if Royston had “smirked his way through
the run there,” then “the old town must be losing its self-respect.” But the Times said Royston “added a good
deal of quiet comedy” to his role and “sang in good voice.”
During the run, “Why Is Love” and “You Can’t Shush Katie” were dropped, and “All I Want Is Love” (lyric
by James Kendis, music by Hal Dyson) was added. One song in the score (“Anytime, Anywhere, Anyhow”)
was by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart indicates the music is
extant but the lyric is lost.
As noted above, Miller and Kern had a brief connection when the composer contributed a song to the
1920 stage adaptation of The Charm School, and the two were later represented together on Broadway when
Miller’s novel Gowns by Roberta was adapted into Kern’s long-running hit Roberta (1933).
CAPTAIN JINKS
“The Musical Comedy” / “A Great Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Comedy Success”

Performances: 167
Book: Frank Mandel and Laurence Schwab

Music: Lewis E. Gensler and Stephen Jones
Based on the 1901 play Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines by Clyde Fitch.
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producers: Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel; Choreography: Sammy Lee;
Scenery: Frederick Jones; Costumes: Kiviette; Stratford Clothes; Brooks Uniform Company; Lighting:
Display Stage Lighting Company; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: J. Harold Murray (Captain Robert Jinks, U.S. Marine Corps), Max Hoffman Jr. (Lieutenant Charles
Martin, U.S. Army), Arthur West (Seaman Frederick Lane, U.S. Navy), Ferris Hartman (Belliarti), Joe E.
Brown (Hap Jones), Sam Coit (A Federal Inspector), O. J. Vanasse (A Policeman), Louise Brown (Mlle. Su-
zanne Trentoni), Marion Sunshine (Honey Johnson), Nina Olivette (Annie), Bella Pogany (Mrs. Hochpitz),
Wally Crisham (Times Reporter). Bill Brown (World Reporter), Frederick Murray (Journal Reporter), Jack
Forrester (News Reporter), Jackie Taylor (Band Leader); Ladies: Sophie Howard, Betty Vane, Irene Isham,
Elsie Lombard, Joey Benton, Frances Stone, Katherine Malvern, Amy Frank, Helen Sills, Frankie De Voe,
Lee Byrne, Isabelle Mason, Evelyn Farrell, Margaret Lee, Mary Meehan, Agnes Reilly, Blanche Morton,
Penelope Rowland, Lillian Burke, Ann Lee, Ila Roy, Betty Whitney, Ginger Meehan, Beth Milton, Ruth
Shaw, Idylle Shaw, Betty Richmond, Marie Bandoux, Lucille Osborne, Charlotte La Rose, Carol Cum-
mings, Josephine Fontaine; Gentlemen: John Burns, Wayne Roberts, Charles Sabin, Al Downing, Frank
Cullen, John Meehan, Alan Dale, Andreas Erwing, Marcel Dufan
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble: “So This Is the States” (Nina Olivette, Reporters, Visitors, Sailor Band); “Pals”
(J. Harold Murray, Arthur West, Max Hoffman Jr., Marines, Reporters, Sailor Band); “Kiki” (Louise Brown,
Ensemble); “Ain’t Love Wonderful” (Joe E. Brown, Nina Olivette); “I Do” (Louise Brown, J. Harold Mur-
ray); “Sea Legs” (Arthur West, Marion Sunshine, Sailor Girls); Finale (“All Concerned”)
Act Two: Opening Ensemble: “Strictly Business” (Nina Olivette, Max Hoffman Jr., Reporters, Maids, Bounc-
ers); “You Must Come Over Blues” (lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by Lewis E. Gensler) (Marion Sunshine,
Arthur West); “The Only One” (J. Harold Murray, Debutantes); “You Need a Man, Suzanne” (Louise
Brown, Men); “Oh! How I Hate Women” (Joe E. Brown); “Fond of You” (Marion Sunshine, Max Hoffman
Jr., Arthur West, Ensemble); Musical Scene (J. Harold Murray, Louise Brown); “Dramatic Ballet” (Louise
Brown, Ensemble); “At the Party” (Jackie Taylor and His Captain Jinks Band); “The Only One” (reprise)
(J. Harold Murray); “Kiki” (dance reprise) (Louise Brown, Max Hoffman Jr.); “The New Game” (Joe E.
Brown, Marion Sunshine, Nina Olivette); Finale (“All Concerned”)
Clyde Fitch’s popular comedy Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines opened on February 4, 1901, at the
Garrick Theatre for 168 showings (and thus gave one performance more than the musical version), and H.
Reeves-Smith (Captain Jinks) and Ethel Barrymore (Trentoni) had the leading roles (Barrymore attended the
musical’s opening night, but there doesn’t seem to be any record of her reaction to the lyric version).
The adaptation updated the action of the original play from 1872 to the present time, but otherwise re-
tained the basic story of the comical ups-and-downs of the romance between Marine Corps Captain Robert
Jinks (J. Harold Murray) and famous European opera star Mlle. Suzanne Trentoni (Louise Brown). And, yes,
the Continental diva is a Trentoni, all right, straight from Trenton, New Jersey.
The New York Times said the musical was “rather humorless” and noted that “practically none” of
Fitch’s lines and “absolutely none” of his charm were retained. In their stead were “gags” and “stereotyped
love scenes.” Arthur West was “laboriously unamusing,” and because of a lack of good comic material, Joe E.
Brown wasn’t “particularly effective.” As far as the audience was concerned, virtually everyone onstage could
have gone home and let Sammy Lee’s dancers run “riot.” But the show was “fast-moving,” “unusually tune-
ful” (at least a half-dozen songs stood out), and “gorgeously costumed” (in fact, both the décor and costumes
were “colorful, intriguing and beautiful throughout”). And Murray was the only one of the featured players
“to give unqualified satisfaction” because he was “personable, chevalier-like and tuneful.”
Time said the show “lilted” and “looked well” but was “rather lean” on laughter. The evening was all
“very modern and replete with the Charleston and many pretty girls,” and so the dancing was “skillfully man-
1925–1926 Season 267
aged,” the music “likewise,” and the only “noticeable detriment” was the “lack of laughter.” The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle found the show “woefully lacking in humor,” and the “overstrained attempts to supply comedy”
caused the evening to “drag for the greater part like a purposeless vaudeville.” But Murray was “an earnest
juvenile with a fine tenor voice,” a sailors’ band played “lively” jazz, and one “comic effort” brought a han-
som cab and horse onstage.
Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that the modernized adaptation allowed the chorines
to break into the Charleston, there was much in the way of “wild romping,” and the costumes were some-
times “suggestive.” But for all that, the show was “a better class musical comedy.” Variety said the “youthful
and fast” show had comedy, “dancing strength,” and many “good song numbers,” and thus there was “enough
entertainment” to “carry it along to a fairly good Broadway engagement.”
During the New York run, Ada-May succeeded Louise Brown and also played the role for the post-Broadway
tour. During the New York run, “I Do,” “Musical Scene,” “Dramatic Ballet,” “At the Party,” and the “Kiki”
reprise dance were dropped, and “Prast Chi—Prast Chi” (which the program described as “a gypsy folksong
brought from Russia and arranged for Captain Jinks by Ada-May”) and “Wanna Lotta Love” were added. Note
that “You Must Come Over Blues” (lyric by Ira Gershwin and music by Lewis E. Gensler) had been written for,
but not used in, Be Yourself! The lyric is included in The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin, and the collection
notes that Buddy DeSylva was “incorrectly credited” for the published verse and refrain of the song.
There have been at least two other lyric adaptations of Fitch’s comedy. The opera Captain Jinks of the
Horse Marines (subtitled “A Romantic Comedy in Music”) premiered on September 20, 1975, at the Kansas
City Lyric Theatre (Missouri) with libretto by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jack Beeson; the company
included Robert Owen Jones (Jinks, here called Jonathan Jinks) and Carol Wilcox (Trentoni). The work was
recorded on a two-LP set (with libretto) by RCA Victor Records (# ARL2-1727) and later issued on a two-CD
set by Albany Records (# TROY-1149/50).
On December 17, 1980, the “Musical Entertainment” Hijinks! opened Off Broadway at the Cheryl Craw-
ford Theatre/Chelsea Theatre Center for thirty-nine performances with Joseph Kolinski (Jinks), Jeannine Tay-
lor (Trentoni), Scott Ellis, Evalyn Baron, and Elaine Petricoff. The book was by Robert Kalfin, Steve Brown,
and John McKinney, and the musical drew upon mostly period songs such as “Love’s Old Sweet Song,”
“Walking Down Broadway,” “The Last Rose of Summer,” and “Silver Threads among the Gold.”
NO, NO, NANETTE

“A Musical Comedy” / “The Most Sensational Musical Success of This Generation” /
“The Round-the-World Triumph”

Performances: 321
Lyrics: Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach
Based on the 1919 play My Lady Friends by Emil Nyitray and Frank Mandel (which in turn had been adapted
from the 1914 novel Oh! James! by H. M., aka Helen May, Edginton).
Direction: H. H. Frazee; Producer: H. H. Frazee; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Alfred Wohlk & Co.; Costumes: Milgrim; Schneider-Anderson; Frances; Benham; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Niclas Kempner
Cast: Georgia O’Ramey (Pauline), Eleanor Dawn (Sue Smith), Wellington Cross (Billy Early), Josephine Whit-
tell (Lucille), Louise Groody (Nanette), Jack Barker (Tom Trainor), Charles Winninger (Jimmy Smith),
Beatrice Lee (Betty from Boston), Mary Lawlor (Winnie from Washington), Edna Whistler (Flora from
’Frisco); The Maids: Helen Keyes (Helen), Ethel Gibson (Ethel), Beatrice Wilson (Beatrice), Eva Vincent
(Eva), Beth Milton (Beth), Margery Bailey (Margery), Hazel Pando (Hazel), Ruth Kent (Ruth), Bonnie Bland
(Bonnie), Lucille Moore (Lucille); The Marrieds: Lillian MacKenzie (Mrs. Holmes-Gore), Veeda Burgett
(Mrs. Smythe-Smith), Winefride Verina (Mrs. Townley-Morgan), Adele Ormiston (Mrs. Brown-Maddox),
Aline Martin (Mrs. Ormesby-Willard), Ellen O’Brien (Mrs. Webster-Wylie), Peggy Johnstone (Mrs. Parker-
Lyne), Eleanor Rowe (Mrs. Codman-Russell), May Sullivan (Mrs. Whitney-Cabot), Jane Hurd (Mrs. Lane-
Gardner); The Bachelors: Edward Nell Jr. (Edward), Jerome Kirkland (Jerome), Alfred Milano (Alfred),
William Bailey (William), Stanley Lipton (Stanley), Douglas Keaton (Douglas), Ray Moore (Ray), Frank
Parker (Frank), Edouard Lefebvre (Edouard), Robert Spencer (Robert)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Atlantic City.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Otto Harbach; (**) = lyric by Irving Caesar; (***) = lyric probably cowritten by Harbach
and Caesar
Act One: Opening: “Flappers Are We” (***) (Georgia O’Ramey, The Maids, The Marrieds, The Bachelors);
“The Call of the Sea” (*) (Wellington Cross, The Maids, The Bachelors); “Too Many Rings around Rosie”
(**) (Josephine Whittell, The Maids, The Marrieds, The Bachelors); “I’m Waiting for You” (*) (Louise
Groody, Jack Barker); “I Want to Be Happy” (**) (Louise Groody, Charles Winninger, Ensemble; Dancers:
Beatrice Wilson, Margery Bailey; Ukulele Players: Beatrice Wilson, Helen Keyes); “No, No, Nanette” (*)
(Louise Groody, The Bachelors); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “The Deep Blue Sea”/“Peach on the Beach” (***) (Louise Groody, Ensemble); “My
Doctor” (*) (Georgia O’Ramey); “Fight over Me” (*) (Charles Winninger, Beatrice Lee, Mary Lawlor,
The Maids; Dance: Mary Lawlor); “Tea for Two” (**) (Louise Groody, Jack Barker, Ensemble); “You
Can Dance with Any Girl (at All)” (**) (Josephine Whittell, Wellington Cross, Ensemble); “I Want to
Be Happy” (reprise) (Charles Winninger, Wellington Cross, Edna Whistler, Beatrice Lee, Mary Lawlor);
Finale (Company)
Act Three: Opening: “Hello, Hello, Telephone Girlie” (*) (Wellington Cross, Beatrice Lee, Mary Lawlor, Edna
Whistler, Ensemble); “Who’s the Who” (aka “‘Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone’ Blues”) (**) (Josephine Whit-
tell, The Bachelors); “Pay Day Pauline” (*) (Georgia O’Ramey, Charles Winninger, Wellington Cross);
Finale (Company)
Along with Rose-Marie, No, No, Nanette was reportedly the most financially successful musical of the
1920s. The Student Prince in Heidelberg may have run longer, but Rose-Marie and Nanette enjoyed un-
precedented business on the road and were international successes as well (promotional material for one of
Nanette’s road companies reported that the show had been produced in twenty-seven countries, including
Russia, Germany, Egypt, Palestine, India, China, and Japan). The New York run for Nanette is somewhat
misleading: 321 performances was a healthy run for the era and clearly placed the show in the hit column,
but with the musical’s reputation and its popular songs “Tea for Two” and “I Want to Be Happy” one might
assume the show would have topped five or six hundred showings.
No doubt the musical’s unprecedented success on the road was partially responsible for the somewhat
short New York run. At the time of the Broadway opening, Nanette had been playing on the road for some
eighteen months. The world premiere took place in Detroit on April 20, 1924, and from there the show moved
to Chicago, where it played forty-four weeks and then to Boston. Another company played six months in
Philadelphia, a third company hit the road for shorter engagements, and London saw the musical six months
before the Broadway opening (see below). As a result, many theatergoing out-of-towners had probably seen
the show in their own cities, and some may have seen the musical in London, and so when they visited New
York they opted for another musical.
The season was rich in new hits, and in fact Nanette’s opening was part of a history-making Broadway
week. Within the seven-day period of Nanette’s premiere, three other successes opened (Richard Rodgers
and Lorenz Hart’s Dearest Enemy, Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond King, and Jerome Kern’s Sunny), and
never before and never again would four consecutive smash hit musicals open during such a short time
period. And soon more new shows were on the boards, some hits, others not, but all in all, they constituted
more choices for the public: Jerome Kern’s The City Chap, Sigmund Romberg’s Princess Flavia, Irving
Berlin’s The Cocoanuts, the Gershwins’ Tip-Toes, George Gershwin (and Herbert Stothart’s) The Song of
the Flame, and Rodgers and Hart’s The Girl Friend. In addition to a number of well-received revues, there
were hold-overs from the previous season, including Rose-Marie, The Student Prince in Heidelberg, and
Louie the 14th.
1925–1926 Season 269
Nanette took place in Sue and Jimmy Smith’s townhouse in Manhattan and in the playground of Old
Atlantic City. Unbeknownst to Sue (Eleanor Dawn), her millionaire and Bible-publisher husband Jimmy
(Charles Winninger) has innocently been providing generous cash allowances to three gold diggers, Betty from
Boston (Beatrice Lee), Winnie from Washington (Mary Lawlor), and Flora from ’Frisco (Edna Whistler). Jimmy;
Sue; their young ward, Nanette (Louise Groody); their friend and lawyer Billy Early (Wellington Cross) and his
wife, Lucille (Josephine Whittell); Lucille’s nephew and Nanette’s beau, Tom Trainor (Jack Barker); and the
Smith’s cook, Pauline (Georgia O’Ramey), take off for an Atlantic City vacation, and the three vamps turn up
at the Smith’s Chickadee Cottage and expect their sugar daddy to supply them with more simoleons.
Sue mistakenly assumes that Billy is romantically involved with the three girls, and (of course) she has no
other recourse but to tell Lucille about Billy’s apparent unfaithfulness. But the mix-ups and misunderstand-
ings are happily resolved by the final curtain.
Besides the evergreens “Tea for Two” and “I Want to Be Happy,” Youmans’s score yielded the lively ad-
monishment “Too Many Rings around Rosie” (“will never get Rosie a ring”), the jubilant warning that “You
Can Dance with Any Girl (at All)” (“as long as you come home with me”), and the scorching low-down blues
“Who’s the Who” (better known as “‘Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone’ Blues”).
The New York Times said it was easy to understand why No, No, Nanette had been popular in Chicago
as well as “points West, East, North, South,” because the musical was a “highly meritorious paradigm of its
kind.” The evening offered “vigorous merriment” and “agreeable tunes,” and in fact, the score had “more
familiar quotations from itself than even Hamlet.” The “mirth-provoking” Winninger gave “the best perfor-
mance of his career,” Groody was “lithe, tuneful and personable,” and the “handsomely statuesque” Whittell
sang an “interesting” blues number (“‘Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone’ Blues”).
Time noted that the musical had played in Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and “40 or 50 other towns,” and
it was probably an “impertinence to advise the world at large that it is a good show.” Groody and Winninger
were respectively “as pretty a dancer and as funny a fool as the town now boasts,” and “Tea for Two” and
“I Want to Be Happy” were “conspicuous” (if now “elderly”) hit songs. G. C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
decided that New York could “afford to overlook for once the impudence of a play’s being so successful on
the road that it took months to bring it” to Broadway, and Jack Barker was “so good-looking that nobody for
a moment dared to hope that he wouldn’t finally get Nanette, bless her dancing heart.”
Ibee in Variety said the show had “everything a musical comedy should have,” and noted that the sets
gave “tone and class” to the evening because there was “no skimping in the props and furniture—they cost
real money.” The opening night didn’t have “a dull moment,” the final curtain fell at 11:40, and except for “I
Want to Be Happy” (which for one Chicago performance garnered some two-dozen encores, according to the
reviewer) the encores were kept to a minimum.
During the run, “My Doctor” was cut, and during the tryout, “I’ve Confessed to the Breeze” (lyric by
Otto Harbach) was dropped (but later used in the 1971 revival); the title song was a new version of “My Boy
and I” (lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II and William Cary Duncan) from Mary Jane McKane and “Waiting for
You” was a revised version of “You Started Something” (lyric by Arthur Francis, aka Ira Gershwin) from Two
Little Girls in Blue.
To everyone’s surprise, a 1971 Broadway revival of Nanette was a smash and ushered in the so-called
nostalgia craze in musicals, movies, music, and television. The revival opened on January 19, 1971, at the
46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre for 861 performances and was faithful to the spirit and basic story
of the original. It was adapted by Burt Shevelove, and although Busby Berkeley got a “production supervised
by” credit, it was Shevelove who directed the fast-paced show and Donald Saddler who devised some of the
most exciting dances of the era. The revival’s casting coup was that of bringing back Ruby Keeler (as Sue) to
Broadway after forty-two years. Yes, suddenly at the top of a staircase was the iconic 1930s movie musical
legend, and as if drawn by the strains of “I Want to Be Happy” as sung by the chorus boys as they plunked
their ukuleles, she descended the stairs and joined the boys in a showstopping shuffle. This was one of those
moments when all hell broke loose in a Broadway theatre: here was Hollywood royalty back on Broadway for
the first time since 1929, and in one of the era’s blockbusters.
And that wasn’t all. Beloved old-timer Patsy Kelly (as Pauline) was there, too, in all her dead-pan glory as
she fought a battle of wills with an independent-minded vacuum cleaner; endearing Jack Gilford was Jimmy,
Sue’s eternally befuddled husband; Helen Gallagher (Lucille) and Bobby Van (Billy) knocked out the audience
with “You Can Dance with Any Girl (at All),” a stunning seven-minute look at almost every dance style of
the era (including the maxixe, turkey trot, tango, and Castle Walk); and later Gallagher, drenched in blue
lighting and swathed in a midnight-blue gown, belted out the smoky torch song “‘Where-Has-My-Hubby-
Gone’ Blues” as a quartet of would-be sheiks in dinner clothes made it clear they’d willingly substitute for
hubby; and Susan Watson (Nanette) and Roger Rathburn (Tom) were the perfect embodiment of a 1920s in-
génue and juvenile.
The revival was musical comedy nirvana, and Gallagher and Kelly walked off with Tony Awards, as did
Saddler and costume designer Raoul Pene Du Bois. Four numbers from the original 1925 production weren’t
included in the revival (“Flappers Are We,” “My Doctor,” “Fight Over Me,” and “Pay Day Pauline”) and two
songs were added, “I’ve Confessed to the Breeze” (lyric by Otto Harbach), which had been deleted during the
original’s tryout, and “Take a Little One-Step” (lyric by Zelda Sears), which had first been heard in Lollipop.
“Always You” (lyric and music by Charles Gaynor) and “Only a Moment Ago” (which utilized music from
an unpublished song by Youmans, with a new lyric by Shevelove) were dropped during the revival’s tryout.
The 1971 cast album was released by Columbia Records (LP # S-30563), which also issued the private
promotional recording Backstage at ‘No, No, Nanette’ (LP # AS-2-1023) in which radio and television inter-
viewer Lee Jordan talked with lyricist Irving Caesar, cast members Keeler, Van, Kelly, and Gallagher, and Mrs.
Anne Youmans Tucker, Vincent Youmans Jr., and Dr. Ceciley Youmans Collins (the recording also included
selections from the cast album as well as other songs by Youmans). The CD of the cast album was released by
Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy (# SK-60890) and includes the deleted “Only a Moment Ago” (with Keeler
and Gilford); some of the interviews on the Lee Jordan promotional recording; and the previously recorded but
unreleased second-act opening and “Peach on the Beach.”
The tryout of the original production of Nanette had a rough patch during which most of the leading
players were replaced and when songs were tossed and added. The tryout of the 1971 revival was not without
its own problems, and these are well documented in Don Dunn’s The Making of “No, No, Nanette” (Citadel
Press, 1972). Tom Tiller and then Hiram Sherman played the role of Jimmy, and finally Gilford assumed the
role, and Carol Demas (as Nanette) was succeeded by Susan Watson. As noted, “Always You” was dropped,
as was “Only a Moment Ago.”
As mentioned, the London production opened six months before the Broadway premiere on March 11,
1925, at the Palace Theatre for 665 performances (Binnie Hale was Nanette); the musical was revived in Lon-
don at the Hippodrome in 1936 for 115 showings; and a second revival (based on the 1971 Broadway produc-
tion) opened at the Drury Lane on May 15, 1973, for 277 performances with Anna Neagle (Sue), Anne Rogers
(Lucille), Thora Hird (Pauline), Tony Britton (Jimmy), and Teddy Green (Billy). Eight songs by members of the
1925 London cast were recorded (“I’ve Confessed to the Breeze,” “I Want to Be Happy,” “No, No, Nanette,”
“Take a Little One-Step,” “Tea for Two,” “Too Many Rings around Rosie,” “‘Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone’
Blues,” and “You Can Dance with Any Girl at All”), and later these were issued on a pairing with Jerome
Kern’s Sunny (which premiered on Broadway during the same week Nanette opened) on Stanyan Records
(LP # SR-10035). These eight numbers were also issued on a pairing with the 1927 London cast recordings of
Youmans’s Hit the Deck (EMI/WRC Records LP # SH-176). The cast album of the 1973 London revival was
released by CBS Records (LP # 70126).
A 1930 film version by First National Pictures is believed lost. Directed by Clarence C. Badger, the cast
included Bernice Claire (Nanette), Alexander Gray (Tom), Lucien Littlefield (Jimmy), Louise Fazenda (Sue),
and ZaSu Pitts (Pauline). From the Broadway production, “Tea for Two,” “I Want to Be Happy,” and possibly
the title song were retained, and various new numbers were interpolated into the score by a variety of lyricists
and composers (including “Were You Just Pretending?,” lyric and music by Herman Ruby and M. K. Jerome).
A 1940 RKO film version directed by Herbert Wilcox starred Anna Neagle as Nanette (Neagle played Sue
in the 1973 London revival of the musical), Richard Carlson (Tom Gillespie), Victor Mature (William Trainor),
Roland Young (Jimmy), Helen Broderick (Sue), Eve Arden (Kitty), Tamara Drasin (Sonya), Billy Gilbert (Styles),
and ZaSu Pitts (again playing the role of Pauline) (note that some of the characters’ names are newly created
for the film). The movie retained five songs (“Tea for Two,” “I Want to be Happy,” “‘Where-Has-My-Hubby
Gone’ Blues,” “Take a Little One-Step,” and the title song), and the DVD was released by Synergy Entertain-
ment/Synergy Archive Series.
Warner Brothers’ 1950 Tea for Two retained four numbers (“Tea for Two,” “I Want to Be Happy,” “The
Call of the Sea,” and the title song) and wove them into a completely new story line (which actually is
reminiscent of the plot for Yes, Yes, Yvette). Directed by David Butler, the film starred Doris Day, Gordon
MacRae, Eve Arden, Billy De Wolfe, S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, Virginia Gibson, and Patrice Wymore. The lat-
ter (also known as Patricia Wymore) became Mrs. Errol Flynn in 1950, and in Tea for Two she made quite
1925–1926 Season 271
an impression as a take-no-prisoners theatre diva and heated up the film with “Crazy Rhythm,” from Here’s
Howe! She also appeared in two Broadway musicals, Hold It! (1948) and All for Love (1949).
Among the songs interpolated into Tea for Two were “Oh Me! Oh My!” (aka “Oh, Me, Oh, My, Oh You”)
(Two Little Girls in Blue; lyric by Arthur Francis, aka Ira Gershwin, and music by Youmans) and “Do, Do,
Do” (Oh, Kay!; lyric by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin). One or two sources indicate “Here
in My Arms” (lyric by Lorenz Hart and music by Richard Rodgers; from Dearest Enemy, which had opened
two nights after the New York premiere of Nanette) was heard in the film, but if so, it was cut and doesn’t
even seem to be part of the underscoring. The DVD is part of the Doris Day Collection (Warner Home Video
#3000018449) and includes “the lost 1930 movie version’s overture from the surviving Vitaphone Discs.” But
this sequence is quite lengthy for a movie’s overture, and besides a generous orchestral medley it includes the
vocals for “Were You Just Pretending?,” which as noted above was written for the film. Because of its length,
one suspects the sequence is play-out music rather than the overture.
A recording of highlights from Nanette was released in conjunction with an early 1960s boxed set of op-
erettas issued by Reader’s Digest and RCA Custom Records (LP # RDM-40-10). Nanette was paired with the
Johann Strauss fils operetta The Gypsy Baron as a promotional recording for the boxed set and was conducted
by Lehman Engel. The selections include “I’ve Confessed to the Breeze” and “Take a Little One-Step.” There
are many other collections of the score, including a 1969 studio cast album released by EMI/Columbia/Odean
Records (LP # TWO-278) with Vivienne Martin, Ann Beach, and Tony Adams; the selections include the first-
act opening chorus “Flappers Are We,” the second-act opening sequence “The Deep Blue Sea”/”Peach on the
Beach,” the second-act finale (“Society’s excited . . .”), “Fight over Me,” “I’ve Confessed to the Breeze,” and
“Take a Little One-Step.” Other recordings include Music from the Broadway Musical “No, No, Nanette”
(RCA Victor Records LP # LSP-4504) by the RCA Broadway Strings and Velvet Voices (which includes “The
Call of the Sea” and “Peach on the Beach”).
On April 2, 1986, the musical was presented in concert at Carnegie Hall for five performances. John
McGlinn conducted, and among the singers were Leigh Berry (Sue), Jane Connell (Pauline), Rebecca Luker
(Nanette), Cris Groenendaal (Billy), Judy Kaye (Lucille), Robert Nichols (Jimmy), and George Dvorsky (Tom).
The concert included “My Doctor,” “Fight over Me,” and “Pay Day Pauline.”
The musical was next seen in New York on May 12, 1988, when it was revived by the Equity Library
Theatre for thirty-two performances; the production included “Love Me, Lulu” (the program credited lyric
and music to Irving Caesar, and noted the song was copyrighted in 1988). The most recent New York revival
was presented at City Center by Encores! on May 8, 2008, for six performances with a company that included
Sandy Duncan (Sue) and Charles Kimbrough (Jimmy).
DEAREST ENEMY
“An American Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: September 18, 1925; Closing Date: May 22, 1926
Performances: 286
Book: Herbert Fields
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Music: Richard Rodgers
Direction: Entire production staged by John Murray Anderson and book directed by Charles Sinclair and Harry
Ford; Producer: Harry Ford; Choreography: Carl Hemmer; Scenery: Clark Robinson; Costumes: Mark
Mooring and Hubert Davis (first-act costumes) and James Reynolds (second- and third-act costumes);
Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Richard Rodgers for opening night;
thereafter, Augustus Barrett
Cast: Flavia Arcaro (Mrs. Robert Murray), Alden Gay (Caroline), Marian Williams (Annabelle), Jane Overton
(Peg, Specialty Dancer), Helen Spring (Jane Murray), Andrew Lawlor Jr. (Jimmy Burke), John Seymour
(Captain Harry Tryon), William Eville (General Henry Clinton), Arthur Brown (Lieutenant Sudsby), Har-
old Crane (General Sir William Howe), Detmar Poppen (General John Tryon), Charles Purcell (Captain Sir
John Copeland), Helen Ford (Betsy Burke), Percy Woodley (General Israel Putnam), James Cushman (Major
Aaron Burr); Morgan Scouts: Jack Shannon (Private Peters), Mark Truscott (Private Lindsay), and Percy
French (Private Woods); Frank Lambert (Envoy), H. E. Eldridge (General George Washington), Charles Ben-
nington (Specialty Dancer); Ladies of the Ensemble: Betty Linn, Rachel Chester, Marion Dabney, Roberta
Curry, Mabel Zoeckler, Polly Williams, Josephine Payne, Peggy Bancroft, Elizabeth North, Marita Dennis,
Joy Leitch, Devah Worrell, Gloria Faye, Geneva Price, Mildred Mann, Lucille Smyser, Eugenia Renon;
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: George Harold, John Valentine, Burton McEvilly, Louis Gomez, Walter T.
Burke, Edward Larkin, Conrad Gordon, James Cushman, Don Knobkoch
The musical was presented in three acts (Note: The program referred to the third act as the epilogue).
The action takes place at the Murray Mansion in the Murray Hill neighborhood of New York City in 1776
and then “after the war.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Heigh-Ho, Lackaday” (Flavia Arcaro, Girls); “War Is War” (Helen Spring, Girls); “I Beg Your Par-
don” (Helen Spring, Harold Crane); “Cheerio” (Charles Purcell, Officers); “Full-Blown Roses” (Flavia
Arcaro, Officers, Girls); “The Hermits” (Flavia Arcaro, Detmar Poppen); “Here in My Arms” (Helen Ford,
Charles Purcell); Finale (“Tho We’ve No Authentic Reason”) (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Gavotte” (“Oh, the Light of Heaven’s All A-glimmer”) (dance “arranged by” John Murray Ander-
son) (Officers and Girls); “I’d Like to Hide It” (Helen Ford, Girls); “Where the Hudson River Flows” (Fla-
via Arcaro, Detmar Poppen, Harold Crane, Officers); “Where the Hudson River Flows” Solo Dance (Jane
Overton); “Bye and Bye” (Helen Ford, Charles Purcell); “Old Enough to Love” (Detmar Poppen, Girls);
“Sweet Peter” (Helen Spring, John Seymour, Officers and Girls); “Sweet Peter” Specialty Dance (Charles
Bennington); “Here’s a Kiss” (Helen Ford, Charles Purcell)
Act Three (Epilogue): Opening (Ensemble); “Here in My Arms” (reprise) (Helen Ford); Finale (Company)
Broadway’s remarkable week of hits continued with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Dearest Enemy,
which played on Broadway for almost three hundred performances and then took to the road for a six-month
tour that played in twelve cities. The “baby-grand opera” (so termed by Percy Hammond in the New York
Herald Tribune) was an unusual one that looked at the period of the Revolutionary War and was based on an
actual historical incident.
American patriot Mrs. Robert Murray (Flavia Arcaro) lives on Murray Hill, and during the Revolutionary War
she diverts British General Howe (Harold Crane) and his officers. According to a plaque at Lexington Avenue and
Thirty-Seventh Street, which marks the site of her mansion, The Grange, the diversions included “refreshments
and rest, with pleasant conversations and a profusion of cake and wine.” The British aren’t suspicious because
Mr. Murray is a Tory, and they assume Mrs. Murray subscribes to his loyalist sympathies. Because the British
are distracted by Mrs. Murray, American General Putnam (Percy Woodley) is able to leave the city with his four
thousand troops and escape to Harlem, where they can join General Washington (H. E. Eldridge).
The musical added a romantic subplot concerning a budding romance between Mrs. Murray’s niece Betsy
(Helen Ford) and British Captain Sir John Copeland (Charles Purcell). But the two young lovers don’t become
a British Romeo and an American Juliet, and after the war they’re united in marriage, a union that mirrors
the political peace and cultural heritage shared by their two respective countries.
The charming Rodgers and Hart score offered the evergreen ballad “Here in My Arms” for Betsy and
John; “Cheerio,” a marching song for John and the soldiers; “Where the Hudson River Flows,” a paean to Old
New York and the “forests of Manhattan”; “Sweet Peter,” a salute to Peter Stuyvesant and the “boom-boom-
boom” of his peg leg, which always announced his arrival; and “Old Enough to Love,” which explained that
old geezers have more amorous experience than young and callow Romeo types.
The New York Times praised the “full-toned qualities of the music” and the “richly colored design of the
plot.” The show’s theme was “richer” than the average musical. It bloomed with “fresh charm” and with the
“echoes of the spinet, harp and strings,” and with duets, trios, and choral pieces, Rodgers produced a score
that was “uncommon” as well as “beautiful.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker felt the book
was “dull,” but otherwise the lyrics and music were “fascinating,” the direction was “tasteful and inventive,”
and leading lady Helen Ford was “appealing beyond belief.” Time thought the “humor and interest drag[ged]
a bit through the middle and final sections,” but the costumes, music, and Ford were “decidedly first rate.”
Dixie Hines in the Salt Lake Telegram said, in the vernacular of the 1920s, that Mrs. Murray “vamped”
the British, and thus the theme of Dearest Enemy was “most amusing.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily
1925–1926 Season 273
Eagle noted that the work began like a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, and Rodgers wrote a “light and delightful”
score “with a swing that is easy to remember” and was just the kind of music “one likes to find in comic
operas.” Hart’s lyrics were “very pleasing” and included a patter song, and so there was “no doubt but that
he is a deep student of Gilbert.” But Herbert Fields’s book was written with a “heavy pen” with “little or no
humor,” and the few comic moments that emerged were “trivial, often out of place, and at times in decidedly
bad taste.”
Ed Barry in Variety said the evening “sparkles but lacks that seemingly elusive wallop which puts a show
over.” If the “pace” of the first act could have been sustained, the musical would have been an “undisputed
hit,” and so the production was only “mildly interesting.” But Rodgers had composed a “commendable” score
(of which “Bye and Bye” and “Here’s a Kiss” were standouts), Hart’s lyrics were “gems,” and the work was a
“colorful eye feast” with “much first-class entertainment” that “cannot afford to be missed.” And compared
to other currently running musicals, Dearest Enemy was “a good buy at $3.30.”
In preproduction, the musical was known as Sweet Rebel; during the first tryout stop (in Akron, Ohio)
the title was Dear Enemy; and during the second tryout stop (in Baltimore, Maryland) the title was slightly
altered to Dearest Enemy. Seven songs were cut in preproduction, in rehearsals, or during the tryout (“Ale,
Ale, Ale,” “The Pipes of Pansy,” “Oh, Dear,” “Dear Me,” “Dearest Enemy,” “How Can We Help but Miss
You?,” and “Girls Do Not Tempt Me”), and Joseph Mendelsohn, Stanley Forde, and Marguerite Wolfe were
respectively succeeded by Charles Purcell, John Seymour, and Flavia Arcaro.
“The Pipes of Pansy” was later considered for but not used in The Girl Friend, Peggy-Ann, and She’s My
Baby, and “Here in My Arms” was later heard in the 1926 London musical Lido Lady. “The Hermits” and
“Old Enough to Love” had been written in 1922 for the unproduced musical Winkle Town. Before “The Her-
mits” was sung in Dearest Enemy, it was heard in A Danish Yankee in King Tut’s Court (1923) and Temple
Belles (1924); Danish Yankee was produced by the Institute of Musical Art at the Institute on May 31 and
June 1, 1923, and Belles was presented at the Park Avenue Synagogue on March 20, 1924.
A television version was presented by NBC on November 26, 1955; it was produced and directed by Max
Liebman (and Milton Lyon directed the book), choreographed by James Starbuck, and conducted by Charles
Sanford, with choral direction by Clay Warnick. The adaptation was by William Friedberg and Neil Simon,
and the cast included Anne Jeffreys (Betsy), Robert Sterling (Sir John), Cornelia Otis Skinner (Mrs. Murray),
and Cyril Ritchard (Howe); others in the cast were Donald Burr, Donn Driver, Wynne Miller, and Leila Mar-
tin. The following numbers were retained (here given in the order in which they were performed for the tele-
cast): “Cheerio,” “Sweet Peter,” “Heigh-Ho, Lackaday,” “War Is War,” “I Beg Your Pardon,” “Old Enough to
Love,” “Here in My Arms,” “Gavotte,” “Where the Hudson River Flows,” “Bye and Bye,” “The Hermits,”
“I’d Like to Hide It,” and “Here’s a Kiss” (the only song omitted from the adaptation is “Full-Blown Roses”).
The DVD was released by VAI/Video Artists International # 4550.
There are three recordings of the score. AEI Records (CD # 042) issued tracks taken from the soundtrack
of the television version and presented them in the order they were heard in the original Broadway produc-
tion; among the bonus tracks are “Bye and Bye” and “Here in My Arms,” both sung by original Broadway
cast member Helen Ford (with Douglas Danbury), and selections from the score by The Victor Light Opera
Company. A 1981 studio cast album of the score was released by Beginners Productions Records (LP # BRP1).
In 2013, New World Records (CD # 80749-2) released a two-CD set of the score played by the Orchestra
of Ireland and conducted by David Brophy; the cast includes Kim Criswell (Mrs. Robert Murray) and Stephen
Rea (General George Washington). The set includes the complete score along with a bonus track of “The
Pipes of Pansy.”
A straight-play version of the historical events depicted in Dearest Enemy is Robert E. Sherwood’s post-
humous play Small War on Murray Hill, which opened on January 3, 1957, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre for
twelve performances; the cast included Jan Sterling (Mrs. Murray) and Leo Genn (General Howe), and others
in the company were Daniel Massey, Susan Oliver, Jonelle Allen, and Vinnette Carroll. The direction was by
Garson Kanin, the décor by Boris Aronson, and the costumes by Irene Sharaff.
THE VAGABOND KING

“A Musical Play” / “A Spectacular Musical Play” / “The Most Thrilling Operetta Ever Produced in America”
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Century Theatre)
Performances: 511
Book and Lyrics: Brian Hooker and W. (William) H. Post; Note: The published script credited the book and
lyrics to Russell Janney and Brian Hooker with additional dialogue by W. H. Post.
Music: Rudolf Friml
Based on the 1901 play If I Were King by Justin Huntly McCarthy (which in turn had been based on his 1901
novel of the same name).
Direction: Max Figman; Producer: Russell Janney; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Scenery and Costumes: James
Reynolds; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Anton Heindl
Cast: Robert Craik (Rene De Montigny), Leon Cunningham (Casin Cholet, An Astrologer), Catherine Hayes
(Margot), Merle Stevens (Blanche), Vivian Kelly (Isabeau), Marius Rogati (Jehan Le Loup), Joseph Miller
(Trois Echelles), Jane Carroll (Huguette Du Hamel), Mimi Hayes (Jehanneton), Herbert Corthell (Guy
Tabarie), Carlton Neville (Colin de Cayeul) (Note: Soon after the opening, the character of de Cayeul was
eliminated from the production), H. H. McCullum (Tristan L’Hermite), Max Figman (Louis XI), Dennis
King (Francois Villon), Carolyn Thomson (Katherine De Vaucelles), Bryan Lycan (Thibaut D’Aussigny),
Charles Carver (Captain of Scotch Archers), Olga Treskoff (Lady Mary), Herbert Delmore (Noel Le Jolys),
Julian Winter (Oliver Le Dain), Marian Alta (First Court Lady), Ann Auston (Second Court Lady), Earl
Waldo (Toison D’Or), Tamm Cortez (The Queen), Helen Grenelle (The Dancer), G.L. Mortimer (The
Bishop), William Johnson (The Hangman), Walter Cross (First Courtier), John Mealey (Second Courtier);
Tavern Girls: Eona Murillo, Mimi Hayes, Miriam Franken, Evelyn Stockton, Kathryne Richmond,
Caroline Cantlon, Triny Broekman, Ethel Rea, Therese Hyle, Lucy Lawlor; Scotch Archers: Herbert
Crane, Joseph Batistich, Michael Evans, Harry Clark, John Mealey, Francis Baldwin, Arthur P. Hoyt,
Earl Clayton; Tavern Men: Arthur Kellar, Marius Rogati, George Mortimer, Walter Higgins, Edward
Shelton, E. H. Barlab, Joseph Miller, Ross Ericksen; Court Ladies: Margaret Grove, Ruth Bieber, Grace
Angelau, Cynthia Farr, Theola Vincent, Beatrice Marsh, Helen Ely, Fern Adrian, Fanille Davies, Muriel
Seaman, Florence DeBarde, Margaret La Motte, Sidonie Sutro, Andre Joyce (Note: The last two named
performers may have been in the opening night performance; if not, they joined the company soon after
the premiere); Courtiers: Carlton Neville, Jack Rose, Louis Olary, Walter Cross, Edwin L. Rogers, John
York, Alfred Cortez, Glenn Macauley; Pages and Dancers: Muriel Dawn, Florence Courtney, Madeline
Dare, Estelle Mercier, Margot Miller, Dolores Frank, Melba Lee, Nellie Paley, Betty Chapin, Virginia
Kelley, Dorothy Fitzgibbon
The musical was presented in four acts.
The action takes place in “Old Paris” during the time of Louis XI.
Musical Numbers
Note: See text below for more information.
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); Opening Chorus (“Life Is Like a Bubble in Our Glasses”) (Robert Craik, Men
and Girls); “Love for Sale” (Jane Carroll, Chorus); Drinking Song: “A Flagon of Wine” (Herbert Corthell,
Men); “Song of the Vagabonds” (Dennis King, Chorus); “Some Day” (Carolyn Thomson); “Only a Rose”
(Carolyn Thomson, Dennis King); “Fight Music” and Finaletto (including reprise of “Only a Rose”) (Den-
nis King, Carolyn Thomson, Chorus)
Act Two: “Hunting” (Herbert Delmore, Chorus); “Only a Rose” (reprise) (Carolyn Thomson, Dennis King);
“Song of the Archers” (Charles Carver, Chorus); “Love for Sale” (reprise) (Jane Carroll); “Tomorrow”
(Carolyn Thomson, Dennis King, Chorus); Finale (including reprise of “Some Day”) (Carolyn Thomson,
Chorus)
Act Three: “Nocturne” (Ensemble); Ballet: “Tarantelle” (Dancing Girls); “Nocturne” (reprise) (Ensemble);
“Serenade” (“Lullaby!”) (Herbert Corthell, Julian Winter, Olga Treskoff); Waltz Reprise: “Nocturne”
(Orchestra); “Waltz Duet” (aka “Huguette Waltz”) (“Hearts May Flower—for an Hour”) (Jane Carroll,
Herbert Delmore); “Love Me Tonight” (Carolyn Thomson, Dennis King); Finaletto (reprise of “Song of
the Vagabonds”) (Chorus)
Act Four: Baritone Solo: “Te Deum Laudamus!” (Performer unknown); “The Song of the Mob” (Chorus); Fi-
nale (reprise of “Only a Rose”) (Carolyn Thomson, Dennis King, Chorus)
1925–1926 Season 275
The week-long parade of hits continued with Rudolf Friml’s operetta The Vagabond King, which ran for
511 performances and became the eighth-longest-running book musical of the decade. It included a number
of memorable songs, enjoyed a lengthy national tour and London engagement, was filmed twice and revived
on Broadway once, and inspired many recordings.
The vagabond king is no less than French poet Francois Villon (Dennis King, here creating his second
operetta role within a year; he’d previously starred in the original production of Friml’s Rose-Marie and with
Mary Ellis introduced “Indian Love Call”). Villon is loved by the tragic streetwalker Huguette (Jane Carroll),
but he in turn is enamored of noblewoman Katherine De Vaucelles (Carolyn Thomson), who is related to
King Louis XI (Max Figman). The King in disguise hears Villon mocking him, and, upon consultation with his
astrologer, Louis decides to make Villon king for a day in the hope that the last official act of Villon-as-King
will be to condemn Villon-the-poet to the gallows. But Villon rises to the occasion, and because the Duke of
Burgundy and his followers plan to overthrow Louis, Villon and his “lousy rabble of low degree” overcome
the dissenters and thus save both the nation and the crown. But in trying to protect Villon by intervening in
a swordfight between him and the villainous Thibaut (Bryan Lycan), Huguette is killed by the latter. By the
final curtain, Villon has proven he’s a patriot and a hero, and the King assents to his marriage with Katherine.
The richly melodic score included “Song of the Vagabonds” (a stirring march for Villon and his men), “A
Flagon of Wine” (a rousing drinking song at a tavern, and another musical-theatre salute to drink during the
depths of Prohibition), “Some Day” (a gossamer ballad for Katherine), and “Only a Rose” (a strong declarative
ballad for Villon and Katherine). Other highlights were Huguette’s “Love for Sale,” the “Huguette Waltz,”
and the ballads “Tomorrow” and “Love Me Tonight.”
The New York Times praised the “superfine” operetta that was a “distinguished addition to last year’s
series of better-class musical successes.” Friml’s score was “in his own best tradition,” and James Reynolds’s
décor and costumes were some of the “loveliest” New York “has seen in years.” King was “extravagantly
picaresque and tuneful,” not to mention “manly, sympathetic, [and] personable,” and Thomson sang “in a
manner that indicated that hers have been associations beyond those of the musical stage, but her acting at
times unfortunately indicated the same thing.”
H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker said the work was “stirring” with “good” singing, a
“moving” plot, and “extraordinarily beautiful costumes”; Time praised Friml’s “particularly good music” and
noted the evening was “as good a romantic operetta as one can normally expect” and “in fact, [was] far bet-
ter”; the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the décor and costumes were “a riot of perfectly blending colors,” King
was in “splendid” voice, and the songs were “splendidly suited to the text” with “Song of the Vagabonds” the
“backbone of the score” with its touch of “syncopation that swings you along with its rhythmic beat”; and
the Baltimore Sun noted that here was “one of the most gorgeous operettas ever produced.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the operetta didn’t approach “the high standard of
perfection set by” The Student Prince in Heidelberg, but it was a “beautiful” production and “well worth see-
ing.” The evening was “lovely” to look at, there was “that rare asset, a good story,” and King was “doomed to
be a tremendous matinee attraction.” Friml’s score was “tuneful” and “spirited” but offered “nothing which
will haunt the memory with its beauty.”
Variety said Friml’s score was “comparable to anything written since Robin Hood” (1891), and noted that
while this statement might seem “extravagant,” it was nonetheless “true.” The songs “cannot help but go
far and wide,” and even the “march song” (“Song of the Vagabonds”) would “probably be converted soon into
a fox trot and as such will gain popularity, for its tune and swing are truly great.” The critic noted that the
orchestra numbered thirty-five musicians.
Alexander Woollcott in the Miami News praised the “lovely and glamorous musical romance” with its
“stirring” score, “capital” lyrics, and “thrilling pageantry of costume” which was “not dreamed of in the pre-
Reynolds era of the American stage.” Woollcott noted that some said The Vagabond King was “just as good”
as The Student Prince in Heidelberg, but “after a week of meditation, prayer and some rough figuring on the
back of an envelope, I have come to the conclusion that The Vagabond King is precisely 87 times as good as
The Student Prince.”
The operetta was revived on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on June 29, 1943, for fifty-six performances
with John Brownlee (Villon), Frances McCann (Katherine), and Arline Thomson (Huguette), and with the ex-
ception of “The Song of the Archers” the entire score was retained. The London premiere on April 19, 1927,
at the Winter Garden Theatre played for 480 performances with Derek Oldham (Villon), Winnie Melville
(Katherine), and Norah Blaney (Huguette).
The two film versions, both by Paramount, appeared in 1930 and in 1956. The first was photographed in
breathtakingly rich Technicolor and retained six songs from the Broadway production (“Huguette Waltz,”
“Love Me Tonight,” “Nocturne,” “Only a Rose,” “Some Day,” and “Song of the Vagabonds”) and five new
numbers were added (by composers Sam Coslow and Newell Chase, apparently all with lyrics by Leo Robin).
Ludwig Berger directed, and the cast included Dennis King (in a reprise of his original role of Villon), Jeanette
MacDonald (Katherine), Lillian Roth (Huguette), Warner Oland, and O. P. Heggie.
The second film was directed by Michael Curtiz, choreographed by Hanya Holm, and its cast included
Oreste, aka Oreste Kirkop (Villon), Kathryn Grayson (Katherine), Rita Moreno (Huguette), Cedric Hardwicke,
Walter Hampden, Leslie Nielsen, William Prince, Jack Lord, Lucie Lancaster, Richard Tone, Phyllis Newman,
and Vincent Price (as the narrator). Four songs were retained (“Huguette Waltz,” “Only a Rose,” “Some Day,”
and “Song of the Vagabonds”), and Friml wrote five new ones (with lyrics by Johnny Burke), “Bon Jour,” “Vive
La You,” “This Same Heart,” “Watch Out for the Devil,” and “Companions” (at least one source cites the
latter’s title as “Compatriots”). A sixth song (“Lord, I’m Glad That I Know Thee,” with lyric by Burke and
music by Victor Young) wasn’t in the final release print. The American Film Institute’s website mentions that
another song was written for the movie, “A Harp and a Fiddle and a Flute” (lyricist and composer unknown).
Incidentally, the AFI website reports that the film was completed in February 1955 and wasn’t released until
September 1956.
A complete two-CD set of the score by the Ohio Light Opera was released by Troy/Albany Records
(#TROY-738-39). There was no soundtrack album issued for the 1956 film, but Oreste and Jean Fenn recorded
six songs from the original production as well as four written for the film (“Bon Jour,” “Vive La You,” “This
Same Heart,” and “Lord, I’m Glad I Know Thee”) (RCA Victor Records LP # LM-2004). The Reader’s Digest
LP boxed set Treasury of Great Operettas (released by RCA Custom Records) offers a vividly sung Vagabond
King by Rosalind Elias (Huguette), Sara Endich (Katherine), William Lewis (Villon), and William Chapman
(Tabary), which includes nine songs from the score as well as overture and finale sequences. Another record-
ing of the score is paired with Jerome Kern’s Roberta; released on CD by Decca Records (# 440-018-731-2),
it includes seven songs performed by Alfred Drake, Mimi Benzell, and Frances Bible and conducted by Jay
Blackton.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in an undated edition (probably 1956).
Note that the program didn’t offer a traditional song list, and like a few other musicals during the 1920s
(including Rose-Marie and Chee-Chee) it all but spurned such a list and seemed proud of it. A pretentious
program note boasted that the music was “so repeatedly interwoven with the action” that “a mere list of
numbers can have but little meaning.” And then the program proceeded to list in performance order (and
with the names of the characters who sang them) nine songs from the production (“Love for Sale,” “A Flagon
of Wine,” “Song of the Vagabonds,” “Some Day,” “Only a Rose,” “Hunting,” “Tomorrow,” “Serenade,” and
“Love Me Tonight”). (The song list at the beginning of this entry is taken from the published script.)
SUNNY
“The Aristocrat of Musical Comedy”

Performances: 517
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Julian Mitchell; Dave (David) Bennett
(“The Hunt Dance/Ball” choreographed by Alexis Kosloff; the dancers for the Eight Marilyn Miller Cock-
tails choreographed by John Tiller; Marilyn Miller’s dances with the Boys choreographed by Fred Astaire);
Scenery: James Reynolds; Costumes: James Reynolds; Tappe, Inc.; Schneider-Anderson, Co.; Brooks Cos-
tume Company; Eaves Costume Company; Finchley; Lucile Staff, Inc.; Benham & Company, Inc.; Francis
and Company; Nardi; Whitaker & Company, Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Helene Gardner (Mlle. Sadie), Charles Angelo (Bally Hoo), Paul Frawley (Tom Warren), Joseph Cawthorn
(Siegfried Peters), Clifton Webb (Harold Harcourt Wendell-Wendell), Esther Howard (Sue Warren), Cliff
Edwards (Sam), Marilyn Miller (Sunny Peters), Jack Donahue (Jim Deming), Mary Hay (Weenie Winters),
1925–1926 Season 277
Dorothy Francis (Marcia Manners), Pert Kelton (Magnolia), Louis Harrison (First Mate), Elmer Brown and
Abner Barnhart (Ship’s Officers), James Wilson (Ship’s Captain), Jeanne Fonda (Diana Miles), Joan Clem-
ent (Millicent Smythe), Don Rowan (Groom); Specialty Dancers: Linda, and the team of Marjorie Moss
and Georges Fontana; George Olsen and His Orchestra; Eight Marilyn Miller Cocktails: Peggy Soden,
Leila Riley, Grace Holt, Hilda Stanley, Doris Waterworth, May Cornes, Iris Smith, and Nellie Douglas;
Show Girls: Dorothy Durland, Trude Marr, Claire Hopper, Maida Palmer, Helene Gardner, Rita Glynde,
Alice Brady, Pauline Hall, Anna May Dennehey, and Tatiana; Dancers: Virginia Clark, Victoria Webster,
Helen Shepard, Miriam Miller, Phyllis Reynolds, Helen MacDonald, Zelletta Johnson, Collette Francey,
Jet Stanley, Betty McLaughlin, Beatrice de Shaw, Christine Conniff, Marie Maxwell, Betty Darling, Pearl
Bennett, Rita Royce, Marion Swords, Adelaide Robinson, Louise Stark, Katherine Frey, Elva Pomfret, Julia
Lane, Lorna Sommerville, Margaret Kolloch, Vera Coburn, Laverne Lindsay, Lorraine Eason; Boys: Ward
Tallman, Marshall Sullivan, William Sholar Jr., Robert Williams, Maurice Lupue, Albert Birk, Marcos de
Abreau, Minard Roosa, Irving Carter, Donald Oltrash, Bill O’Donnell, Walter Fairmont, Wensley John-
ston, Ray Justus, Richard Renaud, Louis Yaeckel, Gordon Clark, Roy Moore, Lee Moore, Russell Ash,
Albert Royal, Bob Leroy, Eddie Graham, Don Rowen, Joe Billings, George Comtois, Fred Comtois, Ted
Wenning
The action takes place during the present time in Southampton, England, aboard the S.S. Triumphant, and at
a Southern U.S. resort.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Here We Are Together Again” (Ensemble); Dance (Marilyn Miller Cocktails); “Sunny”
(Paul Frawley, Boys); “Who?” (Marilyn Miller, Paul Frawley); “So’s Your Old Man” (Clifton Webb, Mari-
lyn Miller Cocktails); “Let’s Say Goodnight Till It’s Morning” (Jack Donahue, Mary Hay); “D’Ye (Do Ya)
(Do You) Love Me?” (Marilyn Miller; danced by Jack Donahue); “The Wedding Knell” (Marilyn Miller,
Boys); “Two Little Bluebirds” (Clifton Webb, Mary Hay); Finale (aka “Wedding Scene”) (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “We’re Gymnastic” (Ensemble); “When We Get Our Divorce” (Marilyn Miller, Jack
Donahue); “Sunshine” (Dorothy Francis, Boys; danced by Linda); “All These People I Have Wronged”
and “Who?” (reprise) (Marilyn Miller, Paul Frawley; danced by Marilyn Miller, Jack Donahue, Clif-
ton Webb, Mary Hay, Ensemble); “Paddlin’ Madelin’ Home” (lyric and music by Harry Woods) (Cliff
Edwards); “Just a Little Thing Called Rhythm” (lyric by Chick Endor, music by Eddie Ward ) (Cliff
Edwards); “The Chase” (“The Hounds Have Scented the Fox’s Trail”) (Ensemble); “Strolling, or What
Have You” (Clifton Webb, Mary Hay); “Magnolia in the Woods” (lyric and music by Pert Kelton) (Pert
Kelton); “The Hunt Ball (Dance)” (Ensemble; danced by Marilyn Miller); Dance (Marjorie Moss and
Georges Fontana); Finale (Company)
The last of the week’s four hits was Jerome Kern’s Sunny, a huge success given a lavish production by
Charles Dillingham. The musical played for 517 performances and became the sixth-longest-running book
musical of the decade. It introduced the evergreen “Who?”; starred the leading lady of the era, Marilyn Miller;
played six months on tour; was a hit in London; and was filmed in 1930 (with Miller) and 1941.
Besides Miller, the cast included juvenile Paul Frawley, the acidic Clifton Webb, the soubrette Mary Hay,
dancer Jack Donahue, and a number of specialty performers who all but took over the second act, including
Cliff Edwards (aka “Ukulele Ike”), who sang two interpolations; comic Pert Kelton, who performed a number
she’d written herself; and one Linda, who along with Marjorie Moss and Georges Fontana offered specialty
dances.
Sunny (Miller) is a circus performer in England who happens upon old flame Tom (Frawley), who’s ready
to set sail for home. She stows away on the S.S. Triumphant and agrees to marry Tom’s best friend, Jim (Jack
Donahue), so that she’ll be able to disembark once the ship arrives in the States. So, for expediency, Sunny
and Jim tie the knot and immediately look forward to the time when they’ll get their divorce. But fate steps
in when the twosome realize they love one another and want to remain man and wife.
Besides “Who?,” the ballad “D’Ye Love Me?” and the breezy title number were impressive, and the
score also yielded a number of other delectable songs, including the gaily expectant “When We Get Our
Divorce,” the wistful “Two Little Bluebirds,” and the insinuating syncopations of “Let’s Say Goodnight
Till It’s Morning.”
The New York Times said the “tasteful, unaffected entertainment” was “cut to a familiar stage pattern”
and “its distinction rests in the general excellence of all that it tries to do.” Miller had “personal charm” and
retained “an agreeable air of modesty and young beauty,” and Kern’s score blended “well with the general
scheme” of the evening. While the songs were “usually agreeable,” none of them “haunt[ed] the memory with
exotic motives or unusual patterns” (the critic didn’t mention “Who?,” but singled out “D’Ye Love Me?” and
the title number). Some of the show’s humor came “by way of satire and grotesque stupidities,” and of this
sort the “best” were performed by Webb and Hay, who “in an entertaining, bland manner” worked them-
selves “into an absurd frenzy, which is all the more ridiculous because it is pointless.”
H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker stated that Sunny was “one of the most glorious and
luxurious musical plays the town has seen in recent years,” and “there may be somewhere someone more
beautiful than Miss Miller, but where, where?” The evening included “a dozen other musical comedy favor-
ites, whose names will not be mentioned here, but they’re probably the first twelve people you think of.”
Time said the “much heralded and horribly expensive” show was “unquestionably the most lavish musical
comedy ever assembled and seems to suffer only through an excess of talent.” The work may lack “unity and
a focal interest,” but “as a five-dollar vaudeville show, it is the very best,” and if Miller “never sang better
(which is not saying so much)” she “never danced better (which is saying everything).”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “smooth and extravagant” musical and said Kern
wrote a “number of lively tunes,” Donahue brought humor to a book “notably lacking in humor,” and Kelton
came “close to being the hit of the evening with odd capers,” including an imitation of Charlie Chaplin that
sent audience member Charlie Chaplin “into quiet gusts of laughter.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Inquirer said the “lavish” and “gorgeous” production was
“bound” to have a long run. Donahue proved that “if anybody can make ’em laugh, he can, whether it be by
ridiculous posturing or sure-fire lines,” and Kelton scored with a burlesque of Spanish dancing and a “clever”
and “wordless” imitation of Chaplin. Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press said Sunny was one of the
season’s “substantial successes.” Miller was “delightful,” and the “beautiful and talented” chorus was “a
delight to the ear and eye.”
Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press reported that Miller’s contract was a weekly salary of $2,500, but
she opted to take 10 percent of the show’s weekly gross receipts, which Mantle estimated would guarantee her
over $3,000 per week. Variety indicated that at capacity the musical could gross between $42,000 and $44,000
weekly, and with a reportedly fixed weekly cost of $20,000 in cast members’ salaries, royalties, the “split” be-
tween the production and the theatre itself, and backstage and theatre staff salaries, the trade paper speculated
that Sunny would have to play into a second season to pay back its investment. And if Dillingham didn’t recoup
his investment “‘there ain’t no justice’” because the “tremendous” and “most costly” musical ever produced
offered “probably the greatest avalanche of musical comedy ability that ever swept over a stage.”
During the Philadelphia tryout, “Dream a Dream,” “Under the Sky,” and “Madrigalette” (aka “It Won’t
Mean a Thing”) were cut, but the latter was added to the London production; and “So’s Your Old Man” was
titled “Heaven’s Gift to the Girls.” When Cliff Edwards and the specialty dancers left the show during the
Broadway run, their material was cut, but George Olsen and His Orchestra were given a specialty slot in
the middle of the second act. Dropped in preproduction were “Rig Jig Jigging Away” and an act-one opening
chorus (“Follow the Gang . . .”).
Edwards’s specialties are listed above, and the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Ham-
merstein II notes that during part of his tenure in the musical Edwards also sang “I’ll Say Yes to You and You
Say Yes to Me” (lyric by Chick Endor and music by Eddie Ward) and “I’m Moving Away” (lyric and music by
Cliff Edwards and Irving Caesar). Two different “Sunshine” songs were written, one for New York and then
one for London (according to Complete Lyrics, the latter is based on music Kern had composed in 1913).
The script of the London production was published in paperback by Chappell & Co. Ltd. in 1934, and all
the extant lyrics by Harbach and Hammerstein are included in Complete Lyrics (which notes that the lyric
of “Strolling, or What Have You” appears to be lost). Harbach and Hammerstein jointly wrote the show’s
lyrics, and there seems to be no record of their division of labors and thus both are credited for every lyric in
the production.
The London production opened on October 7, 1926, at the Hippodrome for 363 performances with
Binnie Hale (Sunny), Jack Buchanan (Jim), Jack Hobbs (Tom), and Elsie Randolph (Weenie). Edwards and
1925–1926 Season 279
Kelton’s specialty numbers were of course dropped, and at least four songs were added: “I Might Grow
Fond of You” and Jim’s ingratiating “I’ve Looked for Trouble,” both with lyrics by Desmond Carter; “The
Fox Has Left His Lair” (with a lyric probably by Carter, the song is a variation of New York’s “The Chase”
[“The Hounds Have Scented the Fox’s Trail . . .”]); and “It Won’t Mean a Thing” (which had been cut dur-
ing the Philadelphia tryout). The London company recorded eight songs from the score, including two of
the ones written especially for London: “Sunny,” “Who?,” “Let’s Say Goodnight Till It’s Morning,” “D’Ye
Love Me?,” “Two Little Bluebirds,” “When We Get Our Divorce,” “I’ve Looked for Trouble,” and “I Might
Grow Fond of You.”
The songs from the London production are included in the collection No, No, Nanette/Sunny (Stanyan
Records LP # SR-10035). The collection Sunny (AEI Records CD # 050) includes songs from a variety of
sources: the eight songs recorded by the London cast; a medley of the show’s songs by Jack Buchanan; two
songs from the 1930 soundtrack (“Who?” and the new song “I Was Alone”); two tracks by George Olsen and
His Orchestra (a medley of three songs, “Sunny,” “D’Ye Love Me?,” and “Who?”) and the interpolation “A
Little Bit of Rhythm” (“Just a Little Thing Called Rhythm”); Edwards’s interpolation “Paddlin’ Madelin’
Home”; a medley of songs from the score by the Victor Light Opera Company; and eleven tracks (including
the obscure “Here We Are Together Again” and “Sunshine”), possibly taken from a radio production. The
Broadway Musicals of 1925 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-024) includes “When We Get Our Divorce,” “Pad-
dlin’ Madelin’ Home,” and “I Was Alone,” the latter from the film version (see below).
Note that Broadway Showstoppers (Broadway Angel Records CD # 0777-7-54586-2-6) includes “Who?,”
which is conducted by John McGlinn in the original orchestration by Robert Russell Bennett.
The 1930 film version was released by First National Pictures and directed by William A. Seiter. Miller
reprised her Broadway role, and others in the cast were Lawrence Gray, Joe Donahue (Jack’s brother), O. P.
Heggie, and Inez Courtney. One song from the Broadway production was retained (“Who?”) and four were
heard as background music (“Sunny,” “D’Ye Love Me?,” “Two Little Bluebirds,” and “When We Get Our
Divorce”). As mentioned above, the new song “I Was Alone” (by Kern, Hammerstein, and Harbach, and sung
by Miller) was written especially for the film. The DVD was released by Warner Brother Archive Collection,
and note that the DVD jacket incorrectly credits Florenz Ziegfeld (and not Charles Dillingham) as the pro-
ducer of the Broadway production.
The 1941 film was released by RKO, and directed by Herbert Wilcox; the cast included Anna Neagle
(Mrs. Wilcox), Ray Bolger, John Carroll, Edward Everett Horton, Paul and Grace Hartman, Freida Inescort,
Helen Westley, and Benny Rubin. Four songs from the original production were retained (“Sunny,” “Who?,”
“D’Ye Love Me?,” and “Two Little Bluebirds”). One source indicates a song titled “A Lady Must Be Kissed”
is included in the film’s score (lyricist and composer unknown).The DVD was released by AFA Entertainment
LLC.
MERRY MERRY
“The Merriest of Musical Comedies”

Opening Date: September 24, 1925; Closing Date: March 13, 1926
Performances: 197
Music: Harry Archer
Direction: Harlan Thompson; Producer: Lyle D. Andrews; Choreography: Harry Puck; Scenery: P. Dodd Ack-
erman; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting
Cast: Harry Puck (Adam Winslow). Marie Saxon (Eve Walters), George Spelvin (A Subway Passenger), Sas-
cha Beaumont (Sadi LaSalle), Virginia Smith (Flossie Dell), Lucille Mendez (Conchita Murphy), William
Frawley (J. Horatio Diggs), John Hundley (Stephen Brewster), Robert Pitkin (Henry W. Penwell), Perqueta
Courtney (Mrs. Penwell), Larry Beck (The Stage Manager); As Themselves: Polly Schaefer, Molly Morey,
Ruth Conley, Vivian Marlowe, Gay Nelle, Ednor Fulling, Frances Marchand, Gretchen Grant, Ethel Em-
ery, Ruth Farrar
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It Must Be Love” (Marie Saxon, Harry Puck); “What a Life” (Sascha Beaumont, Virginia Smith, Lu-
cille Mendez, Girls); “Every (Ev’ry) Little Note” (Marie Saxon, Girls); “We Were a Wow” (Virginia Smith,
William Frawley); “My Own” (Sascha Beaumont, John Hundley, Girls); Reprise (song not identified in
program) (Ensemble); “It Must Be Love” (reprise) (Marie Saxon); “Little Girl” (Marie Saxon, Harry Puck);
“I Was Blue” (Harry Puck, Girls)
Act Two: “The Spanish Mick” (Lucille Mendez, Girls); “Oh, Wasn’t It Lovely” (Perqueta Courtney, William
Frawley); “It Must Be Love” (reprise) (Marie Saxon, Harry Puck); “Step, Step Sisters” (Virginia Smith, Lu-
cille Mendez, John Hundley, Girls); “Poor Pierrot” / “Valse Ballet” (Marie Saxon, Girls)
Librettist and lyricist Harlan Thompson and composer Harry Archer specialized in intimate musicals
with small choruses and minimal sets, and they hit pay dirt with their first collaboration Little Jessie James,
which ran for almost a full year and yielded the hit song “I Love You.” Their other three musicals enjoyed
respectable runs, but generally ran for about six months each and none of them included a hit song of “I
Love You” proportions. My Girl played for 291 performances, Merry Merry for a six-month run of 197 perfor-
mances, and their final collaboration Twinkle Twinkle lasted for 167 showings.
Merry Merry focused on Eve Walters (Marie Saxon), who comes to New York in order to pursue a career
in the theatre. She moves in with a group of chorus girls, including gold digger Sadi LaSalle (Sascha Beau-
mont), who alleges that a wealthy Stage Door Johnny broke her rib. Sadi doesn’t want the case to go to court,
and hopes instead to benefit from a generous out-of-court settlement. Eve becomes disenchanted with such
behavior, and decides to leave show business and marry average but reliable Adam Winslow (Harry Puck).
Most of the characters played chorines, and William Frawley (the future Fred Mertz of I Love Lucy) played
Sadi’s lawyer.
The New York Times decided that with their brand of intimate musicals Thompson and Archer had
taken over “the mantle left untenanted” from the hallowed days of the Princess Theatre musicals created
by Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, and Jerome Kern. And while Thompson and Archer’s Little Jessie James
and My Girl had been “good,” Merry Merry was “excellent.” The creators had “broken new ground” with
their shows because they didn’t hold to the tenet that a setting in a show could be used only once, and so
sometimes the action returned to a previous one. And the chorus wasn’t just a chorus, and so here they
were part of the plot. As a result, the show never seemed to be “a product thrown haphazardly together
at rehearsals by ignorant hands,” and instead one realized “a trained writer has been at the wheel.” And
there were “tuneful” songs, two of which (“It Must Be Love” and “I Was Blue”) were “unusually beguil-
ing melodies.”
Time said that here was “a small show with a plot,” and it made “a mild impression.” However, the
dances were “limber,” Saxon was “excellent,” and the score “good” (“It Must Be Love” would “be no small
item in radio evenings during the winter”). Burns Mantle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the musical
was “bright” and “tuneful,” and H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker found Saxon “personable,
agile, [and] tuneful.” And G.H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said Frawley brought
“a considerable element of humor” to his role, and the “uncommonly good show” offered choreography of “a
somewhat eccentric character” that bore “unmistakable evidence of the influence of the Russian mechanical
doll type.”
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press noted that the “happy evening” was “far better than most [mu-
sicals] that come to Broadway.” And the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “captivating entertainment” with its
“catchy” tunes and noted that lyricist Thompson had “the curious notion that the words of a popular song
need not be inane and his lyrics can be listened to without an abuse of intelligence.” Variety said Frawley
was “a fast, glib talker and ad libber who can rewrite his entire role if given the chance. Bill Frawley is right
where he belongs—on Broadway, for among light comedians, he’s a natural.”
Contemporary recordings from the score include “It Must Be Love,” “I Was Blue,” “My Own,” “Every
Little Note,” and “Little Girl,” all of which seem to have been released by HMV Records. The Broadway
Musicals of 1925 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-024) includes “Every Little Note.”
A revised version of the musical with new songs by Joseph Tunbridge and Jack Waller opened in London
on February 28, 1929, for 131 performances at the Carlton Theatre. The cast included W. H. (Bill) Berry and
A. W. Baskcomb.
1925–1926 Season 281
WHEN YOU SMILE

Theatre: National Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Central Theatre)
Performances: 49
Book: Tom Johnstone and Jack Alicoate
Lyrics: Phil Cook
Based on the 1923 play Extra by Jack Alicoate.
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: James P. Beury; Choreography: Raymond Midgley; Scenery: Pogany-
Teichner Studios; Costumes: Mme. Genevieve; Arlington-Mahieu; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Di-
rection: F. Wheeler Wadsworth
Cast: Nita Martan (Elaine Le Mar), Harold Vizard (Henderson), Philip Lord (Michael Malone), John Mau-
rice Sullivan (John W. King), Wynne Gibson (Ann), Jack Whiting (Larry Patton), John B. Gallaudet (Jack
King), Ray Raymond (Wally King), Carol Joyce (June Willard), Richard Saunders (Jimmy Flynn), Thomas
McKnight (R. H. Osgood), June Justice (June), Imogene Coca (Imogene), Florence Arledge (Florence),
Myrtle Le Roy (Myrtle), Dorothy Humphries (Dorothy), Babs Grieg (Babs), Woody Lee Wilson (Woody),
Mildred Tolle (Mildred), Carol Seidler (Carol), Marjorie Brooks (Marjorie), Betty Colet (Betty), Edna
Pierce (Edna), Margaret Miller (Margaret); F. Wheeler Wadsworth and His Orchestra
The action takes place during the present time in Los Angeles.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Spanish Moon” (Nita Martan, Girls); “Naughty Eyes” (Nita Martan); “One Little Girl” (Jack Whit-
ing, Girls); “Let’s Have a Good Time” (Ray Raymond, Girls); “Gee, We Get Along” (Wynne Gibson, Jack
Whiting); “When You Smile” (Ray Raymond, Carol Joyce)
Act Two: Entr’acte (F. Wheeler Wadsworth Orchestra); “All Work and No Play” (Harold Vizard, Girls); “Keep
Them Guessing” (Nita Martan, Girls); “Keep Building Your Castles” (Carol Joyce); “Let’s Dance and
Make Up” (Jack Whiting, Wynne Gibson)
Act Three: Entr’acte (F. Wheeler Wadsworth Orchestra); “Wonderful Rhythm” (Jack Whiting, John B. Gal-
laudet, Girls); “June” (Ray Raymond, The Four “Hoarse-Men”); “Oh, What a Girl” (Wynne Gibson, Jack
Whiting); “Wonderful Yesterday” (Carol Joyce, Ray Raymond); “Buy an Extra” (Girls); “When You Smile”
(reprise) (Carol Joyce, Ray Raymond); “She Loves Me” (Ray Raymond, Carol Joyce, Wynne Gibson, Jack
Whiting); Finale (Carol Joyce, Ray Raymond, Girls)
When You Smile was an early variation of The Producers’ theme. Publisher and businessman John W. King
(John Maurice Sullivan) wants a cash infusion and decides if his magazine The Movie News fails its stock will
go down, he can then buy all the shares, and when the magazine rebounds he’ll have made a small fortune. To
that end, he has his seemingly incompetent son Wally (Ray Raymond) run the magazine, and all King needs to
do is wait until the magazine collapses. When Wally’s best friend Larry (Jack Whiting) joins the magazine staff,
things look even more propitious for King because Larry borders on the eternally tipsy side. But to King’s shock,
Wally and Larry take the magazine business seriously, convert The Movie News to The Extra, devise publicity
gimmicks (such as a movie-star popularity contest), and soon the new magazine is thriving financially. (Note
that at least one critic identified Wally’s father as Jack King, who was played by John B. Gallaudet.)
When You Smile lasted for just forty-nine performances and marked the last book musical composed by
the generally luckless Tom B. Johnstone, whose only bona fide smash was the Marx Brothers’ farrago I’ll Say
She Is! which, because of the brothers’ comic antics, enjoyed a long run of 313 performances. Prior to I’ll Say
She Is! and When You Smile, Johnstone’s three other book musicals were Up in the Clouds (89 showings),
Molly Darling (101), and Plain Jane (168).
The New York Times noted that the members of F. Wheeler Wadsworth’s orchestra joined Raymond “col-
lege glee style” when he sang the “graceful” title song; that during “Oh, What a Girl,” Wynne Gibson and
Jack Whiting performed a “dumb show” duet to the orchestra’s “mock sounds of flute, horn, and saxophone
‘conversation’”; and that during the intermissions the orchestra performed and “added a few stunts of its
own.” And the critic especially liked the lyric of one (unidentified) song which made the astute observation
that when you dial a wrong number, that number is never busy.
Time said the “middling” musical wasn’t “very funny,” but mentioned that “two or three excellent
melodies and general dancing help”; Brett Page in the Indianapolis Star found the show “modest and not
amusing”; and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the dancers as the evening’s “outstanding” feature (during
the season, many critics noted that it was often the chorus members who stole a show). Variety said there
was “not a chance” for When You Smile, and the length of its run would depend how long cut-rate tickets
attracted potential customers. Further, the musical wasn’t “outstanding in any one particular” and the loca-
tion of the National Theatre (on West 41st Street and today known as the Nederlander) was “against it.” But
the critic was particularly taken with the musical pantomime for “Oh, What a Girl” and noted the sequence
was “fun and perfect.”
Comedian Imogene Coca made her debut as one of the chorus girls, and soon became a welcome staple in
revues and then later on television. When You Smile was her first book musical, and her second appearance in a
Broadway book musical occurred fifty-three years later when she appeared in On the Twentieth Century (1978).
HOLKA POLKA
Performances: 21
Book and Lyrics: Willi Walzer (translated by Derick Wulff); American book adapted by Bert Kalmar and Harry
Ruby; American lyrics by Gus Kahn and Raymond B. Eagan
Music: Will (William) Ortmann
Based on the 1920 German operetta Fruhling im Herbst (libretto by Willi Walzer and music by William Ort-
mann).
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Carl Reed; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery and Costumes: Livingston
Platt; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Harry Anderson (Auctioneer), James C. Morton (Adam Cook), Frances H. Cherry (Marie Karin), Or-
ville Harrold (Peter Novak), May Vokes (Gundel), Patti Harrold (Peterle Novak), Esther Lyon (Ellen
Novak), Harry Holbrook (Max Munz), Robert Halliday (Karel Boleslav), George E. Mack (Baron von
Bruck), Charles Thompson (Coachman), Thomas Burke Jr. (Rudi Munz), Vincent Langan (Jan), John
Sherlock (Henri Novothy); Specialty Dancers: Marion and Martinez Randall, Lisa Parnova, Rosa de
Cordoba, Edwin Strawbridge; Ladies of the Ensemble: Jean Armstrong, Isabelle Benson, Aileen Booth,
Phyllis Burkhardt, Ely DeMar, Lillian Clinton, Betty Creditor, Renee Lowrie, Ruth Elaine, Florence Cro-
zier, Vera Dale, Barbara Dean, Adrienne DeSales, Josephine Doane, Willoa Fellows, Mary Huber, Beatrice
King, Dorothy Johnson, Dorothy Wilson, Ray Lloyd, Sylvia LaMard, Milba LeVander, Ila McCall, Henri-
etta Merriman, Viola Wayne, Alice Mitchell, Olive Wanda, Patti Patterson, Frances Patton, Kaye Renard,
Bess Ringwald, Clementine Regeau, Valerie Sargent, Christine Schyler, Mabel Williams, Edith Stich, May
Speed, Lea Roy, Hilda Withers; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Alec Bowman, Lloyd Briggs, Harry Ellston,
Paul Elsoner, Ben Fleck, Nicholas Globatcheff, Buddy Carmin, Harry Heller, Russell King, Jack Lerner,
Richard Lear, Maurice Martin, James Martin, Al Monty, Trope Reynolds, Fred Ortmann, F. D. Porterfield,
Morris Ragalsky, Joe Rogers, Leon Kartavy, Albert Hurt, Reginald Thomas, Ben Trotman, Holmes Wash-
burn, Val Sholar
The action takes place in a village and in Prague, Czecho-Slovakia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Mary to the Market Went” (Ensemble); “I Want to Be a Bad Little Boy” (Patti Harrold);
“The Highway’s Call” (Art Students); “Home of My Heart” (Orville Harrold); “Spring in Autumn” (Or-
ville Harrold, Patti Harrold, Harry Holbrook, Frances H. Cherry, May Vokes, Ensemble); “In a Little
1925–1926 Season 283
While” (Patti Harrold, Robert Halliday); “Holka Polka” (Patti Harrold, Robert Halliday, Ensemble); Spe-
cialty Dance (Rosa de Cordoba, Edwin Strawbridge); Finale
Act Two: “Fairy Tale” (Patti Harrold, Thomas Burke Jr., Chorus); Specialty Dance (Lisa Parnova); Specialty
Dance (Marion and Martinez Randall); “When Love Is Near” (Patti Harrold, Orville Harrold); “This Is
My Dance” (Patti Harrold, Robert Halliday, Ensemble); Specialty Dance (Marion and Martinez Randall);
“Goodfellow Days” (Harry Holbrook, Ensemble); Finale
Act Three: “Chimes of the Chapel” (Ensemble); “Home of My Heart” (reprise) (Orville Harrold, Ensemble);
“Holka Polka” (reprise) (Patti Harrold, Robert Halliday, Ensemble); Finale
Holka Polka was one of the season’s biggest disasters, a failure that lasted less than three weeks and lost a
small fortune. Although Carl Reed was the producer of record, most if not all of the capitalization was reput-
edly financed by the star, Orville Harrold, and his family.
Harrold had created the role of Captain Dick Warrington in Victor Herbert’s 1910 hit operetta Naughty
Marietta, in which he introduced “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” “I’m Falling in Love with Someone,” and, with
Emma Trentini, “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life.” During his years with the Metropolitan Opera, the tenor origi-
nated the roles of Meiamoun in the world premiere of Henry Kimball Hadley’s Cleopatra’s Night and then of
Paul in the first American production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt. His daughter Patti Harrold
had appeared in two previous musicals (the title role of Glory and then later in Al Jolson’s vehicle Big Boy),
and for Holka Polka both father and daughter appeared together.
It seems Orville and family thought the novelty of a real-life father and daughter in the leading roles of a
new Broadway musical would draw audiences, and maybe they believed the American adaptation of the 1920
German operetta Fruhling im Herbst (Spring in Autumn) would be the perfect vehicle for the two. The show
was lavishly appointed with colorful décor and costumes and a large chorus of singers and dancers (includ-
ing specialty performers who appeared in four dances, three of which dominated the second act). But loads
of scenery, dozens of chorus members, and the teaming of father and daughter didn’t excite would-be ticket
buyers, and Holka Polka was gone after twenty-one performances and marked both Patti and Orville’s final
Broadway show.
A week after the musical closed, Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune reported that Orville, his wife, and
their “kin” had lost around $75,000 in the venture, and it was “neither overconfidence nor bad judgment
that brought about this family disaster.” He suggested the failure was due to poor marketing, because the
show should have employed “a veritable campaign of advertising” on the order of what Dillingham and the
Shuberts brought to their productions. As a result, “the refilling of the Harrold treasury will laboriously begin
again.” Variety estimated the musical cost about $100,000 to produce, noted that the top ticket price was
$4.40 and the lowest price for a Saturday night performances was $2.20, “which makes the price list rather
steep.” The work was “heavy and expensive to run, and as the operetta opposition in town right now is heavy,
it appears Holka Polka will at best get a mild run.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “heavy-going” evening offered “delightful lilting
melodies” but little else. It not only had “the dullest sort of humor,” there were also “patches of crude low
comedy” and even “larger patches of bad acting.” The “most commonplace treatment” of the story was “not
blessed by attractiveness,” and there was a “lack of shining ability among the members of the cast.” Orville
was a “first-rate” singer but otherwise was “not an appealing figure,” and Patti was “not an actress of the
caliber required for anything but the most minor roles in an entertainment of this kind.” The show had cost a
“great deal” of money to produce, but “little wisdom” had been employed on how that money had been spent.
Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star noted that the humor was “somewhat labored,” and sometimes
the “low comedy” managed “to get rather lost in the plot.” But Patti was “enchanting,” the score offered
“lovely” waltzes, and Livingston Platt’s décor and costumes were “elaborately and tastefully” designed. Time
said the evening provided a “few bright spots, of which the humor was not one,” and Orville’s “brilliant”
voice was “called upon to sing a score of rather ordinary quality.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New
Yorker liked the “good” show, which was “as tuneful as could be desired” and included three or four “good”
songs. And the New York Times commented that the creators had forgotten to include “a reasonably intel-
ligent and comic book” and the lyrics were “unusually poor,” but there was the “inevitable” drinking song
performed by a male chorus “in as impressive and harmonious a fashion as only drinking songs deserve.” Will
Ortmann’s score was “eminently pleasing,” with “more than average distinction” (the critic suggested that
“at least one pleasing number” was composed “by a more native composer” than the German Ortmann, and
one suspects the book adaptors Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby injected an interpolation or two).
As for the plot, Holka Polka focused on aspiring artist Peterle (Patti), who knows very little about her
father and doesn’t realize that older acquaintance Peter (Orville) is actually her long-lost parent. It turns out
that Peter was unfairly accused of something or other, but Peterle eventually clears his name, and father and
daughter are reunited.
During its tryout, the show was titled Spring in Autumn, then Nobody’s Girl, and finally Holka Polka,
a title reminiscent of Joe Weber and Lew Fields’s burlesques on the order of Hoity Toity, Hokey Pokey, and
Roly Poly. Note that future film composer Max Steiner was the production’s musical director.
THE CITY CHAP

“A Comedy of Country Life with Musical Numbers”

Performances: 72
Book: James Montgomery
Music: Jerome Kern
Based on the 1909 play The Fortune Hunter by Winchell Smith.
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery and
Costumes: James Reynolds (Costumes executed by Brooks Costume Company); Schneider-Anderson &
Co.; Francillon; Eaves Costume Company; Finchley; Earl Benham; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Fred Lennox (Robbins), Irene Dunn (later, Dunne) (Grace Bartlett), John Rutherford (Stephen Kel-
logg), Richard (“Skeets,” aka “Skeet”) Gallagher (Nat Duncan), Robert O’Connor (Pete), Eddie Girard
(Wally), Phyllis Cleveland (Betty Graham), Francis X. Donegan (Tracey Tanner), Mary Jane (Angie),
Frank Doane (Blinkey Lockwood), Hansford Wilson (Roland Barnett), Charles Abbe (Sam Graham),
George Raft (George Spelvin), Ina Williams (Josie Lockwood), Helyn Eby Rock (Miss Sperry), Pearl
Eaton (Pearl), Betty Compton (Betty), Marjorie Moss and Georges Fontana (Specialty Dancers), George
Olsen and His Band, The Mound City Blue Blowers; Ladies of the Ensemble: Beth Meakins, Blossom
Vreeland, Constance Brown, Ona Hamilton, Danzie Goodell, Patricia Fitzpatrick, Bessie Mulligan,
Gladys Lake, Frisco DeVere, Jerry Markham, Betty Winslow, Katherine Kohler, Nickie Pitell, Mildred
Sinclair, Betty Block, Jane Lane, Peggy Dolan, Autumn Sims, Lucy Monroe, Katherine Burnside, Ursula
Dale, Margaret Morris, Kathleen Errol, Beatrice Hughes, Joan Lindsay, Myrtle Cox, Rita Farrell, Mary
Pierce, Jeanne Edwards, Hallie Manning, Bobbie Breslaw, Muriel Harrison, Edythe Flynn, Nell Kincaid;
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Al Watson, Hal Stevens, J. Hughes, Alfred Hale, Ward Arnold, Wallace
Jackson, Milton Halpern, Hal Hennessey
The action takes place a few years ago in New York City, Radford, New York, and Saratoga.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Like the Nymphs of Spring” (Irene Dunn, Girls); “The Go-Getter” (John Rutherford, Irene Dunn,
Girls); “Journey’s End” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); Finaletto (Ensemble); “Sympathetic Someone”
(Phyllis Cleveland, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); “The City Chap” (Robert O’Connor, Eddie Girard, Hans-
ford Wilson, Ina Williams); “He Is the Type” (Ina Williams, Phyllis Cleveland, Girls); “Journey’s End”
(quartette reprise) (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Phyllis Cleveland, Ina Williams, Mary Jane); “If You Are
as Good as You Look” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ina Williams, Mary Jane); Finaletto (Eddie Girard,
Robert O’Connor, Betty Compton, Hansford Wilson, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening: “Fountain of Youth” (Lucy Monroe, Helyn Eby Rock, Mary Jane, Danzie Goodell, The
Mound City Blues Blowers); “A Pill a Day” (Hansford Wilson, Ina Williams); “Walking Home with
Josie” (Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Ina Williams, Francis X. Donegan, Mary Jane, Charles Abbe, Robert
O’Connor, Hansford Wilson, Pearl Eaton, Boys and Girls); “Bubbles of Bliss” (Ensemble; Dancers: Mary
1925–1926 Season 285
Jane, Hansford Wilson, George Raft); “No One Knows (How Much I’m in Love)” (Phyllis Cleveland,
John Rutherford, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Irene Dunn); Dances (Marjorie Moss and Georges Fon-
tana, George Wilson and His Band); “When I Fell in Love” (John Rutherford, Phyllis Cleveland, Richard
“Skeets” Gallagher, Irene Dunn; Dancer: Hansford Wilson); Finale (Ensemble)
A month before the premiere of Jerome Kern’s The City Chap, the composer’s Sunny had opened to rave
reviews, its ballad “Who?” became one of the most popular show songs of the era, and the musical was at
the beginning of a marathon run that would eventually tally 517 performances. But The City Chap stumbled
badly: it didn’t attract audiences, its score is one of the composer’s most obscure, and the production closed
after just two months on Broadway.
The musical was based on Winchell Smith’s popular 1909 comedy The Fortune Hunter, which played
for 345 performances and starred John Barrymore as Nat Duncan who, in a reversal of the usual process,
leaves the big city in order to seek his fortune in a small town (in Nat’s case, by marrying a rich girl). For
the musical, the city chap was Richard (“Skeets” aka “Skeet”) Gallagher, who decides to move to a podunk
and establish himself as a solid fellow. He even takes a job in a run-down drug store owned by Sam Graham
(Charles Abbe), and there he works hard and turns the store’s fortunes around by transforming part of it
into what Time described as “a jazz tea-room” that played hot music and served liquor (note that the story
took place in pre-Prohibition days). Nat has set his sights on Josie Lockwood (Ina Williams), the daughter
of the town’s wealthy banker, but he soon realizes that Graham’s daughter Betty (Phyllis Cleveland) is the
girl for him.
Note that future movie tough-guy George Raft was here in the midst of his dancing career (the “Bubbles
of Bliss” sequence was his big moment); in the Saratoga ballroom scene, George Olsen and His Orchestra
played on stage while the regular theatre orchestra conducted by Victor Baravalle stayed in the pit; dancer
Betty Compton became better known as New York City Mayor James J. Walker’s wife (he was in office from
1926 to 1932, and the two were married in 1933 and divorced in 1941); and the dance team of Marjorie Moss
and Georges Fontana briefly left Sunny in order to join Olsen and his musicians for the Saratoga scene.
And with The City Chap, future screen legend Irene Dunne (here known as Irene Dunn) began the first
of her many stage and film associations with Jerome Kern. She later toured as Magnolia in Show Boat, and
reprised the role in Universal’s classic 1936 film version (where she introduced “Gallivantin’ Aroun’”). She
also starred in two other film versions of Kern’s musicals, Sweet Adeline (1934) and Roberta (1935; where she
introduced “Lovely to Look At”); Kern’s original 1937 film musical High, Wide and Handsome (she intro-
duced “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” and “Can I Forget You?”); and the 1938 film comedy Joy of Living
(she introduced “You Couldn’t Be Cuter”).
The New York Times said The City Chap was a “whirl of success” and predicted “Walking Home with
Josie” would “rival” Kern’s other ballads and emerge as the show’s “musical hit.” Time decided the musical
wouldn’t be a “sensation” but was “sufficient for its purpose” with a few “excellent” songs, some “frenzied”
dances, and a “small supply of jokes.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “well-rounded and satisfying”
show. F.H.T. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the musical was a “brisk, colorful,
[and] pleasing entertainment” that boasted “crisp” dialogue. Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star singled
out three “song hits” in the “amusing” musical (“Walking Home with Josie,” “Sympathetic Someone,”
and “Journey’s End”). And H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker liked the “pleasing” musical,
singled out Cleveland and Gallagher for their performances, and decided that while most of the evening was
“typical” it was nonetheless “of a high quality throughout.”
Variety noted that The City Chap was “on the same block with Sunny” but wasn’t “on the same street
with it.” Actually, it was a “dandy” show but it wasn’t the “solid knockout it might have been.” The songs
were “adequate,” the ensembles were “O.K,” the first act dragged, there was “too much story,” and, perhaps,
“too much Gallagher.” The performer did “everything nicely,” but “too much hangs on him” and he shouldn’t
have been asked “to carry [the show] alone.” Further, the book needed to be revised in order “to relieve him
of some of the responsibility” of carrying a “$25,000-a-week-burden” (which was the show’s weekly nut).
During the tryout, “Why?” and “June Bells” were cut. And during the course of the Broadway run, two
songs (“Head and Heels in Love,” with lyric by Irving Caesar and music by Leo Edwards, and “Saratoga”) were
added to the score, and four numbers (“If You Are as Good as You Look,” “Bubbles of Bliss,” “No One Knows
How Much I’m in Love,” and “When I Fell in Love”) were dropped. “Journey’s End” had originally been heard
in Kern’s 1922 London hit The Cabaret Girl.
“He Is the Type” is included in the Kern collection The First Rose of Summer (Music Box Recordings CD
# MBR-04003); the Ohio Light Opera’s two-CD recording of The Cabaret Girl includes “Journey’s End” (Al-
bany/Troy Records # TROY-1103/04); and the collection You Can’t Put Ketchup on the Moon (Rialto Records
CD # SLRR-9201) includes “No One Knows” and “Sympathetic Someone.”
FLORIDA GIRL
Performances: 40
Book and Lyrics: Paul Porter, Benjamin Hapgood Burt, and William A. Grew
Music: Milton Suskind; additional music by Edgar Fairchild
Direction: Frederick Stanhope; Producer: Earl Carroll; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery: Karl O.
Amend; Will Pogany; Joseph Teichner (settings); Bernard Lohmuller (art and technical direction); Cos-
tumes: John E. Stone; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Donald Voorhees
Cast: Jack Fisher (Station Master), Thomas Herbert (Train Man), Kenneth Curry (First Porter), Kenneth Havi-
land (Second Porter), James S. Barrett (Horace Egan), Parker Fennelly (Mike), Irving Beebe (Henry Elkins),
William Foran (Hop Morgan, aka Edwards), Nellie Breen (Betty), Jack Norton (Wilmer Bantam), Allyn
King (Madge Bantam), Lester Allen (Sandy), The Ritz Brothers (Al Socrates, Jimmy Plato, and Harry Ar-
istotle), Gertrude Lemmon (Natalie), Vivienne Segal (Daphne), Jeannette Gilmore (Marcelle), Nina Penn
(Wee Toy), Hope Vernon (Marie), Chester Fredericks (Gregory), Arthur Bryson (Chocolate), Strappy Jones
(Vanilla), Gracella (Ada), Theodor (Gio), Anally Pupp (a canine who played a pooch named Satan); Show
Girls: Miriam Avondale, Florence Allen, Barbara Carrington, Elvonne Hill, Dolla Harkins, Frances Joyce,
Naan Lane, Nellie McCarthy, Grace Norman, Virginia Ray, Eleanor Rainke, Otis Schaefer; Dancers: Polly
Blake, Emily Burton, Betty Campbell, Madeline Calkins, Margaret Callan, Geraldine Dryden, Hannah
Dunner, Bessie DeBraw, Val DeMar, Marie Ellen, Renne Johnstone, Lowen Kildare, Kitty Leckie, Carlotta
Marino, Mildred Marthain, Norrine Nash, Cheri Pelham, Lucille Pryor, Alice Raisen, Virginia Van, Jus-
tine Welsh, May Welsh, Claire White, Wren Wilson
The action takes place during the present time in Florida (mostly in Coral Gables, the “Miami Riviera”).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Travel, Travel, Travel” (Ensemble); “Dance of the Porters” (Arthur Bryson, Strappy Jones); “Or-
anges” (Lester Allen, Ensemble); “The Collegians” (The Ritz Brothers); “Lady of My Heart” (Irving Beebe,
Jeannette Gilmore, Ensemble); “Skipper” (Chester Fredericks, Nina Penn, Ensemble); “Smile On” (Irving
Beebe, Nellie Breen); “Into Society” (The Ritz Brothers); “Daphne” (Vivienne Segal, Irving Beebe); “Beauti-
ful Sea” (Nellie Breen, Nina Penn, Chester Fredericks); “Oh You!” (Vivienne Segal, Ensemble); Finaletto
(Company)
Act Two: Opening (reprise of unidentified song) (Principals, Ensemble); “Trouble” (Jack Norton, Ensemble);
“Chinky China Charleston” (Nina Penn, The Ritz Brothers); “As a Troubador” (Hope Vernon); Dance
(Chester Fredericks); “Venetian Skies” (Vivienne Segal); “Valse Ballet” (Gertrude Lemmon); Adagio (Gra-
cella and Theodor); Finale (Company)
During the 1920s, Long Island and Greenwich Village were the musical comedy locales of choice, but
with the Florida land boom that state temporarily became a favorite location as well. In fact, three of the
season’s musicals were set in Florida, as Irving Berlin’s The Cocoanuts and the Gershwins’ Tip-Toes soon
followed Florida Girl. Tip-Toes managed almost two hundred performances and the Marx Brothers’ vehicle
The Cocoanuts ran for almost three-hundred showings, but Florida Girl was a fast flop that lasted just five
weeks.
Earl Carroll’s production was originally known as Oh You! (which remained as the title of one of the
production’s songs). Variety noted that the new title Florida Girl and its locale of Coral Gables (which the
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program identified as the “Miami Riviera”) was “the give-away on the real estate tie-up” because according
to an “unofficial report” a realty company in Coral Gables invested $25,000 in the production.
Like The Cocoanuts, the plot of Florida Girl revolved around stolen jewelry. Unbeknownst to heroine
Daphne (Vivienne Segal), smugglers have hidden diamonds in the heel of one of her shoes, and chaos erupts
when the shoes are stolen. Soon the smugglers, the police, a private detective, Daphne, and her boyfriend
Henry (Irving Beebe), along with just about everyone in Florida are looking for the lost shoe, and (for reasons
known only to the musical comedy gods) the stolen jewels must be recovered by midnight!
The New York Times praised Segal’s “Oh You!” and her “splendid” rendition of “Venetian Skies”; liked
Lester Allen in his series of disguises as the detective Sandy; enjoyed the “terpsichorean gyrations” of the
three Ritz Brothers (who played Al Socrates, Jimmy Plato, and Harry Aristotle); and laughed at Jack Norton
(as Wilmer Bantam), who’s always in search of his black toupee (when someone fires a shot at him, he dis-
covers that his newly found toupee has turned white from fright). There was also Anally Pupp, of the canine
persuasion, in the role of Satan, described by the Times as “a peculiar specimen of a dog.” And for various
numbers (including “Chinky China Charleston”) the “agile” dancers “went through contortions that made
the world-famous Charleston look like mere child’s play.” Because this was an Earl Carroll show, there were
also chorines in bathing suits and “diaphanous” attire, and the girls’ military costumes weren’t “intended
to shield them from any stormy blasts.” Otherwise, the story was as “diaphanous” as the costumes, and the
dialogue wasn’t “particularly brilliant nor especially subtle.”
Time noted that the “process” involved in the discovery of the jewels was “utterly illogical—therefore
completely and amusingly suited to musical comedy.” Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star said Florida Girl
was “one of the best dancing shows on Broadway.” And an enthusiastic article (which one suspects was taken
from a publicity release) in the Davenport, Iowa, Quad-City Times said the musical was the “most lavish”
ever presented by Carroll, and the public had “responded with a vim never before evidenced at the Lyric The-
atre” because “several house records already have been broken.”
Variety found the musical a “boresome, tedious, uninspired, brazenly plugging production that masquer-
ades as entertainment.” Although it was “colorful,” the show was also “creaky” and “lifeless” and “devoid of
luster or brilliancy.” The libretto was “amateurish” and the chorines were “a so-so looking bunch collectively
at best.” The critic gave two examples of the show’s “idea” of comedy: “Don’t be facetious” / “Don’t bring
religion into this” and “You stole my wife, you horse thief.” Variety concluded that based “on its merits as
an entertainment,” Florida Girl was a “bust” and “should fold up soon.”
PRINCESS FLAVIA
“The Most Elaborate Musical Play Ever Produced” / “The World’s Greatest Operetta” / “The Perfect Operetta”
Theatre: Century Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre)
Opening Date: November 2, 1925; Closing Date: March 13, 1926
Performances: 152
Based on the 1895 play The Prisoner of Zenda by Edward E. Rose, which in turn had been based on Anthony
Hope’s 1894 novel of the same name.
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Max Scheck; Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Costumes: Ernest Schraps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, Er-
nest Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Bayer-Schumacher Co., Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Harry Welchman (Rudolf Rassendyl, Rudolf [the Crown Prince of Ruritania]), William Pringle (General
Sapt), John Clarke (Rupert of Hentzau), William Danforth (Franz Teppich), James Marshall (Lieutenant
Fritz von Tarlenheim), Alois Havrilla (Gilbert Bertrand, Josef), Douglass R. Dumbrille (Michael [Duke
of Streslau]), Joseph Toner (Detchard), Earle Lee (De Gautet, Lord Topham), Dudley Marwick (Bersonin,
Lackey, Innkeeper), Phil Darby (Waldheim), Edmund Ruffner (Sturm, Marshal Momsen), Joseph C. Spurin
(Wurfner, Senor Poncho), William Moore (Lauba), William H. Stamm (Nordstrom), Donald Lee (Meller,
Cardinal), Evelyn Herbert (Princess Flavia), Margaret Breen (Helga), Felicia Drenova (Antoinette de Mau-
ban), Maude Odell (Sophie [Frau Teppich]); Ladies in Waiting: Lucille Arnold (Charlotte), Miriam Lax
(Marta), Jessie Bradley (Gella), Ethel Louise Wright (Teresa), Lillian Baker (Minna), Marjorie May (Marie),
Helen Frederic (Helene), Louise Fraer (Blanche), Byrdeatta Evans (Rena), and Maria Laval (Lamia); George
Harold (Lieutenant Blindenhoff), Herbert Goff (Captain Strohman), Eugene Scudder (Captain Fuerer),
Stella Shiel (Princess Edelstein); Ladies of the Ensemble: Edna Starck, Violet Gleason, Lola Taylor, Ann
(possibly Donna) Dolores, Edna Coates, Ingrid Zanders, Jean Voltaire, Alys Schuman, Virginia Allen,
Emily Wentz, Francine Marcella, Billie Perry, Octavia Bullard, Shirley Norton, Evelyn Grayson, Julia
Strong, Xenia Lamakina, Edith Talbot, Doris Stewart, Florence O’Brien, Adele Savoye, Helen Gilligan,
Florence Poyet, Helen Minto, Rosalie O’Reilley, Zena Mora, Jarvis Kerr, Ethel Aaron, Phyllis Marren,
L. Sharpe, Irene Sharpe, Joan Kent, Lenora D’Arcy, Vivian Bell, Maida Marchant, Mary Barlow, Stella
Shiel, Alva McGill, Zenaida Nicolina; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: J. Preston, J. M. Burger, Edwin F.
Bennett, J. Becker, Jimmie Carroll, Charles H. Davis, Gerald Etchells, Lawrence Elwin, Paul Farber, Al-
len Gustaveson, Dan Harris, Henry Hanft, Verman Kimbrough, W. King, Peck Loyal, F. T. Miller, James
Manning, Billy Murray, Charles McDonald Jr., Joseph Moppert, William Provosky, Carl Park, Frank
Pandoffi, Allen Reeves, Dan Richardson, William Russell, Robert Reitner, Brickley Reichner, Morris Sie-
gel, Robert E. Smith, Lionel P. Spencer, Jack Spiegel, Theodore School, Isaac Schrago, Deane Spaulding,
Sam True, Roy Vitalis, John Schuyler Van Tuyle, Herman John Von Eck, Jerome H. Wallace, Francis J.,
Wroblewski, W. Elliott Zerkle, Warner Oakland, Richard Ellis, F. C. MacDan, John Lieter, Philip Snyder,
Frank York, John Maxwell, Larry Lawrence, G. Ribando, George Foxworth, Selig Norman, B. L. Williams,
W. J. Lake, John Fredericks, J. Dillon
The action takes place in Zenda, located in Ruritania.
Musical Numbers
Act One: (a) “Opening Ensemble” (Alois Havrilla, Lucille Arnold, Miriam Lax, Girls) and (b) “Yes or No”
(John Clarke, Joseph Toner, Lucille Arnold, Miriam Lax, Girls); “Chorus of Soldiers” (Men) and “On Com-
rades” (William Pringle, James Marshall, Men); “Marionettes” (Margaret Breen, James Marshall); “What
Care I?” (Harry Welchman); “Convent Bells Are Ringing” (Evelyn Herbert, Ladies); “I Dare Not Love You”
(Evelyn Herbert, Harry Welchman); Finale Act One (Evelyn Herbert, Harry Welchman, William Pringle,
James Marshall, Ensemble) and “By This Token” (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Dance with Me” (John Clarke, Ensemble); “Twilight Voices” (Evelyn Herbert); “Coronation” (En-
semble); “Only One” (Margaret Breen, James Marshall, Men); “Duet” (Evelyn Herbert, Harry Welchman);
Finale (Evelyn Herbert, Harry Welchman, William Pringle, James Marshall, Ensemble)
Act Three: Intermezzo (Orchestra); “I Love Them All” (Harry Welchman, Joseph Toner, Men); “In Ruritania”
(Douglass R. Dumbrille, Officers, Ensemble); “Kermesse Dance” (Ensemble); Reprise (song not identified
in program) (Harry Welchman); Finale (Ensemble)
Sigmund Romberg’s Princess Flavia was based on Edward R. Rose’s 1895 stage adaptation of Anthony
Hope’s 1894 novel The Prisoner of Zenda, and it had all the trappings of old-fashioned operetta. In fact, its
locale was that granddaddy of romantic kingdoms, the old reliable land of Ruritania, a place Hope invented
for his novel and a word that soon defined a story of royalty, romance, intrigue, and swashbuckling derring-do
set in Old Europe.
The Shuberts showered the operetta with lavish production values, including acres of colorful sets, ward-
robes of beautiful costumes, and a large cast and orchestra (the flyer for the post-Broadway tour boasted a
“symphony orchestra of 60”). But the show never quite found its footing and lasted just over four months on
Broadway, a short run that didn’t allow the musical to recoup its production costs.
Romberg’s score was a let-down and failed to yield any standards, and perhaps the story and score were too
reminiscent of Romberg’s hit The Student Prince in Heidelberg. Both plots were in effect mirror images of the
other. The earlier work looked at the doomed romance of commoner Kathie and Prince Karl, for when royal
duty calls he must marry a princess he doesn’t love. For Princess Flavia, commoner Rudolf Rassendyl (London
favorite Harry Welchman, here in his Broadway debut), who resembles Crown Prince Rudolf, is persuaded
to protect the kingdom from the political chicanery that is running riot in Ruritania by masquerading as the
prince until such time as the real prince returns to take his rightful place on the throne. Rassendyl falls in love
1925–1926 Season 289
with Princess Flavia (Evelyn Herbert), but the two realize they must go their separate ways when the prince is
restored to the kingdom and the princess must follow protocol and marry him.
The New York Times praised the “sumptuous and captivating” work, which was “beautiful, tuneful,
majestic and splendid,” and the critic regretted “the superlatives he wasted on even the gorgeous” Student
Prince. The décor was “extraordinarily gorgeous” and the coronation scene was “as beautiful as anything of
a similar nature that has been offered in recent years.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker
found Romberg’s score “sweet, pretty and tuneful,” and slyly noted that “someone” had “hit upon the idea”
of providing a “stein song” for the male chorus (which of course followed the lead of the drinking song in The
Student Prince and thus continued the 1920s Broadway tradition of providing Prohibition-weary audiences
with songs in praise of liquor, wine, and beer).
Time said that jokes were “virtually omitted” from the production, but there were “immoderate supplies
of beautiful scenery, seemingly hundreds of performers, good music and good voices.” The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said the work “presented a bold and stirring picture of forthright splendor,” Romberg had provided a
“very healthy score,” and with so many choral voices the work was “probably the loudest show in Christen-
dom.” And Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune noted that the “grand affair” presented both a forest in Zenda
that provided “a handsome sweep of woodland in autumn browns” and a coronation scene in the palace’s
great hall which was “solidly hung with red banners to the top of a vaulted ceiling.”
R.F.S. in the Baltimore Sun said the evening was a “never-ending spectacle” and “one of the most mag-
nificent things ever staged.” Never before had there been an operetta produced “on a scale comparable to”
Princess Flavia, and here was the “most magnificent scenery that an imaginative mind might conjure,” with
a chorus of 250 singers and an orchestra of fifty musicians. Variety found the music “mediocre” and said if
the score had matched the physical production and talents of the players and the orchestra, the show “would
pack the Century for a year’s run.” Otherwise, the work was a “cinch” for a “good run,” but a score was
“badly” needed.
During the run, “Tell Me” (for Herbert) was added, and the “Kermesse Dance” was cut.
The operetta was first known as A Royal Pretender, and Variety reported that during the first tryout stop
in Newark the Shuberts wanted to replace Welchman with Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King). The trade
paper clarified the matter when it explained that Welchman himself had offered to leave the show because
he’d suddenly lost his voice. It seems the “new-to-him climate” affected his singing, but “one night his voice
came back as suddenly as it had left him.” During the period when Welchman was undergoing vocal difficul-
ties, an advertisement for the show in a New Haven program dated the week of October 19, 1925, gave the
New Haven opening date as October 26 with Woolf and Marguerite Namara as the show’s stars and with the
new title of Princess Flavia.
Meanwhile, Namara had played the title role during the Newark engagement, but Variety reported that
she “walked out,” and apparently didn’t appear in the other tryout cities. (This was the second time within
the year that she had walked out on a musical; see The Love Song.) When the musical was still titled A Royal
Pretender and was advertised to play at the Majestic Theatre in Brooklyn for the week of October 19, an ad-
vertisement in a Majestic program for the week of October 12 featured the names of many of the principal
players and the characters they played, but because Namara was no longer in the cast and Herbert hadn’t yet
joined the production, the ad left a blank space followed by the words “as the Princess Flavia.” Note that
Herbert had been a featured player in Namara’s earlier musical The Love Song, and now she replaced Namara
as the leading lady in the new show.
After the operetta closed on Broadway, there was an eventual (and apparently brief) national tour with
Herbert and with Howard Marsh, who was Broadway’s original student prince. Although the operetta played
little more than four months on Broadway, the flyer for the tour boasted that the show was “direct from its
6-months run in New York.”
Note that various estimates were bandied about in regard to the number of cast members. One critic
guessed there were 150 in the cast, another 250, an advertisement for the Brooklyn tryout stated the chorus
numbered 150, and an ad for the New Haven tryout stated the company numbered 200. But a count of all
the cast members in the New York production add up to a grand total of 129 (130 if Ann Dolores and Donna
Dolores are two different people).
Another musical version of The Prisoner of Zenda closed on the road in 1963 and canceled its New York
opening at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on November 26. As Zenda, the work premiered on August 5 at the
Curran Theatre in San Francisco and permanently closed at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles
on November 16. George Schaefer directed and Jack Cole choreographed, and the book was by Everett Free-
man, the lyrics by Lenny Adelson, Sid Kuller, and Martin Charnin, and the music by Vernon Duke. The cast
included Alfred Drake in the dual roles and Anne Rogers as Princess Flavia. Others in the cast were Chita
Rivera, Carmen Mathews, Susan Luckey, Robert (Bob) Avian, Eddie Gasper, Marc Wilder, Truman Gaige, and
Horace (Lawrence) Guittard.
Zenda took place during the present time of 1963. A program note stated that audiences could better
“identify” with modern-day language, music, dancing, costumes, and 1963 “manners,” and at the same time
audiences could enjoy the “flavor and charm” of small European countries. But it seems that 1963 audiences
didn’t “identify” with a plot that included palace intrigues, mistaken identity, and royal impersonations.
Capitol Records had been scheduled to release the cast album, which of course was canceled due to the pre-
Broadway closing. But a recording taken from a live performance during the Los Angeles engagement was
released by Blue Pear Records (LP # BP-1007) and later by Déjà Vu Records (CD # 1020).
MAYFLOWERS (aka MAY FLOWERS)

“A Play with Music” / “A Glorious Springtime Fantasy of Music, Laughter and Beauty”
Theatre: Forrest Theatre

Performances: 81
Book and Lyrics: Clifford Grey; Frank E. Tours may have contributed additional lyrics
Music: Edward Künneke; additional music by J. Fred Coots, Maurie (Maurice) Rubens, Pat Thayer, and Frank
E. Tours
Based on the 1920 play Not So Long Ago by Arthur Richman.
Direction: William J. Wilson and Joseph Santley; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography:
Earl Lindsay; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Marian Frazee; Harriet Liebman; Brooks Costume Co.;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: J. Frank Cork
Cast: William O’Neal (A Gypsy), Josephine Duval (Gypsy’s Daughter), Nancy Carroll (Jane), Francetta Mol-
loy (Alice), Virginia Lloyd (Mary), George C. Lehrain (Tom), Jules Cross (Harry), Ivy Sawyer (Elsie Dover),
Robert Woolsey (Sam Robinson), David Higgins (Mr. Dover), Ethel Morrison (Mrs. Ballard), Gaile Beverly
(Ursula), Hazel Beamer (Miss Kaye), Charlotte Ayers (Miss Watkins), Lida Mae (Maid), Norman Sweet-
ser (Cicero), Nydia d’Arnell (Rosamond Gill), Joseph Santley (Billy Ballard), William Valentine (Rupert
Hancock), Josephine Duval (Sylvia); Chorus: The Misses Grace Candee, Kayo Tortoni, Peaches Tortoni,
Sybil Stokes, Madeline Montelin, Marion Byrnes, Marie Jensen, Charlotte Fitzgibbons, Margaret Byrnes,
Christine Ecklund, Theodora Loper, Betty Pascu, Sally Bronis, Ronnie Madison, Joan Duval, Kathryn
Browne, Thelma Hoefle, Elaine Sims, June Leslie; The Messrs. Anthony King, Harry Pederson, George C.
Deerking, George C. Lehrain, Jules Cross, Fred Burke, Will Gould, Nickolis Indiveri, Malcolm Duffield
The action takes place “not so long ago” (circa 1870) in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Whoa, Emma!” (Josephine Duval, Virginia Lloyd, Francetta Molloy, Nancy Carroll); “Road of
Dreams” (music by J. Fred Coots, Maurie Rubens, and Pat Thayer) (Ivy Sawyer, William O’Neal); “How
Do You Do? How Do You Do?” (Ensemble); “The Grecian Bend” (Ivy Sawyer, Ethel Morrison, Nydia
d’Arnell, Gaile Beverly); “Play Me a New Tune” (music by F. Fred Coots and Maurie Rubens) (Rupert
Hancock, Gaile Beverly); “Foolish Wives” (Ivy Sawyer, Robert Woolsey); “Take a Little Walk” (music
by J. Fred Coots and Maurie Rubens) (Nydia d’Arnell, Gaile Beverly, Joseph Santley, William Valentine);
“Seven Days” (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley); Finale (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley, Company)
Act Two: Opening (Hazel Beamer, Charlotte Ayers, Ensemble); “The Lancers” (Nydia d’Arnell, Gaile Beverly,
Ethel Morrison, Robert Woolsey, William Valentine); “Oh! Sam” (music by J. Fred Coots and Maurie Ru-
bens) (Ivy Sawyer, Robert Woolsey, Josephine Duval, Virginia Lloyd, Francetta Molloy, Nancy Carroll);
“Mayflower, I Love You” (lyric by J. Fred Coots, Maurie Rubens, and Pat Thayer) (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph
1925–1926 Season 291
Santley); “The Regiment Loves the Girls” (William Valentine, Charlotte Ayers, Hazel Beamer); First
Scene Finale; “Good Night, Ladies” (Boys); “Woman” (Joseph Santley, Robert Woolsey); Reprise (song not
identified in program) (Ivy Sawyer, William O’Neal); “The Wedding Rehearsal” (Nydia d’Arnell, Gaile
Beverly, Girls); “Put Your Troubles in a Candy Box” (music by J. Fred Coots) (Joseph Santley, Josephine
Duval, Nancy Carroll, Francetta Molloy, Hazel Beamer, Charlotte Ayers, Virginia Lloyd); “Down on a
Country Farm” (Robert Woolsey); Finale (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley, Company)
The Cinderella musical Mayflowers looked at poor seamstress Elsie Dover (Ivy Sawyer) who works for
the wealthy Ballard family of New York, dreams of romance, and pretends she has a secret sweetheart. When
her father (David Higgins) asks her beau’s name, she blurts out the first that comes to mind, the name of the
Ballard’s young and eligible bachelor son Billy (Joseph Santley). When Billy discovers Elsie’s fabrication, he
goes along with the deception—and then realizes he’s actually falling in love with the girl! As the show’s flyer
noted, “Love finds a way, making it possible for the curtain to fall on a scene of sheer delight.”
The Shuberts clearly hoped that the musical’s redolent title would attract those playgoers who had earlier
enjoyed their 1917 hit Maytime and other sentimental operettas, and of course the Cinderella story was an-
other enticement. Despite generally good reviews (and during the run a slight change of title from Mayflowers
to May Flowers) the musical managed just ten weeks on Broadway.
The New York Times said the “intelligently directed” musical was “sweet and pleasant and tuneful”
with an “active, comely, [and] well-attired” chorus, “handsome” sets, and a quartet of “four fascinating
young women” (including “attractive newcomer” Nancy Carroll). The songs were “lively and melodious,”
and Sawyer and Santley’s “Mayflower, I Love You” was “as beguiling and generally enchanting a number as
the musical comedy stage of the moment has to offer.” But the evening’s comedy was “in the not altogether
capable hands” of Robert Woolsey.
Time said the musical was a “trifle routine,” and noted “the music, the jokes and the romance seem to
reminisce too much.” But Sawyer and Santley were “pleasant.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New
Yorker said Sawyer was “exceptionally attractive,” but Woolsey “will never be completely funny.” The
show’s attraction was the “charm of the period” in which it took place, but if you took away this charm
you’d still have “much more than most musical shows.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle indicated the “pretty little
musical” was “pleasant fare for the family trade” and offered “romance and charm.”
Alan Dale in the Tampa Tribune praised the “quite delicious” and “irresistibly charming” musical that
gave you “a sort of itching fascination.” It was “gently sentimental, completely romantic and filled to the
brim with the adjuncts of real musical enjoyment.” However, Variety said Mayflowers “misses the mark” and
didn’t offer much to recommend it. The basic story was “good” and score “tuneful,” but there were “short-
comings” in the libretto and the show was “shy” in comedy. Woolsey was a “willing worker” but wasn’t “par-
ticularly funny” with “nifties” that “flopped,” such as, “There are two people I hate; you’re both of them.”
And when he was informed that someone was in bed with malaria and had been sunburned by tropical suns,
his rejoinder was: “No wonder he has tropical sons, being in bed with Malaria.”
During the tryout, the following numbers were cut: “Tell Your Fortune,” “I Need No Prophet,” “Rupert,”
and “A Change of Air.” The tryout’s “Hill of Dreams” became “Road of Dreams.”
The leads Ivy Sawyer and Joseph Santley were Mr. and Mrs. in real life, and during the decade they ap-
peared together in three other book musicals (The Half Moon, Lucky, and Just Fancy). Note that cast member
Nancy Carroll later found stardom in a series of popular films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, including
leading roles in Sweetie (1929), Honey (1930), The Devil’s Holiday (1930, for which she was nominated for
the Best Actress Academy Award), and Follow Thru (1930).
Mayflowers was the first production to play at the Shuberts’ new Forrest Theatre, located on West 49th
Street. The Eagle found the interior “breathlessly gold and dazzling,” Variety said the new house was “beauti-
ful,” and Dale also found it “beautiful” (but noted that the main entrance “didn’t seem to be quite ready” and
so the audience members were “marshaled—one at a time, if you please” through a “side entrance” that was
“so narrow”). Much later the theatre was renamed the Coronet, and today it is known as the Eugene O’Neill.
The venue stumbled with its first three musical bookings (The Matinee Girl and Rainbow Rose soon fol-
lowed Mayflowers), and although the occasional short-running revue or musical played there, the playhouse
was mostly the home of dramas and comedies, including Arthur Miller’s first play The Man Who Had All the
Luck (1944) and the infamous disaster Moose Murders (1983). In fact, it took over twenty years for the theatre
to host a relatively long-running musical when the revue Angel in the Wings opened in 1947.
OH! OH! NURSE

Theatre: Ziegfeld Cosmopolitan Theatre

Performances: 32
Book: George E. Stoddard
Lyrics and Music: Alma M. Sanders and Monte Carlo
Direction: Walter Brooks; Producer: Clark Ross; Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Walter Schaffner; Cos-
tumes: Vanity Fair Costume Co.; Gertrude Vanderbilt; Patsie DeForest; Milgrim; The Hollywood Shop;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Roy Sedley (possibly Smedley) (Jimmy Greet), Gladys Miller (Marie), Vincent Langan (Otto Lift), John
Price Jones (Doctor Sidney Killmore), Rebekah Cauble (Marion Gay), Arthur Lipson (Monsieur Louis
d’Bracz), Bill (possibly Bil) Adams (Will Plant), Leslie King (James Fitzpatrick), Don Barclay (I., aka Ichabod
Dye), Gertrude Vanderbilt (Lily White), May Boley (Mrs. Rose d’Bracz), Georgia Ingram (Peggy); Teach-
ers, Nurses, and Guests: Beryl Golden, Kitty Bird, Lucy Cawthorn, Bernetice Hampshire, Jean Watson,
Ivanelle Ladd, Alice McElroy, Helen Paige, Mercede Mordant, Winfred Bird, Gertrude Hardwick, Georgie
Wilson, Bobby Schubert, Eve Wilson, Evelyn Van, Eva Barborik; The Oh! Oh! Nurse Quartette; Ball Room
Dance Specialty (two unbilled dancers)
The action takes place during the present time in Doctor Killmore’s Sanitorium in the Catskills.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (a) “Descriptive” (Roy Sedley) and (b) “Show a Little Pep” (Roy Sedley, Nurses, Teach-
ers); “Love Will Keep Us Young” (Gladys Miller, Roy Sedley, Girls); “You May Have Planted Many a
Lily” (Gertrude Vanderbilt, Bill Adams); “Way Out in Rainbowland” (Rebekah Cauble, John Price Jones,
Girls); “Cleopatra” (May Boley, Girls); “Danse Oriental” (Georgia Ingram); “Travesty” (May Boley, John
Price Jones, Bil Adams); “Who Bites the Holes in Schweitzer Cheese?” (Don Barclay, Bill Adams, Arthur
Lipson); “Keep a Kiss for Me” (Gladys Miller, Roy Sedley); “Pierre” (Arthur Lipson, Gertrude Vanderbilt,
Georgia Ingram); Finale: “Good Night, My Lady Love” (John Price Jones, Rebekah Cauble, Girls)
Act Two: Opening, “I’ll Give the World to You” (John Price Jones, Girls); “My Heart’s for Sale” (Gladys Miller,
Roy Sedley); “Is It Any Wonder?” (Rebekah Cauble, Girls); “Butter and Egg Baby” (Gertrude Vanderbilt);
“Newlywed Express” (John Price Jones, Rebekah Cauble, Girls); “Under My Umbrella” (Gertrude Vanderbilt,
Bill Adams, Girls); “No, I Won’t” (Bill Adams, May Boley); “Operatic Burlesque” (Bill Adams, May Boley);
“Shooting Stars” (Roy Sedley, Gladys Miller, Girls); Finale: “Way Out in Rainbowland” (reprise) (Company)
Oh! Oh! Nurse took place in Doctor Killmore’s Sanitorium in the Catskills, but squeamish theatergoers
needn’t have worried. Despite its name, the establishment doesn’t perform lobotomies and employ electric
shock treatments. This is a strictly musical comedy hospital, and so the chorus-line nurses wear flimsy
uniforms that would have been right at home in an Earl Carroll revue, and one of the Florence Nightingales
is Marie (Gladys Miller), whom the program describes as “the flapper nurse.” The female patients are more
concerned with their hairstyles than their health, and the characters also include the doctor’s assistant Jimmy
Greet (Roy Sedley), undertaker Will Plant (Bill Adams), worried patient I. (Ichabod) Dye (Don Barclay), and
Lily White (Gertrude Vanderbilt), described in the program as “the butter and egg babe.” There’s also the song
“Who Bites the Holes in Schweitzer Cheese?,” which somehow never became a nationwide hit.
And we can’t ignore the show’s two big production numbers. In one, the nurses in the flimsiest of cos-
tumes parade up and down one of the hospital’s corridors swinging red and white lights because . . . they’re
imitating a locomotive zooming down the tracks. In another sequence which took place on a darkened stage,
the chorine nurses and patients emerge from the patients’ rooms, all wearing pajamas and holding electric
candles, which surely must have been symbolic of something and which no doubt made a nice pictorial effect.
Nurse Marie (Miller) is in a quandary because the terms of her aunt’s will dictate she must be a widow
before she can inherit $2 million. Marie loves the good doctor (John Price Jones) and doesn’t want him dead,
1925–1926 Season 293
and so the patient I. Dye (Barclay) seems a perfect marriage candidate because he’s expected to pop off at any
minute (and in fact he’s shadowed by the customer-friendly undertaker Will Plant, played by Adams). Marie
and I. Dye tie the knot, and marriage serves as a tonic for the patient, who makes a remarkable recovery,
much to the chagrin of everyone, including the undertaker. It isn’t quite clear how Marie and Doctor Killmore
overcome the pesky business of her marriage to Dye, but the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that by the final
curtain “strangely enough, everybody is happy” (and they all sing a reprise of “Way Out in Rainbowland”).
At least one critic mentioned that the will’s proviso was a joke: there was no inheritance, and Marie’s aunt
just wanted to make sure her niece married for love instead of money.
In its cheesy way, it all sounds rather amusing, doesn’t it? Or at least it seems promising until you real-
ize the songs were by the luckless married team of songwriters Alma M. Sanders and Monte Carlo (see Tan-
gerine for more information about their string of mostly flop musicals). And so Oh! Oh! Nurse was gone in
four weeks and was just a bit out of its league in a season that offered No, No, Nanette, Dearest Enemy, The
Vagabond King, and Sunny.
The New York Times warned its readers that the musical offered “some ludicrous situations” and songs
of “no outstanding merit,” but was a show “bound to keep one in a good humor.” Comedienne May Boley
was “plump and passé” with a “gift of gab and a prizefighter’s punch,” and when she offered Mr. I. Dye a
glass of bubbly he poured some of it on his fingernail and explained “if the nail stays on, the stuff is all right.”
Time decided that “middle grade” musicals were “difficult to discuss” because they were “never stimulating
and never wholly dull.” In the case of Oh! Oh! Nurse, there were a couple of good tunes and the clowning of
Boley and Barclay.
The Eagle comfortingly assured its readers the musical wouldn’t “require any expenditure of gray mat-
ter,” and you would “enjoy yourself” with “whistly, tuneful airs,” “pretty” girls, and “excruciatingly funny
comedy that verges on the slapstick.” Broadway hadn’t seen “better dancing” in “a long time,” and “everyone
in the cast shakes a wicked foot.” The songs were “catchy,” the company had “exceptionally good voices,”
and the show seemed “destined for quite a long stay at the Cosmopolitan.”
George Jean Nathan in the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal said “if a poorer show has been seen in New
York in the last five years, I don’t know its name.” Variety noted that the first act was “so mediocre” it
was “surprising,” and while the second was a “distinct improvement, it never did catch up.” The critic
mentioned that the program listed an “unnamed” quartette, and there was “an unprogrammed ball room
team who waltzed very well.” Otherwise, the top ticket price was $3.30 and “would be no bargain for
$2.75,” but there might be “a better return from cut rates, for it’s a certainty the premium agencies will
not handle this one.”
THE COCOANUTS

Opening Date: December 8, 1925; Closing Date: August 7, 1926
Performances: 276
Book: George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
Lyrics and Music: Irving Berlin
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Sam H. Harris; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Woodman Thompson;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Electrical equipment by Duwico and under the direction of Frank
Schmeides; Musical Direction: Frank Tours
Cast: Zeppo Marx (Jamison), Georgie Hale (Eddie), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Potter), Henry Whittemore (Har-
vey Yates), Janet Velie (Penelope Martyn), Mabel Withee (Polly Potter), Jack Barker (Robert, aka Bob,
Adams), Groucho Marx (Henry W. Schlemmer), Chico Marx (Willie the Wop), Harpo Marx (Silent Sam),
Basil Ruysdael (Hennessy), Frances Williams (as Frances Williams), The Breen Brothers, Bernice Speer,
Antonio (later, Tony) DeMarco and Nina DeMarco, The DeMarco Orchestra; Dancing Girls: Grace Car-
roll, Mildred Kelly, Gladys Pender, Evelyn Kermin, Nesha Medwin, Maxine Marshall, Virginia McCune,
Jessie Payne. Beatrice Coniff, Maude Lydiate, Sybil Stuart, Frances Mallory, Eleanor Meeker, Kitty Clay,
Liane Mamet, Xela Edwards; The Cocoanut Grove Girls: Peggy Jones, Florence Regan, Hazel Stille,
Madeline Janis, Hazel Patterson, Dorothy Hughes, Billie Davis, Nancy Phillips, Roberta Haines, Helen
Martin; The Cocoanut Beach Octette: Elsie Pedrick, Maxine Robinson, Rella Harrison, Bonnie Murray,
Billie Williams, Margi (aka Marjorie) Murray, Adele McHatton, Beryle Williams; Gentlemen: Andre La
Pue, Jerry White, Charles Knowlton, Ted Daniels, Mat Matus, Lionel Maclyn, Juan Marlow, Billy De
Wolfe Jr., Phillip Mann, Eugene Day, Jerome Robertson, Lehman Byck
The action takes place during the present time in Cocoanut Beach, Florida.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (a) “The Guests” (Zeppo Marx, The Cocoanut Grove Girls, Boys) and (b) “The Bellhops” (aka
“The Bell Hop” and “Bellboy Opening”) (Georgie Hale, The Sixteen Stepping Bellhops); “(With a) Family
(Fam’ly) Reputation” (Mabel Withee, The Cocoanut Grove Beauties); “Lucky Boy” (Jack Barker, Boys); “Why
Am I a Hit with the Ladies?” (Groucho Marx, Girls); “A Little Bungalow” (Jack Barker, Mabel Withee, The
Cocoanut Grove Girls, Boys); “Florida by the Sea” (Zeppo Marx, Lehman Byck, The Cocoanut Grove Girls,
Boys); “The Monkey-Doodle-Doo” (Frances Williams, The Breen Brothers, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Tea Dance” (Eight Tea Girls); “Five O’Clock Tea” (The Cocoanut Grove Ensemble) and
Specialty Dance (Antonio DeMarco and Nina DeMarco); “They’re Blaming the Charleston” (Frances Wil-
liams, Georgie Hale, Antonio DeMarco and Nina DeMarco, The Charleston Girls); “We Should Care”
(Jack Barker, Mabel Withee, Georgie Hale, Bernice Speer, Ensemble); “Minstrel Days” (Janet Velie, Com-
pany); Specialty (Antonio DeMarco and Nina DeMarco, The DeMarco Orchestra); “Tango Melody” (Janet
Velie) and Specialty Dance (Antonio DeMarco and Nina DeMarco); “The Tale of a Shirt” (aka “I Want My
Shirt”; music based on the “Habanera” from George Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen; note that Bizet adapted
the music of “Habanera” from the earlier “El Arreglito” by Sebastian Yradier) (Basil Ruysdael, Company);
Piano Specialty (Chico Marx); Harp Specialty (Harpo Marx); Finale (Company)
The insanity began at 8:30 p.m., the opening night curtain didn’t fall until midnight, and no doubt stretch-
ers and ambulances were at the ready to attend those in the audience who’d split their sides laughing. Yes,
the Marx Brothers were back on Broadway, this time in The Cocoanuts, which took place at The Cocoanuts,
a hotel located in Cocoanut Beach, Florida. But everyone knew that the boys were the nuts in question.
George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind’s book provided the basic framework for all the madness, and it
gave the stars plenty of elbow room for their antics. To maintain a semblance of plot, the script dabbled with
the Florida land boom, the mystery of missing jewels, and the travails of a pair of young lovers, the nominal
hero Bob (Jack Barker) and heroine Polly (Mabel Withee). The name Polly was de rigueur for what seemed to
be at least half of the era’s musical comedy heroines, and it was fitting that Polly was the ingénue’s name for
Sandy Wilson’s spoof of 1920s musicals The Boy Friend (pre-West End London run, 1953; West End, 1954;
New York, 1954).
Groucho (as Henry W. Schlemmer) runs The Cocoanuts, a hotel described as one that serves dinner at
seven and bicarbonate of soda at nine (which of course raises the big question: Why would anyone stay in a
hotel run by Groucho?). Groucho slouches about in his best deadpan manner with his oversized and shabby
cutaway, painted moustache, and ever-present cigar, and Chico played Willie the Wop, whose goals in life are
to fracture the English language and play the piano. But Harpo (as Silent Sam) would never consider slaughter-
ing his native tongue, and is always at the ready to play a musical number on his namesake instrument. (And
Zeppo? Well, he played Jamison, the hotel’s desk clerk.) There was also the grand and imperious Margaret
Dumont (as Mrs. Potter), who was born with the words “Insult Me” tattooed on her forehead.
Irving Berlin’s score pushed all the right 1920s buttons: the paean to Florida (“Florida by the Sea”), the
nod to the “Love Nest”/“Tea for Two” hideaway genre of ballads (“A Little Bungalow”), the Charleston
number (“They’re Blaming the Charleston,” which was later replaced by “Everyone in the World Is Doing
the Charleston”), the would-be dance-craze (“The Monkey-Doodle-Doo”), and the salute to the Anita Loos/
Lorelei Lee philosophy that “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (which was added for Groucho during the run). Dur-
ing the show’s last few weeks in New York, a revised “Summer Edition” dropped a few numbers and added
others (for more information, see below).
H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker stated The Cocoanuts was “the most humorous musi-
cal comedy that has ever come to New York.” Time said the stars contributed “scene after scene of rattle-
1925–1926 Season 295
brained revelry” with Groucho and Harpo the “principal disturbances,” Berlin had composed the “excellent”
songs “A Little Bungalow” and “Florida by the Sea,” and producer Sam H. Harris bought “brilliant masses”
of costumes and scenery for the $100,000 show. Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune reported that the
brothers spent most of the evening “glorifying the American sucker.” Meanwhile, Groucho compliments a
young woman by noting her blue eyes shine as brightly as the seat of his blue serge pants, and when he tries
to auction off the hotel he announces the property is “the greatest development since Sophie Tucker” (the
New York Times reported that Groucho noted some residential areas of Florida are so exclusive no one lives
there). Harpo plays the harp, tears up all the guests’ in-coming mail, and wreaks havoc with the hotel’s cash
register, Chico plays the piano, and Mantle mentioned that Zeppo “doesn’t play anything but the hotel clerk
unless it is a little pinochle after the show.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said if The Cocoanuts wasn’t “the funniest musical comedy
in years only the most eloquent theatergoers with long memories will be able to prove it” because almost
everyone who saw the show decided they’d “never seen anything more amusing.” As for Berlin’s score, it was
“seductive” with “strange rhythms” and “not quite sentimental songs” (the evening kidded “conventional
musical comedy”). Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that some musicals couldn’t ac-
commodate even one leading comedian, but The Cocoanuts managed to make room for four. The puns “fly
fast, and the comic antics revolve about everything and everybody,” and Berlin’s “pleasing” score included
“A Little Bungalow” and “Five O’Clock Tea.”
Variety said the musical belonged in a more intimate house than the “barn-like” Lyric, and noted that
Berlin “didn’t seem to stretch himself on the music” although “one or two songs may lightly push through.”
Otherwise, the production wasn’t the book or the score, “it’s just Marx.” The Times reported that the first act
was somewhat slow and the evening didn’t really take off until the second stanza. Groucho offered a “heavy
musketry of puns and gibes,” Harpo’s “vulgar leers and grimaces [were] far more effective than words,” Ber-
lin’s score was “always pleasing” (“A Little Bungalow” was “especially melodious” and “Five O’Clock Tea”
ran “swiftly with a charming theme”), and Sammy Lee’s choreography had an “imaginative and elusive grace
that are uncommon to the run of musical comedy.”
During the run, five songs were dropped: “(With a) Family Reputation,” “Why Am I a Hit with the La-
dies?,” “A Little Bungalow,” “They’re Blaming the Charleston,” and “We Should Care”; and four new ones
(along with four dance specialties) were added, “Why Do You Want to Know Why?,” “Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes,” “Ting-a-Ling (the Bells’ll Ring),” and “Everyone in the World Is Doing the Charleston,” along with
four Charleston dance sequences (“English Charleston,” “Spanish Charleston,” “Lenox Avenue Charleston,”
and “Russian Charleston”).
During the tryout, “A Hotel of Our Own” (aka “Running a Little Hotel of Our Own”) was cut, and dropped
during preproduction were “Take ’Im Away (He’s Breakin’ My Heart)” and “What’s There about Me?” (which
was later reworked as Groucho’s “Why Am I a Hit with the Ladies?”). The hardback collection The Complete
Lyrics of Irving Berlin reports that “Can’t (Can) You Tell?” may have been intended for the musical, and it
would seem so because the song (as “Can You Tell”) was included in the published score at the time of produc-
tion. Note that for the 1913 musical All Aboard! Berlin wrote another song titled “The Monkey Doodle Doo”
(without dashes), which except for its title isn’t related to the one he wrote for The Cocoanuts.
The musical closed on August 7, 1926, and the national tour began in Washington, D.C., the following
month on September 20. A return engagement opened in New York on May 16, 1927, at the Century Theatre
for sixteen performances, for a total New York run of 292 showings. For this engagement, Phyllis Cleveland
and The Three Brox Sisters succeeded Mabel Withee and The Breen Brothers.
Two contemporary recordings from the score were released by HMV Records, one by the Victor Light
Opera Company (“Lucky Boy,” “Florida by the Sea,” “The Monkey-Doodle-Doo,” “Tango Melody,” and “A
Little Bungalow”) and one (“Ting-a-Ling, the Bells’ll Ring”) by Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra (Kahn
was the composer of Here’s Howe!).
The London production, which opened on March 20, 1928, at the Garrick Theatre for sixteen perfor-
mances, didn’t include the Marx Brothers.
The Marx Brothers made their film debut in Paramount’s 1929 movie version of the musical during the
time they were starring on Broadway in Animal Crackers. The movie was filmed in Long Island, and in order
to accommodate their theatre performance schedule, their scenes were filmed on non-matinee days. Margaret
Dumont and Basil Ruysdael also reprised their original stage roles, and Frank Tours was again the musical
director. Kay Francis was Penelope, and Bob and Polly were played by Broadway favorites Oscar Shaw and
Mary Eaton, who had starred together in The 5 O’Clock Girl. The film may be stagy, but it’s a delight to
watch classic Marxian shtick and hear the songs, three of which were retained from the stage production
(“Florida by the Sea,” “The Monkey-Doodle-Doo,” and the specialty number “The Tale of a Shirt”) and one
which was written especially for the film by Berlin (the ballad “When My Dreams Come True,” which was
introduced by Shaw and Eaton). The film also includes a brief dance by the hotel’s bellhops, and the accom-
panying music is probably that of “The Bellhops” from the stage production. In 1981, a soundtrack album
was released by Sandy Hook Records (LP # S.H.-2059), and the film was issued on DVD by Universal Studios
Home Entertainment (# 61116506).
The script was published in the collection By George: A Kaufman Collection (compiled and edited by
Donald Oliver and published in hardback by St. Martin’s Press in 1979). The script reflects the opening night
New York performance, and includes the song titles but not their lyrics (as mentioned, the lyrics are included
in Complete Lyrics).
Note that the later screen character actor Billy De Wolfe (here as Billy De Wolfe Jr.) was one of the chorus
boys in The Cocoanuts.
TIP-TOES

Performances: 192
Direction: John Harwood; Producers: Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Sammy Lee (ad-
ditional dances staged by Earl Lindsay); Scenery: John Wenger; Costumes: Kiviette; Russeka; Claire; Mil-
grim; Brooks Uniform Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Daly
Cast: Jeanette MacDonald (Sylvia Metcalf), Robert Halliday (Rollo Metcalf), Amy Revere (Peggy Schuyler),
Andrew Tombes (Al Kaye), Harry Watson Jr. (Hen Kaye), Queenie Smith (“Tip-Toes” Kaye), Allen Kearns
(Steve Burton), Gertrude McDonald (Binnie Oakland), Lovey Lee (Denise Miller), Edwin Hodge (Stewart),
Seldon Bennett (Detective Kane), Lillian Michell (Telephone Operator); Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil
Ohman; Ladies of the Ensemble: Edith Martin, Lillian Michell, Blanche O’Donohue, Peggy Quinn, Ethel
Maye, Marie Otto, Alice O’Brien, Mildred Brower, Marcia Bell, Winifred Beck, Marjorie Bailey, Dorothy
Cola, Betty Wright, Betty Waxton, Flora Watson, Marie Marcelline, Elsie Neal, Paulette Winston, Grace
Jones, Alice Gordon, Diana Hunt, Peggy Hart, Lyn Dauer, Ann Ecklund; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Paul
Dessey, Sam Fischer, Al Fisher, Bob Gebhardt, George Hughes, Thomas McLaughlin, Ted White, Barney
Adams, Arthur Craig, George Rand, Jacques Stone, Harry Lake
The action takes place during the present time in Palm Beach.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Florida” (aka “Waiting for the Train”) (Ensemble); “Nice Baby” (Jeanette MacDonald, Robert Hal-
liday, Ensemble); “Looking for a Boy” (Queenie Smith); “Lady Luck” (Guests); “When Do We Dance?”
(Allen Kearns, Gertrude McDonald, Lovey Lee, Guests); “These Charming People” (Queenie Smith,
Andrew Tombes, Harry Watson Jr.); “That Certain Feeling” (Queenie Smith, Allen Kearns); “Sweet and
Low-Down” (Andrew Tombes, Lovey Lee, Gertrude McDonald, Amy Revere, Guests); Finale: “Oh, What
Was That Noise?” and “Sweet and Low-Down” (reprise) (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Our Little Captain” (Queenie Smith, Boys); “Looking for a Boy” (reprise) (Queenie Smith, Al-
len Kearns); “It’s a Great Little World!” (Allen Kearns, Jeanette MacDonald, Andrew Tombes, Grace
McDonald, Lovely Lee); “Nightie-Night!” (Queenie Smith, Allen Kearns); “Tip-Toes” (Queenie Smith,
Ensemble); Finale (Company)
1925–1926 Season 297
George and Ira Gershwin’s Tip-Toes wasn’t quite the hoped-for successful follow-up to Lady, Be Good!,
but it ran almost six months in New York and turned a profit, and the London production played for almost
the same length of time. The score yielded a number of delights, including “Looking for a Boy,” “These
Charming People,” “That Certain Feeling,” and “Sweet and Low-Down,” and with its Florida locale and a
story about a gold digger, the musical was quintessential mid-1920s entertainment.
Set in a musical-comedy Florida, the musical opened with down-on-their luck vaudevillians “Tip-Toes”
Kaye (Queenie Smith) and her uncles Al (Andrew Tombes) and Hen (Harry Watson Jr.) who are stranded in the
Sunshine State. Wealthy married man Rollo Metcalf (Robert Halliday) flirts with “Tip-Toes,” and in order to
ensure that his wife, Sylvia (Jeanette MacDonald), doesn’t hear about his wandering eye, he gives “Tip-Toes”
a thousand dollars to leave Florida. But she and her uncles decide to invest the money in an expensive ward-
robe so she can pass herself off as a wealthy young woman in the hope of snagging a millionaire. And she does
when she meets Sylvia’s brother Steve Burton (Allen Kearns). When he discovers “Tip-Toes” is interested in
marrying for money he becomes disillusioned, and pretends to have lost his fortune. All his friends desert
him, but “Tip-Toes” remains true and he realizes that she loves him for himself.
The New York Times knocked the book, and noted the cast had been given “little intelligent material”
to work with. Gershwin’s score “seemed to be good but not irresistible” (the critic singled out three songs,
“Looking for a Boy,” “Sweet and Low-Down,” and “It’s a Great Little World!”). The décor was “handsome,”
the costumes “radiant,” Jeanette MacDonald was “truly beautiful,” and Smith was “agile, earnest, sweet and
a good deal too cute.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker said Smith was “sweet, pert and
expert in her dancing, acceptably dramatic, and just the least bit too coy” and Kearns was “a routined musical
comedy leading man, and does well what is assigned to him.” The book was “weak and unsatisfactory,” but
Sammy Lee’s choreography was “speedy and intricate,” and the music was “pleasing,” “excellent and beguil-
ing,” “tuneful and pretty,” and “insinuating.”
Time found Tip-Toes “excellent” but “just a trifle below the astonishingly high standard” set by Lady,
Be Good! George Gershwin’s music was the “best” aspect of the evening, and the critic predicted that “Look-
ing for a Boy,” “These Charming People,” and (“particularly”) “Sweet and Low-Down” would “rattle in your
ears from every phonograph and loudspeaker for many months.” Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia
Inquirer praised the “gay” and “good-looking” show, which was distinguished by Gershwin’s “sassy” music,
and noted “this young colossus of Tin Pan Alley now stands with one foot on Broadway and the other in the
more august thoroughfare given over to symphonic music” (see below for Gershwin’s Carnegie Hall concert
given a few weeks before the premiere of Tip-Toes).
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune enjoyed the “jolly little” musical with its “foolish but amusing”
dialogue, of which he provided several examples (“My shoes are so thin I could stand on a dime and tell you
whether it’s heads or tails” and “I’m so low I could wear a silk hat and walk under a duck”). The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle liked the “fresh, tuneful and diverting” entertainment with a “delightful” score that was “genu-
inely tuneful and singable.” But the book was “rather so-so.” Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star said
that with Tip-Toes George Gershwin had “simply out-Gershwined Gershwin.” Here was a score of “lovely,
haunting, syncopated charm,” including “These Charming People,” “Sweet and Low-Down” (“an obligato
of tap dancers’ feet played off against a choir of trombones”), and “Looking for a Boy” (“a waltz as drenched
with sentiment as a handkerchief with perfume”).
During the tryout, “Harlem River Chanty,” “Harbor of Dreams,” “Gather Ye Rosebuds,” “Life’s Too Short
to Be Blue,” and “Dancing Hour” were cut (the latter was performed by the ensemble late in the second act and
was probably a dance number without a lyric). Dropped during preproduction were “We” and “Weaken a Bit.”
The London production opened on August 13, 1926, at the Winter Garden Theatre for 182 performances,
just ten shy of the New York run. Dorothy Dickson was “Tip-Toes,” Allen Kearns reprised his Broadway role,
and eight songs were recorded by the cast: “These Charming People,” “That Certain Feeling,” “It’s a Great
Little World!,” “Looking for a Boy,” “When Do We Dance?,” “Nice Baby,” “Nightie-Night!,” and “Sweet and
Low-Down.” The recordings were later released on a pairing with Vincent Youmans’s Wildflower by Mon-
mouth Evergreen Records (LP # MES-7052).
The musical was revived on March 24, 1979, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Helen Carey Playhouse
for nineteen performances with Georgia Engel (“Tip-Toes”), Russ Thacker (Steve), and Bob Gunton (Rollo).
The production (which had originated at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, on June
17, 1978, with Engel and Thacker) included all the songs from the original score as well as one interpolation
(“Why Do I Love You?” from Tell Me More). Mel Gussow in the Times found the book dreary, but praised
the “joyful” music and said Engel and Thacker had “honed their performances almost into archetypes” (her
“Tip-Toes” was “way past amnesia” and he had a “patent on boyishness”).
Studio cast albums of the Gershwins’ Tell Me More and Tip-Toes were issued by New World Records on
a two-CD set (# 80598-2). Conducted by Rob Fisher and with a cast that includes Emily Loesser (“Tip-Toes”),
Andy Taylor (Steve), Mark Baker, Lee Wilkof, and Lewis J. Stadlen, the recording was taken from a 1998
Carnegie Hall concert production given at the Weill Recital Hall for six performances (Stephen Holden in
the Times praised the “buoyant” production, which captured the “zany, pun-filled essence” of the work and
offered songs of “irresistible fizz”). “Sweet and Low-Down” and “That Certain Feeling” are included in the
collection Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls (Elektra Nonesuch CD # 9-79287-2).
The lyrics are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin.
Note that two nights after the opening of Tip-Toes, George Gershwin (and Herbert Stothart) contrib-
uted the music to Song of the Flame (lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II). Earlier in the
month, on December 3, Gershwin performed his Concerto in F for its world premiere performance at
Carnegie Hall.
SONG OF THE FLAME

“A New Musical Play” / “A Romantic Opera”

Opening Date: December 30, 1925; Closing Date: July 10, 1926
Performances: 219
Music: George Gershwin and Herbert Stothart
Direction: Frank Reicher; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Jack Haskell; Scenery: Joseph Ur-
ban; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart (Russian Art
Choir directed by Alexander U. Fine)
Cast: Greek Evans (Konstantin), Tessa Kosta (Aniuta, aka “The Flame”), Dorothy Mackaye (Grusha), Hugh
Cameron (Nicholas), Bernard Gorcey (Count Boris), Ula Sharon (Nadya), Phebe (aka Phoebe) Brune (Na-
tasha), Guy Robertson (Prince Volodya), Leonard St. Leo (Featured Dancer), Blanche Collins (Olga), Paul
Wilson (Alexis), Louise Dalberg (An Avenger); Russian Art Choir: Soloists—Konstantin Buketoff, Zina
Ivanova, Anna Petrenko, Vasily Andrewsky; also (and with mostly last names given in the program),
Mmes. Gorina, Chereko, Dubiago, Fisher, Petrienko, Yestovich, Schmidt, Michailova, Kustasheva, Gro-
sheva, Troitzkaya, Steffan, Orolinskiawa, Grebenietzkaia, Andreifskia, Tulchinova, Kucharskaia, Losieva,
Chevdarova, Yzorova, Shastan; Mons. Troitzki, Apollonoff, Prokofieff, Kiriliook, Andreefsky, Soostroeff,
Troonin, Tutschkowsky, Schmitt, Daniloff, Davagoliook, Pikareff, Yzoroff, Didiikin Sr., S. Didiikin Jr.,
Davidenko, Klimovitch, Ordinsky, Jackoleff, Ardatoff, Niejin, Pathamarenko, Yermeloff, Vinogradoff,
Schilin, Pravidook, Keberer, Krasik, Chardaroff, Torchinsky, Kottony, Davidoff, Bass, Gorlenko, Dubien-
ski, Ramonoff; American Ballet: Misses Verdi Milli, Lucille Osborne, Alice Akers, Lotta Fanning, Louise
Hersey, Marion Booth, Mary Green, Dorothy Booth, Eileen Wenzel, Frances Thress, Georgia Gwynne,
Ann Constance, Ella De Marr, Mirian Avondale, Christine Moray, Audrey Stinges, Dorothy Thattel, Gene
Hylan, Emily Sherman, Adelaide M. Permin, Terry Carroll, Elvonne Hall, Ruby Poe, Helen Wallace, Ruth
Sato, Sylvia Pagano, Laurie Phillips, Elsie Marcus, Dorothy Lee, Carolyn Johnson, Margie Horton, Bud-
die Haines, Betty Credito, Helen Bowers, L. Ojala, Betty Quinn; Messrs. Chester Bennett, Hal Bird, Jack
Bragdon, William Cooper, Paul Florence, James Herold Jr., Frank Kimball, Bob Le Roy, Harry Long, Troupe
Reynolds, Willard Tyson, Phillip Tiltman, Donald Wells
The action takes place during the years 1917–1919, mostly in Moscow and Paris.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by George Gershwin; (**) = music by Herbert Stothart; (***) = music by George Gershwin
and Herbert Stothart.
1925–1926 Season 299
Prelude: “Protest” (sung in Russian, and probably based on traditional Russian music) (Russian Art Choir);
Prologue: “Far Away” (***; music based on a Russian folk song) (Greek Evans, Russian Art Choir); “Song
of the Flame” (***) (Tessa Kosta, Greek Evans, Russian Art Choir)
Act One: “Woman’s Work Is Never Done” (*) (Dorothy Mackaye, Ensemble); “Great Big Bear” (**) (Dorothy
Mackaye, Hugh Cameron, Ensemble); “The Signal” (*) (Tessa Kosta, Guy Robertson, Octette); “The Cos-
sack Love Song” (***) (Tessa Kosta, Guy Robertson, Ensemble); “Tartar” (**) (Greek Evans, Russian Art
Choir; danced by Phebe Brune and American Ballet); “You May Wander Away” (**) (Tessa Kosta, Guy
Robertson); Finaletto (***) (Tessa Kosta, Guy Robertson, Ensemble); “Vodka” (***) (Dorothy Mackaye,
Ensemble; Dancer: Ula Sharon); Finale (“You Dogs!”) (***) (Company)
Act Two: “I Want Two Husbands” (**) (Dorothy Mackaye, Bernard Gorcey, Hugh Cameron); “Midnight
Bells” (*) (Tessa Kosta); “The Cossack Love Song” (reprise) (Guy Robertson); “The First Blossom Ballet”
(Ula Sharon, Leonard S. Leo, American Ballet); “A Capella” (medley of traditional Russian songs) (Russian
Art Choir); Finaletto (Company); “Going Home on New Year’s Morning” (probably sung in Russian, and
most likely based on traditional Russian music) (Russian Art Choir); Finale Ultimo (Company)
The operetta Song of the Flame was a gargantuan spectacle set during the period of the Russian Revolu-
tion. Producer Arthur Hammerstein spent a small fortune on the production, which boasted approximately
125 cast members (including the Russian Art Choir and the American Ballet troupe) and some fifty musicians,
including twenty violinists. The work played a shade over six months on Broadway, and its post–New York
tour was booked in five cities for a two-and-a-half-month tour, but the start-up costs plus the weekly operat-
ing expenses probably kept the operetta from edging into the profit column.
Two nights before the New York premiere, Gershwin’s Tip-Toes opened, and so December 1925 was a
busy month for the composer (for more information, see Tip-Toes).
Set during and after the Russian Revolution, Song of the Flame focused on Aniuta (Tessa Kosta), a mem-
ber of royalty who leads a double life as a revolutionary and is known to her followers as “The Flame.” Prince
Volodya (Guy Robertson) falls in love with her, but when he discovers she’s “The Flame” their flame of love
flickers out. However, after the Revolution the two meet again in Paris, and their love allows them to put
aside political differences. Other characters in the musical are the shady Konstantin (Greek Evans), who plays
both sides of the political fence, and Grusha (Dorothy Mackaye), who might well have been named Ado Gru-
sha because she just can’t say nyet to a “Great Big Bear” of a man, states that “I Want Two Husbands,” and
gives a toast to “Vodka,” which makes her feel so “odd-ka” that she’s inclined to “go and grab a six-foot-two”
because “anyone will do.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the evening’s “incidental humors and embellishments”
more “ponderous than exhilarating” and decided these could have been “omitted to good advantage” because
the production “might well lend itself to more varied, lighter treatment.” Some of the songs weren’t too “dis-
tinguished” and were “pretentious in form and technique,” but the décor was “gay-colored” and “variegated,”
and the stage was swept by “the beauty of bizarre costumes and hangings.” And the evening offered striking
images. The prologue disclosed “a scene of hands, all pointed menacingly in one direction” and was a “thrill-
ing symbol of revolution,” and a later scene at the Samovar Room at the Café des Caucasiens in Paris included
an “entrancing” ballet (“The First Blossom Ballet”), which was immediately followed by a breakaway set that
revealed the Russian Art Choir, who sang a medley of Russian folk music (“A Capella”).
H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankeiwicz) in the New Yorker said the operetta was “huge, beautiful, melodious,
unfunny and generally dull,” but, for “pictorial beauty,” it was “certainly as handsome and resplendent as
anything the musical producers of the town have yet supplied.” Time indicated the creators had “scrambled
up some princes and peasants in the hot pan of the Russian revolution, unscrambling them again in Paris—a
moderately tasty plot, but lacking romance’s true savor.” And Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
said the writers had “tried to give to the poor thing” a “body and, which is more, a soul,” but the show had
“no body” and “no soul” and thus the creators’ efforts were “thrown away on trivial stuff” (but “the use of
light and line and color faked for it a finer entity than any operetta of the time has disclosed”).
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune suspected that the work cost less than $200,000 to produce, but
decided that if Hammerstein insisted “it cost a quarter of a million I would almost believe him.” Here was
“an impressively beautiful thing” with Urban’s “towering, massive fronts of cathedrals; flashing red inte-
riors of cabarets; deep scenic wonderlands picturing the Russian country; a castle interior that is solid and
gorgeous.” The score was an “impressive affair,” but the story “didn’t amount to much.” Bushnell Dimond
in the Indianapolis Star said “if beauty is your goal in the theatre, then go straight to” Song of the Flame
because for “pure splendor, it boils” (but for humor, it wasn’t “so good”). Although Gershwin composed the
evening’s “best tunes” and Stothart did “more than his bit,” their contributions were “about as Russian as a
Staten Island ferry boat.”
John Anderson in the Minneapolis Star Tribune said the décor, costumes, and choreography made the
operetta “the most solvent of shows,” but the humor was “impoverished” with “accidents” (he provided an
example: “Do you believe in evolution?” / “I don’t believe we’ll live to see it”). Variety proclaimed that the
operetta was “one of the finest” ever produced but it certainly hadn’t been created “for road purposes” be-
cause only “major” road houses “could support such a costly attraction.” As a result, the production wouldn’t
be “the money maker that Rose-Marie was and is.”
During the tryout, Allan Rogers (Volodya) and Edmund Burke (Konstantin) were respectively succeeded by
Guy Robertson and Greek Evans. “You Are You” (for Kosta and Rogers) and “You and You and Me” (Mackaye,
Bernard Gorcey, and Hugh Cameron) were cut, as was an act-two opening dance (“Carnival Dance,” for Leon-
ard St. Leo and Girls). “The First Blossom Ballet” was titled “Bird of the Spring” Ballet. During the Broadway
run, “Midnight Bells” and “I Want Two Husbands” were dropped.
There’s some confusion regarding the show’s pre-Broadway itinerary. The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Fact Book and The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II give the following schedule: the Playhouse
(Wilmington, December 10–12, 1925); the Academy of Music (Baltimore, December 14–19); and the Shubert
Theatre (Philadelphia, December 21–26). But the actual bookings were as follows: the Playhouse (Wilmington,
December 10–12 [the run of four scheduled performances was cut short; see below]); Poli’s Theatre (Washing-
ton, D.C., December 14–19); and the Academy of Music (Baltimore, December 21–26). There was no tryout
stop in Philadelphia.
The show never completed its booking at Wilmington’s Playhouse because the ceiling above the stage
collapsed early during the first act of the December 11 performance. The collapse spewed pieces of concrete
upon the stage, which was in semi-darkness during a sequence in which Dorothy Mackaye sang “Woman’s
Work Is Never Done.” Some cast members leaped into the orchestra pit, others into the aisles of the theatre,
and some ran offstage, and for a few moments the audience took it in stride because they assumed the fracas
was part of the script. When the audience realized the seriousness of the situation, Mackaye continued to sing
while the audience left the theatre. A few cast members were injured, some seriously, and the Times listed
seven by name. Besides the physical injuries, the lighting system and the stage properties were “wrecked” to
the tune of $60,000 in damages (but the Wilmington Evening Journal reported the scenery was “only slightly
damaged”). As a result, the musical gave just one complete Wilmington performance on December 10; the
showing on December 11 wasn’t completed because of the accident; and the matinee and evening perfor-
mances for December 12 were canceled.
The Times provided the names of the injured performers, and it seems that all but two (Norman Stengel
and David Enko) were back in the show for the Broadway opening on December 30 (the New York premiere
had originally been scheduled for the previous night).
The ceiling collapse wasn’t the first disaster to plague the production. The Times reported that during
a dress rehearsal prior to the Wilmington opening, the leading actress, Tessa Kosta, has been “rendered un-
conscious” when she was struck “by an accidental blow” during an onstage “mob scene.” But she quickly
recovered and was able to go on for the world premiere performance in Wilmington on December 10.
The musical’s next stop was a scheduled one at Poli’s Theatre in Washington on December 14 (on Decem-
ber 9, an article in Variety said Song of the Flame would play “next” [week] at Poli’s); and from Washington
the show traveled to Baltimore’s Academy of Music on December 21. In his December 22 review, the critic
for the Baltimore Sun referred to the venue’s name as the Lyric, an understandable mistake during the hurry
of writing the review for the next day’s edition. The Lyric was another major theatre in Baltimore that first
opened its doors in 1894 and today is known as the Modell Performing Arts Center. As for the Academy of
Music, it was demolished in 1927 to make way for the Stanley Theatre, which in turn was demolished in 1965.
From Baltimore, the musical premiered in New York on December 30, and contrary to other sources the
production never had a tryout engagement in Philadelphia.
All extant lyrics by Harbach and Hammerstein are included in the Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammer-
stein II. Tessa Kosta recorded the title song.
First National Pictures released the first film version in 1930; directed by Alan Crosland and choreo-
graphed by Jack Haskell (who created the dances for the stage production), the Technicolor film starred
1925–1926 Season 301
Bernice Claire (Aniuta), Alexander Gray (Volodya), Noah Beery (Konstantin), Inez Courtney (Grusha), Alice
Gentle (Natasha), and Shep Camp (as an officer). The latter had appeared as Nicholas in the operetta’s post-
Broadway tour, and The First Hollywood Musicals reports that he died after falling from a horse during the
filming of a scene. The film retained three songs from the stage version (“The Cossack Love Song,” “You May
Wander Away,” and the title number), and new songs written for the film were by Grant Clarke, Harry Akst,
and Ed Ward. The film is considered lost, but reportedly portions (or perhaps all) of the audio track are extant.
A second film version was released by Warner Brothers as part of its Broadway Brevities series of two-
reelers (each approximately twenty minutes in length). The series included mini-musicals based on Broad-
way musicals, musicals written expressly for the series, and revue-like variety entertainments that featured
well-known singers and dancers. As The Flame Song, the twenty-two minute short was released in 1934 with
Claire reprising her 1930 role; others in the cast were J. Harold Murray (Volodya) and Greek Evans (here repris-
ing his original stage role of Konstantin). The film included as least two songs from the original production
(“The Cossack Love Song” and the title number). In the same year, Broadway Brevities released a title called
The Song of the Flame, but this appears to have been a variety-styled revue with Ruth Etting, the Canova
Family, and others.
HELLO LOLA!
“A New Musical Play”
Theatre: Eltinge Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Maxine Elliott’s Theatre)
Opening Date: January 12, 1926; Closing Date: February 20, 1926
Performances: 47
Music: William B. Kernell
Based on the 1918 play Seventeen by Hugh Stanislaus Stange and Stannard Mears (which in turn was based
on the novel Seventeen by Booth Tarkington, first serialized in Metropolitan Magazine in 1914 and then
published in book format in 1916).
Direction: Uncredited (during pre-Broadway tryout, Lawrence Marston was credited with the staging, and J. J.
Shubert was cited for his “personal direction” of the production); Producers: Uncredited (The Messrs. Shu-
bert [Lee and J. J.]); Choreography: Seymour Felix; Scenery: Livingston Platt; Costumes: E. R. Schraps (aka
Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro); Famous Fain; S.
Phillips & Sons; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Charles Sieger
Cast: Marjorie White (Jane Baxter), Kittye Casey (Bridget), Ben Hendricks (Mr. Baxter), Nanette Flack (Mrs.
Baxter), Richard Keene (Willie Baxter), Wynn Richmond (May Parcher), Georgie Stone (Johnnie Watson),
Edythe Baker (Lola Pratt), Elisha Cook Jr. (Joe Bullitt), Jay C. Flippen (Genesis), Ben Franklin (Mr. Parcher),
Bert Gardner (George Crooper), Margaret Sullivan (Miss Boke), Clematis (as himself; Genesis’s Dog), Flo-
pit (as herself; Lola’s Dog); May Parcher’s Friends: Sylvia Carol, Frances Mildern, Emma Wyche, Dorothy
Palmer, Cora Stephens, Avis Adair, Katherine Vercelle, Louise Vercelle; Jane’s Little Girl Friends: Doro-
thy Casey, Constance Lahleet, Nancy Lea, Betty Noi, Virginia Ray, Beatrice Reiss, Diddie Read, Lillian
Clarke; Willie’s Boy Friends: Cullen Clewis, George Crouch, Don DeFrancis, Albert Miller, Larry Vale,
Harry Wood, Howard Shea, Wally Stewart, Earl Atkinson
The action occurs in an unspecified time and place (the novel was set in Indianapolis during a summer in the
early 1900s).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Bread and Butter and Sugar” (Marjorie White, Little Girls); “The Summertime” (Wynn Richmond,
Georgie Stone, Girls); “Lullaby” (Nanette Flack); “My Brother Willie” (Richard Keene, Marjorie White);
“My Baby-Talk Lady” (Richard Keene); “Hello, Cousin Lola” (Edythe Baker, Wynn Richmond, Georgie
Stone, Elisha Cook Jr., Boys and Girls); “Five-Foot-Two” (Jay C. Flippen); “My Baby-Talk Lady” (reprise)
(Richard Keene)
Act Two: “Water, Water, Wildflowers” (Little Girls); “Step on the Gasoline” (Georgie Stone, Wynn Rich-
mond); “Swinging on the Gate” (Richard Keene, Edythe Baker); Ensemble (unidentified sequence); “That
Certain Party” (Jay C. Flippen); “Pianologue” (Edythe Baker); “My Baby-Talk Lady” (reprise) (Richard
Keene, Edythe Baker); “In the Dark” (Richard Keene, Georgie Stone, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook Jr., Boys
and Girls)
Act Three: “I Know Something” (Ensemble); “Little Boy Blue” (Richard Keene, Wynn Richmond, Girls);
“Grau Brae Nicht” (Marjorie White); “Baxter’s Party” (Ensemble); “Keep It Up” (Wynn Richmond, Geor-
gie Stone, Elisha Cook Jr., Boys and Girls); “Sophie” (Jay C. Flippen); “Don’t Stop” (Edythe Baker, Boys);
“Good-By, Cousin Lola” (reprise of “Hello, Cousin Lola”) (Company); “Lullaby” (reprise) (Nanette Flack);
“My Baby-Talk Lady” (reprise) (Ensemble)
Booth Tarkington’s novel Seventeen was an alternately touching and tongue-in-cheek look at calf love.
The book was set in Indianapolis during a summer in the early 1900s, and Willie Baxter (played by Richard
Keene in the musical) becomes infatuated with Lola Pratt (Edythe Baker), a shallow and self-absorbed baby-
talking minx who arrives in town from St. Louis to visit friends for the summer. The local girls see through
her, but Lola and her ever-present lapdog Flopit are constantly surrounded by the town’s love-smitten teenage-
boy lapdogs. But Lola’s not interested in puppy love, and the only puppy she loves is the ever-present Flopit.
Once Lola’s visit comes to an end and the town settles down, Willie assumes a tragic air, but his family’s
handyman Genesis (Jay C. Flippen, in a blackface role) assures Willie that it isn’t the end of the world, only
the end of summer.
On its surface, the novel is a straightforward account of a teenaged boy’s first crush during a nostalgic
summer of long ago (Tarkington wrote that the once “quiet, lovely little city” of Indianapolis “now exists no
more than Carthage after the Romans had driven ploughs over the ground where it stood”). Tarkington’s story
is both a touching depiction of a boy’s first infatuation and a wry look at the subject. But Hello Lola! and the
second Broadway musical adaptation Seventeen (in 1951) missed the point and didn’t capture the incipient
satire. In fact, the latter offered a tableaux finale in which the plot flashed forward to Willie and Lola’s wed-
ding. Tarkington’s novel also used the flash-forward device, but in his story Willie is destined to marry a girl
he happens to meet upon Lola’s departure from the town (Tarkington clearly believed the shallow Lola wasn’t
good enough for the young hero).
The current version suffered from miscasting. The critics weren’t kind to Baker, who specialized in piano
specialties (the script somehow found a way for a piano to make its way onto a lawn, where Baker performed
her “Pianologue”). Within days of the opening Baker left the show and Wynn Richmond (who heretofore
played the character of May Parcher) succeeded Baker, and chorus girl Cora Stephens stepped into Richmond’s
former role. Many in the ensemble were supposed to be in their late teens, but apparently some were far too
mature for their roles. H.J.M (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker reported that wags about town said
Hello Lola! was based on Tarkington’s novel Thirty-Seven.
The musical had tryout troubles, and while Lawrence Marston was credited with direction during the pre-
Broadway tour, there was no director of record listed in the New York program. In fact, the New York program
would seem to indicate that the musical produced itself; during the tryout, Lee and J. J. Shubert were credited
as the producers, but they withdrew their names once the show moved to Broadway. The choice of the rather
small Eltinge Theatre was odd, and Variety suspected the Shuberts chose the venue because its weekly rental
was far lower than the more desirable and larger musical houses (when the production transferred to another
theatre during its brief six-week run, it moved to the intimate Maxine Elliott’s Theatre, a once sought-after
playhouse that was now no longer part of the new theatre district and was located on West 39th Street).
The New York Times said the musical “generally mangles the sensitive strands of adolescent character-
ization,” the casting was “conspicuously bungled,” none of the songs were “distinguished in melody or lyric,”
and there was no disguising the evening’s “paucity of entertainment.” Although Keene was “likable” and
Marjorie White (as Willie’s younger sister Jane) was “vociferous,” Baker smiled “condescendingly at times”
and played the piano “somewhat self-consciously.” Further, her baby-talk lost “all its edge of humor” because
of her delivery, and her personality lacked “the familiar radiance of the leading lady.”
Speaking of the show in general, Mankiewicz noted that “it might, of course, have been worse,” and he
noted that many in the opening-night audience felt “that in some weird way” they “had completed the circle
to Grand Opera House attendance upon a fourth company of a second-rate road show Back Home.” Keene
was “personable,” but otherwise the production had “weirdly assembled a collection of unfit principals as
1925–1926 Season 303
the town has seen in many a moon.” Baker didn’t seem happy in the title role, her “disdain” showed, and her
manifest “unconcern with the proceedings” could “drive the audience into the icy night for warmth.”
Time said that musical comedy “addicts” were “only mildly diverted” by the show. Burns Mantle in the
Tampa Tribune mentioned that “someone in a forgetful moment” had cast Baker, and while she “can play the
piano” she “can’t play Lola.” And Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register said Tarkington’s “fragrant”
novel was turned into a “cadaverous” musical. Baker played Lola as a “hard egg,” and White was “a miniature
Texas Guinan, redolent of the smarter night clubs.” And so, perhaps Tarkington’s friends “should keep him
away from” Hello Lola!
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said that White as Willie’s “annoying” sister was a
“pretty, doll-like creature who more than comes up to musical comedy standards of what such a child should
be, though never giving a thought to subtlety or quiet effects.” Baker was “much more at ease” playing the
piano than “attracting the males,” and while she was a “graceful” dancer she was “miscast,” and her baby
talk had “nothing alluring about it.” The songs were “simple and easily remembered,” and Schrader singled
out “My Baby-Talk Lady” (which was sung four times during the evening.)
Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning News noted that Baker was a “clever and sophisticated vaude-
ville and revue specialist,” but as an actress she was a “total loss” (however, she gave a “first-rate account of
herself” at the piano). Bushnell Dimond in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Star said White was a Sophie Tucker type,
and the score was “melodic” with “suave” and “pleasant” songs, including “My Baby-Talk Lady,” which Va-
riety said was the show’s “hit” number. Variety stated that the “attractive” Baker “impressed,” but the critic
noted it was “understood she has handed in her notice.” The musical was “bound to be a matinee draw,” it
had “enough merit to warrant a moderate run even though it may not draw exceptional money,” and it was
an entertainment “of which the Shuberts need not be ashamed.”
Note that Jay C. Flippen’s songs “That Certain Party” and “Five-Foot-Two” were interpolations (the latter
was apparently the song better known as “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?”). Of course, once Baker left the show
her “Pianologue” went with her.
As mentioned, the second musical adaptation was titled Seventeen. It opened on June 21, 1951, at the
Broadhurst Theatre for 182 performances (book by Sally Benson, lyrics by Kim Gannon, and music by Walter
Kent) with Kenneth Nelson (Willie), Ann Crowley (Lola), Ellen McCown (May), Richard Kallman, Richard
France, Frank Albertson, Paula Stewart, and Stanley Grover. The charming score was recorded by RCA Vic-
tor (LP # LOC-1033) and was reissued by RCA Masterworks Broadway (CD # 88725-42775-2). The script was
published in paperback by Samuel French in 1954.
Note the many interesting names in Hello Lola! The irrepressible Marjorie White soon found Hollywood
calling, and she’s a delight in her few films (she died in an automobile accident in 1935), including Sunnyside
Up (1929), New Movietone Follies of 1930, and Just Imagine (1930; where she introduced the amusing novelty
“Never Swat a Fly”). Hello Lola! marked one of the first legitimate appearances by future film star Margaret
Sullivan.
And none other than Elisha Cook Jr. played one of Willie’s friends. Cook eventually became one of the
movies’ most memorable character actors, usually playing a weak-willed loser. In 1933, he appeared in the
original Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s hit comedy Ah, Wilderness! (for the published script, sub-
titled “A Comedy of Recollection”). Cook’s role of Richard Miller was not unlike that of Willie Baxter, for
throughout the play Richard is a victim of first love, calf love, and puppy love (for the 1948 MGM musical
adaptation Summer Holiday, Mickey Rooney was Richard, and for Bob Merrill’s 1959 Broadway musical ver-
sion Take Me Along, Robert Morse was the hapless Richard).
SWEETHEART TIME
“A Musical Comedy of Youth, Love and Romance” / “A Whirlwind of Laughter, Melody and Beauty” /
“A Revelation in Musical Comedy”

Performances: 143
Book: Harry B. Smith
Lyrics: Ballard MacDonald and Irving Caesar; also, Harry B. Smith
Music: Walter Donaldson and Joseph Meyer; also Jay Gourney (later, Gorney)
Based on the 1912 play Never Say Die by W. H. Post and William Collier.
Direction: William Collier; Producer: Rufus LeMaire, who was followed by James La Penner and Edward A.
Miller as producers; Choreography: Larry Ceballos; Scenery: third scene designed by Karle O. Amend;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Joseph; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John L. McManus
Cast: Starke Patterson (Jeffries), Laine Blaire (Nina), Marion Saki (Marian Stevenson), Al Sexton (Roy Hender-
son), Marie Nordstrom (Mrs. Stevenson), George LeMaire (Doctor Ralph Galesby), Mary Milburn (Violet
Stevenson), Fred Leslie (Lord Hector Raybrook), Wilmer Bentley (Griggs), Eddie Buzzell (Dion Woodbury),
Harry Kelly (Detective James), M. Marcel Rousseau (Alphonse), Rita Del Marga (Carita), Bob Callahan
(Waiter), Dorothy Van Alst (Dorothy), Alice Wood (Alice), Betty Wright (Betty), Bessie Kademova (Bessie),
Dorothy Brown (Dorothy), Bobbie Breslaw (Bobbie); The Young Ladies of the Ensemble: Dorothy Van Alst,
Alice Wood, Betty Wright, Bessie Kademova, Dorothy Brown, Bobbie Breslaw, Aida Winston, Dorothy
Fitzgibbons, Ann Hardman, Neida Snow, Beverley Maude, Loretta Rehm, Adele Hart, Mary Hoover, Alice
Monroe, Nellie McCarthy, Peggy Thayer, Millicent Olson; Specialty Singers and Dancers: Nick Lucas,
Bob Gordon and Harry King, Dorothy McNulty (later known as Penny Singleton)
The action takes place during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = lyric by Harry B. Smith and music by Joseph Meyer; (**) = lyric by Ballard MacDonald and music
by Walter Donaldson; (***) = lyric by Irving Caesar and music by Joseph Meyer; (****) = lyric by Irving
Caesar and music by Jay Gourney (later, Gorney)
Act One: Opening Chorus (*) (Ensemble); “Marian” (**) (Marie Nordstrom, Al Sexton, Marion Saki); “Step on
It” (***) (Fred Leslie, Girls; Dancers: (a) Dorothy Van Alst and Alice Wood, Bob Gordon and Harry King; (b)
Starke Patterson and Laine Blaire); “Sweetheart Time” (***) (Mary Milburn, Girls); “Two by Four” (***)
(Al Sexton, Marion Saki); “Girl in Your Arms” (****) (Mary Milburn, Eddie Buzzell); “One-Way Street”
(**) (Harry Kelly, Company); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Tahiti” (**) (Nick Lucas, Company; Dancers: Betty Wright, Dorothy McNulty); Dance Specialty
(Bob Gordon and Harry King); “Who Loves You as I Do?” (***) (Mary Milburn, Al Sexton); “Who’s Who?”
(**) (Al Sexton, Marion Saki, Girls); “Rue de la Paix” (**) (Eddie Buzzell, Ensemble; Dancers: Dorothy Van
Alst, Bobbie Breslaw, and Dorothy McNulty); Dance Specialty (Starke Patterson, Laine Blaire); “Cocktail
Melody” (**) (Fred Leslie, Girls); Specialty (Nick Lucas); “On Such a Beautiful Night” (***) (Al Sexton,
Marion Saki, Girls); Finale (Company)
For those unlucky theatergoers who didn’t get around to seeing Oh! Oh! Nurse, Sweetheart Time came
along just in time as the season’s second lyric work about a dying man who in musical-comedy fashion mi-
raculously recovers from a fatal illness. Penniless Violet Stevenson (Mary Milburn) believes Englishman Lord
Hector Raybrook (Fred Leslie) is rich, and penniless Hector thinks Mary is rich, and so they decide to wed. But
the wealthy Dion Woodbury (Eddie Buzzell) has fallen in love with Violet and suggests she marry him instead.
It seems that Dion is fatally ill, and when he dies Violet will be a rich widow. Dion takes off for Paris where
he plans to spend his final days, but Variety reported that once in Paris Dion “indulges in all the restricted
things” and is soon cured of his ailments. Violet realizes she truly loves Dion, and the two settle down to a
lifetime of happy (and healthy) matrimonial bliss.
The New York Times said that with all its “speed and bang” Sweetheart Time should have been a bet-
ter show. To be sure, it had its moments: for “Cocktail Melody,” the performers shook cocktail shakers in
rhythm to the music, and throughout the performance the dancers worked hard (the ladies displayed “amaz-
ing energy” and the men were “dizzy-footed”). But sometimes you couldn’t understand why some of the
principals were the principals (Milburn danced “uncommonly well” but “she really shouldn’t” have had a
speaking part), and there was “someone” (Nick Lucas) who played the guitar “and sang much oftener than
was at all necessary while the company sat and smiled and smiled gallantly.” Otherwise, there was a young
woman in the chorus who “made herself into a hoop with extraordinary skill and kept very neat time to the
1925–1926 Season 305
music as she rolled” (alas, she wasn’t identified in the program and so “regretfully” the critic could cite her
only as “anonymous”).
Time said the show was “not a very good musical comedy” but was “not particularly bad,” and it offered
“a lot of dancing and at least two good tunes.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that the
musical had “vim” and “pep” and included “many” dances because dancing was “becoming more and more
the chief feature of musical pieces.” H.J.M. (Herman J. Mankiewicz) in the New Yorker cautioned that you
had “to put up with a mechanical book, bad jokes, fair music and ordinary lyrics” if you wanted to enjoy the
“good and industrious dancing.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said if it hadn’t been “for the dancing the evening
would have been deadly indeed.” And Bushnell Dimond in the Lincoln (NE) Star decided the show was “just
another of those things” and “you can take Sweetheart Time or leave it.”
Percy Hammond in the Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner probably needed a dental appointment after see-
ing the musical: it was a “super bonbon as full of musical comedy glucose as the laws allow,” was “just one
of those Broadway candy-kisses, oozing the simpler jams from every pore,” and he left the Imperial Theatre
“dripping with such sorghum” as “Girl in Your Arms,” the production’s “essential” ballad.
During the run, “Two by Four,” “Tahiti,” “Who Loves You as I Do?,” and “On Such a Beautiful Night”
were cut, and “I Know That I Love You” and “At the Party” (both with lyrics by Bert Kalmar and music by
Harry Ruby) were added. Variety reported that Mary Milburn turned in her notice soon after the opening (and
was succeeded by future film legend Irene Dunne), and the trade paper also noted that Sweetheart Time was
producer Rufus LeMaire’s second musical version of the story. The first had been titled Leave It to Me, which
was revised, restaged, and recast (the only principals held over from Leave It to Me were the leads Buzzell
and Milburn).
THE MATINEE GIRL

“The De Luxe Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: February 1, 1926; Closing Date: February 20, 1926
Performances: 24
Book and Lyrics: McElbert Moore and Bide Dudley
Music: Frank H. Grey; additional music by McElbert Moore and Constance Shepard
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Edmund Rosenblum Jr. (for Edmund Enterprises, Inc.); Choreography:
S. Lee Rose; Scenery: Joseph Physioc; Costumes: Milgrim; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Frank H. Grey
Cast: Bernie Goe (The Usherette), Juliette Day (Bess Gordon), Olga Steck (“Bubbles” Peters), James Hamilton
(Jack Sterling), Jack Squire (Phil Taylor), Kevitt Manton (Boggs), John Kearney (Captain Mack), Gus Shy
(Archie de Witt), Madeline Grey (Lill McCue), Rudolf Bedeloni (Ramon Mendez), John Park (Philander
Peters), Helene Herman (Lucy Peters), Rose LaHarte (Maria Mendez); Usherettes: Bernie Goe (Miss Sear
Goe), Ruth Farrar (Miss Cantbe Beat), Hester Bailey (Miss Doer Die), Dorothy Proudlock (Miss Proper
Thyme), Berta Claire Hall (Miss Nora Knowes), Ruth Penery (Miss Walker Home), Dorothy Charles (Miss
Rollser Owne), Edith Shaw (Miss Lefter Right), Emily Verdi (Miss Shower Style), Edna Hopper (Miss
Sparklin Wyne), Jerry Dryden (Miss Auter Fall), Helen Grey (Miss Maidter Order); The Matinee Steppers:
Stanley Bailey, Joseph F. Brown, Lew Miller, Dick Gibbons, Frank McCormack, Harry Locke
The action takes place during the present time in New York City, at sea aboard the yacht Matinee Girl, and
in Cuba.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “At the Matinee” (Olga Steck, James Hamilton); “Mash Notes” (music by Frank H. Grey and McEl-
bert Moore) (James Hamilton, Girls); “Joy Ride” (Stanley Bailey, Joseph F. Brown, Ensemble); “The One
You Love” (Olga Steck); “When My Little Ship Comes In” (Olga Steck, James Hamilton, Boys); “Jumping
Jack” (Olga Steck, Gus Shy, Ensemble); “Like-a-Me, Like-a-You” (music by Frank H. Grey and McElbert
Moore) (Juliette Day, Jack Squire, Ensemble); “Only One” (music by Frank H. Grey and McElbert Moore)
(James Hamilton, Girls); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “His Spanish Guitar” (Rose LaHarte, Ensemble); “Holding Hands” (Juliette Day, Jack Squire); “Ha-
vanola Roll” (Olga Steck, Ensemble); Specialty (Hester Bailey); “What Difference Does It Make?” (music
by Constance Shepard) (Juliette Day, Olga Steck); “Waiting All the Time for You” (Olga Steck, James
Hamilton); “A Little Bit of Spanish” (Gus Shy, Bernie Goe, Girls); “Only One” (reprise) (James Hamilton);
Finaletto (Olga Steck); “The Biggest Thing in My Life” (Helene Herman, Gus Shy); “Havanola Roll” (re-
prise) (Joseph F. Brown, Stanley Bailey, Ensemble); Ballet (Ruth Penery, Jerry Dryden, Dorothy Charles,
Hester Bailey, Berta Claire Hall, Helen Grey); “Do I Dear, I Do” (lyric and music by McElbert Moore) (Ju-
liette Day, Jack Squire, Helene Herman, Gus Shy, Ensemble); “The One You Love” (reprise) (Olga Steck);
Finale (Company)
The flyer for The Matinee Girl said “The De Luxe Musical Comedy” had “tingling tunes,” the “most pic-
turesque and fast-stepping dances of the season,” the “snappiest dancing chorus of lovely ‘Matinee Girls’ and
‘Matinee Steppers’ ever seen,” and “costumes of bewildering beauty by Milgrim.” As for the plot, the “bright”
story dealt with “modern youth and concerns a stage-struck flapper who, disguised as a cabin boy, follows
her matinee idol to Cuba, aboard his private yacht.” Olga Steck played flapper “Bubbles” Peters and James
Hamilton the matinee idol Jack Sterling. Of course, once Jack discovers the cabin boy is actually “Bubbles,”
romance blossoms. (One or two critics noted the story somewhat mirrored Rudolf Friml’s 1912 musical The
Firefly.)
The New York Times cautioned that the “simple and modest” musical had “one or two pretty good rea-
sons for modesty,” and so the show was “about average.” If one rated the work “strictly by content” it was
“probably” a bit below average, and yet “for some reason the total effect” was “mildly agreeable” and “cer-
tainly not irritating.” The evening possessed a “happy unpretentiousness,” the songs were “sufficient unto
the evening,” and the décor and costumes were “a little less than that.”
F.L.F. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show had “unqualified appeal,” the sets were “designed to
represent places rather than imaginary paradises,” the six male dancers were “veritable stepping demons,”
and the songs “Like-a-Me, Like-a-You” and “Havanola Roll” were “likely to be widely heard.” Dixie Hines
in the Wilmington Morning News liked the “delicate and delightful affair,” said the show offered “the fastest
stepping group of chorus people Broadway has ever seen,” and exclaimed that the score had “more singable
and rememberable music than any show of the season.”
But Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star found the musical “nice, tidy, [and] slightly musty,” and
said “if you can’t get in at Sunny, The Cocoanuts or No, No Nanette, this might kill an evening harmlessly
for you.” Variety said the “so-so” show wasn’t “up to present-day standards on pep and paprika,” and because
of the “lightweight” book there was some doubt in regard to the musical’s “permanency on Broadway.” How-
ever, there were a few “outstanding” songs and some “crackerjack ensemble stepping.” Further, The Matinee
Girl was a “corking dance show,” the “Havanola Roll” was “a corking dance number,” and overall the musi-
cal was a “corking cut-rate buy.”
And what about that somewhat confusing non-corker of a title? Jack is a matinee idol, but “Bubbles”
isn’t famous, and in the first scene of the musical she’s a member of the audience in the Forrest Theatre
where she’s watching a matinee of a show in which Jack is the star. According to Variety, Jack “in a most
implausible manner” sings a duet with her, he on the stage and she in her box seat. However, in later scenes
he never realizes she’s the girl he sang to in the theatre, and “with true musical comedy stupidity” he doesn’t
recognize her in cabin-boy disguise. But Variety wisely observed that “if one is a stickler for even some pre-
text at plausibility and realism, there’d be no musical comedy to speak about.”
RAINBOW ROSE
Performances: 55
Book: Walter DeLeon
Lyrics: Owen Murphy
1925–1926 Season 307
Music: Harold Levey

Based on the 1925 play A Lucky Break by Zelda Sears (lyrics uncredited and music by Harold Levey).
Direction: Walter Wilson; Producer: George MacFarlane Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Ray Perez; Scenery:
William Castle; Costumes: Schneider-Anderson; Brooks Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musi-
cal Direction: Harold Levey
Cast: Louise Galloway (Martha), Margaret Walker (Hulda), Billy Tichenor (Claudia Barrett), Viola Gillette
(Mrs. Barrett), Paisley Noon (David Martin), Hansford Wilson (Benny Ketcham), Alexander Clark (Abner
Ketcham), Shirley Sherman (Rose Haven), Jack Whiting (Tommy Lansing), Jack Squire (John Bruce), Fred
Waldeck (The Expressman); The Charleston Charmers: Peggy Penn, Beauton O’Quinn, Evelyn Kindler,
Shirley Guistin, Jean Unger, Jean Alden, Irene Shay, Katherine Roberts, Lois Annette, Isabelle Brown,
Myrtle LeRoy, Woody Lee Wilson, Gertrude Kayser, Bernie Varden, Mary Norris, Guerida Crawford; The
Delirious Dancers: Delbert Faust, Frank Marshall, Jack Wills, Clinton McLerr, Frank Sherlock Jr., Jules
Shear, Thomas Kerns, George Carroll; The Rainbow Rosebuds: Evelyn Kindler, Peggy Penn, Beauton
O’Quinn, Shirley Guistin; Note: The cast also included the team of Tillis and Larue.
The action takes place during the present time in Mattasquan, Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We Want Our Breakfast” (Louise Galloway, Girls); “Steppin’ Baby” (Hansford Wilson, Margaret
Walker, Dancers); “You’re All the World to Me” (Shirley Sherman); “Jealous” (Shirley Sherman, Jack
Whiting, Billy Tichenor); “First, Last and Only” (Jack Squire, Shirley Sherman, Ensemble); Finale (“Tout
Ensemble”)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Something Tells Me I’m in Love” (Jack Whiting, Billy Tichenor, Dancers);
“Going over the Bumps” (Hansford Wilson, Margaret Walker, Dancers); “If You Were Someone Else and
Someone Else Were Only Here” (Jack Whiting, Shirley Sherman, Ensemble); “When the Hurdy Gurdy
Plays” (Jack Squire, Hansford Wilson, Margaret Walker, Ensemble); Finale
Act Three: Opening: “Dreams” (Viola Gillette, Company); “Pas seul” (dance) (Billy Tichenor); “Dance Ec-
centrique” (Margaret Walker); Specialty (Hansford Wilson); “Let’s Get Married” (Jack Whiting, Billy
Tichenor); “Rainbow” (Jack Squire, Girls); Finale
Zelda Sears’s play A Lucky Break had opened earlier in the season on August 11, 1925, at the Cort The-
atre for a disappointing three-week run, and its musical adaptation fared somewhat better with seven weeks
on Broadway. The play had included three songs (“You’re All the World to Me,” “When the Hurdy Gurdy
Plays,” and “Where the Rainbow Ends”), and the first two were held over for the musical version. (For more
information about A Lucky Break, see appendix C, “Plays with Music.”)
The story centered on rich New York stock broker John Bruce (Jack Squire) who visits his hometown in
Connecticut and finds that everyone’s impressed with the wealth he’s acquired on Wall Street. In order to
ascertain who likes him for himself, he pretends to have lost his fortune, and takes a job as a desk clerk at the
local inn, the Haven House, which is run by the title character Rose Haven (Shirley Sherman) and her mother
Martha (Louise Galloway). To his pleasant surprise, he not only discovers that his friends care about him and
want to help him during hard times but he also finds love with his Rainbow Rose.
The New York Times said that “at its best” the musical was “average,” but unfortunately the show was
“only infrequently” at its best. As a result, Rainbow Rose was “just another” musical comedy: there had
been “hundreds like it before” and the fear was that “thousands more like it” would follow. Time had found
A Lucky Break “unsatisfactory,” and said its musical version was “strictly routine” with a “fair” score and
“moderately adept” performers.
James S. Durkee in the Wilmington Morning News said the “sweet little story” was “happily told,” and
said the “pleasant” show offered “some very pleasing tunes” and “original and pleasing” choreography; and
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “satisfactory if modest hit,” and said the show was
“chock-full of action, with an irresistible collection of dancing beauties and several expert specialists in the
dancing line.” L. de C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said “pep and then more pep is the backbone” of Rain-
bow Rose, and (like so many musicals of the era) the dancers were the ones who enlivened the proceedings.
In fact, it wasn’t “the story, the songs or the performers” that put the show across, it was “those Charleston
charmers.”
Variety noted that the major problem with the “lightweight” musical was its “lack of comedy.” It was
“plentifully papered” two nights after the Broadway premiere and it lacked “the necessary staying qualities
for this time of year.” But secondary romantic lead Jack Whiting “looks good, plays nicely and stands out all
the way,” Squire gave a “genuine” performance, and Sherman in the title role sang “nicely” but was “some-
what handicapped in dancing and histrionics.” American Song notes that A Lucky Break reportedly included
five songs, and Variety mentioned that two songs from A Lucky Break had been interpolated into Harold
Levey’s score for Rainbow Rose.
The musical was produced by George MacFarland, who created the role of John in the straight play ver-
sion, A Lucky Break, and also played the role during the tryout of Rainbow Rose before he was succeeded
by Jack Squire. Three performers from A Lucky Break appeared in the musical (Viola Gillette as Mrs. Bar-
rett, Louise Galloway as Martha, and Margaret Walker, who was Elise in the play version and Hulda in
the musical). An early tryout flyer for the musical announced that “Mr. F. Wheeler Wadsworth and his
Orchestra of selected soloists will accompany Rainbow Rose.” There’s no evidence that Wadsworth and
his orchestra were in the Broadway production, but perhaps some of his soloists were part of the regular
theatre orchestra (conducted by the composer Harold Levey) because Variety noted that between the acts
“specialties from the pit crew” consisted of “violin, cornet and the pianist doubling on an accordion [with
each] taking their turn.”
THE GIRL FRIEND

“A Smart Musical Comedy”

Performances: 301
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Lew Fields; Choreography: Jack Haskell; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Costumes: John N. Booth Jr.; Hugh Willoughby Jones; Grace Carson; Lighting: Electrical effects by New
York Calcium Light Co.; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting
Cast: Eva Condon (Fanny Silver), Dorothy Barber (Ellen, Jane Talbot), Sammy White (Leonard aka Lenny
Silver), Eva Puck (Mollie Farrell), John Hundley (Thomas Larson), Frank Doane (Arthur Spencer), Ev-
elyn Cavanaugh (Wynn Spencer), June Cochrane (Irene Covel), Francis X. Donegan (Donald Litt), Silvia
Shawn (Ann), Jack Kogan (Mike), Walter Bigelow (Duffy), Jan Moore (Mme. Ruby de Lilly), Ainsley
Lambert (Butler), Leon Rose (Eddie), Joel Duroe (Frank); Leon Rose’s Band: Paul Sabin (Jim), Herman
Newman (Henry), William Marshall (Walter), and Sanford Wolf (Bill); Girls: Gypsy Mooney, Olive
Peebe, Eva Marie Gray, Helen Shepard, Dorothy Brown, Evelyn Ruh Urilda, Elizabeth Mears, Alice
Kosta, Dorothy Roy, Virginia Otis, Carol Lynne, Gertrude Cole; Boys: Roy Clements, Eddie Leslie,
Austin Clarke, Arthur C. Budd, K. Smith Stanley, A. Goodrich
The action takes place during the present time on Long Island and in Ardsley-on-Hudson, New York.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hey! Hey!” (Ensemble); “The Simple Life” (Ensemble); “The Girl Friend” (Eva Puck, Sammy
White); “Goodbye, Lenny” (Ensemble); “The Blue Room” (Eva Puck, Sammy White); “Cabarets” (Ensem-
ble); “Why Do I?” (June Cochrane, Francis X. Donegan, Ensemble); “The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt”
(Eva Puck); “He’s a Winner” (Frank Doane, Ensemble); “Town Hall Tonight” (Eva Puck, June Cochrane,
Francis X. Donegan, Sammy White, Ensemble); “Good Fellow, Mine” (Evelyn Cavanaugh, John Hundley,
Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
1925–1926 Season 309
Act Two: “Creole Crooning Song” (John Hundley, Ensemble; Dancer: Dorothy Barber); “I’d Like to Take You
Home” (June Cochrane, Francis X. Donegan); “What Is It?” (Frank Doane, Ensemble; Dancer: Dorothy
Barber); Dance (Sammy White); Finale (Company)
Early in the season, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Dearest Enemy was a major hit, and here toward
the close of the season the team enjoyed another triumph with The Girl Friend, which ran for 301 perfor-
mances and then embarked on a four-month, eight-city tour. Eva Puck and Sammy White’s ingratiating per-
formances, Herbert Fields’s lighthearted book, and Rodgers and Hart’s songs all contributed to an evening that
pleased both audiences and critics.
The score included two hit songs, the smooth and liquid praises of the hideaway “The Blue Room” (like
“The Love Nest” and “Tea for Two,” this was another of the decade’s ballads devoted to the joy of a private
get-away for lovers) and the jubilant capers of the title number, which praises the virtues of one’s beloved,
who is “short on looks” and “mentally nearly complete.” Hart’s lyrics sparkled, particularly in the low-down
“The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt,” a wry look at dames across the centuries who were behind the scenes
during History’s Greatest Moments (Washington crossed the Delaware because he had a date with a “Jersey
flapper”), and the gender-bending “What Is It?” complained that these days women act and dress like men,
and vice versa (the woman you flirt with might be a man named Bert).
The story focused on Lenny Silver (White), who works at the Silver Dairy in Long Island, and whose
dream is to win a six-day bicycle race. He’s encouraged by his girlfriend Mollie Farrell (Puck), who becomes
his trainer and manager. Professional promoter Arthur Spencer (Frank Doane) and his wily and vampish sister,
Wynn (Evelyn Cavanaugh), plot to have Lenny race for them, but Lenny is true to his girlfriend and wins the
race, and so all ends happily for the twosome.
The New York Times liked the “generally captivating” show with its “agreeable” music, “adroit and well-
fashioned” lyrics, and a chorus who “danced and gamboled with high abandon and intelligence.” With The
Girl Friend, Eva Puck was now “in the very first rank of musical comedy comediennes” with a “pleasantly
weird mannerism” which was “comely, tuneful, [and] agile,” and while Sammy White’s role allowed him to
be only “moderately funny” it nonetheless gave him opportunities to “unlimber his legs in his familiar dance
specialty.” G.W.G. (Gilbert W. Gabriel) in the New Yorker found the evening a “pleasant and particularly
tuneful affair” with “two or three ingratiating little songs, as good in lyrics as they are in lilt,” and Time said
the “consistently agreeable” show had “good music and unquestionably the best lyrics in town,” as well as
“a sound enough set of jokes and more than the usual allotment of brisk dancing.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was less taken with the performers and thought the show
needed better singers to do justice to Hart’s lyrics. The critic liked the “fetching” music and noted the lyrics
added “joy” to such songs as “Why Do I?,” “The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt,” the title song, and “What Is
It?,” which “proved enormously popular” with the first-night audience. Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune
noted that the book was “better” than most, the songs were “above the average,” and the jokes were along
the lines of “He’s the truant officer for a correspondence school.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the musical was “by no means perfection, but it is
funny,” and the songs were “dainty and sprightly, and just the stuff to relieve the strain of too much Ibsen”
(there had been no less than five revivals of Ibsen’s plays during the season, including one that had opened the
night before the premiere of The Girl Friend). Variety said The Girl Friend was “a good musical, as musical
comedies go.” The “diverting” evening offered “ultra-smart” lyrics, “fetching” music, and the chorus members
were a “corking collection” of “nice” and “refreshing” chorines and “manly and stalwart” chorus boys. The
critic singled out seven numbers, the title song, “The Blue Room,” “Why Do I?,” the “fool-proof” “The Damsel
Who Done All the Dirt,” “Town Hall Tonight,” “Take You Home,” and the “effeminate” “What Is It?”
During the tryout, “Sleepyhead” and “The Pipes of Pansy” were cut. The former was briefly heard in the
1926 revue The Garrick Gaieties (where it was introduced by Sterling Holloway) but was dropped during the
run, and the latter almost found its way into three other Rodgers and Hart musicals (Dearest Enemy, Peggy-
Ann, and She’s My Baby), but never made it to Broadway. “In New Orleans” was dropped in preproduction,
and “I’d Like to Take You Home (to Meet My Mother)” had earlier been heard in the revue Bad Habits of
1925 (which was presented for one performance only as a benefit for the Evelyn Goldsmith Home for Crippled
Children).
The title song and “The Blue Room” have been widely recorded; “Sleepyhead” is included in the second
Rodgers and Hart Revisited collection (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-139), and “The Damsel Who
Done All the Dirt” and “Why Do I?” are included in the third Revisited (Painted Smiles CD # PSCD-106).
“Sleepyhead” and “The Blue Room” are part of the collection This Funny World: Mary Cleere Haran Sings
Lyrics by Hart (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5584), and “Why Do I?” is included in The Broadway Musicals
of 1926 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-031).
The Girl Friend opened in London, only it didn’t. The production premiered on September 8, 1927, at the
Palace Theatre for 421 performances with Louise Brown, Roy Royston, Emma Haig, George Gee, and Eileen
Redcott, and was a “new” musical which took elements from both New York’s The Girl Friend and Kitty’s
Kisses. Per the program, R. P. Weston and Bert Lee “adapted” Philip Bartholomae and Otto Harbach’s book
for Kitty’s Kisses, and the new version used at least four songs from the score (“I’m in Love,” “Early in the
Morning,” “I Don’t Want Him,” and “Step [Steppin’] on the Blues) and possibly a fifth (“Step on the Track”
may have been a revised version of New York’s “Walkin’ the Track”). Two songs from The Girl Friend were
included (“The Girl Friend” and “The Blue Room”), and two (“Mountain Greenery” and “What’s the Use of
Talking”) were interpolated from Rodgers and Hart’s 1926 revue The Garrick Gaieties. Other songs in the
London production were “Boys of Hagerstown,” “We Must Discover the Girl,” “Kitty Brown,” and “Just
Imagine It” (except for “We Must Discover the Girl,” which was composed by Vivian Ellis, these songs are
most likely by Gus Kahn and Con Conrad).
The 1927 London production was revived (and revised in a new adaptation by Michael Winter) at the
Colchester Mercury Theatre on September 25, 1987, and it restored a few Rodgers and Hart songs that had
been omitted in 1927. The new production was recorded by That’s Entertainment Records (LP # TER-1148),
and includes the title song, “The Blue Room,” “What’s the Use of Talking?,” and “Mountain Greenery,” all
of which had been part of the 1927 version; newly added were the finales for both acts, a finaletto, “Good
Fellow Mine” and “Why Do I?” from the original New York production, and “Sleepyhead,” which had been
cut from the 1926 Broadway tryout and was later introduced in the 1926 Garrick Gaieties. Among the songs
retained from the original Kitty’s Kisses were: “Step on the Track” (“Walkin’ the Track”), “I’m in Love,”
“Kitty’s Kisses,” “Early in the Morning,” “I Don’t Want Him,” and “Step on the Blues” (“Steppin’ on the
Blues”).
KITTY’S KISSES
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Bright New Summer Musical Delight”
Theatre: Playhouse Theatre

Performances: 170
Book: Philip Bartholomae and Otto Harbach
Lyrics: Gus Kahn; additional lyrics by Otto Harbach
Music: Con Conrad; additional music by Walter Donaldson
Based on the 1912 play Little Miss Brown by Philip Bartholomae.
Direction: John Cromwell; Producer: William A. Brady; Choreography: Bobby Connolly; Scenery: Livingston
Platt; Costumes: Milgrim; Brooks Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John
McManus
Cast: Jane Corcoran (Mrs. Burke), Frank Hatch (Mr. Burke), Georgina Tilden (A Country Girl), Aileen Meehan
(Lulu), Dorothy Dilley (Kitty Brown), John Boles (Robert Mason), Walter Bradbury (A Track Walker), Mor-
timer Chadbourne (Brakeman), Kenneth Shutts (Conductor), Leonard Scott (Pullman Conductor), Arthur
Lang (Dining Car Steward), William Wayne (The Day Clerk), Ruth Warren (The Telephone Girl), Charles
Williams (The Bell Boy), Elizabeth, aka Patsy, Dunn (The Maid), William Leith (The Night Clerk), Mark
Smith (Richard Dennison), Fan, aka Frances, Bourke (Mrs. Dennison), Nick Long Jr. (Philip Dennison),
Mildred Keats (Miss Wendel); Rosemary Hall Girls: Mildred Anders, Pauline Bartlett, Polly Blake, Emily
Burton, Billie Bostick, Irene Hamlin, Patty Hastings, Edna Hopper, Ruth Kelly, Ruth Laird, Aileen Mee-
han, Frances Nevins, Cherie Pelham; Boys: Warren Crosby, Lester Eldridge, Paul Florenze, Jack Gargin,
Gene McVey, William Neely, George O’Brien, Joe Sargent
The action takes place during the present time at a railway siding and at the Hotel Wendel.
1925–1926 Season 311
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Walkin’ the Track” (Aileen Meehan, Boys); “Choo Choo Love” (Train Crew); “Kitty’s Kisses”
(lyric by Gus Kahn and Otto Harbach) (Dorothy Dilley, John Boles); “I Love to Dance” (Mildred Keats,
Nick Long Jr.); “Thinking of You” (lyric by Gus Kahn and Otto Harbach) (Ruth Warren, William Wayne):
“Two Fellows and a Girl” (Dorothy Dilley, Boys); “I’m in Love” (lyric by Gus Kahn and Otto Harbach)
(John Boles, Boys); “Mr. and Mrs.” (Mildred Keats, Nick Long Jr., Girls); “Promise Your Kisses” (Dorothy
Dilley, Mildred Keats, Girls)
Act Two: “Early in the Morning” (Mark Smith, Dorothy Dilley); “I Don’t Want Him” (Dorothy Dilley, Mark
Smith, Fan Bourke); “Needles” (Ruth Warren, Girls and Boys); “Whenever I Dream” (Dorothy Dilley, John
Boles); “Bounce Me” (Mildred Keats, Nick Long Jr., Girls and Boys); “Steppin’ on the Blues” (music by
Con Conrad and Walter Donaldson) (William Wayne, Nick Long Jr., Ensemble); Finale (Company)
In collaboration with Otto Harbach, playwright Philip Bartholomae adapted his 1912 comedy Little Miss
Brown into Kitty’s Kisses with lyrics by Gus Kahn and music by Con Conrad. Although the performers
weren’t headliners and the lively score didn’t yield a hit song, the show was a modest success which received
generally good reviews. And there were rave notices for dancer Nick Long Jr., and the high-stepping ensemble.
Kitty’s Kisses was the final book musical of the season, a hit-filled one that included No, No, Nanette, Dear-
est Enemy, The Vagabond King, Sunny, The Cocoanuts, and The Girl Friend.
Once Kitty Kisses closed, it might well have completely disappeared, but it had two surprising afterlives.
In 1927, a reworked version of the musical opened in London and ran for over a year. Surprisingly, it was titled
The Girl Friend, and it retained the basic plot and a few songs from Kitty’s Kisses as well as two numbers by
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart from their hit The Girl Friend which had opened on Broadway a few weeks
before the New York premiere of Kitty’s Kisses; the London production also included two songs from Rodg-
ers and Hart’s revue The Garrick Gaieties, which opened four nights after Kitty’s Broadway debut. (For more
information about the London production, see entry for The Girl Friend.). The second afterlife occurred in
2009 when PS Classics released a studio cast album of the score (see below).
Kitty’s Kisses was an innocent variation of what could have been a naughty Continental farce. Traveling
on a train to meet her mother, Kitty Brown (Dorothy Dilley) meets handsome Robert Mason (John Boles),
but through musical comedy confusion Kitty loses her purse and luggage, is separated from Mason, and finds
herself alone in a strange town with no money. She can’t afford lodging, but a hotel’s helpful Telephone Girl
(Ruth Warren) suggests that Kitty book the bridal suite and say she’s there to await her groom. It turns out
the suite has been promised to a married couple who often stay at the hotel, and once Kitty is settled into the
suite, the husband shows up, then later his wife, and soon misunderstandings abound. However, everything
ends well, especially when Robert appears with Kitty’s lost purse. And it’s a given that Kitty and Robert will
soon require a bridal suite of their own.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the evening’s “chief distinction” was the “rough-and-
tumble” chorus who danced “at the pace that exhilarates while it kills.” At the beginning of the first act they
danced between railroad tracks, and from there the chorus “glides, pops, scoops, careens and Charlestons
through hotel corridors, lobbies, bedrooms and gardens indiscriminately.” And the “merely incredible” Nick
Long Jr., violated “all the natural laws of gravity and friction” and set “new records for the running broad
jump, the high jump and other athletic events heretofore practiced by mortals in the flesh.” Long’s “bounc-
ing, pitching, and whirling” defied all belief, and Atkinson stated “let him not soar too close to the sun lest
his wings get melted off.”
Atkinson also noted that for the denouement all the characters’ misunderstandings were cleared up very
quickly. It seems that two sentences by the Telephone Girl made everything aright, and Atkinson sagely
noted that “in musical comedy, the characters understand no less glibly than they misunderstand, for of such
shallow intellects are musical plots born.”
G.W.G. (Gilbert W. Gabriel) in the New Yorker said the décor had “a rare old storehouse atmosphere,”
the costumes were “blamelessly humble,” and the humor was “cheapest of all” in the “cheap enterprise.”
However, the story was “simply a runway for the leaps, bounds, and twinkle-toeing of specialists, eccentri-
cists, and choruses galore.” Time found the show “unimportant” save the “shattering succession of excel-
lent” dances; Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found “vigor in the jagged tunes” and praised the
“agile” Long who “leapt about” with “a grace and agility almost alarming”; and Burns Mantle in the Chicago
Tribune said Long was “a master jumping jack and an acrobatic stepper of exceptional gifts” who didn’t have
“the slightest difficulty running away with the entertainment.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the musical had “plenty of pep [and] snappy
dialogue,” was “truly one of the ‘dancingiest shows,’” and the “hit” of the evening was Long, a “slender youth
whose dancing will be his future fortune.” As for the score, it was “nothing to boast of,” and the critic stated,
“We have heard something similar dozens of times before, only we can’t remember where.” In fact, the title
song was “as thin as anything heard along Tin Pan Alley, but even so, the darned thing clings persistently to
the ears as long as the morning after.”
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press praised the “novelty of the scenic effects and devices,” the
“tunefulness” of the score, and “general pleasure of the evening.” Variety decided the farce Little Miss Brown
had “grown a beard,” but otherwise Kitty’s Kisses was “a fast-dancing musical comedy” with “several melo-
dious” songs. Thanks to choreographer Bobby Connolly, the dancing for the ensemble was “distinctive,” and
the “extraordinary” Long performed steps that were “eye-openers” (at one point he “leap[ed] over standing
girls as though flung from wire springs”). Because the intimate musical didn’t have “exceptional operating
costs,” it had a “good chance” to succeed and it offered “enough entertainment to keep it going for a time to
fairly good money.”
During the run, “Mr. and Mrs.” was cut from the production. The studio cast album by PS Classics (CD #
PS-987) includes Rebecca Luker (Kitty), Philip Chaffin (Robert), Victoria Clark, Christopher Fitzgerald, Danny
Burstein, and Malcolm Gets. The recording omits “Mr. and Mrs.” and “I Love to Dance.”
A revised version of the 1927 London production of The Girl Friend/Kitty’s Kisses was presented in Brit-
ain in 1987 (for more information, see entry for The Girl Friend).
1926–1927 Season
MY MAGNOLIA
“An All-Colored Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Mansfield Theatre

Opening Date: July 12, 1926; Closing Date: July 16, 1926
Performances: 6
Book: Alex C. Rogers and Eddie Hunter
Lyrics: Alex C. Rogers
Music: C. Luckeyth (aka “Lucky”) Roberts
Direction: Alex C. Rogers and Eddie Hunter; Producer: Walter Campbell; Choreography: Charles Davis;
Scenery: Frank Illo; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: C. Luckeyth Roberts
Cast: Hilda Rogers (Peggy), Paul Bass (Harvey, Floor Manager), Percy Colston (Jodey), Lionel Monagas (Mr.
Korkem, Expelled Member, Mr. Hedlee), Dink Stewart (Henry Upson, Oof Dah), Barrington Carter (Jasper
Downson, Constable Sapp), George Randol (Johnny, Detective, Messenger, Outer Guard, Mr. Towles), Ad-
elaide Hall (Jenny), Claude Lawson (Chef, Train Announcer), Alberta Perkins (Dusty Snow), Mabel Gant
(Grenadine), Eddie Hunter (Sherman), Charles Davis (Lightfoot, Herman), Estelle Floyd (Jenny), George
Nanton (A Member of Dominoes), Charles Davis and Clarence Peters (Two Winning Members), Henry
“Gang” Jines (Inner Guard), Catherine Parker (Magnolia), Lena Sanford Roberts (Widow Love), Snippy
Mason (Snappy), Alex C. Rogers (Uncle Fi), C. Luckeyth Roberts (Pit Pianist); Magnolia Blossoms: Fannie
Henderson, Cornell Vigal, Sally Evans, Jackie Jackson, Rose Gilliard, Helen Dunmoore, Olive Harrison,
Ermilie Brown, Elise Phillips, Edith Oliver, Frances Smith, Corinne Richards, Hilaris Friend, Marion
Tyler, Gladys Phillips, Margaret Washington, Marie Warren, Janet White, Florence Tarby; Feather Foot
Dancers: John Worthy, George Nanton, William McKelvey, Walter Gregory, Harry Hunter, Snippy Mason,
Charles Saltez, Buddy Green, Clarence Peters
The action takes place during the present time in New York City, Jersey City, and the outskirts of New Or-
leans.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “At Your Service”; “Dance of the Bellhops”; “Baby Mine” (Percy Colston, Chorus); “Shake
Your Duster” (Alberta Perkins, Girls); “Pay Day” (Hilda Rogers, Chorus); “Magnolia” (Paul Bass, Chorus);
“Hard Times” (Eddie Hunter); “Spend It” (Adelaide Hall, Charles Davis, Girls); “Jazz Land Ball” (Adelaide
Hall, Charles Davis, Chorus); “Laugh Your Blues Away” (Estelle Floyd); “Gallopin’ Dominoes” (Eddie
Hunter, Men); “Headin’ South” (Hilda Rogers, Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Merry Christmas” and “Magnolia” (reprise)/“Tap Charleston”; “Struttin’ Time” (Cath-
erine Parker, Girls); “Our Child” (Alex C. Rogers); “Gee Chee” (Adelaide Hall, Charles Davis, Girls,
313
Boys); “Magnolia” (reprise) (Paul Bass); “Sundown Serenade” (Lena Sanford Roberts, Chorus); “Baby
Mine” (reprise) (Percy Colston); “Parade of the Christmas Dinner” (Alex C. Rogers, Lena Sanford Roberts,
Ensemble); “Baby Wants” (Alberta Perkins, Eddie Hunter); “The Oof Dah Man” (Dink Stewart, Girls);
“Sweet Popopper” (Estelle Floyd); Finale: “Baby Mine” (reprise) (Company)
At six performances, My Magnolia was the shortest-running book musical of the season. It opened on
a Monday, and closed on Friday after six performances. Variety reported that as Struttin’ Time (the title of
one of the show’s songs) the musical had toured for twenty weeks on the “colored circuit.” Despite dazzling
choreography and a few songs singled out by the critics, the book did the show in, and the New York Times
said it was “rambling” and “meaningless” and the “long and sorry affair” was “insufficiently rehearsed,” a
surprising comment considering the length of the national tour. However, C. Luckeyth (aka “Lucky”) Rob-
erts’s score included one or two “good” tunes, and there were “amazingly fast and expert” dances and the cast
performed tap, Charlestons, and “other convolutions with frenzied expertness.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said My Magnolia “seemed always about to be just a little funnier
than it ever became,” and Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register noted that the production lacked
humor and a plot (but he praised the “melodious” score, the “excellent” dancing, and the “tasteful and ex-
pensive” sets and costumes). M.D.B. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “barbecue” of songs and dances
had just a “modicum of musical comedy plot,” which dragged “disconcertingly,” but the evening provided
“happier impressions” of “eccentric and furious soft-shoe pedaling.”
Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning News said there was “no comedy and no comedians,” and ex-
cept for the “fast-stepping” dancers the show would have been a “total loss.” While it was “rather hard to sit
through two hours or more of foot work alone, however fast and pleasing it may be,” there “surely” hadn’t
been “faster dancing or more intricate movements than these colored folk put across.” Variety reported that
it was “nearly” nine o’clock when the show began (on Monday, July 12), the first act ended at 10:35, and by
the time of the finale it was “Tuesday A.M. daylight savings time.” The critic blamed the evening’s length on
an inordinate number of encores (Hammond also complained about the encores and said it was “unfortunate
that the artists, deceived by a little kindly applause, should have accepted half a dozen encores where one or
two would have sufficed”), and further noted that one “serenade” lasted “for over 12 minutes,” and because it
was performed at 11:30, it was “draggy and boresome.” But Alberta Perkins “shook a mean duster and scored
with a lyric on that theme” (“Shake Your Duster”), “Pay Day” was “one of the lighter and livelier numbers,”
“Magnolia” and “Baby Mine” were the evening’s “best” songs, and Rogers’s lyric for “Parade of the Christmas
Dinner” was “good and typical of the colored fancy for food.”
As for the plot, there didn’t seem to be much of it. The Eagle commented that locales shifted “with dis-
turbing frequency” throughout New York City (including the Hotel Strutt, streets and clubs in Harlem, the
corner of Lenox Avenue and 135th Street, and the “Gallopin’ Dominoes” Association), then to a railroad sta-
tion in Jersey City, and finally to a home in New Orleans.
THE BLONDE SINNER

“A Smart Farce with Music”
Theatre: Cort Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Selwyn and Frolic Theatres)
Opening Date: July 14, 1926; Closing Date: December 11, 1926
Performances: 179
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Leon DeCosta
Direction: Edwin Vail; Producer: Musicomedies, Inc.; Choreography: Ralph Riggs; Scenery: Walter Sherwood;
Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Irwin Abrams
Cast: Ralph Bunker (George Hemmingworth), Enid Markey (Betty Hemmingworth), Ruth Stevens (Flash
Pinkey), Clif Heckinger (Adonis Mulberry), Harold De Becker (Jack Conelly), Russell Morrison (Alfred
Bird), Marjorie Gateson (Ida Manton), Matt Hanley (Mike Reilly), Frank Kingdon (Alexander Homer),
Howard St. John (James Manton), Margy Lane (Charleston Maid); Hugo Frey’s Troubadours (conducted by
Irwin Abrams)
1926–1927 Season 315
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Don’t You Cheat” (Enid Markey, Marjorie Gateson, Ruth Stevens, Ralph Bunker); “Oh, What a
Playmate You Could Make” (Marjorie Gateson, Enid Markey, Ralph Bunker, Matt Hanley, Clif Heck-
inger, Ruth Stevens); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Enid Markey, Matt Hanley); Finale: “Don’t
You Cheat” (reprise) (Hugo Frey’s Troubadours)
Act Two: “If You Said What You Thought” (Enid Markey, Marjorie Gateson, Ruth Stevens, Ralph Bunker);
“Man Is a Mistake” (Marjorie Gateson); “The Whispering Song” (Ruth Stevens, Howard St. John); “Lips”
(Marjorie Gateson, Howard St. John); Finale: “Lips” (reprise) (Hugo Frey’s Troubadours)
Act Three: “Byebye Babe” (Enid Markey, Marjorie Gateson, Ruth Stevens); Reprise (song not identified in
program) (Harold De Becker, Enid Markey); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Marjorie Gateson,
Harold De Becker); Finale (Company)
A year before the opening of The Blonde Sinner, Leon De Costa’s Kosher Kitty Kelly (advertised as “A
Unique Comedy with Several Singable Songs”) managed a run of 166 performances on Broadway. His latest
show The Blonde Sinner (“A Smart Farce with Music”) ran a bit longer with 179 showings, and it was a mix-
ture of farce and musical comedy, with a touch of mystery added. The musical numbers seemed to come out
of nowhere and disrupted the flow of the story, but for six months audiences supported the small-scale show,
which featured eleven players and a single set.
Detective-story writer George Hemmingworth (Ralph Bunker) and his wife Betty (Enid Markey) decide
to rent out rooms in their Long Island summer cottage, and soon they’re hosting four boarders, including Ida
Manton (Marjorie Gateson), who is looking for evidence in order to divorce her husband, James (Howard St.
John). She’s brought along detective Mike Reilly (Matt Hanley), and the innocent Betty discovers she’s been
named as the unknown correspondent in the divorce action. Two other boarders are a young couple who
hope to get married, and dancing around the perimeters of the story is the “Charleston Maid” (Margy Lane).
Semi-pandemonium abounds, characters pop in and out of rooms, doors open, doors slam, the men seem to
always be fully dressed while the women wear nightclothes, the cast members sing such numbers as “Man Is
a Mistake” and “Oh, What a Playmate You Could Make,” and no doubt the maid is dancing instead of dust-
ing. And the upshot is that Ida decides she wants to stay married to James.
The evening was really about two days’ journey into confusion, and the critics weren’t quite certain just
what was going on. Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register said the “often confusing” show had a plot
“entirely beyond my comprehension,” and “it was all too much for my simple understanding.” Dixie Hines
in the Wilmington Morning News stated the “ridiculous” evening was “so complicated in story, and so ut-
terly unnecessary anyway, that it would require columns to make it clear.” Moreover, the show was “such a
puzzle that the audience finds itself in the same condition of mind as Enid Markey when she finally exclaims,
‘I don’t understand it!’”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker decided if he summoned up all his charitable impulses, he could state
“that I’ve seen worse,” but then he wavered a bit, and so perhaps he hadn’t seen worse; Time said the show
was “crude”; the New York Times said the piece was “dull and generally unfunny”; and Variety found the
show “just another of those verbal ‘chop sueys.’” Martin B. Dickstein in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the
plot thickened “appreciably” as the evening progressed, but he happily noted that “all the threads are nicely
gathered up by about 11:00 o’clock.” As a result, the show was “pleasant enough” and “entirely adequate for
a summer evening diversion at the theatre,” and thus it could “do nobody any harm.”
Hines mentioned that some of the dialogue could “stand a first-rate fumigation,” and no doubt one of the
lines he was thinking about was referenced by Dickstein (in speaking of George, Betty says he’s quite “pro-
phylactic,” when she means “prolific”).
Dickstein said the songs were “for the most part tuneful and one or two are rather catchy,” and decided
that “Lips” and “Don’t You Cheat” would be “moderately successful song hits” (Variety also singled out the
two numbers). The Times liked the “pleasant” songs, which “were played for all they are worth by Hugo
Frey’s Troubadours.” Hammond stated that several songs were “extremely tuneful” and predicted that “Lips”
was “destined for cabaret popularity.” Time said the songs were the “best” part of the evening, while Hines
reported that “without the slightest provocation” the cast burst into song, some of it “lilting but totally un-
necessary.” And he decided The Blonde Sinner was “perhaps the only play that ever reached Broadway where
the principals doubled as a chorus.”
CASTLES IN THE AIR

“The Musical Sensation of This Generation” / “Enormous Musical Success”
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Century Theatre)
Performances: 160
Book and Lyrics: Raymond W. Peck
Music: Percy Wenrich
Direction: Frank S. Merlin; Producer: James W. Elliott; Choreography: Dances staged by John Boyle and
ensembles staged by Julian Mitchell; Scenery: Hugh Willoughby; P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Hugh
Willoughby; Francis & Co.; John N. Booth Jr.; Lighting: Lighting effects by Duwico Stage Lighting Co.;
Musical Direction: Max Bendix
Cast: Robert Williamson (Amos), Joyce White (Annie Moore), Allen Waterous (George Sedgwick), Stan-
ley Forde (Philip Rodman), Claire Madjette (Mme. Joujou Durant), Vivienne Segal (Evelyn Devine),
Richard Farrell (Count Draga), Bernard Granville (Monty Blair), J. Harold Murray (John Brown), Walter
Edwin (General Slodak), William Hasson (Kemlar), Gregory Ratoff (The Chancellor), Edward Gorman
(Lieutenant), Thais Lawton (The Queen Regent), Mary Hutchinson (Ballet Dancer); The Boyle Double
Dancing Sextette: Firlie Banks, Vera Trett, Mary Hutchinson, Beulah Baker, Edna Burford, Helen War-
ren, Tuxie Ondex, William Hale, Fred Cowhick, Jack Neilan, Don Donat, Tommie Mack; The Danc-
ing Girls: Mildred Morgan, Lola Lavin, Jane Hurd, Doreen Roberts, Muriel Greel, Audrey Van Liew,
Helene Bradley, Woody Lee Wilson, Virginia Beardsley, Betty Collett, Catherine Huth, Aili Radigan;
The Singing Girls: Bea King, Nina Piozet, Ruth Elaine, Rosalind Baker, Francis Philips, Ivia Perrine,
Marie Dana, Lenore Cornwell, Sophie Hauser, Evelyn Grayson, Alice Mitchell, Clarice Anderson,
Alva McGill, Sue Lake, Maude Carleton, Viola Hailes, Martha Ann, Cleona Quitt, Dale Leary, Carol
Barbee; The Singing Boys: William Warren, Werner Wennerstrand, Edgar Eastman, Jack James, Alfred
Rusuznyak, Thomas Dendy, Stanley Simon, Val Sholar, John Lane, Walter Blair, Archie Rote, Edwin
Young, Dwight Trucksess, Edward P. Smithe, George O’Donnell, Frank Rothwell, Edward Gorman,
John Eagan, Miner Ellis, Hinsdale Latour
The action takes place during the present time in Westchester County, New York, and in a castle in the
mythical European kingdom of Latavia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “I Don’t Blame ’Em” (Joyce White, Boys); “Love’s Refrain” (Claire Madjette,
Ensemble); “Lantern of Love” (lyric by Raymond W. Peck and R. Locke) (Vivienne Segal, Ensemble); “The
Singer’s Career, Ha! Ha!” (Claire Madjette, Stanley Forde); “The Other Fellow’s Girl” (Bernard Granville,
The Sextette, Ensemble); “If You Are in Love with a Girl” (J. Harold Murray, Ensemble); “The Sweetheart
of Your Dream” (Vivienne Segal); “I Would Like to Fondle You” (Joyce White, Bernard Granville, The
Sextette, Ensemble); “The Rainbow of Your Smile” (J. Harold Murray); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Latavian Folk Dance” (Ensemble); “Baby” (“Fox Trot Lullaby”) (Bernard Granville, Ensemble);
“Latavia” (J. Harold Murray, Ensemble); “Land of Romance” (Vivienne Segal); “My Lips, My Love, My
Soul!” (Vivienne Segal, J. Harold Murray); “The Latavian Chant” (Joyce White, Ensemble); Finale (Com-
pany)
Act Three: “The Ballet Dancer” (Mary Hutchinson); “Girls and the Gimmies” (Bernard Granville, The
Sextette, Ensemble); “Love Rules the World” (Claire Madjette, J. Harold Murray, Stanley Forde); Finale
(Company)
Let’s get this straight. Evelyn Devine (Vivienne Segal) is a rich society girl looking for romance and a
prince charming, and so she gets a job as a cigarette girl at the 21 Club in Westchester to ensure that she’s
loved for herself and not her fortune. And John Brown (J. Harold Murray) is a prince of a guy who just happens
to be the Prince of Latavia, one of those mythical operetta kingdoms probably located in the general neighbor-
hood of Ruritania and Marsovia. John masquerades as your everyday average American Joe or John because,
like Evelyn, he too wants to be loved for himself, and in fact he’s spread the rumor that the Prince of Latavia
1926–1927 Season 317
is dead. His friend Monty Blair (Bernard Granville) doesn’t know that John’s a real prince, and as a practical
joke Monty tells everyone that John is indeed a prince.
Meanwhile, Evelyn’s rich Uncle Phillip (Stanley Forde) hopes to quash her romantic notions, and in a
moment of stark realism he buys a castle in Latavia and hires John to pretend to be a prince. (What a joke on
Uncle!) The idea is that when Evelyn meets John she won’t be all that impressed and will finally come down
to earth and forsake her foolish fantasies. However, because John had spread the rumor that the prince is dead,
the Latavians decide he’s an impostor and threaten him with execution. One can only imagine everyone’s
surprise when the peasants discover that John is an actual prince! Moreover, Latavia’s heretofore stern and
unwavering Queen Regent (Thais Lawton) yields to tradition and allows John to marry a non-royal, and so
with Prince John as her husband, Evelyn can live out her fantasies of wedding a prince.
In describing the plot, Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press said “things get rather confused,” an
understatement at best.
Castles in the Air had been a hit in Chicago, where it ran forty-two weeks. But the New York production
played less than five months, probably not enough time to allow the huge show to recoup its Broadway invest-
ment. The New York Times reported that Rialto gossip decided the producer had spent “exactly” $190,000 to
mount the show for its world premiere in Chicago, and so here was one of the most lavish musicals of the era.
Time said the “extremely sentimental” show was “lavish,” “colorful,” and “dismally lacking in humor,”
but noted there were “color effects,” a standout song (“Lantern of Love”), a “charming doll-baby dance” (no
doubt Mary Hutchinson’s solo ballet which opened the third act), and the “outrageously handsome” J. Harold
Murray. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker decided the musical was “a revival of seven or eight old favor-
ites,” and the plot was “so familiar that every now and then a great gob is omitted in sublime confidence that
the audience knows it anyway, a confidence which is not misplaced.”
The New York Times said the “large and leisurely” musical was “handsomely produced” but lacking in
humor. The book was “rambling and somewhat burdensome” and “contributed more than a few dull inter-
ludes,” but there were “colorful” dances and a “serviceable” score. Further, Segal was “pleasant of voice and
attractive as ever” and Murray was “one of the most agreeably and emphatically masculine of the musical
comedy leading men.” However, the audience greeted every player with “violent applause” and insisted upon
“prolonged encores,” and as a result the third act didn’t start until 11:40. And during the show’s more “list-
less” moments, the critic scrutinized the program and discovered that some of the chorus members had such
names as Tuxie Ondex and Hinsdale Latour (note that the chorus also included future film actor and director
Gregory Ratoff).
Hines liked the “pleasing” and “well-written” score, and praised the “well-trained” chorus and the “col-
orful” décor; G.C.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the evening was “deftly played, sweetly sung, flaw-
lessly cast and beautifully staged,” and thus he “couldn’t find a single flaw” in the production; and Bushnell
Dimond in the Indianapolis Star noted that the entertainment offered “chocolate-covered” music and was
“embellished with enough velvet and steel to make Princess Flavia green in the face.”
Speaking of chocolate, during the post-Broadway tour, special flyers that depicted a red circle were in-
serted in programs. If one held the flyer up to the light, and if the water-marked image of a castle appeared
within the circle, the lucky ticket-holder was entitled to “a choice box of Castles in the Air Chocolates made
by the San-Man Chocolates Co.”
The Broadway Musicals of 1926 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-031) includes “I Would Like to Fondle
You.”
The London production opened on June 29, 1927, at the Shaftesbury Theatre for twenty-eight perfor-
mances with Helen Gilliland, Allen Kearns, Ivor Barnard, and John Steele. Contemporary recordings by the
London cast members and others were released by Columbia and HVM Records, including “Lantern of Love,”
“I Would Like to Fondle You,” “The Rainbow of Your Smile,” “Baby,” “Latavia,” “Land of Romance,” and
“My Lips, My Love, My Soul!”
QUEEN HIGH
“The Ace of Musical Comedies” / “The Winning Hand of Musical Comedies”

Opening Date: September 8, 1926; Closing Date: July 23, 1927
Performances: 367
Book: Laurence Schwab and B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva

Music: Lewis E. Gensler
Based on the 1914 play A Pair of Sixes by Edward Peple.
Direction: Edgar McGregor; Producer: Laurence Schwab; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Willy Pogany;
Costumes: Jeanne Laurence; Stratford Clothes; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Charles Ruggles (T. Boggs Johns), Frank McIntyre (George Nettleton), Clarence Nordstrom (Richard
Johns), Edwin Michaels (Jimmy), John Rutherford (Jerry Vanderholt), Mary Lawlor (Polly Nettleton),
Helen Carrington (Mrs. Nellie Nettleton), Luella Gear (Florence Cole), Gaile Beverly (Coddles), June
O’Dea (Patricia), Barbara Grace (Kitty); At the Pianos: Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger; Ladies: Margaret
Lee, Lucille Moore, Elsie Lombard, Sophie Howard, Florence Blue, Katherine Ellis, Joey Benton, Lillian
Burke, Peggy Hart, Barbara Carrington, Otis Schaefer, Betty Wright, Ann Lee, Mildred Stevens, Ethel Law-
rence, Irene Warner, Carola Taylor; Gentlemen: Richard Oakley, Harold Hennessey, Daniel Sparks, Ward
Arnold, Charles Bannister, Albert Hale, Al Downing, Jack Hughes, John McElroy
The action takes place during the present time in and around New York City, including Westchester County.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Edwin Michaels, Boys, Girls); “It Pays to Advertise” (Clarence Nordstrom, June O’Dea,
Barbara Grace, Boys, Girls); “Everything Will Happen for the Best” (Mary Lawlor, Frank McIntyre, Barbara
Grace, June O’Dea, Boys, Girls); “You’ll Never Know” (Luella Gear, Charles Ruggles); “Don’t Forget”
(music by James Hanley) (Mary Lawlor, Clarence Nordstrom, Boys, Girls); “Who? You!” (Frank McIntyre,
Charles Ruggles, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening (Helen Carrington, Gaile Beverly, Boys, Girls); “The Weaker Sex” (Mary Lawlor, Barbara
Grace, June O’Dea, Edwin Michaels, Boys, Girls); “Cross Your Heart” (Clarence Nordstrom, Mary Lawlor,
Boys, Girls); “Sez You! Sez I!” (Gaile Beverly, Charles Ruggles); “Beautiful Baby” (music by James Hanley)
(Luella Gear, Frank McIntyre, Edwin Michaels, June O’Dea, Barbara Grace, Boys, Girls); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Three: “Who’ll Mend a Broken Heart?” (Clarence Nordstrom, Barbara Grace, June O’Dea, Boys, Girls);
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (Luella Gear); “Cross Your Heart” (reprise) (Mary Lawlor, Clarence Nord-
strom, Charles Ruggles); “Springtime (in the Spring)” (Gaile Beverly, Boys); Finale (Company)
Queen High was a successful old-fashioned musical comedy that ran four months in Philadelphia prior
to its Broadway production, which played for almost a full year. The show enjoyed the hit song “Cross My
Heart,” and after the New York run the musical embarked on a national tour.
The comic antics focused on the Eureka Novelty Company, which specializes in garters. The two co-owners
T. Boggs Johns (Charles Ruggles) and George Nettleton (Frank McIntyre) despise one another and never agree on
anything. In order to cool down their hot tempers, Eureka’s corporate lawyer proposes the two play poker, and
whoever wins will be in charge of the company for a year while the loser must work as a servant in the other’s
home. Nettleton draws a pair of sixes and Johns has only a queen high, and so Johns must go to Nettleton’s
Westchester home and start buttling (Westchester was suddenly the locale du jour with the back-to-back open-
ings of Castles in the Air and Queen High).
Meanwhile, Johns’s nephew Richard (Clarence Nordstrom) and Nettleton’s niece Polly (Mary Lawlor)
work at Eureka Novelty, and because of the constant sparring between Johns and Nettleton they find them-
selves in a Romeo-and-Juliet situation. But in true musical comedy fashion, everything ends well with recon-
ciliation for Johns and Nettleton and romance for Richard and Polly.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “capital” show, which was “good fun” and didn’t
have one “dull moment.” The “delightful” evening had a “vivacious” book, an “excellent” cast, intelligent
direction, and décor of “artistic distinction.” Ruggles was particularly effective with his “brisk, dry comedy,”
and Nordstrom was “far more engaging than the usual pastel musical comedy singer.” Atkinson singled out
three songs (“Who’ll Mend a Broken Heart?,” “Don’t Forget,” and “Everything Will Happen for the Best”) and
noted that during the second intermission Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger offered a medley of the score’s
“best themes in four-handed playing at the piano.”
1926–1927 Season 319
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the “good, routine” show had a “dull” first act, but as the eve-
ning progressed it picked up interest thanks to the “aloof and enchanting” Luella Gear who with “singular
effortlessness” managed to “extinguish” the other cast members. Time stated that “seldom has Manhattan
been regaled with such diverting musical entertainment,” and Queen High deserved “all the superlatives
applicable to musical comedy.” Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press said the “delightful” show was
“amusing, tuneful, bright, and diverting,” with “fresh” and “lyrical” music that was “more than usually en-
trancing.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided that while the musical wasn’t “distinguished,”
it was nonetheless a “good romp.” And the critic for the New York Telegram found the music “contagious—
especially ‘Cross Your Heart,’” and noted he was “playing the typewriter to its rhythm now.”
During the run, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was cut, and “My Lady” (lyric by Frank Crumit and music
by Ben Jerome) was substituted (and later interpolated into the score of Yes, Yes, Yvette). For the national
tour, “My Lady” was in turn replaced by “You Must Come Over Blues,” and then eventually during the tour
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was reinstated.
The Broadway Musicals of 1926 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-031) includes three songs from the score,
“It Pays to Advertise,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and “Everything Will Happen for the Best.”
The London production opened on November 2, 1926, at the Queen’s Theatre with a cast that included
Joyce Barbour, A. W. Baskcomb, Joseph Coyne, and Sonnie Hale. Barbour and Baskcomb recorded “Beautiful
Baby”; and Percival Mackey’s band and singers recorded virtually the entire score (“It Pays to Advertise,”
“Everything Will Happen for the Best,” “You’ll Never Know,” “Don’t Forget,” the second act opening, “The
Weaker Sex,” “Cross Your Heart,” “Beautiful Baby,” “Who’ll Mend a Broken Heart?,” and “Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes”). All these selections were released by Columbia Records.
Paramount’s 1930 film version was directed by Fred Nemeyer, and the cast included Ruggles and Car-
rington in reprises of their original stage roles; others in the film were Frank Morgan, Ginger Rogers (who
during the filming was also appearing on Broadway in Top Speed), Stanley Smith, Betty Garde, Nina Oliviette,
and an uncredited Eleanor Powell. True to the ways of Hollywood, the show’s hit song “Cross My Heart”
wasn’t retained for the film, and instead new songs were added by Ralph Rainger (who had appeared in the
Broadway production), E. Y. Harburg, Arthur Schwartz, and Edward Eliscu (the film’s opening credits cite
“Harburg, Rainger, Schwartz and Eliscu” as the songwriters). Most sources agree that none of the songs in the
Broadway score were retained, but there seems to be some disagreement about the fate of “Everything Will
Happen for the Best.” It wasn’t in the print that I viewed, but the song may have been filmed and then cut
prior to the movie’s release. The four songs heard in the film are: “Brother, Just Laugh It Off,” “I’m Afraid of
Loving You,” “Seems to Me,” and “I Love the Girls in My Own Peculiar Way.”
Ruggles runs away with the film and virtually stops the show with “I Love the Girls in My Own Pecu-
liar Way” when he discourages the unwanted advances of a flapper housemaid (who seems to be a hybrid
of Gracie Allen and Charlotte Greenwood by way of Ado Annie) by rattling off the ways he sends women
to their final reward. With their constant squabbling, Ruggles and Morgan make a good team, and Rogers
and Smith take care of the romantic moments (they also appeared together in Follow the Leader, the 1930
film version of Manhattan Mary). The film cleverly uses background scoring to both enhance and comment
upon the action.
Pianist Ralph Rainger soon became a distinguished Broadway and Hollywood composer, and among his
hit songs were “Moanin’ Low,” “Blue Hawaii,” and the Academy Award–winning “Thanks for the Memory.”
NAUGHTY RIQUETTE
“New Musical Play” / “A Parisian Operetta of Melody and Merriment” /
“The Gayest, Tunefulest Music Play of the Year”

Performances: 88
Libretto: Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Welisch; English lyrics and book adaptation by Harry B. Smith (additional
lyric by Bert Lee)
Music: Oscar Straus; additional music by Kendall Burgess, Alfred (Al) Goodman, Maurice Rubens, and R. P.
Weston
Based on the 1925 German operetta Riquette (libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Welisch and music by
Oscar Straus).
Direction: Fred G. Latham; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Seymour Felix;
Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Kathryn Arlington; Brooks Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: probably Ira Jacobs
Cast: Walter Armin (Faverolle, Professor DuBose), George A. Schiller (Alphonse La Fleur), Audrey Maple
(Clarisse), Alexander Gray (Gaston Riviere), Connie Emerald (Simone), Leonoria (Lenore, Lenoria)
Spiro (Yvette), Stanley Lupino (Theophile Michu), Joseph Spree (Bardou, Maitre D’Hotel), Mitzi (aka
Mitzi Hajos) (Riquette Duval), Mary Marlowe (Liane De Soucy), Oliver Hagan (Dupont, Lord Dil-
lington, Colonel Latour), Peter Hawley (Maurel, Captain Duroc), Edward Basse (Abri-Dabri), Sylvan
Lee (Dean; Note: The tryout and New York programs couldn’t decide on the character’s name, and in
one program he was listed as both Dean and Jean), Jane Moore (Julie); Guests at the Sunbeam Hotel,
Telephone Girls, Maids: Eva Lynn, Frances Suzanne, Dorothy DeMerle, Ethel Alderson, Virginia Ray,
Virginia Whitmore, Norma Mason, Rosalie Trego, Yolanda Losee, Iris Novarro, Leonoria (Lenore, Le-
noria) Spiro, Vivian Fay, Evelyn Dehkers, Ada Marcus, Edith Davis, Ann Le Verne, Jane Moore, Fran-
ces Lynn, Caryl Bergman, Lillian Francis, Naomi Andrews, Dorothy Dawn, Lillian Lane, Bobby Lee,
Thelma Lee, Ruth Norris, Ann Janeway, Evelyn Nelson, Rose Host, Marie Taylor, Stella Sheil, Anne
Cornwall; Guests at the Sunbeam Hotel, Employees of Telephone Company, Waiters: Harry Phelps,
Gordon Phillips, Leo Neirle, Sid Russell, Clifford Smith, G. Douglas Evans, Leon Alton, George Mason,
Wally Coyle, Milton Halpern
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Monte Carlo.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble (Audrey Maple, Alexander Gray, George A. Schiller, Walter Armin, Company);
“Me” (Stanley Lupino, Girls); “Somehow I’d Rather Be Good” (Mitzi, Stanley Lupino); “You May Say
‘Yes’ Today” (Jane Moore, Sylvan Lee, Ensemble); “Naughty Riquette” (music by Kendall Burgess and
Maurice Rubens) (Mitzi, Boys); “I May” (music by Kendall Burgess and Maurice Rubens) (Mitzi, Alexander
Gray); “In Armenia” (Mary Marlowe, Stanley Lupino, Ensemble); Finale (Mitzi, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Ensemble (Performers uncredited in program); “Two Are Company” (Mitzi, Audrey Maple,
Alexander Gray); “Toe Ballet” (Dancing Girls); “Make Believe” (Mitzi, Alexander Gray); “What Great
Men Cannot Do” (lyric by Bert Lee, music by R. P. Weston) (Stanley Lupino); “Alcazar” (Mitzi, Ensemble);
“Someone” (music by Alfred, aka Al, Goodman and Maurice Rubens) (Jane Moore, Sylvan Lee); Finale:
“Someone” (reprise) (Ensemble)
Oscar Straus’s operetta Riquette premiered in Germany in 1925, and later that year an American adapta-
tion titled Naughty Riquette starred Mitzi (aka Mitzi Hajos), whom the tryout’s flyer touted as “The Incom-
parable” and “The World’s Merriest Comedienne.” The show began a long national tour in late 1925 and
opened on Broadway in the latter part of 1926 and played for eleven weeks. Variety reported the New York
engagement had been delayed so that audiences wouldn’t confuse it with Naughty Cinderella, a farce with
music that starred Irene Bordoni and opened on Broadway in late 1925. Besides the similarity of their titles,
both shows were based on European works and took place on the Continent, Riquette in Paris and Monte
Carlo and Cinderella in Paris and the Lido (for more information about the latter, see appendix C, “Plays
with Music”). The musical theatre’s favorite vacation spot this season was Monte Carlo, and if you missed
Naughty Riquette you could catch Monte Carlo in Katja and then later in The Wild Rose.
Riquette (Mitzi) is a Parisian telephone operator who is approached by playboy Gaston Riviere (Alexander
Gray) for a special assignment. Gaston is interested in Clarisse (Audrey Maple), the wife of Riquette’s employer
Alphonse La Fleur (George A. Schiller), and Gaston plans to meet Clarisse in Monte Carlo and hopes that
Riquette’s presence will make Clarisse jealous. Riquette turns down the offer, but due to the machinations of
Clarisse (who mistakenly believes Gaston and Riquette are an item), Riquette soon finds herself out of a job.
With no income and with the discovery that she needs money to help her ailing brother, Riquette decides to
accept Gaston’s offer and accompany him to Monte Carlo. Once there, Gaston realizes it is Riquette and not
Clarisse whom he loves. (Note that one or two critics interpreted the action in a slightly different light and
1926–1927 Season 321
reported that both Gaston and Clarisse conspire to use Riquette’s presence in Monte Carlo as a smoke screen
to divert attention from their affair and to make it seem that Riquette is the focus of Gaston’s interest.)
The New York reviews were generally favorable, but Mitzi had to endure some unflattering personal com-
ments about her figure (Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said she “is more than adequate, she is ample”;
Time said she was “plump”; and Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted she was “growing wider
if not higher”). But Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press found her “diminutive and versatile as ever”
and noted she was a “natural comic”; M.M. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the
“little comedienne” was “short of stature but long on talent”; and Variety praised the “real cutie” who was
“as fresh and wholesome as ever” and was “the cream” of the musical.
Brooklyn Life said the original German book had been “whipped” into “presentable shape” by Harry B.
Smith, the evening offered “some clever dancing,” and the “hit” show “should make Mitzi and all concerned
happy.” Hines said the “decidedly interesting and appealing” production “measures up to the highest stan-
dard of light musical comedy,” with a “noteworthy” score by Straus and “exceptional” cast members. Time,
however, found the show “mediocre,” and said Mitzi had “to yodel stale lines.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted the evening offered “lively singing and dancing
by the chorus,” but he found the music a “distinct disappointment” that was “not of the quality one would
expect of” Straus. Further, the critic “strongly” suspected that “some quick-tuner had been called in to jazz
up the score” (see list of musical numbers for the names of others who contributed to the score).
It was Stanley Lupino who walked away with the reviews, and his most praised moment in the show
was the comic patter song “What Great Men Cannot Do.” The London favorite played the role of Theo-
phile Michu, an office boy at the telephone company who is hired by La Fleur to dig up the dirt on the
wayward Clarisse. Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said Lupino was the “bouncingest of the English
family of acrobatic comedians”; Brooklyn Life hailed the “acrobatic funster”; Hines liked the “clever”
comic; Pollock said Lupino “will give you a number of the heartiest laughs”; and Time praised the “su-
perb” entertainer.
Stanley Lupino was the brother of London star Lupino Lane and the father of future film actress and direc-
tor Ida Lupino. In 1937, Lupino Lane created the role of Bill Snibson for the London premiere of Me and My
Girl, where he introduced “The Lambeth Walk,” and Stanley made his second (and final) Broadway appear-
ance later in the 1926–1927 season with The Nightingale, which opened five weeks after Naughty Riquette
closed.
During the tryout, “Wait a Bit,” “Plant Roses in Memory’s Garden,” “A Letter of Farewell,” and “You’ve
Got to Be an Acrobat” were cut.
COUNTESS MARITZA
“Famous Viennese Operetta” / “The Great Outstanding Musical Success of Two Continents” /
“The Most Spectacular and Lavish Musical Play Ever Presented by the Messrs. Shubert”
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 44th Street and Jolson’s Theatres, and
then returned to the Shubert)
Performances: 321
Libretto: Original German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald; English lyrics and book adapted
by Harry B. Smith (additional dialogue by Isabelle Leighton)
Music: Emmerich Kalman; additional music by Alfred (Al) Goodman and Harry K. Morton
Based on the 1924 operetta Grafin Mariza (libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald and music by
Emmerich Kalman).
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Carl Randall; Jack
Mason; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Leon
Leonardi
Cast: Arthur Rogers (Nepomuk), Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King) (Count Tassilo Endrody), Louis E.
Miller (Bela Torek), Hugh Chilvers (Tscheko), Arthur Geary (Lazlo), Odette Myrtil (Manja), Nate Wagner
(Stefan), Frank Sinnott (Servant), Harry K. Morton (Zingo), Yvonne D’Arle (Countess Maritza), Vivian Hart
(Lisa), George Hassell (Prince Populescu), Clarence H. Tolman (First Officer), Carl Randall (Baron Kolo-
man Szupan), Marjorie Peterson (Freda), Florence Edney (Princess Bozena Klopensheim); Bela’s Hungarian
Gypsy Orchestra; Gypsy Girls: Louise Baer, Flo Cazelle, Maria Camerero, Marie Louise Cadwallader,
Gloria Frank, Marian French, Dorothy Harrington, Claudia Ivanova, Sylvia La Mard, Alice Loftus, Ila
McCall, Meliss Merriweather, Shirley Norton, Claire Rossi, Maryrose Walsh, Dorothy Wilson; Peasants:
Merle Epton, Sylvia Francis, Malliela Farge, Patricia O’Connell, Katherine O’Neale, Mary L. Paterson,
Elsie Reign, Kathryn Wilson; Guests: Marion Francis, Ann Gilbert, Marion Gillon, Ernistyne Jeanne,
Helen Thompson, Eleanor Witmark, Edna Starck, Billy Perry; Officers: Sam Bunin, Jules Cross, Arthur
Ekins, Nicolas Globatcheff, Charles Mansfield, Norman Colvin, Robert Boltner, Larry Roberts, Frederick
Reinhard, Lex Sanderson, Clarence H. Tolman, Jules Waldeck, Milton Frome, George Butler, Cecil Jordan,
Clarence Taylor
The musical was presented in a prologue and three acts.
The action takes place during the present time, mostly in an unidentified Balkan state bordering on Hungary.
Musical Numbers
Prologue: “Dear Home of Mine Good Bye” (Walter Woolf, Arthur Rogers)
Act One: “Hola, Follow, Follow Me” (Arthur Geary, Gypsies); “Come at the Call of Love” (Odette Myrtil,
Walter Woolf); “In the Days Gone By” (Walter Woolf, Nate Wagner); “Make Up Your Mind” (Harry K.
Morton, Gypsies); “The Music Thrills Me” (Yvonne D’Arle, Gypsies, Peasants); “Golden Dreams” (mu-
sic by Harry K. Morton) (Vivian Hart, Walter Woolf); “Flirtation Dance” (Marjorie Peterson); “The One
I’m Looking For” (Yvonne D’Arle, Carl Randall); “Play, Gypsies” (Walter Woolf); Finale (Yvonne D’Arle,
Walter Woolf, Odette Myrtil, Vivian Hart, George Hassell, Carl Randall, Marjorie Peterson, Gypsies, Peas-
ants, Guests)
Act Two: Opening (Carl Randall, Marjorie Peterson, Guests); “Don’t Tempt Me” (aka “Violin Duet”) (Odette
Myrtil, Walter Woolf); “Love Has Found My Heart” (music by Alfred, aka Al, Goodman) (Yvonne D’Arle);
“I’ll Keep on Dreaming” (Vivian Hart, Carl Randall); “Who Am I?” (Harry K. Morton, Carl Randall); “Why
Is the World So Changed Today?” (Yvonne D’Arle, Walter Woolf); Finale (Yvonne D’Arle, Walter Woolf,
Carl Randall, Vivian Hart, George Hassell, Harry K. Morton, Gypsies, Guests)
Act Three: “Brown-Eyed Girl” (Odette Myrtil, Harry K. Morton, Carl Randall); Finale (Yvonne D’Arle, Walter
Woolf, Harry K. Morton, George Hassell, Carl Randall, Vivian Hart, Florence Edney, Guests)
Emmerich Kalman’s operetta Countess Maritza was one of the biggest hits of the season and tallied up
321 performances before going on tour. A flyer announced that Boston’s Shubert Theatre would see the show
beginning on March 5, 1928, in a production “direct from a year’s triumph/Shubert Theatre, N.Y.,” a slight
misrepresentation because the operetta played for nine months and one week on Broadway. But the Shubert
was indeed the show’s New York home, at least for the beginning and end of the Gotham run: after opening
at the Shubert, the musical eventually transferred to the 44th Street Theatre, then to Jolson’s Theatre, and
then returned to the Shubert for its final New York showings. A return engagement played on Broadway at
the Century Theatre for sixteen performances beginning on April 8, 1928.
As Grafin Mariza, the work premiered in Vienna on February 28, 1924, at the Theater an der Wien with
Betty Fischer in the title role. There have been at least five theatrical and television film versions, including
a 1925 silent film directed by Hans Steinhoff, and numerous recordings, including CD releases by Camarata
Records (# CM-660-1) and by the Sadler’s Wells Opera Company (Jay Records # CDTER-1051).
Set in the Balkans on the estate of Countess Maritza (Yvonne D’Arle), the operetta revolves around the
now impoverished Tassilo (Walter Woolf, aka Walter Woolf King), who works on the estate as its overseer and
who unbeknownst to all is actually a count. He takes care of his young sister, Lisa (Vivian Hart), and is also
the object of the affections of violin-playing gypsy Manja (Odette Myrtil).
Meanwhile, in order to ward off unwanted suitors, Maritza announces her engagement to a fictitious
Koloman Szupan, and so imagine the madcap mix-ups when someone named Baron Koloman Szupan
(Carl Randall) shows up! Soon Maritza finds herself attracted to Tassilo, but mistakenly believes Lisa is
his amour because she knows not that Tassilo and Lisa are brother and sister. By the final curtain, Count
Tassilo and Countess Maritza, and Baron Szupan and Lisa, are all prepared to walk down the aisle, and
no doubt the double wedding makes the gypsies, peasants, guests, huzzars, military officers, and villagers
twice as merry.
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J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times liked the “pleasing operetta of the old school” with its
“nobility in scarlet uniforms, gypsy choruses and ridiculous comedians [who] scamper through artifi-
cial romance with all the elaborate ceremony of high station.” And all this was set to Kalman’s score of
“substantial quality—music quite superior to the thin, conventionalized scores usual to routine musical
comedy.” Woolf’s “splendid baritone” was “excellent,” and D’Arle sang cleanly and with “elasticity,” but
“with obvious effort.” Atkinson noted that the Countess is “arrogant” and “unspeakably well-born,” her
two Russian wolfhounds are “snobbish” and look upon everyone with “crushing disdain,” Tassilo can say
to the Countess (with suitable and pregnant pauses) that her every wish is his command, and by the finale
at 11:40, the “guy cops off the haughty dame.”
Time said those audience members who enjoy watching “nobility in difficult incognito” will “relish” an
evening which was “thoroughly edifying,” “harmoniously staged,” and “highly seasoned with color and mu-
sic.” These audiences would in fact “even forgive the unfortunate costume foisted upon handsome Songster
Walter Woolf in the third act.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker praised the “entirely delightful” score, and
noted that in a confrontation scene between Maritza and Manja, the former tells the latter that Tassilo loves
only her gypsy music. When the women spy Tassilo offstage, Manja begins to fiddle, and Brackett noted that
Tassilo “evidently pantomimes the specialized nature of his passion” when he hears the music. Which then
causes Manja to break her violin. The critic said he’d “rather have seen just that one bit [of offstage business
when Tassilo ‘pantomimes the specialized nature of his passion’] than anything which transpired in view of
the audience.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star said the work was “rich in merit—bounteously equipped with
sparkle and lilt and that gracious melodic invention which is native to the central European composers.”
The score included “some lovely waltzes and concerted numbers, now vigorously emphatic, now languor-
ously sensuous, which will charm the multitude.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the
Shuberts offered an evening of “splendid color and tastefulness and have provided it with a cast of excellent
singers” who performed the “entrancing melodies.” Schrader referenced the moment when Manja smashes
her violin, and noted that since “she must do this at every performance” it was “an expensive bit of business,
but very effective.”
M.E. McL. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted the evening consisted of “three hours of cross-purposes [and]
misunderstandings, relieved by comedy and melody,” including two potential song hits (“Play, Gypsies” and
“Brown-Eyed Girl”). The Shuberts had “spared no expense on scenery, costumes and accessories” and “the
“dancing, grouping and lighting left nothing to be desired,” and so the first-nighters, who had paid a total of
$22.00 for a pair of tickets for the premiere, “seemed to feel that they had gotten their money’s worth.”
HONEYMOON LANE
“An Elaborate Production of a New Musical Comedy” / “The Joyous Musical Comedy” /
“The Musical Comedy Hit of the Hour” / “A Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Comedy Triumph”

Opening Date: September 20, 1926; Closing Date: July 23, 1927
Performances: 353
Book and Lyrics: Eddie Dowling
Music: James Hanley
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: A. L. Erlanger; Choreography: Bobby Connolly; Scenery: Triangle
Scenic Co.; Costumes: Schneider-Anderson Co.; Clemons; Eaves & Co.; Ada Peacock of Paris; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Arthur Lange
Cast: Pauline Mason (Mary Brown), Martha Morton (Ruth Adams), Johnny Marvin (Honey Duke), Eddie
Dowling (Tim Murphy), George Pauncefort (John Brown), Al Sexton (Ted Kleinze), Florentine Gosnova
(Ethel Jackson), Gordon Dooley (Matty Pathe), Florence O’Denishawn (as Herself), Worthe Faulkner
(Dream Man), Jerre McAuliffe (Station Master), John McAvoy (Conductor), Kate Smith (Tiny Little), Dick
Wheaton (Porter), Alyce Johnstone (A Passenger), Josie Intropodi (Mrs. Nelligan), Adelaide Seaman (Ad-
die), Helyn Eby-Rock (Mazie Buck), Ivy Palmer (Jessie), Leo Beers (Leo Scamp), Bernard Randall (The Boss),
D. J. Sullivan (Patrick Kelly), Ethel Allys (Elsie), Edith Sheldon (Edith); The Bell Boys: Charles Davis, Dick
Wheaton, Charles Walker, and Louis Simons; Dancers: Helen Clare, Helen Ault, Ona Hamilton, Ginger
Meehan, Kay Annis, Ethlyn Tillman, Patricia Parker, Lee Baron, Lorraine Weber, Mildred Pickard, Evelyn
Farrell, Virginia Webb. Wilma Ansell, Mae Rena Grady, Isabel Dwan, Lucile Osborne; Show Girls: Janet
Hale, Ivy Palmer, Margo Matson, Jean Casswell, Alyce Johnstone, Libby Hanley, Emerita Monsch, Beulah
Van; Boys: John McAvoy, Charles Witzel, William Cooper, Arthur Craig, Patrick Flynn, Bud Penny, An-
dreas Erving, Thomas Weldon, Locques Lorraine, Carl Rose, Danny O’Brien, George O’Brien
The action, including the action in the dream, takes place during the present time in Canningville, Pennsyl-
vania, in Atlantic City, and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); Opening Number (Martha Morton, Ensemble); “Little White House at the End
of Honeymoon Lane” (Eddie Dowling); “Dreams for Sale” (Worthe Faulkner); “Dreams for Sale” (reprise)
(Eddie Dowling, Pauline Mason, Worthe Faulkner, Kleinze Ensemble); “On to Hollywood” (Al Sexton,
Martha Morton, Pauline Mason, Company); “Whad-d’ye(ya)-say?” (Al Sexton, Pauline Mason, Boys and
Girls); “Head Over Heels in Love” (“Even as You and I”) (Al Sexton, Florence O’Denishawn); “A Little
Smile, a Little Sigh” (Gordon Dooley, Pauline Mason, Martha Morton, Ensemble); “The Stone Bridge at
Eight” (Eddie Dowling, Martha Morton, Girls); “Little White House at the End of Honeymoon Lane”
(reprise) (Eddie Dowling, Pauline Mason); “Dreams for Sale” (reprise) (Worthe Faulkner); “Hallowe’en”
(Eddie Dowling, Martha Morton, Ensemble); “Half Moon” (lyric by Eddie Dowling and Herbert Reynolds)
(Eddie Dowling, Ensemble); “Hallowe’en” (dance reprise) (Florentine Gosnova); “Whad-d’ye-say?” (dance
reprise) (Boys and Girls); “Half a Moon Is Better Than None” (Johnny Marvin; danced by Dick Wheaton
and Charles Walker); Finale
Act Two: Opening Chorus; “Chorus Picking Time on Broadway” (Helyn Eby-Rock, Ensemble); “Little Old
New Hampshire” (Eddie Dowling, Leo Beers); “The Riffian Ballet” (Florence O’Denishawn, Ensemble);
“Mary, Dear! I Miss You Most of All” (Eddie Dowling);”Jersey Walk” (Lulu [character not listed in pro-
gram; name of performer unknown] and The Lulu Belles); Dance Specialty (The Bell Boys); “Gee, but
I’d Like to Be Bad” (Pauline Mason); Piano Specialty (Leo Beers); Specialty (Kate Smith); “Jersey Walk”
(reprise) (Kate Smith, Johnny Marvin, The Uke Girls); Dance Specialty (Florentine Gosnova); “Mary,
Dear! I Miss You Most of All” (reprise) (Kate Smith); “The Understudy Dance Specialty” (Pauline Ma-
son); “Dreams for Sale” (reprise) (Eddie Dowling, Pauline Mason, Worthe Faulkner); “The Little White
House at the End of Honeymoon Lane” (reprise) (performer/performers unidentified in program); Finale
(Company)
Honeymoon Lane continued the season’s parade of hits. It followed Queen High and Countess Maritza,
and on the night of its premiere another hit opened with The Ramblers. As the season progressed, even bigger
hits followed with Oh, Kay!, The Desert Song, Peggy-Ann, Rio Rita (the season’s longest-running musical),
and Hit the Deck!
Like Queen High (and its popular song “Cross Your Heart”) and The Ramblers (with “All Alone Mon-
day”), Honeymoon Lane enjoyed a hit ballad, in this case another of the era’s wistful longings for a hideaway
of the bungalow or cottage variety (“Little White House at the End of Honeymoon Lane”). And in the role of
Tiny Little, a nineteen-year-old Kate Smith made her Broadway debut and was a sensation with critics and
audiences, especially when she stopped the show with a Charleston.
The action occurs in the small town of Canningville, Pennsylvania, where hero Tim Murphy (Eddie Dowl-
ing) works in the shipping and packing room of the W. H. Kleinze Pickle Factory. Tim loves local girl Mary
Brown (Pauline Mason), who has vague ambitions to leave Canningville and become a star on the New York
stage. Through the machinations of the Dream Man (Worthe Faulkner), most of the story takes place in Tim
and Mary’s dream where she leaves Tim and the pickle factory, becomes a Broadway star, and even trifles
with Ted Kleinze (Al Sexton), the heir to the pickle fortune. But it’s all a dream, and when they awaken Tim
and Mary are more than content to live in old Canningville, work at the pickle factory, and eventually have
their little white house at the end of Honeymoon Lane.
The New York Times said the “handsome if not downright extravagant” musical was a “colorful and lav-
ish production” that had “few rivals in town.” It offered “good” tunes; a “comely” chorus; an “abundance
1926–1927 Season 325
of excellent dancing”; and a newcomer named Kate Smith, who “stopped the show.” The first-nighters had
been alerted by the show’s out-of-town notices “to be on the lookout for her,” and she didn’t disappoint. As
a singer and dancer, she was “unusually adept,” and “stop the show she did last night just as predicted” (the
critic felt compelled to note that “with all the returns not in,” Smith weighed between 200 and 250 pounds).
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the “pleasant” musical had “nice” tunes, but Dowling occasion-
ally wandered off into “rambling monologues,” and Time noted that despite the evening’s “sticky sentimen-
tality” the evening offered the “likable” Dowling and dancer Florence O’Denishawn, who danced “like a fairy
on a moonbeam.” G.C.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “noisy” and “good-natured” musical was a
“hodgepodge of classic dancing, acrobatic dancing and raucous singing,” the songs ranged “from fair to good,”
and the décor and costumes were “elaborate.” Dowling “successfully” carried the show “no matter how long
his anecdotes were, and he told many long ones last night,” and Smith was “funny because she is very, very
large,” was “pretty,” and had “one of the best voices in the company.”
Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press said Smith was the “hit” of the show when it tried out in Atlantic
City, and for the Broadway premiere “she stopped the progress of the last act while a surprised audience insisted
on many encores” and “were quite thrilled” by the new star. The musical itself was “routine and pleasant” with
“tuneful” songs and a “good” amount of jokes. Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said Smith was
“a young woman who, once seen, can never be forgotten” because she was “that something different which all
managers are looking for.” She might have weighed more than 200 pounds, but that didn’t prevent her from do-
ing the Charleston and “‘stopping the show’ at every performance.” She may have had to “struggle” to convince
the wary she had the talent for musical comedy, but now “there is no longer a doubt on the subject.”
Kate Smith recorded two songs from the production, “Mary, Dear! I Miss You Most of All” and “Little
White House at the End of Honeymoon Lane.”
During the post-Broadway tour, “Headin’ for Harlem” (from Sidewalks of New York; lyric by Eddie Dowl-
ing and music by James Hanley) was added to the score for Kate Smith, Harry Robinson (who played Harry
Yuke, a new character created for the tour), and the Uke (aka Yuke) Girl chorus. For a much later tour in
1929, Kate Smith was given star billing (Robert Capron played Dowling’s role), and “The Riffian Ballet” was
replaced by “Oriental Specialty.”
Note that the program for Honeymoon Lane included a section titled “Triangle of Trouble” which in-
cluded “three continual complaints from our patrons.” The complaints were: “1. Throwing garments over the
backs of seats into others’ laps. 2. Kicking, keeping time to music and using the seat in front for a foot rest. 3
Combing bobbed hair outside the dressing room. This is unhealthy and is DEPRECIATED BY THE HEALTH
DEPARTMENT.”
Eddie Dowling’s first appearance in a Broadway musical was The Velvet Lady (1919), and his final one
was in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon (1951), when he succeeded James Barton in
the role of Ben Rumson. Today, Dowling is probably best remembered as the producer, director, or performer
in a number of classic dramas. He directed and coproduced (and appeared as Joe in) William Saroyan’s Pulit-
zer Prize-winning drama The Time of Your Life (1939), which also won the New York Drama Critics Circle
Award for Best Play; produced, directed, and appeared as Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass
Menagerie (1945), which won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play; and directed Eugene
O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh (1946). His final Broadway appearance was in The Righteous Are Bold, an Irish
drama by Frank Carney which opened in 1955.
THE RAMBLERS

Performances: 289
Book: Guy Bolton, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby
Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Philip Goodman; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Raymond Sovey;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Raymond Sovey; Brooks Costume Company; Mme. Rosenberg; Clemons;
Lighting: Electrical effects by Capitol Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: Norma Gallo (Nettie Field), William E. Browning (Black Pedro), Horton Spurr (Pancho), Lloyd Pedrick
(Joe Small), Eleanor Dawn (Anita), William Sully (Neil Farnham), Alfred Watson (Carter), Richy Craig
Jr. (Dapper Dan), Ruth Tester (Jenny Wren), Winifred Verina (Hazel Knott), Nita Jacques (Lotta Moore),
Bobby Clark (Professor Cunningham), Paul McCullough (Sparrow), Blaine Cordner (Ronald Roche), Jack
Whiting (Billy Shannon), Marie Saxon (Ruth Chester), Georgia O’Ramey (Fanny Furst), Henry Permane
(The Old Father), Marguerite Murray (Lida Belmont), John Klendon (A Bootlegger), Bonnie Murray (Cis-
sie O’Hearn); Ladies of the Ensemble: Marguerite Murray, Dolla Harkins, Elsie Pedrick, Winifred Verina,
Bonnie Murray, Maxine Robinson, Elaine Lank, Nita Jacques, Marion Bownell, Ruth Kent, Nesha Med-
win, Ida Berry, Holly Pembrooke, Edith Hayward, Alice Akers, Dorothy Fitzgibbon, Gertie Edwards, Patti
Kenny, Madeline Janis, Dorothy Hackney, Beth Milton, Lucille Reece, Edith Joyce, Gertrude Lowe, Marie
Marcelline, Val De Mar, Sybil Steward, Liane Mamet, Evelyn Kermyn, Cleo Cullen, Helene Sheldon,
Mary Williams; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Norman Jefferson, Martin Rheil, Floyd Marion, Edward
Stone, Robert (later, Bob) Hope, Henry Lake, Dave Morton, Stanley Liton, Richard Tyle, Bill Bailey, Lew
Parker, William Sahner, Jack Jordan
The action takes place during the present time in Tia Juana, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Casa del Rey.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Chorus); “Like You Do” (Ruth Tester, William Sully, Chorus); “Alma Mater” (aka
“Oh! How We Love Our Alma Mater”) (Bobby Clark, Paul McCullough); “Just One Kiss” (Marie Saxon,
Boys); “All Alone Monday” (Marie Saxon, Jack Whiting, Chorus); “Any Little Tune” (Ruth Tester, Wil-
liam Sully, Chorus); “All Alone Monday” (reprise) (Marie Saxon, Jack Whiting); “California Skies” (Cho-
rus); Dance Specialty (Norma Gallo); “You Smiled at Me” (Marie Saxon, Jack Whiting, Chorus)
Act Two: Opening Ballet (Norma Gallo, Chorus); “All Alone Monday” (reprise) (Marie Saxon, Jack Whiting,
Eleanor Dawn, Blaine Cordner); “You Must—We Won’t” (Marie Saxon, Ruth Tester, Chorus); “Good-Bye”
(Company); “California Skies” (reprise) (Eleanor Dawn); Dance Specialty (Horton Spurr); “You Smiled at
Me” (reprise) (Jack Whiting): Dance Specialty (Richy Craig Jr.); “The Movie Ball” (Chorus); Finale (Company)
The Ramblers was a vehicle for the anarchic comedy of Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough, but it didn’t
always take off because the stage action was occasionally held up by conventional musical comedy traffic
stops. But the twosome and their gags were enough to ensure the production a full season on Broadway with
a run of almost three hundred performances. The musical opened on the same night as Honeymoon Lane.
Clark played fortune-teller Professor Cunningham (who’s a phony and a charlatan, not to mention a
con man and a mountebank), and McCullough was the Professor’s ever-present and faithful patsy Sparrow.
Although the book gave the comics plenty of elbow room for their unique brand of sometime surreal folde-
rol (including the mock operatic parody “Good-Bye”), the romantic subplot got in the way. But at least the
romance yielded the hit ballad “All Alone Monday” for movie star wannabe Ruth Chester (Marie Saxon) and
movie stunt man Billy Shannon (Jack Whiting). And when the boys took over the stage, all hell broke loose
and delighted both the critics and the customers.
The duo was in pursuit of the sinister “Mexican bad man” Pedro (William E. Browning), who has kid-
napped Ruth, and the Professor and Sparrow are hot on the trail. And of course there was the usual round
of musical comedy types, including the vamp Anita (Eleanor Dawn), the bootlegger (described as “one of a
million,” and played by John Klendon), the gambler Lida (Marguerite Murray), the cabaret owner Joe (Lloyd
Pedrick), and the movie director Neil Farnham (William Sully). The characters also included the very rich
Fannie Furst, who lives in her Beverly Hills estate and not only writes movie scripts but also produces them.
The action took place in Tia Juana’s cabarets, racetracks, and clubs, at a movie studio in Hollywood, at Fan-
nie’s Beverly Hills estate, and in the bandito’s hideaway in Casa del Rey.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said love held the stage “rather too firmly until 9 o’clock,” but
finally Clark and McCullough appeared with “new as well as old antics.” Atkinson decided the “secret of their
matchless comedy” was the “transparency of their grand manner,” and nothing in the show was “more rollick-
ing” than “Good-Bye” with its “touch of grand opera magniloquence” as they strutted all over the stage and
down into the auditorium where they shook the hands of audience members in the aisle seats. But the comics
were better served in revues than in book musicals, and when the zanies were offstage “the loose threads of the
1926–1927 Season 327
plot dangle all over the scenery.” Otherwise, the production itself was “colorful and beautiful” and many of the
songs (“All Alone Monday” in particular) were “singularly ingratiating.” In regard to Clark’s almost ever-present
cigar, Atkinson reported the actor said he smoked “stoop tobacco” (that is, tobacco found “on the streets”).
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical lacked variety and “stands around and twiddles its thumbs
a good deal,” but “if any pair” could “save an entertainment threatened with death from a dainty dull-
ness,” then that pair was Clark and McCullough, who were responsible “for roars of laughter” from the
audience. Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the show was “carried to success chiefly
by the antics” of the stars. Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press warned it was “not possible to do
justice to this amusing pair of clowns in mere paper and ink” because “they must be seen to be enjoyed”
and were “quite as amusing as” Edward Gallagher and Al Shean. And Time stated that The Ramblers was
“really an excuse for bringing back comedians Clark and McCullough in a prolonged skit,” and the show
was “a good excuse.”
RKO’s 1930 film version was titled The Cuckoos, and it starred Robert Woolsey (The Professor) and Bert
Wheeler (Sparrow), who had appeared together for the first time in Rio Rita and later reprised their stage roles
for that musical’s film adaptation. They were teamed in over twenty movies (plus an occasional short), and
Dorothy Lee (as Anita) was in fourteen of them, plus a short or two. Jobyna Howland played Fannie Furst,
and Woolsey made merry when he wooed her (when asked if he’ll love her ’til she dies, Woolsey replies it all
depends on how long she lives).
Directed by Paul Sloane, choreographed by Pearl Eaton, and conducted by Broadway musical director Vic-
tor Baravalle, the movie included Technicolor sequences, and others in the cast were June Clyde (Ruth) and
Hugh Trevor (Billy). Four songs were retained from the Broadway production (“All Alone Monday,” “Good-
Bye,” “California Skies,” and “Oh! How We Love Our Alma Mater”); Kalmar and Ruby wrote two especially
for the film (“I’m a Gypsy” and the popular “I Love You So Much”); and one song from Lucky (by Kalmar,
Ruby, and Otto Harbach) was interpolated into the score (“Dancing the Devil Away”). Other sources indicate
the following songs were used in the film: “Caballero Number” and “Tomorrow Never Comes” (lyricists and
composers unknown), “Wherever You Are” (lyric and music by Charles Tobias and Cliff Friend), “If I Were a
Traveling Salesman” (lyric by Al Dubin, music by Joe Burke), and two by Kalmar and Ruby (“Knock Knees”
and “Looking for the Limelight in Your Eyes”). The film was released by the Warner Brothers Archive Col-
lection for the DVD set Wheeler/Woolsey RKO Comedy Classics Volume 2, which also includes five other
movies, including the restored Dixiana (1930) with lyrics by Anne Caldwell and music by Harry Tierney.
HAPPY GO LUCKY

Performances: 52
Book and Lyrics: Helena Phillips Evans
Music: Lucien Denni
Direction: (Fred G. Latham, uncredited); Producer: A. L. Erlanger; Choreography: (Max Scheck, uncredited);
Scenery: Gus Wimazal; Costumes: Miss Ada Peacock; Clemons; Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Lucien Denni
Cast: Taylor Holmes (Chester Chapin), Nydia D’Arnell (Mildred Chapin), John Kane (Robert, aka Bobbie,
Chapin), Edith Shayne (Lucy Manning), Jack Squires (Courtney Thompson), Betty Gallagher (Mable
Holly), Ralph Whitehead (Roy Hayden), Herbert Belmore (Dawson), Madeline Cameron (Laura La Guerre),
Lina Abarbanell (Elsie Dayly), Ethel Mulholland (Kate), Mary Bothwell (Clara), Zella Edwards (Flora),
Belle Gannon (Lora), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Dora), Geraldine Downs (Dido), Natalie Loraine (Flo), Blanche
Krebs (Betty), Sherry Gale (Jessie), Will (aka William) and Wilber Williams (Specialty Dancers); Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: The Misses Catherine Roberts, Anna Riley, Ruth Collins, Florence Gunther,
Alice Garvin, Anna Rex, Jessie Andrews, Eva Ball, Madeline Ball, Betty Sherman, Lydelle Bry, Beverley
Maude; The Messrs. Jack Morton, Henry Le Voy, Walter Randall, George Murray, Al Siegel, Harry Ettus,
Lester New, Jack Creighton, Walter Stewart, Harry Gordon, Louis Brown, Bob Kean
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Sing a Little Song” (Ralph Whitehead, Ensemble); “Free, Free, Free”
(Lina Abarbanell); “Love Thoughts” (Lina Abarbanell); “How Are You, Lady Love?” (Nydia D’Arnell, Jack
Squires, Ensemble); “I Want a Million for You, Dear” (Nydia D’Arnell, Jack Squires, Ensemble); Finale
(Nydia D’Arnell, Jack Squires, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Happy Melody” (Madeline Cameron, Ensemble); “Choose Your
Flowers” (Nydia D’Arnell, Jack Squires, Ensemble); “It’s In, It’s Out” (Betty Gallagher, Ralph Whitehead);
“Zip” (Lina Abarbanell, Ensemble); “It’s Wonderful” (Madeline Cameron, Will and Wilber Williams);
“Happy Go Lucky” (Taylor Holmes, Ensemble)
Act Three: “In Vaudeville” (Madeline Cameron, Ralph Whitehead); “Sing a Little Song” (reprise) (Taylor
Holmes, Ensemble); “Wall Street Zoo” (Jack Squires, Ensemble); “You’re the Fellow the Fortune Teller
Told Me All About” (Betty Gallagher, John Kane); Finale (Ensemble)
Happy Go Lucky was the first production to play at the newly refurbished Liberty Theatre. Everyone
seemed to like the look of the redecorated playhouse, but the new musical was met with indifference and
shuttered after less than seven weeks on Broadway.
The wispy plot centered around the efforts of Mildred (Nydia D’Arnell) and Bobbie (John Kane) to turn
their dour and fusty father, Chester (Taylor Holmes), into a quick-stepping sheik. And there’s demonstrable
proof that his children do indeed transform the old codger because the program’s song titles reveal that later
in the show he sings the title number as well as a reprise version of “Sing a Little Song.”
The New York Times said the “dull” musical was “a well-intentioned dispenser of sweetness and light”
and the book was “if possible just a little more unimportant and saccharine than most musical comedy
books.” But Lucien Denni’s score was “often pleasant” if “nothing extraordinary,” Lina Abarbanell (Broad-
way’s original Madame Sherry in that 1910 musical) was “among the production’s assets,” and Madeline
Cameron and Ralph Whitehead offered one of the show’s “brightest moments” when they performed “In
Vaudeville,” a “tabloid demonstration of the two-a-day-routine in which only the trained seals are absent.”
Otherwise, Happy Go Lucky was an “old-fashioned” and “dated” musical.
Time reported that the book was a “sorry business,” but Denni’s score and Cameron’s dancing “partially
relieved” the evening, and “Happy Melody” and “Choose Your Flowers” were the show’s “best” songs”; the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the evening “had all the earmarks of high school musical comedy” but was “enter-
taining enough”; and although Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press decided the offering failed “to reach
the usual high degree of excellence” normally found in an Erlanger production, the show was “far from being
an inferior” one, some of the songs were “diverting,” and the major interest in the musical were “the players
rather than the play itself.”
Variety noted that the “spotty” show had “elementary” lyrics, but the score was “tuneful albeit reminis-
cent” with “several intriguing songs.” Further, the very lack of program credits for the musical’s direction and
choreography seemed to be an “acknowledgment” of the show’s “general deficiencies” (the reviewer noted
that “reports” indicated Fred G. Latham and Max Scheck were respectively responsible for the direction and
choreography, and that choreographer Bobby Connelly was “presently fooling around with everything for
purposes of improvement”).
DEEP RIVER
“A Native Opera”

Performances: 32
Book and Lyrics: Laurence Stallings
Music: Frank Harling (aka W. Franke Harling)
Direction: Arthur Hopkins; Producer: Arthur Hopkins; Choreography: Uncredited (possibly by Arthur Hop-
kins); Scenery and Costumes: Woodman Thompson (costumes also by Madame Freisinger and by Booth-
Willoughby, Inc.); Lighting: George Schaff; Musical Direction: Opening night performance conducted by
Frank Harling (all other performances were conducted by Sepp Morscher)
1926–1927 Season 329
Cast: Jules Bledsoe (Tizan), Rose McClendon (Octavie), Bessie Allison (Sara), Gladys White (Julie), Rolli
Dix (Henri), Andre Dumont (Paul), David Sager (Jules), Frederick McGuirk (Garcon), Luis Alberni (M.
Brusard), Arthur Campbell (Hutchins), Lottice Howell (Mugette), Frederick Burton (Colonel Streatfield),
Roberto Ardelli (Hazzard Streatfield), Antonio Salerno (Hercule), Frank Harrison (The Announcer), Lou-
isa Ronstadt (Mother of Mugette), Charlotte Murray (The Queen); Waiting Women: Katherine Parker,
Carrie Giles, Cora Gary, and Alberta Dougal; Female Ensemble: Ada Bary, Maria Bary, Lucia Bianco,
Mignon Brezen, Nadine Corona, Helen Dmitrieff, Nadine Dubinsky, Helen Eastman, Anne Elliott, Ga-
lina Estravich, Marion Fritz, Helen Godain, Lonna Lea Hamlin, Muriel Harmon, Betty Harms, Danny B.
Hayden, Helen Heed, Ann Honeycutt, Martha Jobson, Annette Kates, Maria Kurietzki, Rose Malowista,
Erna Miru, Gladys Morgan, Anna Prinz, Norman Quinlan, Eva Rodriquez, Elizabeth Schaefer, Grace
Morgan, Mignon Spence, Ida Von Lindon, Marion Lou Williams, Ruth Witmer; Male Ensemble: Wallace
Banfield, Lee Borough, George Brown, Sidney Coryell, William Culloo, Gordon Davis, George Dorrence,
V. Dubinsky, Robert L. Duenweg, James Garrett, Lynn Gearhart, George Gordon, Anton Hooft, Leonel
Koslin, Effim Liversky, Aylward Martin, Charles V. Maynard, Francis G. Miller, William Montgomery,
A. Mravin, Walter Owens, Walter Palm, Basil Prokopenia, Earle Sanborn, Leonard Saxon, Rosco Snyder,
Maurice Staw
The action takes place in 1835 in New Orleans and the nearby Place Congo.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list musical numbers.
With music by Frank Harling (aka W. Franke Harling) and a libretto by playwright Laurence Stallings,
the opera Deep River was an ambitious work that looked at Creole society in the Old South during 1835.
It received respectful reviews, but perhaps its subject matter and its tag line (“A Native Opera”) turned off
potential ticket-buyers. The O-word is probably a sure-fire way to discourage ticket sales because traditional
theatergoers are most likely to be scared off and assume a Broadway opera is too serious and full of difficult
music, and opera goers perhaps think such an evening will be too “Broadway” and not serious enough. As a
result, the show didn’t attract the rank-and-file Broadway audience, didn’t interest the opera crowd, and was
gone in four weeks. Eight days after it closed, George Gershwin’s Oh, Kay! moved into the Imperial Theatre
and enjoyed a run of over seven months. Like Harling, Gershwin would compose a native American opera,
and although Porgy and Bess (1935) managed a run of 124 performances on Broadway, it lost money. Eventu-
ally it found its place both on Broadway and in the opera house, and as of this writing has played for almost
1,400 showings in New York.
Deep River took place in New Orleans (and the nearby Place Congo) during the time of the annual spring
quadroon ball. The wealthy Brusard (Luis Alberni) has discovered his quadroon mistress has been unfaithful,
and thus he’s in the market for a new one. When he meets the beautiful quadroon Mugette (Lottice Howell)
it seems his wish has been granted, but fate steps in when three men from Kentucky arrive in New Orleans,
and one of them (Hazzard Streatfield, sung by Roberto Ardelli) captures the heart of Mugette, who later at-
tends a voodoo ritual in the Place Congo and asks for a charm that will guarantee his love, and this against
the advice of her mother (played by Louisa Ronstadt), who fails to convince Mugette that a charm to entice
Brusard is what she should request. The voodoo worshippers are outraged that Mugette should ask God to
grant her wish, and they curse her. In the meantime, Brusard and one of the “Kentuckianes” have quarreled,
and Brusard kills the man.
The voodoo curse upon Mugette comes to pass on the night of the quadroon ball when Brusard and Streat-
field come to blows over Mugette and kill one another in a duel. Mugette is alone, shunned by her own race
and by white society, and now is truly in no-man’s-land. But the gaiety and romance of the quadroon ball goes
on, and the partygoers are focused on the carefree pleasures of the occasion.
The critical consensus was that any inherent drama in the thin story was mitigated by the long second
act in the Place Congo, which while attractive in itself wasn’t always dramatically compelling and was only
briefly connected to the main story.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “pretentious” opera was “colorful” but “little more
than an incident in its dramatic value” and seemed more in the nature of an “animated panorama than a
drama.” However, the “distinguished” score (which according to Variety was played by more than forty mu-
sicians in the pit) included the “prancing rhythms of jazz” as well as many “lyrical and pensive solos.” The
plot might have been “too slender,” but the evening was “never more stirring” than in the “pungent” voodoo
sequence, and Deep River pointed “the way to a rich mine of American dramatic material.”
Time found most of the score “of the light opera type, pretty, trite, [and] unsuitable to snorting drama,”
but the second act’s voodoo scene was “savagely, hauntingly, throbbingly, [and] masterfully done.” Burns
Mantle in the Chicago Tribune praised the “handsome” production and its “good voices,” and he noted the
second act was “splendidly vocal but over-long.” R.A.S. (Robert A. Simon) in the New Yorker said the story
was “contrived,” but Harling’s score was “well made with several sweepings over the strings for tender
episodes and massive sonority for the voodoo high jinks.” But the voodoo sequence was “a long intermezzo
which damages the continuity of the tale,” and dramatically it was a mistake for all the deaths in the opera
to take place offstage.
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “slight” dramatic story was permeated with music
“designed primarily for the orchestra” and the evening could be categorized as “a symphony accompanied by
singing and acting.” The opera was most impressive in its music and was “an interesting and valuable experi-
ment,” and Pollock decided the ending seemed “pale and spurious” with a certain “banality,” and it didn’t
help that the offstage deaths were “announced” instead of dramatized.
Alexander Woollcott in the Indianapolis Star indicated that the “hybrid” evening was sometimes
“clumsy” and “maddeningly static” but nonetheless “laden with an unforgettable beauty” with a “rueful”
first act that was “one of the loveliest hours I have ever spent in the theatre.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cin-
cinnati Enquirer decided that despite an “abundance of incident,” the opera was “slender” and “sluggish” and
left one “untouched by the drama.” Musically, the first and third acts were “distant relations” to the second
act with its “superb,” “weird,” and “brilliant” score, which was “tremendous in scope” and offered an oc-
casional “undercurrent of jazz.” Variety said the opera cost a “fortune” with its costumes and three “heavy”
and “massive” sets, and it was unlikely the production would ever recoup its costs. But Harling’s score was
“filled with suitable music” that was free of the “obvious” (that is, spirituals), and the evening was almost as
“memorable” as Stallings’ drama What Price Glory? (1924), which Stallings cowrote with Maxwell Anderson.
Note that with Richard A. Whiting and Leo Robin, Harling wrote the evergreen “Beyond the Blue Hori-
zon,” which was sung by Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan, and chorus in the 1930 film musical Monte
Carlo, and that same year Harling composed the music for the film Honey, from which emerged the classic
“Sing, You Sinners” introduced by Lillian Roth (lyric by Sam Coslow). With its new score by Harling and
Coslow, Honey was based on the 1916 play Come Out of the Kitchen by A. E. Thomas, which in turn had
been based on Alice Duer Miller’s 1916 novel of the same name. The material was later adapted into the 1924
musical The Magnolia Lady, with book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell and music by Harold Levey. Harling won
the Academy Award for Best Music Scoring for the 1939 western classic Stagecoach.
Perhaps Deep River was a victim of the New Orleans’ Curse. Musicals set wholly or partially in that city
and its environs (as well as those set elsewhere in Louisiana) are virtually guaranteed short runs. The notable
exceptions are Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta (1910) and Irving Berlin’s Louisiana Purchase (1940), but
otherwise some three-dozen Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway musicals (including pre-Broadway
closings and showcase productions) have floundered, including: Lace Petticoat (1927), Great Day! (1929), A
Noble Rouge (1929), Great Day in New Orleans (1929), Sunny River (1941), In Gay New Orleans (1947), Loui-
siana Lady (1947), Saratoga (1959), Pousse-Café (1966), House of Leather (1970), Prettybelle (1971), Doctor Jazz
(1975), Fat Tuesday (1976), Storyville (1979), Daddy Goodness (1979), Louisiana Summer (1982), Basin Street
(1983), Staggerlee (1987), The Middle of Nowhere (1988), The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club (1992),
Whistle Down the Wind (1996), Marie Christine (1999), Thou Shalt Not (2001), Caroline, or Change (2003),
and Lestat (2006).
CRISS CROSS

Performances: 210
1926–1927 Season 331
Book and Lyrics: Otto Harbach and Anne Caldwell

Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett (“Spanish
Dance” choreographed by Angel Cansino and the dances for The Tiller Sunshine Girls choreographed by
Mary Read); Scenery and Costumes: James Reynolds (note that the program’s title page credited Reyn-
olds with the costumes, but a general credits’ page in the program also cited Brooks Costume Company;
Tappe, Inc.; Schneider-Anderson; Francillion; and Eaves Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musi-
cal Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Characters in the Play—Allene (Crater) Stone (Countess de Pavazac), Dorothy Francis (Yasmini),
Primrose Caryll (Renee), Kathryn Burnside (Khadra), Lydia Scott (Lucie, Selima), Beth Meakins (Fifi),
Phyllis Pearce (Badoura), Lucy Monroe (Marie), Pearl Eaton (Arlette), Alice Donahue (Babette), Virginia
Franck (Suzette), Marjorie Leet (Paulette), Danzi Goodell (Miquette), Bobbie Breslau (aka Bobby Bre-
slaw) (Jeanne), Dorothy Bate (Goldie Digger), Roy Hoyer (Captain Carleton), Oscar Ragland (Ilphrahim
Benani), John Lambert (Professor Mazeroux, ), Auguste Aramini (Maestro Viaggiatore), Ralph Thomson
(The Marabout of Oran), Charles Baum (An Argentine, A Soldier, A Juggler), George Herman (The
Cure), Mark Truscott (Cassim), Jack Shannon (Jadid), Frank Lambert (Nissim), Joseph Schrode and
Thomas Bell (“Susie”), Dorothy Stone (Dolly Day), Fred Stone (Christopher Cross); Characters in the
Prologue—Fred Stone (as himself), Dorothy Stone (Cinderella), Oscar Ragland (Abanazar), John Lambert
(Sinbad), Lucy Monroe (Villanessa), Primrose Caryll (Fairy Godmother), Lydia Scott (Widow Twanky),
George Herman (Skeleton), Auguste Aramini (Ali-Baba), Willie Torpey (Puss-in-Boots), Kathryn Burn-
side (Queen of Hearts), Charles Baum (Knave of Hearts), Phyllis Pearce (Beauty), Jack Shannon (Indian),
Ralph Thomson (Indian), William Kerschell (Humpty Dumpty), Tommy Bell (Footman), Joe Schrode
(Coachman), Marietta Sullivan (Babbie), Cynthia Foley (Bobby), Danzi Goodell (Cowboy), Alice Dona-
hue (Scarecrow), Dorothy Bate (Indian), Pearl Eaton (Chinaman), Virginia Franck (Raggedy Andy), Beth
Meakins (Tony Chestnut), Marjorie Leet (Jack Horner), Bobbie Breslau (aka Bobby Breslaw) (Rose Red);
Kings of Cards: Jack Shannon, John Lambert, Mark Truscott, and Ralph Thomson; Characters in “The
Portrait Parade”—Fred Stone (“Philip of Spain”; painted by Velasquez); Dorothy Stone (“The Infanta
Eulalia”; Goya); Allene Stone (“Marie Antoinette”; Vigee le Brun); Dorothy Francis (“Persian Princess”;
from an illuminated missal); Primrose Caryll (“Princepessa Oriana”; Veronese); Roy Hoyer (“Sir Walter
Raleigh”; Zucchero); Lydia Scott (“Mme. Le Coudre”; Nattier); Phyllis Pearce (“Empress Josephine”;
David); Lucy Monroe (“Marquise de Lortanville”; Rouget); Kathryn Burnside (“Princess Balbadour”;
from an illustrated missal); Cynthia Foley and Marietta Sullivan (“The Children of Charles II”; Van
Dyck); Pearl Eaton, Alice Donahue, Beth Meakins, Virginia Franck, Dorothy Bate, Danzi Goodell, Mar-
jorie Leet, and Bobbie Breslau (aka Bobby Breslaw) (“Gainsborough Ladies”); Ladies of the Ensemble:
Elizabeth Childs, Goldie Flynn, Kathryn Hereford, Maraget Himes, Sally Hurst, Margaret Kollock,
Genevieve Kent, Jessie Madison, Emily Martin, Jane Lane, Gladys Pender, Florence Rice, Rhoda Sewell,
Jane Stafford, Betty Roche, Helen Roche, Gwen Tremble, Peggy Timmons, Violet Hale, Lillian White,
Alma Hookey, Star Woodman, Vera O’Brien; The Tiller Sunshine Girls: Noreen Callow, Josie Elton,
Doris Carter, Muriel Marlowe, Doris Smith, Phyllis Brown, Dolly Moseley, Mabel Sunderland, Florence
Stack, Dorothy Sabin, Doris Yates, Phyllis Barnacle, Ethel Ramsden, Alice Wright, Elsie Burton, Violet
Bryant; Arabs: A. Riffie, A. Hamid, M. Ambark, A. Mohamed, H. Mohamed, P. Motcelt; Attendants:
Edward Mack, Walter Harris
The musical was presented in a prologue and two acts.
The action takes place in Fable Land, “on the way to the Globe” Theatre, in Southern France, and in Algiers.
Prologue: Opening “Indignation Meeting” and “Hydrophobia Blues” (Primrose Caryll, Lydia Scott, Lucy
Monroe, Cynthia Foley, Marietta Sullivan, Oscar Ragland, John Lambert, George Herman, Jack Shannon,
Ralph Thomson, Willie Torpey, Ensemble); “Cinderella Girl” (Dorothy Stone, The Tiller Sunshine Girls,
Ensemble); “Cinderella’s Ride” (Dorothy Stone); “She’s on Her Way” (Jack Shannon, Ralph Thomson,
John Lambert, Mark Truscott, Girls)
Act One: “Flap-a-Doodle” (Fred Stone, Beth Meakins, Pearl Eaton, Alice Donahue, Virginia Franck, Danzi
Goodell, Dorothy Bate, Marjorie Leet, Bobbie Breslau); “Dance of the Sunshine Girls” (The Tiller Sun-
shine Girls); Opening of School Scene: “The Leaders of the Modern Regime” (Primrose Caryll, Beth
Meakins, Girls); “You Will—Won’t You?” (Dorothy Stone, Roy Hoyer, Girls); “In Araby with You”
(Dorothy Francis, Girls); “Travelogue” (Fred Stone, Dorothy Stone, The Sunshine Tiller Girls, Charles
Baum); Finale
Act Two: Opening (a) “Dear Algerian Land” and (b) “Dreaming of Allah” (Dorothy Francis, Ensemble); “The
Dancers of the Café Kaboul” (a) “Dance of ‘The Rose of Delight’” (Dorothy Stone, Roy Hoyer); (b) “Dance
of ‘The Golden Sprite’” (Fred Stone, George Herman); and (c) “Dance of the Camel Boys” (The Tiller Sun-
shine Girls); “Rose of Delight” (Dorothy Francis, Oscar Ragland, John Lambert); “I Love My Little Susie”
(Fred Stone, Joseph Schrode, Thomas Bell); “The Ali Baba Babies” (George Herman, Dorothy Bate, Girls);
“Dance of ‘The Four Leaf Clovers’” (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); “The Portrait Parade” (see cast list above);
Finale (Fred Stone, Dorothy Stone, Allene Stone, Company)
Criss Cross was a typical Fred Stone vehicle, and served as a follow-up to Stone and Jerome Kern’s Step-
ping Stones. The star’s specialty was acrobatic clowning, and he didn’t disappoint audiences with his trade-
mark rough-and-tumble antics, some of which he borrowed from his earlier musicals.
The family show utilized fairy-tale-oriented themes and characters, and family was the operative word
because the musical was another one of those Stone family affairs that served as a showcase for members of
the clan, Fred, wife Allene (Crater) Stone, and their daughter Dorothy. Soon daughter Paula joined the ménage,
and later daughter Carol appeared on Broadway. Paula coproduced the 1945 revival of Fred’s 1906 hit The Red
Mill (which had featured Allene), and Dorothy starred in the production (and the company included Dorothy’s
husband Charles Collins in a role especially written for the revival).
Criss Cross began with an extraneous prologue set in Fable Land which served as an homage to Fred Stone
himself. Many of the cast members were presented as characters from fairy tales (including Puss-in-Boots,
Beauty, Humpty-Dumpty, Jack Horner, Raggedy Andy, Rose Red, Sinbad, and Cinderella), and from earlier
Stone musicals there were characters he had originated (such as the Scarecrow in the 1903 production The
Wizard of Oz), and all of his former creations wore masks in the star’s likeness.
The story focused on Cinderella (Dorothy Stone), who for the remainder of the musical played Dolly Day,
a young heiress who attends school in southern France and is in love with Captain Carleton (Roy Hoyer),
a Prince Charming of sorts. And there were villains, too, including the Countess de Pavazac (Allene Crater
Stone) and Ilphrahim Benani (Oscar Ragland), the latter of whom kidnaps Dolly and whisks her off to Algiers.
Dolly’s rescue from a forced marriage to Benani was the show’s chandelier moment: piloted by Fred Stone (in
the title role of Criss Cross), a prop airplane flew across the stage and hovered over Dolly while Criss lowered
himself upside down on a rope ladder and helped Dolly climb aboard. From there, the plane proceeded to fly
Dolly into the arms of her waiting captain.
Jerome Kern’s score was slightly disappointing and didn’t yield any evergreens, but “You Will—Won’t
You?,” “In Araby with You,” and Fred Stone’s specialty “I Love My Little Susie” were well received.
The musical played for a profitable six months on Broadway, and two days after it closed began a national
tour at Boston’s Colonial Theatre with all Stones present and accounted for.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the evening was a “whirl of dancing, buffoonery, tumbling
and singing” by the three Stones and it set “a high tone for simple and pleasing entertainment.” The Tiller
Sunshine Girls were “the most polished now to be seen on the musical stage,” and Kern’s “able” score dis-
tinguished Criss Cross “from pure circus entertainment” (Atkinson singled out the three above-cited songs).
Fred Stone kept the show “clean” and “enjoyable,” indulged in tumbles down staircases as well as “hot”
tangos, and even sported trick glasses that wept tears and a similarly tricked-up mustache “that bristles with
defiance when properly coaxed.”
Time said the show had everything but humor. The book was “dull” and went on “at length,” but Fred
Stone discovered “laughs that the lines themselves never even hinted at.” Otherwise, the dancers were
“lively,” the costumes “gorgeous,” and the tunes “good.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer
praised the “clean and wholesome” musical with its “spirited” dancers, “lovely” costumes, and Kern’s “espe-
cially pleasing” score, and noted that Fred Stone was Broadway’s “cleverest entertainer.” The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle seemed to go into gush overload when it talked about “indulgent parent” Fred who “proudly” pushed
“the delights of popularity upon his heir” Dorothy, who was “lovely with feet that are the possessors of more
than their share of the world’s legerity” and “much” of the world’s “electric grace,” and who performed “cap-
tivating capers” with her father.
Variety reported the show cost in the vicinity of $100,000, and it was “problematical” just how long the
musical could remain on Broadway. The show was “weak,” there was “little comedy” in the “dull” first
1926–1927 Season 333
act (and even the second was “none too brilliant”), and Fred Stone’s would-be comic “Flap-a-Doodle” didn’t
“register many snickers even with a first-night audience ready to respond to anything.” But Kern’s score was
“light and lilting,” there was “good” dancing, and the production was “colorful.”
The collection The First Rose of Summer: Jerome Kern 1912–1928 (Music Box Recordings CD # MBR-
04003) includes “You Will—Won’t You?” and “In Araby with You.” Note that with different lyrics both songs
were included in the London production of Sunny, the former as “I’ve Looked for Trouble” and the latter as
“Sunshine.” Three songs were cut from Criss Cross during the tryout (“Kiss a Four Leaf Clover,” “Bread and
Butter,” and a title number), and the show began its tryout in Philadelphia where it was the first production
to play at the Erlanger Theatre.
KATJA
“An Operetta” / “New Musical Comedy” / “A Magnificent Musical Mirthquake”

Performances: 112
Book and Lyrics: Original German libretto by Leopold Jacobson and Rudolf Osterreicher; English book adapta-
tion by Frederick Lonsdale and English lyrics by Harry Graham (for the New York production, additional
book material by Isabel Leighton and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey)
Music: Jean Gilbert; additional music by Maurice Rubens and Ralph Benatzky
Based on the 1923 operetta Katja, die Tanzern (libretto by Leopold Jacobson and Rudolf Osterreicher and
music by Jean Gilbert).
Direction: Staged by J. C. Huffman and dialogue staged by Lewis Morton; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee
and J. J.); Choreography: Max Scheck; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Weldy of Paris; Orange Mfg.
Co.; Vanity Fair Costume Co.; Saloman & Weimer; E. R. Schraps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schraps,
Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Oscar
Radin (at least one source indicates Irving Schloss was the musical director)
Cast: Dorothy Whitmore (Maud Sumerdal), Jack Sheehan (Leander Billerdorf), Bruce Winston (Count Orpitch),
Doris Patston (Patricia), Dennis Hoey (Ivo, aka Prince of Okgladin), Lilian Davies (Katja Karina, aka Prin-
cess Ilanoff), John Adair (Edouard), Allan Prior (Carl, aka Prince of Karuja), Oscar Figman (Simon, Bos-
cart), Frank Hemmingway (Andre), Mary Buckley (Amilie), Betty Allen (Hortense), Julia Strong (Louise),
Tom Green (Henri), Jack Walsh (Sergeant of Police), Frank Walters (Inspector of Police), Valodia Vestoff
(Vladimir), Martha Mason (Natasha), Kitty (Catherine) Coleman (Annette); Show Girls: Betty Allen, Sara
Allen, Gloria Barrett, Mary Buckley, Shirley Carleton, Catherine (Kitty) Coleman, Georgie DuBrava, Sofia
Grebow, Peggy Hansel, Ruth Kennedy, Nailee Lindholm, Grace Norman, Sally Nye, Virginia Orth, Ma-
rie Brice, Sally Sayre, Irma Schubert, Julia Strong; Dancers: Lorraine Brooke, Ella Erne, Dorothy Chase,
Gertrude Demmler, Millie Dupree, Peggy Ellis, Helen Elsworth, June Ferguson, Marion Kingston, Marcia
Mack, Natalia (known by one name), Claire Renaud, Margaret Seidel, Peggy Smith, Eleanor Sweet, Ethel
Tatkewics, Peaches Tortoni, Zena Trett, Florence Turner; Boys: Reeder Boss, Bill Brainard, Lewis Downie,
Malcolm Duffield, Thomas Glover, Thomas Green, Billie Hall, Murray Levin, Dan McGovern, Bob Mor-
ris, Robert Smith, Paul Wilcox
The action takes place during the present time during the period of one night in Monte Carlo.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Love’s in the Air” (Dorothy Whitmore, Ensemble); “Cruel Chief” (Doris Patston, Jack Sheehan,
Bruce Winston); “Balkan Dance” (Valodia Vestoff, Martha Mason, Ensemble); “Euranian Anthem” (Lilian
Davies, Dennis Hoey); “Dance with You” (Lilian Davies, Dennis Hoey); “All the World Loves a Lover”
(Allan Prior); “Just for a Night” (lyric by Clifford Grey, music by Maurice Rubens and Ralph Benatsky)
(Lilian Davies, Allan Prior); “I Fell Head Over Heels in Love” (Doris Patston, Jack Sheehan); Ballet and
First Act Finale (Valodia Vestoff, Martha Mason, Lilian Davies, Allan Prior, Dennis Hoey, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Congratulations” (Allan Prior, Ensemble); “If You Care” (Doris Patston, Allan Prior); “Those Eyes
So Tender” (Lilian Davies, Allan Prior); “Night Birds” (Dorothy Whitmore, Valodia Vestoff, Martha Ma-
son, Ensemble); “Leander” (Doris Patston, Jack Sheehan)
Act Three: “In Jail” (Dorothy Whitmore, Ensemble); Dance (Valodia Vestoff); “Oh, Woe Is Me” (Doris Patston,
Jack Sheehan); Finale (Company)
Jean Gilbert’s operetta Katja, die Tanzerin premiered in Vienna in 1923, and as Katja, the Dancer the
London production (with a book by Frederick Lonsdale and lyrics by Harry Graham) opened on February 21,
1925, at the Gaiety Theatre for 505 (some sources cite 501) performances (Lilian Davies played the title role,
which she reprised for New York, and others in the London cast were Gene Gerrard and Ivy Tresmand).
For London, Gilbert’s score was supplemented by at least two songs by Vernon Duke (“Back to My Heart,”
lyric by Percy Greenbank, and “Try a Little Kiss,” lyric by Greenbank and Arthur Wimperis). Although the
American production credited Lonsdale with the book, one or two critics questioned just how much material
was his and they suspected he hadn’t written such lines as “You look like an accident going some place to
happen.” The Broadway program also credited “additional scenes written and arranged by Isabel Leighton”
and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey, and it seems likely the work underwent a sea change to ensure the
European operetta was more in the style of a traditional Broadway musical. Max Scheck was credited for the
Broadway choreography, but the opening night review in the New York Times cited Kuy Kendall (it may be
that Scheck was a last-minute replacement for Kendall).
The American version managed three months on Broadway, but through creative math the flyer for the
post-Broadway tour proclaimed that the show played in New York for eight. The flyer also summed up the
plot in one line: Katja “toppled a throne with her twinkling toes.”
Monte Carlo dancer Katja (Davies) is the deposed Princess of Ilanoff, and she’s fallen in love with Carl
(Allan Prior), who is the Prince of Karuja and inadvertently responsible for her exile. Do you suppose the mis-
understandings between these two will get cleared up in time for the third act finale?
The Times liked Gilbert’s “tuneful” and “better than average” score, the “skillful” dancing, and the “colorful
and populous” production, but when the American adapters “came in the door, it may have been that Lonsdale
flew out of the window.” Otherwise, the show offered “as many virtues and no fewer faults than most of such en-
terprises possess.” The Times mentioned that Valodia Vestoff (“who may be either from Russia or New Jersey”)
was a “nimble” dancer and the “leading participant in the entertainment’s terpsichorean activities.”
Time noted that the story of royalty in “degrading incognito” was “much met in Shubert operetta,”
but this time around there was “more than enough humor and music to relieve” the “redundancy” of the
plot. Davies and Prior could “sing, act, and look handsome all at the same time,” and the song “Leander”
required “no comment because everyone will soon know it by heart.” As a result, Katja stood “first” in the
line of Broadway’s operettas and was a “formidable champion to dispute the supremacy of Sir Jazz” in musi-
cal theatre. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker praised the dances and “good tunes,” but remarked that the
evening’s “heavy heels” were the result of “Shubert gag-men.” On the other hand, the show’s “glitter and
smartness” were no doubt thanks to Lonsdale.
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “ample” comedy and the “melodious” tunes.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Gilbert’s score was “too musical” to please the “average person who has not
a musical ear,” and yet there wasn’t “enough” score “to satisfy those who enjoy an evening of good music.”
The work was “neither much of one thing nor enough of another” and thus didn’t “please the musically or
the non-musically inclined.”
Cantus Classics released a two-CD recording of the score (#CACD-5-01318-F), which was apparently
based on a 1951 radio broadcast. Columbia Records released a number of songs by the original London cast:
“Dance While You May” (*), “Leander,” “When We Are Married” (*), “Tails Up” (*), “If You Cared,” the first
act finale, “Two’s Company” (*), “Those Eyes So Tender,” “Just for a Night,” “Thro’ Life We Go Dancing
Together” (*), “I’ve Planned a Rendezvous” (*), and “Love and Duty” (*); and HMV Records also released a
medley from the score “Dance While You May” (*), “Leander,” “Tails Up” (*), “If You Cared,” “Two’s Com-
pany” (*), “Just for a Night,” “We Won’t Care a Jot” (*), and “In a Woman’s Eyes” (*). Note that (*) denotes a
song that wasn’t heard in the New York production. Other songs heard in London that were dropped for New
York were “I Feel a Real Bad Lad Tonight” and “Politics.”
On the night of Katja’s New York premiere, Lonsdale’s London success On Approval also opened on Broad-
way (at the Gaiety Theatre, where its ninety-six performances just about equaled the run of the operetta).
1926–1927 Season 335
THE WILD ROSE


Performances: 61
Music: Rudolf Friml
Direction: William J. Wilson; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: Joseph
Urban; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Arthur Hammerstein Costume Company; Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Joseph Macaulay (Baron Frederick), Len Mence (General Hodenberg), Joseph Santley (“Monty,” aka
“Tommy,” Travers), Gus Shy (“Buddy” Haines), Inez Courtney (Luella Holtz), William Collier (Gideon
Holtz), Nana Bryant (Countess Nita), Fuller Mellish (King Augustus III), Desiree Ellinger (Princess
Elise), Jerome Daley (Carl), Neil Stone (Peter), Dink Trout (Zeppo), George Djimos (Flower Vendor), The
Randalls (Dancers), The Three Pasquali Brothers (Street Entertainers); Ladies of the Ensemble: Jeanne
LaMont, Marguerite Wyatt, Rachel Chester, Natalie Manning, Katherine Sacker, Anne Austin, Ann
Constance, Lotta Faning, Mary Paige, Lydia Shields, Mary Carney, Mary Harrison, Doris May, Elinore
Heinemann, Mildred Bower, Polly Ray, Bobby Campbell, Sylvia Pagano, Ruth Sato, Helene McGlynn,
May Boyle, Cora Andrews, Bella Graf, Eve Sinclair, Josephine Paretto, Bettye Holmes, Ethel Allen,
Gene Hitch, Claire Davis, Frances Grace, Dorothy Forbes, Mabel Martin, Madeleine Montelin, Patricia
Ross, Mae Burke, Guerida Crawford; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Frank Chapman, John Fredericks,
Boris Milman, Arthur Milens, Zachary Marr, Benn Carswell, Michael Afanasief, James Esipoff, Michael
Miroshnik, John Krivokosenke, Leon Kartavy, Josef Zitrinik, George Fisher, Anatole Safanov, Eugene
Gnotow, Morris Tepper, George Magis, Joseph Gary, Waevolod Anisimo, Jack Danziger, David Kladkoff,
Philemon Zivaly, Orlando DeSalas, Dan Harris, Donald Robert, Clifford Stone, Charles Frye, Lawrence
Acuri, Richard Neely, Joseph Rogers
The action takes place during the present time in Monte Carlo and the kingdom of Borovina.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Riviera” (Joseph Macaulay, Ensemble; danced by The Randalls); “Lovely Lady” (Joseph Santley,
Chorus); “Her Eyes Are Brown” (aka “Brown Eyes”) (Joseph Santley, Inez Courtney, Gus Shy, Chorus);
“Love Me, Don’t You?” (Nana Bryant, William Collier, Girls); “It Was Fate” (Desiree Ellinger, Chorus);
“Wild Rose” and “Lady of the Rose” (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph Macaulay, Male Chorus); “L’heure d’or”
(French lyric by J. B. Kantor) (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph Santley); Finaletto: “One Golden Hour” (Nana Bry-
ant, Joseph Macaulay, Joseph Santley, Ensemble); “Lady of the Rose” (reprise) (Male Chorus); Finale
Act Two: Opening (Fuller Mellish, Jerome Daly, Male Chorus); “Our Little Kingdom” (aka “We’ll Have
a Kingdom”) (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph Santley); “Revolution Festival” (Street Entertainers: The Three
Pasquali Brothers); “Dramatic-Musical Scene”; Finaletto; “Won’t You Come Across?” (Gus Shy, Inez
Courtney); “The Coronation” (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph Macaulay, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The new season had given us two chances to visit Monte Carlo with Naughty Riquette and Katja, and
now we had another opportunity during the opening scene of The Wild Rose. But after our brief interlude in
Monte, we headed off to one of those familiar operetta Never Lands, this one called Borovina. But just as easily
it could have been Ruritania, Graustark, or Marsovia. As Charles Brackett in the New Yorker ruefully asked,
“Am I wrong or have I been seeing musical plays called Wild Rose at intervals all my life?”
“Monty” Travers (Joseph Santley) is an American oil millionaire vacationing in Monte Carlo who meets
a fair young woman (played by Desiree Ellinger) who says she’s the daughter of a tavern owner. But oh that
minx! She’s really Princess Elise of Borovina, and soon our hero tracks her down in that operetta fairyland of
royalty and knaves, of romance and knockabout adventure, perhaps more adventure than the tourist in Monty
ever anticipated.
Elise’s father King Augustus III (Fuller Mellish) is overthrown and almost assassinated but for a bomb that
Monty intercepts. Moreover, Monty overcomes a skirmish with the military, swings himself onto a balcony
where Elise is held prisoner by the dastardly Baron Frederick (Joseph Macaulay), who plans to take over the
throne and wed the princess. Only when Monty lands in jail does Elise agree to marry the baron on the condi-
tion that Monty is freed. But soon Borovina’s army takes over and restores Augustus to the throne, Elise and
Monty are free to marry, and she’s saved from the nefarious baron and a marital fate worse than death.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times liked the “spirited and charming” evening, a “glamorous
beauty of a work of art” with a swirl of “gay fetes, folk dances, acrobatic accordion players, tumblers, soldiers,
royalty and revolutionists.” Brackett admitted “in a grumpy way” that he “rather liked” the operetta, which
was “lovely as a spectacle” but offered lyrics that suggested “the sing-song improvisations of a child of six.”
And while the humor was “thin,” Time noted the story floated along with “sprightly” dancers and Friml’s
music (with “Wild Rose” and “Our Little Kingdom” the stand-out songs).
Variety said the operetta couldn’t match Friml’s earlier hits Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, but the
cast was “excellent,” the production “lavish,” and the choral effect of the male and female voices ranked with
“the best heard in Broadway productions of this kind.” M.H.K. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the evening
was “sadly deficient in humor” with some players whom he could only “indulgently” call “comedians,” but
otherwise the show was “a gorgeously embellished, sweetly attuned and decidedly gay operetta.” Although
Friml’s contributions were mostly “unmemorable,” his music nonetheless retained “the sugared dignity” of
his previous scores.
During the tryout, the following songs were cut: “I’m the Extra Man,” “Entrance of Tommy,” “How Can
You Keep Your Mind on Business?,” “Rumble, Rumble, Rumble,” and “That’s Why I Love You.” Lew Fields
created the role of Gideon Holtz during the pre-Broadway tour, and the Times reported he appeared in the
final tryout performance on Saturday September 16th and entered the hospital on Tuesday the 19th for an
appendectomy. With just twenty-four hours to learn the part, William Collier succeeded Fields and played
the role for the Broadway premiere on the 20th. The Times noted that in the Monte Carlo scene, Collier said
he didn’t care about losing money at the casino as long as he didn’t lose “his lines in the play,” and in a later
scene he “hesitated triflingly.” Otherwise, “his dry performance seemed letter-perfect” and was a “notable
achievement.”
The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II includes the lyrics of “Love Me, Don’t You?,” “Wild
Rose,” and “One Golden Hour.” It appears that as of the time of the collection’s publication in 2008, the
production’s libretto and most of its lyrics and music were missing.
Harbach and Hammerstein weren’t lucky with The Wild Rose, but five weeks after its premiere the team’s
second collaboration of the season opened and the long-running The Desert Song became one of Broadway’s
classic operettas. For a period of twelve days, the New York runs of the two works overlapped.
OH, KAY!
“The New Musical Comedy” / “Musical Comedy Smash!”

Performances: 256
Book: Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse
Lyrics: Ira Gershwin; additional lyrics by Howard Dietz
Book: John Harwood; Producers: Alexander A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Sammy Lee;
Scenery: John Wenger; Costumes: Hattie Carnegie; Brooks Costume Co.; Franklin Simon & Co.; Brooks
Uniform Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: William Daly
Cast: Betty Compton (Molly Morse), Janette Gilmore (Peggy), Gerald Oliver Smith (The Duke), Harland Dixon
(Larry Potter), Marion Fairbanks (Phil, aka Phyllis, Ruxton), Madeleine Fairbanks (Dolly Ruxton), Victor
Moore (“Shorty” McGee), Sascha Beaumont (Constance Appleton), Oscar Shaw (Jimmy Winter), Ger-
trude Lawrence (Kay), Harry T. Shannon (Revenue Officer Jansen), Constance Carpenter (Mae), Paulette
Winston (Daisy), Frank Gardiner (Judge Appleton); Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil Ohman; Ladies of the
Ensemble: Peggy Quinn, Marie Otto, Elsie Neal, Grace Jones, May Sullivan, Ann Ecklund, Marcia Bell,
Betty Waxton, Anita Gordon, Blanche O’Donahue, Jean Carroll, Frances Stone, Jean Wayne, Maxine Mar-
1926–1927 Season 337
shall, Elsie Frank, Amy Frank, Dot Justin, Dorothy Saunders, Amy Weber, Kappie Fay, Bonnie Blackwood,
Justine Welch, Sara Jane Heliker, Pansy Maness, Caroline Phillips, Peggy Johnstone, Polly Williams, Adri-
enne Armond, Gloria Murray, Grace Carroll, Claire Wayne, Betty Vane, Frances DeFoe; Gentlemen of the
Ensemble: Al Fisher, Lionel Maclyn, Jacques Stone, Tom Martin, Melville Chapman, Alan Stevens, Ted
White, Bob Gebhardt, Jack Fraley, Burton McEvilly, Dowell Brown, Ted Daniels, Eugene Day
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Woman’s Touch” (Betty Compton, Constance Carpenter, Ensemble); “Don’t Ask!” (Harland
Dixon, Marion Fairbanks, Madeleine Fairbanks); “Dear Little Girl” (Oscar Shaw, Girls); “Maybe” (Ger-
trude Lawrence, Oscar Shaw); “Clap Yo’ Hands” (Harland Dixon, Betty Compton, Paulette Winston, Con-
stance Carpenter, Janette Gilmore, Ensemble); “Do, Do, Do” (Gertrude Lawrence, Oscar Shaw); Finale
(aka “Isn’t It Grand”) (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil Ohman); “Bride and Groom” (aka “It’s Never Too Late to
Mendelssohn”) (Sascha Beaumont, Oscar Shaw, Frank Gardiner, Guests); “Fidgety Feet” (Harland Dixon,
Marion Fairbanks, Ensemble); “Someone to Watch Over Me” (Gertrude Lawrence); “Heaven on Earth”
(lyric by Ira Gershwin and Howard Dietz) (Oscar Shaw, Betty Compton, Constance Carpenter, Ensemble);
Finaletto (aka “On Single Life Today”) (Ensemble); Specialty Dance (a) Betty Compton; (b) Harland Dixon
and Madeleine Fairbanks; and (c) Janette Gilmore; “Oh, Kay!” (lyric by Ira Gershwin and Howard Dietz)
(Gertrude Lawrence, Boys); Finale (Company); Note: During the run, the song order of “Fidgety Feet” and
“Someone to Watch Over Me” was reversed.
Like Vincent Youmans’s No, No, Nanette, George and Ira Gershwin’s Oh, Kay! is one of those free-
spirited and melodic carnivals that practically defines musical comedy of the Roaring Twenties. The show
took place in one of the era’s favorite locales (Long Island) and dealt with one of its most popular subjects
(Prohibition), and Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse’s book ensured there were moments for both ethereal
romance and low-down comedy.
Further, the spectacular score offered gorgeous ballads (the delicate torch song “Someone to Watch Over
Me,” the insinuating and slightly jaunty “Maybe,” the creamy “Dear Little Girl,” and the good-natured nov-
elty “Do, Do, Do”), two crackling revival-like dance specialties (“Clap Yo’ Hands” and “Heaven on Earth”),
and two opportunities for eccentric stepping (“Fidgety Feet” and “Don’t Ask!”). It would have been churlish
to have asked for anything more than this melodic jamboree, and if the story and songs weren’t enough there
was a knockout cast that included Gertrude Lawrence in the title role, handsome Oscar Shaw as her vis-à-
vis, comic Victor Moore, the eccentric dancer Harland Dixon, and the dancing Fairbanks Twins, Marion and
Madeleine.
The dashing Jimmy Winter (Shaw) is a millionaire who owns a waterfront mansion on Long Island,
but is mostly absent in order to pursue his romantic life, which has now led him to the altar with his
second wife, the snooty society girl Constance Appleton (Sascha Beaumont). A British lord known as The
Duke (Gerald Oliver Smith) is on his uppers and has turned bootlegger to make a dishonest dollar, and
uses his yacht to deliver hooch for storage in Jimmy’s cellar prior to delivery at Manhattan’s speakeasies.
When Jimmy unexpectedly returns home with his new bride, he finds himself reluctant to call in the law
because he’s fallen for Duke’s sister Lady Kay (Lawrence), who, along with Duke’s bogus butler “Shorty”
McGee (Victor Moore), are part of the band of bootleggers. In the meantime, Jimmy discovers he’s not
legally married to Constance because he was never officially divorced from his previous wife. Constance
then flounces off, real and bogus Revenue agents pop in and out of the action, and finally Kay and Jimmy
are united as one.
Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said musicals “seldom prove[d] more intensely delightful than”
Oh, Kay!, with its “rich” score, dances, décor, direction, superb cast, and “as scurvy a lot of bad puns as ever
scuttled a rum runner” (Atkinson and other critics also enjoyed Moore’s comment that “the difference be-
tween a bootlegger and a Federal inspector is that one of them wears a badge”). Here was a musical that was
an “excellent blending of all the creative arts of musical entertainment—the arts of staging no less than those
of composing and designing.”
Atkinson noted that not since the Marx Brothers had there been anything “more hilarious” than the scene
when Moore and Lawrence pretended to be household help and served a luncheon to remember: Lawrence
performed “tricks on a long roll of French bread” and affected “a domestic slouch in her walk,” and there
was “a clatter of crockery on the stage and ominous sounds from the kitchen near-by.” In regard to one of
the lunch entrees, Moore mournfully told the guests that the cat became unpleasant when he took the fish
away from it. (Atkinson reported that Beatrice Lillie was in attendance on opening night, but Lawrence didn’t
“paint the Lillie” and instead kept “the enjoyment varied and broad.”)
Time said Bolton and Wodehouse’s book made “a lot of fun and even a little sense,” and “musical comedy
hath few charms not ascribable to” Oh, Kay! M.H.K. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised Gershwin’s score
with its “dreamily melodious” ballads and “uniquely commanding” rhythmic songs that advised you “to
shake off your woes and kick your feet high into the air.” Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star enjoyed
the “broken rhythms and melodies” that caused the “expert” dancers to “scarcely keep time” to such num-
bers as “Fidgety Feet.” And Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that Lawrence had the
“advantage of a personality that is distinctively different from her American sisters” because her “finished”
technique included an “agreeable” singing and “speaking” voice and a “delicious” sense of comedy.
Surprisingly, Variety found Gershwin’s magnificent hit-filled score only “serviceable” and “strangely
. . . below the Gershwin par, ultra-distinctive in spots and reminiscent of his own past performances in
others, with not a spontaneous ‘commercial’ hit to impress immediately.” Charles Brackett in the New
Yorker said he “never cared for Mr. Gershwin’s music” but was “assured” this was because of the com-
poser’s use of the diatonic scale, or perhaps because Brackett had “no ear, or some other reason equally
creditable to [Gershwin] and shameful to me.” Further, Ira Gershwin’s lyrics tended to sound “as though
they’d been put in so the singers could have something to use until somebody thought up what the real
words should be.” However, Lawrence had a “richness of personality much beyond that of any comedienne
now in musical comedy, except, perhaps, Luella Gear.”
During the tryout, the following four songs were cut: “The Moon Is on the Sea,” “Ain’t It Romantic?,”
“Show Me the Town” (later revised and used in Rosalie), and “Bring on the Ding Dong Dell” (later revised
and used in the 1930 version of Strike Up the Band). Dropped in preproduction were: “Guess Who?” (an early
version of “Don’t Ask!”), “Stepping with Baby,” “What’s the Use?,” and “When Our Ship Comes Sailing In”
(lyric by Ira Gershwin and Howard Dietz; later added to the 1990 and 1991 Broadway revivals of Oh, Kay!;
see below).
A few months after the production closed, a return engagement opened at the Century Theatre on Janu-
ary 2, 1928, for sixteen performances with Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit, and John E. Young. A revised
Off-Broadway adaptation opened on April 16, 1960, at the East 74th Street Theatre for eighty-nine perfor-
mances (Marti Stevens played the title role, and other cast members were David Daniels, Bernie West,
Penny Fuller, Linda Lavin, and Eddie Phillips). The book and some of the lyrics were revised by Wodehouse
(who of course had cowritten the original book), and the production included a few interpolations from
other Gershwin shows.
Another revised version was scheduled to open at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on October 5, 1978, with
Jane Summerhays (Kay), Jack Weston (“Shorty”), and David-James Carroll (Jimmy) (during the course of the
tryout, Carroll was succeeded by Jim Weston). The revival was put together by many of the creative team
responsible for the hit 1971 revival of No, No, Nanette, but despite lavish production values and exciting cho-
reography by Donald Saddler (which included a memorably quirky dance routine for “Fidgety Feet”), the show
closed prior to Broadway. During preproduction, the book was by John Guare and then by Muriel Resnik, and
by the time of the tryout’s opening the book was credited to Thomas Meehan.
On November 1, 1990, David Merrick’s Broadway revival opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre for
seventy-seven performances. The book was adapted by James Racheff, and the story took place in Harlem
with Angela Teek, Brian (Stokes) Mitchell, and Gregg Burge. Later in the season, Merrick brought back a re-
vamped production which played for sixteen preview performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from April
2 through April 14, 1991; the leading cast members were Rae Dawn Chong, Ron Richardson, and Gregg Burge.
The London production opened on September 21, 1927, at His Majesty’s Theatre for 214 performances
with Lawrence, Harold French (Jimmy), and John Kirby (“Shorty”). A 1974 London revival played for 228
showings with Amanda Barrie and Royce Mills.
A silent film version was released by First National Pictures in 1928; directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the cast
includes Colleen Moore (Kay), Lawrence Gray (Jimmy), Ford Sterling (“Shorty”), and Alan Hale (Jansen).
1926–1927 Season 339
A charming studio cast album of the score was released by Columbia Records in the early 1950s (LP #
OS-2550 and # OL-7050; issued on CD by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records # SK-60703) with Barbara
Ruick, Jack Cassidy, and Alan Case. In 1978, a recording issued by the Smithsonian American Musical The-
atre Series (released by RCA Special Products Records LP # DLP1-0310) included original cast performances
by Lawrence and pianists Arden and Ohman as well as solo piano recordings by George Gershwin. In 1995,
Nonesuch Records (CD # 79361-2) released the most complete recording of the score with studio cast mem-
bers Dawn Upshaw, Kurt Ollmann, and Patrick Cassidy. The recording of the 1960 Off-Broadway revival was
released by 20th Fox MasterArts (LP # FOX-4003) and was later reissued on CD by Stet Records (# DS-15017).
TWINKLE TWINKLE
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Rollicking Musical Comedy” / “The Funniest Musical Comedy of the Season”

Performances: 167
Music: Harry Archer
Note: Additional dialogue, lyrics, and music by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.
Direction: Frank Craven; Producer; Louis F. Werba; Choreography: Julian Alfred; Harry Puck; Scenery: P. Dodd
Ackerman; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Joseph Lertora (Jack Wyndham), Perqueta Courtney (Florence Devereaux), Elise Bonwit (Louise),
Dorothy Martin (Dolores), Anita Firman (Suzette), Diana Day (June), Ann Kelly (Gloria), W. J. McCarthy
(Sam Gibson), Therese Kelly (Cutie), Ona Munson (Alice James), Patty Hastings (Jennie), Alan Edwards
(Richard Grey), John Sheehan (Harry), John Gray (Telegraph Operator), Joe E. Brown (P. T., aka Peachy,
Robinson), Flo Lewis (Bessie Smith), Frances Upton (Jane Robinson);The Sweet Sixteens: Elise Bonwit,
Diana Day, Anita Firman, Patty Hastings, Ann Kelly, Dorothy Martin; Ladies of the Ensemble: Alice
McDonald, Nerene Swinton, Helen Mirtel, Phyllis Hooper, Marion Nevins, Wanda Jarzy, Frances Nevins,
Myrtle LeRoy, Hazel Vee, Dorothy Jordan, Diana White, Wanda Wood, Betty Sheldon, Allyn Loring, Anna
Nito, Betty Veronica; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Douglas Keaton, Ned McGarn, Frank Bryan, Henry
Nelthrop, Buddy Jenkins, John O’Neil
The action takes place during the present time aboard a train traveling through Kansas and in Pleasantville,
Kansas.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “You Know, I Know” (Ona Munson, Joseph Lertora); “Get a Load of This”
(Perqueta Courtney, Joseph Lertora, The Sweet Sixteens, Chorus); Reprise (song not identified in program)
(Ona Munson); “We’re on the Map” (lyric by Bert Kalmar, music by Harry Ruby) (Ensemble); “Reuben”
(Joe E. Brown, Flo Lewis, Frances Upton, The Sweet Sixteens, Chorus); “Twinkle Twinkle” (Ona Mun-
son, Alan Edwards); Finaletto (Ensemble); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Ona Munson, Alan
Edwards); “Hustle, Bustle” (Ensemble); “Sweeter Than You” (lyric by Bert Kalmar, music by Harry Ruby)
(Ona Munson, Alan Edwards, Chorus); “Crime” (Joe E. Brown); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Sunday Afternoon” (Frances Upton, John Sheehan, The Sweet Sixteens, Chorus); “Whistle” (lyric
by Bert Kalmar, music by Harry Ruby) (Ona Munson, Boys and Girls); “I Hate to Talk about Myself” (Jo-
seph Lertora, Frances Upton, The Sweet Sixteens, Girls); “When We’re Bride and Groom” (Joe E. Brown,
Flo Lewis, Girls and Boys); Finale (Ensemble)
Perhaps the far-fetched twists of plot and the use of improbable coincidences alleviated the stark realism
running rampant through Harlan Thompson and Harry Archer’s Twinkle Twinkle, a tale about a glamorous
film star on the lam who finds refuge as a waitress in a backwater Midwestern town and then discovers that
her new beau (and the town’s newspaper reporter) is really a movie magnate.
It seems that famous actress Alice James (Ona Munson) is fed up with both Tinseltown and the unwanted
attentions of her business manager Jack Wyndham (Joseph Lertora), and while traveling across country by
train in her luxurious private car with Wyndham and various flunkies, she decides she’s had enough of the
glamorous life and manages to secretly steal away from the train.
She finds herself in the hamlet of Pleasantville, Kansas, and incognito she settles there, gets the job of
waitress at the Railroad Eating House, and becomes romantically involved with Richard Grey (Alan Edwards),
the local newspaper reporter. Meanwhile, the town’s private eye P.T. (Peachy) Robinson (Joe E. Brown) gets
wind that a famous movie star might be somewhere about, and he dons various disguises in his quest to find
her, including one as a waiter from Hell. When a customer asks if the oysters are fresh, he says they’re not
only fresh but impertinent, and when another diner demands that his order of turtle soup be served instantly,
Peachy wisely notes that you can’t hurry it up because “you know how turtles are.”
Alice later discovers she’s not the only one leading a double life. It turns out Richard is masquerading as
a reporter in order to conceal his real if not reel identity: he’s actually a millionaire movie magnate from a
rival studio, and he’s secretly scouting out dear old downtown Pleasantville as the site of the studio’s latest
million-dollar movie palace. Our local Sherlock catches on to Alice and Richard’s secrets, but keeps quiet
in order to foster their romance, not to mention his own impending nuptials with Bessie Smith (Flo Lewis),
another waitress at the Railroad Eating House.
The New York Times said the unpretentious show was a “genuinely pleasant and diverting entertain-
ment” with “gay” music and “first-rate” dances, Munson was an “authentic discovery,” and Brown was
“vastly amusing”; Charles Brackett in the New Yorker liked the “gay” and “high-spirited show,” and noted
that while Brown got “a great many laughs” he looked “a good deal funnier than he is”; and Time said the
musical was “better than average entertainment” and Brown was the “real show” who made “full use of his
natural asset” (his mouth, a “dentist’s dream”).
Arthur Pollack in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “pleasant and jovial” evening which unfortu-
nately lacked a certain “vital sprightliness”; L.V. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said
Brown delivered “more laughs to the minute than any of his competitors,” Munson’s “charm and grace”
were “without bounds,” the décor and costumes were “handsome and costly,” and the songs were “light and
airy”; Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press found the “musical froth” both “fetching” and “gently self-
satirical”; and Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted the “pleasant” and “diverting” musical
was no “pathfinder” but would “keep step with the other musical pieces already doing time on Broadway.”
During the tryout, the team of lyricist Bert Kalmar and composer Harry Ruby were hired to doctor the
book and contribute extra songs (“We’re on the Map,” “Sweeter Than You,” and “Whistle,” the latter of
which was praised by Variety for its “touch of novelty”), and as the New York run progressed Thompson and
Archer’s late second-act “When We’re the Bride and Groom” (for Brown, Flo Lewis, and chorus) was replaced
by a fourth Kalmar and Ruby number “Day Dreams” (for Brown, Lewis, and chorus).
For the tryout, Nancy Welford created the role of Alice, and was succeeded by Munson. But apparently
there wasn’t animosity on anyone’s part, and for the post-Broadway tour Welford resumed her old role (and
Brown, Lewis, and Dorothy Martin reprised their New York performances). And typical for the era, adver-
tisements for post-Broadway tours inflated the length of the New York runs. In this case, Twinkle Twinkle
had played for less than five months on Broadway, but the tour’s flyer proclaimed a New York run of seven
months.
Twinkle Twinkle was the fourth and final collaboration by Thompson and Archer, who for a time were
touted as the logical heirs to the tradition of the intimate Princess Theatre musicals by Guy Bolton, P. G.
Wodehouse, and Jerome Kern. But the team was never quite able to match their first success Little Jessie
James, which played for 385 performances and yielded the hit song “I Love You.” Their remaining three
shows, My Girl, Merry Merry, and Twinkle Twinkle managed decent runs, but none of them had much of an
afterlife and couldn’t come up with another hit song on the order of “I Love You.”
Cast member Ona Munson and musical director Max Steiner later enjoyed a Gone with the Wind connec-
tion: for the classic film, she created the role of Belle Watling and he composed the powerful and memorable
background musical score.
The Times reported that after the curtain fell at the end of the musical’s second New York performance,
playgoers were leaving the theatre when an audience member (who was later described as despondent) tried
to commit suicide three times. The man went up to a fourth-floor emergency exit, stabbed himself near his
heart, then cut his throat, and finally jumped to the courtyard four stories below. When the medics arrived,
1926–1927 Season 341
he was unconscious and suffering from bleeding and internal injuries. Not to make light of the man’s tragedy,
but one can’t help but ask, “Was the show that bad?”
Note that Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby’s interpolation “Sweeter Than You” was later heard in Top Speed.
THE DESERT SONG

“A Thrilling Romantic Operetta” / “A New and Gorgeous Operetta” / “A New Musical Play”
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Century and Imperial Theatres)
Performances: 471
Direction: Arthur Hurley; Producers: Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel; Choreography: Robert (aka Bobby)
Connolly; Scenery: Woodman Thompson; Costumes: Vyvyan Donner; Mark Mooring; Jenkins; Nardi;
Eaves Costume Company; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction:
Oscar Bradley
Cast: William O’Neal (Sid El Kar), O. J. Vanesse (Mindar), Earle Mitchell (Hassi), Eddie Buzzell (Bennie
Kidd), Glen Dale (Captain Paul Fontaine), Pearl Regay (Azuri), Charles Davis (Sergeant La Vergne), Al-
bert Baron (Sergeant Dubassac), Vivienne Segal (Margot Bonvalet), Edmund Elton (General Birabeau),
Robert Halliday (Pierre Birabeau, aka The Red Shadow), Nellie Breen (Susan), Elmira Lane (Ethel), Lyle
Evans (Ali Ben Ali), Margaret Irving (Clementina), Rachel May Clark (Neri), Charles Morgan (Hadji),
Victor Rosales (Servant), B. Flack (Servant); French Girls and Spanish Cabaret Girls: Maude Lydiate,
Marion Case, Audree Van Lieu, Grace Fleming, Bobbe Decker, Winifred Seale, Blanche Granby, June
Lovewell, Betty Lomax, Valerie Petrie, Bernice Walder, Gertrude Napp, Betty De Fest, Mildred Mann,
Helen Shepard, Ethel Lorraine, Beatrice Fox, Gladys Lake, Edna Coates; Soldiers’ Wives and Ladies
of the Brass Key: Helen Bourne, Gertrude McKinley, Eileen Hargraves, Kathlyn Huss, Elmira Lane,
Tatiana (performer with one name), Rowena Scott, Patricia O’Connell, Clementine Rigeau, Almajane
Wilday, Florence Baker, Miriam Stockton, Hilda Steiner, Robey Lyle, Betty Holmes, Dorothy Lee;
Soldiers of the French Legion and Members of the Red Shadow’s Band: Alan Green, Jack Kiernan, John
Lister, B. Flack, Nathan Goodman, E. A. Harker, Peter Flomp, Raymond Winfield, John Stanley, Jack
Edwards, Armond King, John Daly, Jack Spiegel, William D. Galpen, Charles Davis, John Hammond,
William Ehlers, C. Pichler, Morton Croswell, Vance Elliott, Charles Mantia, Talbott Vaughn, George
St. John, Z. Norman, Harold Westcott, Victor Rosales, Morris Siegel, Albert Coiner, Elmer Pichler,
Nat Broffman, Phil Snyder; Native Dancers: Grace Fleming, Bobbe Decker, Winifred Seale, Blanche
Granby, June Lovewell, Gertrude Napp, Mildred Mann; Soldiers of Ali: Jack Kierman, E. A. Harker,
John Daly, Jack Spiegel, Charles Mantia, Phil Snyder
The action takes place “one year ago” in Northern Africa.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening, “High on a Hill” (aka “Feasting Song”) (William O’Neal, Riffs); “Ho!” (aka “The Riff Song”
and “Riding Song of the Riffs”) (Robert Halliday, William O’Neal, Riffs); “Margot” (aka “Oh, Pretty Maid
of France”) (Glen Dale, Soldiers); “I’ll Be a Bouyant Girl (Gal)” (aka “Has Anybody Seen My Bennie?”)
(Nellie Breen, Elmira Lane); “Why Did We Marry Soldiers?” (French Soldiers’ Wives); “French Military
Marching Song” (Vivienne Segal, Ensemble); “Romance” (Vivienne Segal, Soldiers’ Wives); “Then You
Will Know” (Robert Halliday, Vivienne Segal, Ensemble); “I Want a Kiss” (Glen Dale, Vivienne Segal,
Robert Halliday, Ensemble); “It” (Eddie Buzzell, Nellie Breen, Girls); “The Desert Song” (aka “Blue
Heaven and You and I”) (Robert Halliday, Vivienne Segal); Finale: “Oh, Lucky Paul,” “Morocco Dance of
Marriage,” “Soft as a Pigeon” (aka “Azuri”), “French Military Marching Song” (reprise), and “The Desert
Song” (reprise) (Company)
Act Two: Opening, “My Little Castagnette” (Margaret Irving, Girls); “Song of the Brass Key” (Margaret Irving,
Lyle Evans, Girls); “One Good Boy (Man) Gone Wrong” (aka “Bold Woman, Please Unhand Me”) (Eddie
Buzzell, Margaret Irving, Ensemble); “Eastern and Western Love” (a) “Let Love Go” (Lyle Evans, Men); (b)
“One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden” (William O’Neal, Men); and (c) “One Alone” (Robert Halli-
day, Men); “The Sabre Song” (Vivienne Segal); “Dramatic Finaletto”: “The Desert Song” (reprise) (Robert
Halliday, Vivienne Segal); “Farewell” (Robert Halliday, Riffs); Opening for Act Two, Scene Five: “All Hail
(to) the General” (Vivienne Segal, Glen Dale, Edmund Elton, Girls); “Let’s Have a Love Affair” (Eddie
Buzzell, Nellie Breen, Girls); Dance (Pearl Regay); Finale (Company)
When Sigmund Romberg’s operetta The Desert Song opened in 1926, it was actually a contemporary
piece very loosely based upon then-current headlines about political events in North Africa. The musical
centered on the mysterious Red Shadow, the self-described Robin Hood of Morocco, who leads the rebellious
Riff tribes against the French. But the rugged Red Shadow is really Pierre Birabeau (Robert Halliday), the son
of Governor-General Birabeau (Edmund Elton), and in order to hide his identity Pierre poses as a meek and
mild introvert who likes to read books and pick posies. Pierre is attracted to the beautiful Margot Bonvalet
(Vivienne Segal), but any courtship is doomed because she wants to escape from her “humdrum world” and
find a “rough and ready” man who will “master” her, not some wimpy bookworm like Pierre.
As the Red Shadow, Pierre abducts her and thus fulfills her fantasy of romantic adventure. But when
General Birabeau challenges the Red Shadow to a duel, Pierre of course can’t agree and thus disappears, much
to the chagrin of Margot, who now believes her brave hunk has turned into a mouse. Later, Pierre “kills” the
Red Shadow, and when he brings the Red Shadow’s uniform to the French headquarters he’s considered a
hero. The General realizes that his son is the Red Shadow and comes to understand that with Pierre’s help the
Moroccans and the French can peaceably coexist. When Pierre is alone with Margot he dons his Red Shadow
mask and cape, and she realizes that the seemingly weak Pierre is really the virile man of her dreams.
Other characters in the story were Bennie (Eddie Buzzell) and Susan (Nellie Breen), who fulfilled the du-
ties required of an operetta’s secondary romantic (and comic) couple. He’s a society correspondent for the
Paris Herald who’s completely out of his league in desert politics, and she’s a man-hungry girl on the prowl as
well as an early prototype of Ado Annie (in this case, she’s signed on as Bennie’s secretary and philosophizes
that if you let a man dictate to you, then you might as well marry him). Sid El Kar (William O’Neal) is the
Red Shadow’s faithful lieutenant and Captain Paul Fontaine (Glen Dale) is in hot pursuit of the Red Shadow.
The latter is also courting the indifferent Margot while attempting to extricate himself from the exotic Azuri
(Pearl Regay), who has other ideas. Regay played a similar role as Wanda in Rose-Marie, where she introduced
“Totem Tom-Tom.” During one of her dance numbers in Rose-Marie, a tipsy young audience member found
his way to the stage, took her in his arms, and danced with her. Presumably no such event occurred during
the run of The Desert Song, where Regay had those rough Riffians to protect her.
Romberg’s score offered lushly romantic ballads, stirring choruses, and lively comedy numbers. The for-
mer include “Romance,” “The Desert Song” (aka “Blue Heaven and You and I”), and a fascinating three-part
sequence with the overall title “Eastern and Western Love,” which offered three views on the subject, “Let
Love Go,” “One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden,” and “One Alone.” The rousing choral numbers were
“Ho!” (aka “The Riff Song” and “Riding Song of the Riffs”) and “French Military Marching Song,” and the
comic interludes included Bennie and Susan’s “It,” a surprisingly sly novelty that saluted Elinor Glyn and
that “indefinable thing” known as “it” (the song notes that Freud has introduced words we’d never before
heard of), and Bennie’s “One Good Boy Gone Wrong,” in which he merrily resigns himself to the power of sex.
“Then You Will Know” was a grandly impressive concerted piece for Margot, Pierre, and the ensemble
which looks at Margot’s wish for an aggressive lover, Pierre’s resolve to appear meek and mild, and the deter-
mination of an inquisitive chorus to observe and comment on the quandary of the two would-be lovers. This
sequence led directly into the jaunty “I Want a Kiss,” a smug request by Paul Fontaine, who was joined by
Margot, Pierre, and the ensemble (and included a brief fox-trot for Paul and Margot).
The New York Times said the musical was “large, slightly top-heavy entertainment” that was “floridly
contrived” and “executed in the grand manner” with an “excellent and sometimes rather imposing score.”
The critic noted that the number of musicians in the orchestra was “large” and overflowed into the aisles of
the theatre, and the show provided “full value” for the money and seemed certain to find “its niche among
the local eye-and-ear hippodromes.” Although Time said the “huge” cast, “gorgeous” décor, “good” singing,
and Vivienne Segal made The Desert Song “alluring,” the “sands of Broadway do not burn.”
1926–1927 Season 343
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised Romberg’s “fascinating, bewitching, humorous, vigor-
ous, and even religious” music, and noted the male chorus sang “zealously” and displayed “virility.” L.V. in
Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society liked the “pretty and tuneful” operetta with its “cork-
ing” story, “splendid” dances, “beautiful” costumes, and “striking” and “scenic” décor, and the “charming”
Segal’s “marvelous” singing voice was particularly impressive in “The Sabre Song.” The headline for Bushnell
Dimond’s review in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Star stated that The Desert Song was the “season’s best in light
opera,” with an “inventive and sumptuous” score.
During the tryout, the musical was known as Lady Fair, and Mildred Parisette was Margot. Various
songs were cut during preproduction and the tryout, including “Love’s Dear Yearning” (aka “Dreaming in
Paradise”), “Not for Him,” “Ali-Up,” “Love Is a Two-Edged Sword,” “Flame of Love Denying,” and “Captive
Maids of War.” During the Broadway run, “Let’s Have a Love Affair” was cut and replaced with a reprise of
“It.”
The original production enjoyed two national tours that played from August 1927 to May 1929. The first
Broadway revival opened on January 8, 1946, at City Center for forty-five performances with Walter Cassel
and Dorothy Sandlin, and the second was a well-sung and entertaining affair with David Cryer and Chris Cal-
lan that opened on September 5, 1973, at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre for a disappointing run of fifteen
showings.
The London production premiered at the Drury Lane on April 7, 1927, for 432 performances with Harry
Welchman and Edith Day in the leading roles. Many of the London critics referred to Rose-Marie in their as-
sessments of the musical. The London Daily Mail found the show “at least as good as Rose-Marie in every
way”; The Era said it was “in most respects . . . better than Rose-Marie,” with a book “that holds the play
together more satisfactorily” and comedy that was “more amusing”; and The Stage indicated the production
was “built largely on the same lines as Rose-Marie,” with a “generally flowing and melodious” score.
There have been three (and a “half”) film adaptations by Warner Brothers as well as a television version.
The 1929 film starred John Boles and Carlotta King, with Myrna Loy (Azuri), Johnny Arthur (Bennie), and
Louise Fazenda (Susan). Directed by Roy Del Ruth, the film included Technicolor sequences, and based on
the print viewed by the author, the following musical numbers were retained from the Broadway production:
“Ho!” (aka “The Riff Song”), “French Military Marching Song,” “Then You Will Know,” “The Desert Song,”
“Let Love Go,” “One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden,” “One Alone,” “Soft as a Pigeon” (aka “Azuri”),
“My Little Castagnette,” “Song of the Brass Key,” and “The Sabre Song” (among the songs heard as under-
scoring were “Romance,” “It,” and “I Want a Kiss”). Mordaunt Hall in the Times said “the prismatic effects
during the Technicolor stretches are beautiful” and Boles’s singing was “quite pleasing,” but the central plot
became “ludicrous,” considering how so many characters were hoodwinked by the Red Shadow’s real iden-
tity, and some of the dialogue couldn’t “be listened to with a straight face.”
The “half” adaptation was released by Warner Brothers in 1932 as part of the company’s Broadway Brevity
series. Titled The Red Shadow, this version was directed by Roy Mack and starred Alexander Gray, Bernice
Claire, and Lester Cole. In some respect, this was an “original cast” performance because Claire had played
the role of Margot in one of the musical’s national tours.
The 1943 version with Dennis Morgan (as “El Khobar” in place of the Red Shadow) and Irene Manning
was an updated adaptation that included Nazis in North Africa. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by
Robert Florey and choreographed by LeRoy Prinz. Others in the cast were Bruce Cabot, Gene Lockhart, Faye
Emerson, Marcel Dalio, Gerald Mohr, and Noble Johnson. Retained from the stage production were “Ho!”
(aka “The Riff Song”), “The Desert Song,” “One Alone,” and “French Military Marching Song”; “Soft as a
Pigeon” (aka “Azuri”) was used as background music. “Then You Will Know” was revised as “Fifi’s Song”
with a new lyric by Jack Scholl; “Long Live the Night” was based on music from the stage production with a
new lyric by Scholl and Mario Silva; and a new song was added (“Gay Parisienne,” lyric by Scholl and music
by Serge Walter). Bosley Crowther in the Times found a certain disconnect in the juxtaposition of the Nazi
subplot and the use of numbers like “The Riff Song,” and although the movie wasn’t “another Casablanca,”
it was “spirited fun.” The film was released on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
The 1953 version with Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson bowed to the politics of the day by
omitting any reference to a “Red” Shadow. Directed by Bruce Humberstone and choreographed by LeRoy
Prinz, the Technicolor film’s cast also included Allyn (Ann) McLerie (Azuri), Dick Wesson (“Benji”), Steve
Cochran, William Conrad, Raymond Massey, and Ray Collins. The score included “Ho!” (aka “The Riff
Song”), “Romance,” “One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden,” “One Alone,” and the title song, as well
as “Gay Parisienne” and “Long Live the Night” from the 1943 version. H.H.T. in the Times found the
direction “bumbling,” the dialogue “pedantic,” the performances “generally indifferent,” and sometimes
the movie seemed to be “dying of thirst” out there in the old cinematic desert. But MacRae and Grayson
were “in splendid acoustical form,” although she indulged in “excessively coy . . . twittering during the
long, noteless stretches” and he sometimes offered nothing but “stolid grimacing.” The film was released
on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
Produced by Max Liebman, the NBC television adaptation was by William Friedberg, Neil Simon, and
Will Glickman and was aired on May 7, 1955, with direction by Liebman and by Milton Lyon. The cast in-
cluded Nelson Eddy, Gale Sherwood, Viola Essen, Otto Kruger, John Conte, Bambi Linn, and Rod Alexander,
the latter of whom also choreographed. This version eliminated the Bennie and Susan subplot, and empha-
sized the dances, including a dream ballet of sorts that followed the title song and allowed Alexander and Linn
to morph into what might be termed the Dream Red Shadow and the Dream Margot.
The adaptation retained “Ho!,” “The Riff Song,” “Why Did We Marry Soldiers?,” “French Military March-
ing Song,” “Margot,” “Romance,” “Azuri,” “Then You Will Know,” “The Desert Song,” “My Little Castag-
nette,” “Let Love Go,” “One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden,” “One Alone,” and “The Sabre Song.”
The script was published in a paperback edition by Samuel French in 1954, and the lyrics are included in
the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. There are numerous recordings of
the score, including a studio cast by RCA Victor (released on ArkivMusic/RCA Masterworks Broadway CD
# 88725-42771-2) with Giorgio Tozzi, Kathy Barr, and Peter Palmer, and includes “Margot” (aka “Oh, Pretty
Maid of France”), “Why Did We Marry Soldiers?,” “Then You Will Know,” “My Little Castagnette,” and “The
Sabre Song.” Another delightful recording features Mario Lanza and Judith Raskin; it too was released by RCA
(LP # LM-2440), and like the Tozzi studio cast album includes many of the score’s lesser-known songs (“Then
You Will Know,” “One Good Boy Gone Wrong,” “Azuri,” and “It,” the latter identified as “Instrumental” on
the recording’s song list and “It” in the liner notes). The Broadway Musicals of 1926 (Bayview Records CD #
RNBW-031) includes four songs from the score (“It,” “One Alone,” “The Riff Song,” and the title number).
OH, PLEASE!
“A New Farce Revue”

Performances: 79
Book: Otto Harbach and Anne Caldwell
Based on the 1912 play La Presidente by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber.
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: David (Dave) Bennett; Scenery and
Costumes: James Reynolds; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Helen Broderick (Emma Bliss), Pearl Hight (Miss Fall River), Blanche Latell (Miss South Bend), Ger-
trude Clemens (Miss Topeka), Josephine Sabel (Miss Walla Walla), Irma Irving (Jane Jones), Nelson Snow
(Dexter Lane), Charles Columbus (Buddy Trescott), Nick Long Jr. (Jack Gates), Charles Winninger (Nico-
demus Bliss), Kitty Kelly (Fay Follette), Gertrude McDonald (Thelma Tiffany), Dolores Farris (Ruth King),
Cynthia MacVae (Clarice Cartier), Beatrice Lillie (Lily Valli), Charles Purcell (Robert Vandeleur), Robert
Baldwin (Peter Perkins), Floyd Carder (Dick Mason), James Garrett (Ted Foster), Richard Bennett (Sammy
Sands), Charles Angle (Billy Lan), Jack Wilson (Joe Dillard), Leon Canova (Chester Chase), Dorothie Bi-
gelow (Marjorie Kenyon); Ladies of the Ensemble: Ruth Goodwin, Flora Watson, Muriel Hayman, Anna
Rex, Harriet Hamill, Antoinette Boots, Virginia Clark, Mary Elizabeth Kerr, Marianna Karelina, Geraldine
Fitzgerald, Emily Burton, Betty Block, Mildred Sinclair, Cherie Pelham, Georgia Marne, Anne Varley,
Chris Crane, Geraldine Downs
The action takes place during the present time in Flower City, California, New York City, New Rochelle,
and Westchester.
1926–1927 Season 345
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Homely, but Clean” (Helen Broderick, Josephine Sabel, Blanche Latelle, Pearl Hight, Gertrude
Clemens); “Snappy Show in Town” (Dolores Farris, Gertrude McDonald, Cynthia MacVae, Ensemble);
“Like She Loves Me” (Beatrice Lillie, Ensemble); “Nicodemus” (Beatrice Lillie, Charles Winninger); “I’d
Steal a Star” (Gertrude McDonald, Nick Long Jr., Ensemble); “I Know That You Know” (Beatrice Lillie,
Charles Purcell)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Wonderful Girl” (Nick Long Jr., Nelson Snow, Charles Columbus, Gertrude
McDonald, Cynthia MacVae, Dolores Farris, Ensemble); “Love and Kisses ’n’ Everything” (Beatrice Lillie,
Charles Purcell); “Love Me” (lyric by Reginald Arkell, music by Phillip Braham) (Beatrice Lillie); “Nico-
demus” (reprise) (Charles Winninger, Company); “I Can’t Be Happy” (Beatrice Lillie); “Waltz” (Cynthia
MacVae, Charles Columbus); “The Girls of the Old Brigade” (lyricist and composer unknown) (Beatrice
Lillie); Finale (Beatrice Lillie, Charles Winninger, Company)
With a difficult and demanding star, middling reviews, and a short run of two months, Oh, Please! was
an unpleasant experience for Vincent Youmans. But the composer rebounded at the end of the season with
the sensational success of Hit the Deck!
Oh, Please! was advertised as “A New Farce Revue,” but the production was a full-fledged book musical
with lyrics by Anne Caldwell and book by Caldwell and Otto Harbach, and it was based on the 1912 French
comedy La presidente.
During rehearsals, Beatrice Lillie wasn’t shy about her displeasure with the songs, which she felt didn’t
provide her with comic material. Youmans’s biographer Gerald Bordman reports that on the first day of re-
hearsals she stated that the songs were “hopeless,” and this in front of Youmans (who would later refer to
her as “that turkey”). Producer Charles Dillingham backed up his star, and without Youmans’s knowledge
allowed her to interpolate a non-Youmans song (“Love Me”), and then later approved another interpolation
for her (“The Girls of the Old Brigade”). To add to the composer’s angst, Dillingham cut Youmans’s “Love
and Kisses ’n’ Everything” soon after the opening.
The story focused on bluenose Nicodemus Bliss (Charles Winninger), a perfume manufacturer who disap-
proves of risqué entertainment. As president of the Purity League, he’s closed down a show that starred Lily
Valli (Lillie), and to get revenge Lily pretends she’s having an affair with him, much to the consternation of
his wife Emma (Helen Broderick). But all ends well with bliss for the Blisses, and Lily snags herself handsome
perfume magnate Robert Vandeleur (Charles Purcell), a business rival of Nicodemus. Those songs that have
surfaced from the score are pleasant, and the sprightly “I Know That You Know” is one of Youmans’s most
insinuating ballads.
If Lillie thought Youmans’s songs were lacking, she was probably even more disappointed with the book,
which required her to play straight romantic moments with the dashing Purcell. She wasn’t convincing, and
her stage persona of the daft yet wickedly poisonous eccentric failed to shine through. But the interpolated
song “Love Me” gave her a great moment in which she embodied the spirit and clichés of a typical musical
comedy, including a star’s mock modesty when her audience clamors for more.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times hailed Lillie as an “incomparable comedian in the highly in-
telligent vein of Charlie Chaplin,” and it was clear she had “no patience with the stuffy sentimentalities and
mawkish romance of the musical stage.” As a result, she was “ill at ease” in her romantic scenes and was in
her glory when she was “ever so lightly detached” from the proceedings and thus was “in it, but not of it”
with burlesque touches that were “so quick, so nearly imperceptible, that the audience has no sooner caught
her meaning before she is three or four paces ahead to something quite as subtle and effervescent.”
Time said the show was a “rickety contraption” with two “good” songs (“Nicodemus” and “I Know That
You Know”), and Lillie provided “as many laughs as are to be heard in one theatre anywhere along Broadway.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said “you mustn’t miss Oh, Please! but take along some pleasant read-
ing matter to distract your mind from the proceedings when Miss Lillie is off stage.” And Dixie Hines in the
Wilmington Morning News said Lillie was “one of the most skillful comediennes who has ever appeared on
the American stage.” She carried “a heavy burden most successfully” because “her travesties, her comicali-
ties and her genius for laugh-provoking has never been better displayed,” and most of the show’s success was
“due exclusively to her own effort.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that Lillie had “some of the simplicity and clarity of
genius [and] the air of a Charlie Chaplin.” Her “every movement of eyebrow, lip, finger, hip and knee brought
a laugh” when “there was nothing else to laugh at,” and Youmans’s score was “no great help.” Bushnell
Dimond in the Muncie Star Press wished that Lillie’s “mock archness, her flashing wit, her superbly zestful
mimicry had been imprisoned in a somewhat different setting” because “if there is a woman with a readier
tongue and a smarter comic quirk than Miss Lillie, England has never sent her to us.” Otherwise, there was
“some attractive scenery” and “a couple of good tunes.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer
stated that Lillie had “scored an undeniable personal triumph and most people will want to see her, for she is
thoroughly able to cause one to overlook the weaknesses in the book and music.” But the show was “staged
artistically,” and “I Know That You Know” and “Like She Loves Me” were “catchy.”
During the run, “Love and Kisses ’n’ Everything” and “Waltz” were cut, and during preproduction and
the tryout, the following songs were dropped: “Floating Along,” “Greyhound,” “I Can’t Make My Husband
Behave,” “Lily of the Valley,” “Moments,” “She Was a Wonderful Queen,” “A Weekend in July,” and “When
Daddy Goes A-Hunting.” Hal Forde created the role of Robert Vandeleur, and was replaced by Purcell during
the pre-Broadway engagement.
After the New York closing, the musical hit the road with most of the Broadway company (including
Lillie, Winninger, Broderick, Nick Long Jr., Irma Irving, Kitty Kelly, and Dolores Farris), and Purcell was suc-
ceeded by Cyril Ring. Despite the show’s ten-week run on Broadway, the advertisements proclaimed the pro-
duction was “direct from four months at the Fulton Theatre, New York.” Bordman reports that the tour put
the musical into the profit column, and so despite its short New York run, the show was a financial success.
Lillie recorded “Like She (He) Loves Me,” and her rendition is included in the Smithsonian’s American
Songbook Series Vincent Youmans (Smithsonian Collection of Recordings CD # AD-048-20/A-24582), which
also includes “I Know That You Know” (the latter was also heard in the 1950 film Tea for Two and the 1955
film Hit the Deck). “Like He Loves Me” is part of the collection Vincent Youmans Revisited (Painted Smiles
Records CD # PSCD-142). The collection Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans (Arabesque
Records CD # Z-6670) includes “I Know That You Know” and “Like He Loves Me.” The Carioca: Songs of
Vincent Youmans (Arabesque CD # Z-6692) offers “Nicodemus.”
Lillie’s next Broadway venture was Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s She’s My Baby, and it too was an-
other unhappy occasion. Its short run was one week less than Oh, Please!, and again the consensus was that
with an exception or two she was let down by the restrictions of the book and score, both of which generally
failed to capture her peculiar brand of almost surreal comedy. Book musicals clearly restrained her, and the
revue format was better suited to her penchant for arch and knowing comedy. As the years rolled along, she
excelled in revue songs and sketches that perfectly matched her unique comic personality, and she appeared
in This Year of Grace, The Third Little Show, Walk a Little Faster, At Home Abroad, The Show Is On, Set
to Music, Seven Lively Arts, Inside U.S.A., and the 1957 Ziegfeld Follies. She also triumphed in An Evening
with Beatrice Lillie, which served as a crash course in Lillieism. After the debacle of She’s My Baby, Lillie
appeared in just one more Broadway book musical, when High Spirits opened in 1964 and ran almost a full
year. Based on Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, she played the daffy Madame Arcati and delighted audiences with
her quirky numbers “The Bicycle Song,” “Go into Your Trance,” “Talking to You,” and “Something Is Com-
ing to Tea.”
Note that two chorus girls in Oh, Please! were to become Youmans’s future wives. He was married to
Anne Varley from 1927 to 1933, and then to Antoinette Boots from 1935 to 1946 (the divorce from the latter
was effective January 21, 1946, and Youmans succumbed to a long battle with tuberculosis a few weeks later
on April 5).
PEGGY-ANN
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Utterly Different Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: December 27, 1926; Closing Date: October 29, 1927
Performances: 333
Book: Lew Fields
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
1926–1927 Season 347

Based on the 1910 musical Tillie’s Nightmare (book and lyrics by Edgar Smith and music by A. Baldwin
Sloane).
Direction: Robert Milton; Producers: Lew Fields and Lyle D. Andrews; Choreography: Seymour Felix; Scen-
ery: Clark Robinson; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Roy Webb
Cast: Lulu McConnell (Mrs. Frost), Grant Simpson (Mr. Frost), Edith Meiser (Dolores Barnes), Betty Starbuck
(Alice Frost), Lester Cole (Guy Pendleton), Dorothy Roy (Sally Day), Helen Ford (Peggy-Ann Barnes),
Fuller Mellish Jr. (Arnold Small), Margaret Breen (Patricia Seymour), Jack Thompson (Freddie Shawn),
Patrick Rafferty (A Policeman), Marion Traube (Miss Flint), Howard Eames (A Sailor), Harold Mellish
(Mr. Fish), G. Douglas Evans (Steward); Girls: Evelyn Ruh, Leda Knapp, Louise Joyce, Valma Valentine,
Enes Early, Margaret Miller, Sherry Gale, Grace Connelly, Beth Meredith; Boys: Barney Jackson, Gordon
Phillips, Harold Land, Wally Coyle, Jack Morton
The action takes place during the present time in Glens Falls, New York, and in Peggy-Ann’s dreams.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hello!” (Margaret Breen, Jack Thompson, Ensemble); “A Tree in the Park” (Helen Fold, Lester
Cole); “Howdy, Broadway” (aka “Howdy to Broadway”) (Ensemble); “A Little Birdie Told Me So” (Helen
Ford); “Charming, Charming” (Ensemble); “Where’s That Rainbow?” (Helen Ford, Boys); Finale: “Wed-
ding Procession” (“Here’s that wedding you hear about . . .”) (Company)
Act Two: “We Pirates from Weehawken” (Ensemble); “In His Arms” (Helen Ford); “Chuck It!” (Jack Thomp-
son, Girls); “I’m So Humble” (Helen Ford, Lester Cole); “Havana” (Margaret Breen, Jack Thompson,
Ensemble); “Maybe It’s Me” (Helen Ford, Lester Cole); “Give This Little Girl a Hand” (Lulu McConnell,
Ensemble); “The Race” (aka “Peggy,” “Peggy, Peggy,” and “Oh, You Peggy”) (Helen Ford, Ensemble);
Finale (Company)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Peggy-Ann and Betsy opened back-to-back on two consecutive nights
in late December 1926. The former was fresh and ambitious and became one of the team’s longest-running
musicals, but the latter was a quick flop that lasted little more than a month.
The title character (played by Helen Ford, in her second of three Rodgers and Hart musicals, following
Dearest Enemy and preceding Chee-Chee) lives in Glens Falls, New York, and is bored by her life. She lives
in a boarding house and is engaged to grocery-store clerk Guy Pendleton (Lester Cole) but wants adventures
of the kind she’ll never find in a small town (and while she admits there’s many things in life worth more
than money, it unfortunately takes a lot of money to buy them). She escapes through her dreams, a series
of surreal escapades in New York City (where she visits a huge department store owned by Guy), aboard
her luxurious yacht, and in Cuba, where she goes to a resort and racetrack. These dreams are the outlet she
needs to shake off her boredom, and upon awakening she decides life with Guy in Glens Falls is exactly
what she wants.
The score included the evergreen “Where’s That Rainbow?,” an insinuating torch song that used Hol-
lywood imagery to depict the kind of romance Peggy-Ann thinks she lacks; Peggy-Ann and Guy’s “A Tree in
the Park” was a fetching riff on the era’s obsession with cottage-and-bungalow ballads; and for the insouciant
“A Little Birdie Told Me So” Peggy-Ann assures us she’s ready for life in New York City and knows exactly
what to do if the stork ever decides to pay her a friendly if unwelcome visit.
The New York Times praised the “bright and ambitious” musical, and noted that Rodgers and Hart had
often brought “freshness and ideas to the musical comedy field” and here traveled “a little further along their
road.” The show was “literate and entertaining,” Lew Fields’s book contained “frequent flights of imagina-
tion,” Hart’s lyrics “quickly get one into the habit of listening hopefully to each song,” and “Where’s That
Rainbow?” “lingered after the curtain fell.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Peggy-Ann went “well towards the top of the list.” Time said the
“Gilbertian” satire “skipped right up to the head of the class” and singled out two “hit” songs (“In His Arms”
and “A Tree in the Park”). And M.H.K. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “pretty” and “tuneful” show was
“one of the bright lights of the season” and was “that rare thing, a novel musical comedy.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal said that unlike the typical Broadway extrava-
ganza, the intimate Peggy-Ann made do with “imagination” instead of money, and as a result it seemed “four
times as amusing and twelve times as delightful” as the “ornate and ponderous” Rio Rita. Woollcott noted
that “in singing Carrolls in praise of Peggy-Ann” he suggested the musical was “more of Lewis and less of
Earl,” and he liked the “gay and sweet and good” songs. The libretto was “a really bright piece of nonsense”
and an “oasis” in the world of typical rank-and-file musicals, and he particularly enjoyed the department
store scene in which an “impeccable” footman, who serves a “bit too Ritzy” society woman, gives way to
“universal emotion by giving her a good, swift kick.” The critic noted that “in all fairness,” not everyone
admired Peggy-Ann, and he reported that New Yorker writer Lois Long (otherwise known as “Lipstick”) was
so “bored” she left the theatre after the first act.
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune enjoyed the heroine’s “agreeably diverting” and “fantastic, exciting
and highly humorous adventures,” praised the “lovable” Ford, and mentioned the “novelty” of the “twisted”
and dreamlike décor. He also praised the “good” songs, and said “A Tree in the Park” qualified “as one of the
season’s hits.” Variety said the show was a welcome throwback to the Princess Theatre musicals, and the
“intimate” production was “de luxe” in its presentation and created a “topsy-turvy” world that was “deftly”
depicted. The show was a “radical departure” for a musical, and some of its satire was “as barbed as that
in Beggar on Horseback.” Further, the “catchy” score offered such songs as “A Tree in the Park,” “A Little
Birdie Told Me So,” “Maybe It’s Me,” and “Give This Little Girl a Hand.”
For Alan Dale in the New York American, Peggy-Ann was “the daintiest, most whimsical, unusualest
and captivatingly concise and imaginative little musical play we’ve had for some time,” and Percy Hammond
in the New York Herald Tribune stated if he were asked “to recommend a musical play that does not ap-
pear to be written by twelve-year-olds for twelve-year-olds,” then he’d point his hand “in the direction of the
Vanderbilt” because here was a show with a “really humorous” book, “soft and airy” music, and a “crafty
lot of rhymes and rhythms” for the lyrics (and he found “A Little Birdie Told Me So” a “poem” that was
“especially bright”).
“Where’s That Rainbow?” has been widely recorded, and for Words and Music, MGM’s 1948 biopic of
Rodgers and Hart, the number was performed by Ann Sothern (and the Blackburn Twins during the film’s
Peggy-Ann sequence, which also included “A Tree in the Park” (Sothern) and “A Little Birdie Told Me So”
(danced by the Blackburn Twins). Lee Wiley’s terrific version of “A Little Birdie Told Me So” belongs in ev-
ery theatre music lover’s collection (Lee Wiley Sings Rodgers and Hart, Monmouth-Evergreen Records LP #
MES-6807; issued on CD by Audiophile Records # ACD-10 as Lee Wiley Sings the Songs of Rodgers & Hart
and Arlen), which also includes such esoterica as “Baby’s Awake Now” (Spring Is Here) and “As Though You
Were There” (intended for Heads Up!).
The collection Rodgers and Hart Revisited Volume II (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-139) includes
“Give This Little Girl a Hand” and “A Tree in the Park”; the first volume of The Ultimate Rodgers & Hart
(Pearl/Pavilion Records CD # GEM-0110) includes London original cast performances of “Where’s That Rain-
bow?” and “A Tree in the Park,” both sung by Dorothy Dickson (see below); and This Funny World: Mary
Cleere Haran Sings Lyrics by Hart (Varese-Sarabande CD # VSD-5584) includes “A Tree in the Park,” “Maybe
It’s Me,” and “A Little Birdie Told Me So.”
Besides the songs recorded by Dickson, contemporary recordings include a medley from the score by
Columbia Records and conducted by Charles Prentice, the musical director for the original London produc-
tion (“Howdy to Broadway,” “A Tree in the Park,” “Hello,” “Give This Little Girl a Hand,” “Havana,” “A
Country Mouse,” “Chuck It!,” and “Where’s That Rainbow?”), and an HMV recording by the Light Opera
Company offers “Maybe It’s Me.” For more information about “A Country Mouse,” see below.
During the tryout, the musical was titled Peggy, and four songs were cut (“Come and Tell Me,” “Trampin’
Along,” “Paris Is Really Divine,” and “The Pipes of Pansy”). “Come and Tell Me” was also cut during the try-
out of Betsy, but was partially used during that show’s first-act finale. “The Pipes of Pansy” was also dropped
from Dearest Enemy and was later considered for but not used in The Girl Friend and She’s My Baby. “I’m
So Humble” was cut during the New York run and a reprise of “Chuck It!” was substituted. Later in the run,
“In His Arms” was not only dropped, it eventually went missing (The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart reports
that the song is lost).
Complete Lyrics reports that “We Pirates of Weehawken,” which was performed throughout the
Broadway run, was “inexplicably” never listed in the New York program, and while it’s not included in
some programs, it’s definitely listed in the program for the week beginning September 26, 1927. “Maybe
1926–1927 Season 349
It’s Me” had originally been heard at the Fifth Avenue Club’s The Fifth Avenue Follies, which opened in
January 1926.
The London production opened on July 27, 1927, at Daly’s Theatre for 130 showings. It was directed by
Lew Fields, Seymour Felix reprised his choreography, and Dorothy Dickson and Oliver McLennon were the
leads. The Rodgers and Hart Fact Book reports that except for “In His Arms” and “I’m So Humble,” all the
songs in the New York production were retained (but “Howdy, Broadway” and “We Pirates from Weehawken”
were changed to “Howdy, London” and “We Pirates from Wee Dorkin”). Note that Hannen Swaffer in the
London Daily Express said the risqué “A Little Birdie Told Me So” was “not suitable for a young-girl char-
acter”; James Agate in the London Sunday Times found the lyric “sniggering” and “distasteful”; and A.E.M.
in the London Evening Standard stated the song was “more lacking in good taste than any principal song in
recent musical comedy.” During the run, Desmond Carter rewrote the lyric as “A Country Mouse,” and so
morals were preserved when an innocent country mouse replaced the offensive bird of the stork variety.
The source of Peggy-Ann was the musical Tillie’s Nightmare (which had been produced by Lew Fields,
the coproducer of Peggy-Ann). It opened on May 5, 1910, at the Herald Square Theatre for seventy-seven per-
formances with book and lyrics by Edgar Smith and music by A. Baldwin Sloane, and starred Marie Dressler
as Tillie Blobbs, whose dreams take her away from the workaday world (the score’s most enduring song is
“Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl”).
BETSY
“New Musical Comedy”

Performances: 39
Book (per program, “dialogue”): Irving Caesar and David Freedman (with revisions by William Anthony Mc-
Guire)
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Direction: staged by Sammy Lee and also staged by William Anthony McGuire; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld;
Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: Gates & Morange; Bergman Studios; Joseph Urban; Costumes:
Charles LeMaire; Brooks Costume Co.; Madame Frances; Schneider-Anderson and Company; Milgrim;
Eaves Costume Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Al Shean (Stonewall Moskowitz), Pauline Hoffman (Mama Kitzel), Jimmy Hussey (Louie), Ralph White-
head (Joseph), Dan Healy (Moe), Belle Baker (Betsy), Bobby (aka Bobbie) Perkins (Ruth), Allen Kearns
(Archie), Madeline Cameron (Winnie Hill), Evelyn Law (Flora Dale), Barbara Newberry (May Meadow),
Ed Hickey (Tom Maguire), Jack White (Dan Kelly), Phil Ryley (Tex Brown), Vanita La Nier (Mrs. Brown),
Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Symphony Orchestra; Ladies of the Ensemble: Show Girls—Jean
Yoder, Blanche Satchel, Gertrude Walker, Gertrude McMahon, Claire Joyce, Molly Green, Gloria Begee,
Ima Berline, Ethel Allen, Helene Gardner, Bella Harrison, Mixi, Doris Powell, Virginia Hawkins; Danc-
ers—Lili Kimari, Aline Drange, Dorothy Patterson, Caryl Bergman, Jean Moore, Clara Blackath, Lilluan
O’Jala, Katherine Wolf, May Carrol, Dorothy Day, Margaret Shea, Suzanne Conroy, Betty Gayl, Mickey
Silden, Olga Royce, Ann Wood, Marjorie Bailey, Beatrice Wilson, Mary Irwin, Dorothy May, Viola Boles,
Riffles Covert, Anita Banton, Irene Hamlin, Paulene Bartlett, Nellie Mayer; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Harold Ettus, Milton Halfern, Frank Cullen, Lester New, Charles De Bevers, Bernard Hassert, Jay Lagasse,
Ross Burly, George Murray, Edward Mackey, Jack Talabott, Neil Collins
The action takes place during the present time in and around New York’s East Side and at Coney Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (a) “Characteristic Dances” (Ensemble) and (b) “The Kitzel Engagement” (Al Shean, Mad-
eline Cameron, Jimmy Hussey, Evelyn Law, Ralph Whitehead, Barbara Newberry, Dan Healy, Ensemble);
“My Missus” (Evelyn Law, Ralph Whitehead, Barbara Newberry, Dan Healy, Ensemble); “Stonewall
Moskowitz March” (lyric by Lorenz Hart and Irving Caesar) (Al Shean, Ensemble); “One of Us Should
Be Two” (Madeline Cameron, Evelyn Law, Bobby Perkins, Barbara Newberry); “Sing” (Belle Baker, Al-
len Kearns, Ensemble); Dance; “In Our Parlor on the Third Floor Back” (Bobby Perkins, Allen Kearns);
“This Funny World” (Belle Baker); “The Tales of Hoffman” (lyric by Irving Caesar and music by A. Segal)
(Jimmy Hussey); “Follow On” (danced by The Daughters of the Belles of New York and sung by Madeline
Cameron, Evelyn Law, and Barbara Newberry); Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Symphony Or-
chestra; “National Dances” (Ensemble); “Push Around” (Belle Baker); “Bugle Blow” (Madeline Cameron,
Ensemble); Finale (aka “I Guess I Should Be Satisfied”) (Company)
Act Two: “Cradle of the Deep” (Evelyn Law, Ensemble); “If I Were You” (Bobby Perkins, Allen Kearns); “Blue
Skies” (lyric and music by Irving Berlin) (Belle Baker, Ensemble); “Leave It to Levy” (lyric and music by
Irving Caesar) (Jimmy Hussey, Ensemble); Finaletto (aka “First We Throw Moe Out”) (Company); Bor-
rah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Symphony Orchestra; “Birds up High” (Allen Kearns, Company);
“Shuffle” (Madeline Cameron, Ensemble); Dance Specialty (Evelyn Law); Song Specialty (including the
interpolation “My Kid”) (Belle Baker); Finale (Company)
Two back-to-back musicals by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart opened on consecutive nights in late
December 1926. The well-received Peggy-Ann was one of the team’s biggest hits, but Betsy wasn’t anybody’s
girlfriend and folded after thirty-nine performances, making it the team’s second shortest-running musical
after Chee-Chee, another title heroine who didn’t interest audiences.
Florenz Ziegfeld gave Betsy a lavish production, but the show was perhaps too elephantine for its own
good and the producer overestimated the draw of Belle Baker in the title role. She was a vaudeville favorite
who’d never before tested the Broadway waters, and the debacle marked her first and last Broadway appear-
ance. She specialized in sentimental Yiddish songs, and seems to have been a prototype of the Gertrude Berg
persona with a singing voice in the style of Sophie Tucker.
One suspects the musical needed a longer tryout, and it’s surprising Ziegfeld gave the expensive produc-
tion such a short pre-Broadway tour. The world premiere took place at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre
on Tuesday December 21, 1926, where it played five days prior to the New York opening night of December
28. The program credits for the book and the direction were scrambled, and clearly the show was in trouble.
The tryout program credited Irving Caesar and David Freedman for the “book” and Bertram Harrison for
“dialogue,” but for New York there was no official “book” credit, and so the “dialogue” was attributed to
Caesar and Freedman with revisions by William Anthony McGuire (Harrison’s name was no longer in the
program). For direction, the tryout’s program credited choreographer Sammy Lee with a “staged by” credit,
and for New York McGuire was given a “staged and revised by” credit. For Washington, Louis Gress was the
musical director, but for New York he was succeeded by Victor Baravalle.
At almost the last minute Ziegfeld inserted a non-Rodgers and Hart interpolation for Baker to sing be-
cause she felt the score didn’t provide her with a big number. And so Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” became the
show’s hit song, one that has remained a Broadway evergreen for almost a full century (curiously, and despite
her numerous recordings, Baker never recorded the iconic song). Rodgers and Hart knew nothing about the
interpolation until opening night when they saw the program, which stated that “Blue Skies” was “specially
written for Miss Belle Baker by Mr. Irving Berlin.” The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin indicates the song
was written on approximately December 16 (just five days before the Washington opening and twelve days
before the New York premiere), and clearly Ziegfeld and Baker weren’t sharing this information with Rodgers
and Hart (Berlin may have assumed Rodgers and Hart knew about the interpolation). The Complete Lyrics
includes an amusing parody version of “Blue Skies” (written in 1975, authorship unknown) in which Rodgers
and Hart complain that their score was hijacked by the inclusion of Berlin’s song.
Betsy veered into variety-hall territory with a series of specialties, none of which had much to do with
the plot: besides “Blue Skies,” there were two musical sequences for Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica
Symphony Orchestra (the group was later known as Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Rascals); four
dance specialties; and a late second-act spot for Baker to perform a medley of her old favorites, including the
sentimental “My Kid.”
The Rodgers and Hart songs that have emerged from the score are impressive, particularly the plaintive
“This Funny World” (with its sentimental and philosophic outlook, this number surely fit Baker like a glove)
and the jubilant, quirky, and thoroughly irresistible “Sing” (for Baker and Allen Kearns). “Stonewall Moscowitz
1926–1927 Season 351
March” (lyric by Hart and Caesar) provides plenty of horseplay with the wordplay, and “In Our Parlor on the
Third Floor Back” (a lyric that is presumed lost) seems to be in the mode of the era’s bungalow/cottage/hideaway
ballads.
The slight story dealt with Mama Kitzel (Pauline Hoffman), who dictates that none of her brood can marry
until the eldest (Betsy) ties the knot. This causes concern among her three sons Louie (Jimmy Hussey), Joe
(Ralph Whitehead), and Moe (Dan Healy), all of whom have thriving businesses (respectively, a tailor’s shop,
a barbershop, and a restaurant) and rich sweethearts, Winnie Hill (Madeline Cameron) for Louie, Flora Dale
(Evelyn Law) for Joe, and May Meadow (Barbara Newberry) for Moe. Moreover, Betsy’s young sister Ruth
(Bobby Perkins) has a young man of her own (Archie, played by Kearns). But cupid steps in and Betsy and
Archie decide to tie the knot, leaving the rest of Betsy’s siblings free to pursue their romantic interests (one
suspects Ruth finds a prospective husband).
The New York Times found the musical “an elaborate, loose-jointed but withal fairly routine musical
comedy, smacking more than a little of the variety halls.” The critic mentioned that opening-night chatter
wondered if Baker was “entirely worthy” of the show built around her because there were just a “few mo-
ments when she actually added to the gayety” and she sometimes made Rodgers and Hart’s “smart” songs
seem “a little heavy and ponderous.” On the other hand, the audience enjoyed the “bathetic balderdash” of
her well-known song “My Kid,” and when she introduced “Blue Skies” the audience “recalled her time and
again” and “were not satisfied until Mr. Berlin himself took a bow” (Berlin was seated in the front row with
his wife, and as he acknowledged the applause, Ziegfeld ensured that Berlin was bathed in a spotlight). For
more about the interpolation of “Blue Skies,” see Rodgers’s Musical Stages, where he describes Ziegfeld as
“not a nice man,” who lacked “the human touch.”
The Times also reported that Kearns was “personable,” Sammy Lee’s dances were “ingeniously worked
out and furiously staged,” Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Symphony Orchestra were the evening’s
“unquestioned hit,” and during one number the chorines tossed rubber hot dogs to the audience (no doubt
in the Coney Island scene). (Note that one of Minnevitch’s selections was George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody
in Blue,” which later in the season was also played by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra in Jerome Kern’s
Lucky.)
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Betsy was a “mess,” but with the chorus girls, costumes, and
some of the décor, he decided it was a “pretty mess.” Otherwise, the production had “the disjointed total
effect of a revue disastrously betrayed by the wiles of a plot that left it flat before the evening was half over.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune indicated Baker was a kind of “female Al Jolson” who lacked his
“sense of characterization,” and after her entrance she was “supposed” to carry the show, but instead the
production “just lies down and expires.” In a follow-up piece titled “Betsy Is Flopping,” Mantle estimated
the musical cost $100,000 to mount, and when it closed it would be one of Ziegfeld’s “quickest and most
expensive failures.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that Rodgers and Hart could be proud of their score for the previous eve-
ning’s Peggy-Ann, and for Betsy they “might also be proud, but in a small way.” Their “best” contribution
was “Sing,” and Berlin’s “Blue Skies” had “every bit of the Berlin virtue” with its “sweet title.” Otherwise,
“a great deal of Hebrew dialect” was “strewn all over the meager plot” and the “King’s English” was “en-
tirely, if respectfully, disregarded.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press said the show had “exterior
glitter” but was “empty of humor,” and Baker was “out of her element.” According to Variety, the show was
“butchered,” and all it had to offer was “production” because it gave the players “nothing to handle.” Betsy
began as a musical comedy, then veered toward a revue, and “finally settled down into flat vaudeville—very
flat.” The critic reported that after the multi-encored “Blue Skies,” Jimmy Hussey remarked, “Let’s go back
to the plot,” but Variety noted that “neither Jimmy nor anyone else could find the plot.” A Rialto rumor had
it that the money behind Betsy wasn’t from Ziegfeld but from an unspecified angel, and Variety said “perhaps
if Ziggy had had his own money in it he would have given the thing some attention.”
During the tryout, nine numbers were cut: “Come and Tell Me,” “Don’t Believe” (lyric and music by
Irving Caesar and M. Siegel), “Show Me How to Make Love,” “At the Saskatchewan,” “A Ladies’ Home Com-
panion,” “(You’re the) Mother Type,” “The Six Little Kitzels,” “In Variety,” and “Tap Dance” (for Madeline
Cameron and “12 Little Taps”). “Don’t Believe” was reinstated into the score during the Broadway run when
it replaced “The Tales of Hoffman” (lyric and music by Irving Caesar and M. Siegel). “Come and Tell Me”
had been dropped from both the tryouts of Peggy-Ann and Betsy, but part of the song was retained for Betsy’s
first-act finale. “A Ladies’ Home Companion” was later used in A Connecticut Yankee.
“Sing” was later heard in the hit London musical Lady Luck (1927; and among those who performed it
were Cyril Ritchard and Leslie Henson) and in Lady Fingers (1929). “If I Were You” was also heard in Lady
Luck as well as She’s My Baby (1928).
Songs dropped in preproduction were: “Is My Girl Refined?,” “Burn Up,” “Social Work,” “Transforma-
tion,” “Viva Italia,” and “A Melican Man.”
All extant lyrics are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. “This
Funny World” and “Come and Tell Me” are included in the first volume of Rodgers and Hart Revisited
(Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-116); “(You’re the) Mother Type” is in the fourth Revisited collection
(CD # PSCD-126); and “If I Were You” is in the fifth Revisited (CD # PSCD-140). “Sing” is wryly performed
by Ronny Whyte and Travis Hudson in It’s Smooth, It’s Smart! It’s Rodgers, It’s Hart! (Monmouth-Evergreen
Records LP # MES-7069), and “Sing” and “If I Were You” are included in the first volume of the collection
The Ultimate Rodgers & Hart Volume 1 (Pearl/Pavilion Records CD # GEM-0110) and are respectively sung
by Laddie Cliff and by Phyllis Monkman and Leslie Henson, members of the original London cast of Lady
Luck. “This Funny World” is also part of the collection This Funny World: Mary Cleere Haran Sings Lyrics
by Hart (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5584), and My Funny Valentine: Frederica Von Stade Sings Rodgers and
Hart (EMI Records CD # CDC-7-540712) includes “If I Were You.”
THE NIGHTINGALE
Theatre: Jolson’s Theatre

Performances: 96
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse; additional lyrics by Clifford Grey
Music: Armand Vecsey
Direction: Lewis Morton; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Carl Hemmer; Scen-
ery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Barbier of Paris; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al)
Goodman
Cast: Lucius Henderson (Major General Gurnee), Sophie Everett (Mrs. Gurnee), Stanley Lupino (Mr. Carp),
John Gaines (Colonel Wainwright, Butler), Clara Palmer (Mrs. Vischer Van Loo), Eileen Van Biene (Alice
Wainwright), Robert Hobbs (Captain Joe Archer),Thomas Whiteley (Piper), Violet Carlson (Josephine),
Donald Black (Cadet Officer), Eleanor Painter (Jenny Lind), Harold Woodward (Whistler), Nicholas Joy
(Stephen Rutherford), Ralph Errolle (Captain Rex Gurnee), Tom Wise (P. T. Barnum), Victor Bozardt
(Colonel Robert E. Lee, Cornelius Vanderbilt), Eileen Carmody (Dolly), Arline Melburn (Susan), William
Tucker (Otto Goldschmidt), Ivan Dneproff (Signor Belletti), Neal Frank (Footman), Robert Harper (Usher);
Ladies of the Ensemble: Vira Galli, Ruth Johnston, Florence O’Brien, Ruth Ramsey, Viola Paulson, Mar-
ian Lynn, Ileen May, Madeline Biltmore, Mimi Hayes, Mabel Zoeckler, Dorothy Johnson, Dorothy Mau-
rice, Virginia Schaar, Marie Chase, Catherine Janeway, Theo Loper; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Harry
Quinn, Gerald Goff, Neal Frank, Tom Denton, John Russell, Herbert Stanley, George Glasgow, Henry
Riebeselle, Robert Harper, Walter Lunt, Jack Edmunds, Sonintu Syrjala, Edward Hoffman, George Brent,
Albert Valnor, Jack Connett, Donald Black, Richard Bartlett, Sydnie Smith, Fred Barth, Bruce King, Lee
Borough, John Muccio, John Gutscher, Luther Talbert, William Dillon, James McKay, Raymond Cullen,
Byron Way, Leon Abrahamson, Robert W. Davis
The action takes place during the years 1851–1853 at West Point and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (aka “West Point”) (“Along the river . . .”) (Girls); “Breakfast in Bed” (Violet Carl-
son, Stanley Lupino); “March Song” (West Pointers); “Waltz Song” (aka “Tonight the World Is Pleasure
Bent”) (Eleanor Painter); “Homeland” (Ralph Errolle, Ensemble); “May Moon” (Eleanor Painter, Ralph
1926–1927 Season 353
Errolle); “Two Little Ships” (aka “Journey’s End”) (Eileen Van Biene, Robert Hobbs, Girls); “He Doesn’t
Know” (aka “Another One Gone”) (Stanley Lupino); Finale: “Love Is All That Matters” (Ralph Errolle,
Eleanor Painter) and “May Moon”(reprise) (Ralph Errolle)
Act Two: “Fairyland” (aka “The Sun’s in the Sky”) (Eleanor Painter, Mabel Zoeckler, Arline Melburn); “Trio”
(aka “Love Is Calling”) (Violet Carlson, William Tucker, Ivan Dneproff); Spiritual Singers (medley of un-
named traditional songs) (Men); Opening Chorus of Act Two, Scene Three (Ensemble); “Santa Claus”
(Stanley Lupino, Thomas Whiteley); “Josephine” (aka “Back to Nature”) (lyric by Clifford Grey) (Stanley
Lupino, Violet Carlson); “Trio” (reprise) (Eleanor Painter, William Tucker, Ivan Dneproff); “Once in Sep-
tember” (lyric by Clifford Grey) (George Rymer, Eileen Van Biene); Finale
Act Three: Opening (unidentified performers): “Breakfast in Bed” (reprise) (Stanley Lupino, Violet Carlson);
“Comin’ Thru the Rye” (lyric by Clifford Grey [set to traditional music]) (Eleanor Painter); Finale
Known as “The Swedish Nightingale,” soprano Jenny Lind (1820–1887) toured the United States in a
series of highly popular concerts beginning in 1850. The first ninety-three concerts were presented under
the aegis of P. T. Barnum, and a second series was produced independently by the singer. A program note in
The Nightingale reported that Lind had visited West Point in 1851, and while it was “impracticable to stick
entirely to historical sequences in constructing a romantic operetta,” the authors said they “made a conscien-
tious endeavor to do no violence” to the characters depicted in the story.
As a result, the work remained faithful to one of the major rules of Operetta 101 in which Great Composer
musicals (or, in this case, Great Singer musicals) must always include celebrity name-dropping with cameos
by (or references to) notables whom the main character may or may not have known. One of the all-time
favorite name-dropping moments came from the 1944 operetta Song of Norway, which depicted the life and
career of composer Edvard Grieg. When he and his family open their Christmas presents, someone exclaims,
“And this is from the Russian composer Tschaikowsky,” and not to be outdone, another family member
gushes, “Look, here’s one from Henrik Ibsen” (it’s surprising Ibsen wasn’t referred to as “that well-known
playwright”). And let’s not forget Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945): when the composer and Mrs. Strauss
undergo marital difficulties, no less than President Ulysses S. Grant steps in with some “Dear Abby”-styled
counseling.
In The Nightingale, Jenny Lind (Eleanor Painter) and her business relationship with Barnum (Tom Wise)
is of course depicted, but it’s uncertain if she ever met James McNeil Whistler (Harold Woodward) and Robert
E. Lee (Victor Bozardt) during her visit to West Point, or how well she knew Cornelius Vanderbilt (also played
by Bozardt). Edgar Allan Poe had attended West Point some two decades before Lind’s visit there, but if their
paths had crossed, who knows?, and Charles Brackett in the New Yorker speculated that Lind might have
become known as “The Swedish Raven.”
The musical also followed another operetta tenet, that of Noble Self-Sacrifice in the Face of Love. At
West Point, our Jenny meets and falls in love with Captain Rex Gurnee (Ralph Errolle), and there’s not only
interference from his family but also the realization by the lovers that they have higher callings (hers to the
stage and her fans, his to flag and country). And of course there are the usual misunderstandings, one of them
intentional on Jenny’s part when she realizes Rex’s heart belongs to the Army. According to Brackett, the
“Great Artiste” pretends “to be caught in a Compromising Situation,” and this apparently lets Rex off the
hook and allows him to go forward without a backward glance (indeed, because Jenny tells Rex she’s been
living with another man, and that, along with her career on the stage, would surely stifle his Army career).
As Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune wisely noted to his readers, “You know how these things go,” and
so Rex and Jenny “pour out their hearts in solos and such for two hours and give each other up in the end.”
The New York Times told wary readers afraid of too much historical detail that they needn’t fear because
The Nightingale “subordinates history to the exigencies of the musical comedy stage.” The book was “suf-
ficient” and the lyrics “workmanlike,” but the evening belonged “primarily to music” and Armand Vecsey’s
score was a “mixture of the operatic and the popular.” Stanley Lupino (who earlier in the season had made
such a favorable impression in Naughty Riquette) was a “first-rate comedian,” despite his penchant for anach-
ronistic jokes about near-beer, aerials, hot dogs, flappers, and necking.
Brackett admitted the evening had its “flaws,” but for all that the work was “a very charming operetta”
and “much more delightful than any of the other heavily musical girl-and-music shows in town.” He said
Lupino was “extremely funny,” and he suspected Painter was “far more alluring than the smug, squat and
unendurable Jenny Lind can ever have been.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “beautiful” operetta dragged and “it was well on to midnight when the
final curtain was rung.” Otherwise, the score was a disappointment because it “never descended to popular
melody” but “somehow or other” didn’t “ascend to anything that might be labeled worthy” and thus was
“midchannel.” The music was always “just promising something to both those who enjoy good music and to
those who like lighter if not less worthy tunes,” and so there was “nothing” that was “really popular” in the
score and “nothing to cause real music lovers to go wild.” But Variety liked the “tuneful” songs and noted
that while Vecsey’s previous work had been occasionally “indifferent,” his music for The Nightingale would
probably “rank as his best effort.” Vecsey was the maestro at the Ritz-Carlton, and thus he had a “fine flair
for light music,” and so Variety praised such “noteworthy” numbers as “Breakfast in Bed,” “May Moon,”
“Once in September,” “Waltz Song,” and “Josephine,” the latter a “rollicking novelty ditty” that was “okay”
for dancing.
With The Student Prince in Heidelberg, the Shuberts had learned the value of a hearty male chorus,
and the Eagle reported that the “real singing success” of The Nightingale was the “well drilled and lusty”
male singers. Mantle said the chorus was given a “fine chance” to march about as West Point cadets (for the
“March Song”), and, surprisingly, at one point they sang a medley of Negro spirituals while “pretending to be
colored fellows serenading Jenny.” The show was “cheapened a bit in the comedy,” but the “general tone”
was “high” and the score was “inspiriting and melodious.” Mantle also reported that Painter had assumed
the title role once Peggy Wood “resigned,” and the critic suspected Wood “found the music a little difficult
for her.”
Songs that seem to have been dropped during preproduction are: “Enough Is Enough,” “I Know My Love
Is You (Love Like Yours Is Rare Indeed)” (aka “The Sun Is Far Above Me”), “Deep Is the Ocean” (“Love Like
Mine”), “Nightingale” (which may have been the second-act finale), and “Jenny Lind” (which may have been
the opening number of the second act).
During the tryout, “Little Old New York” and “When I Met You” were cut. During the Broadway run,
the “Trio” reprise and “Comin’ Thru the Rye” were dropped, and the latter was replaced by “The Last Rose
of Summer” (lyric by Thomas Moore [set to traditional music]). A few weeks into the Broadway run, Ralph
Errolle was succeeded by George Rymer.
Wodehouse’s lyrics for the production are included in the hardback collection The Complete Lyrics of
P.G. Wodehouse. Although at least one source indicates the lyric for “Josephine” is by Clifford Grey, the song
is included in Wodehouse’s Complete Lyrics.
The Complete Lyrics indicates that “from its content” the song “When I Met You” appears “to fit in Act
I as the lovers [Jenny and Rex] meet after Rex’s homecoming.” But the tryout program for the week of De-
cember 27, 1926, at Newark’s Shubert Theatre lists the song for Jenny and Rex at the end of the second act,
just before the second act finale.
Barnum made a brief “appearance” in The Nightingale, and so it was only fitting that Lind dropped in and
sang “Love Makes Such Fools of Us All” in Cy Coleman’s 1980 musical Barnum. And for the 2017 film The
Greatest Showman, Barnum and Lind crossed musical paths once again.
LACE PETTICOAT
Opening Date: January 4, 1927; Closing Date: January 15, 1927
Performances: 15
Book: Stewart St. Clair
Music: Emil Gerstenberger and Carle Carlton
Direction: Carle Carlton; Producer: Carle Carlton; Choreography: J. J Hughes; Scenery: Carle Carlton; Cos-
tumes: Raymond Tomlinson; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Leon Rosebrook
Cast: Erma Chase (Marie), Ruth Matlock (Lisette), Luis Alberni (Raymond DeLaLange), Gerald Moore (Jules),
Cullen Clewis (Louis), Mercedes Gilbert (Mammy Dinah), James C. Morton (Professor Bonalli), Joseph
Spree (Bozo), Stella Mayhew (Leontine Pantard), Elcie Peck (Clarice), Richard Powell (Dominic Deni
DeLaBouregard de Grand Pre), Vivian Hart (Renita), Tom Burke (Paul Joscelyn), A. S. Byron (Pere Mo-
diste), Adelaide and Hughes (Specialty Dancers); Specialty Girls: Veatrice Verle, Theresa Miller, Thelma
1926–1927 Season 355
Rankin, Gay LaSalle, Regina Beck, Erma Chase, Betty Dion, Marjorie Brown; Dancing Girls: Luva Stratton,
Elizabeth Ussher, Mary Jane Smith, Gina Christie, Ruth Matlock, Charlotte Beverly, Rita Crane, Vacina
Ice; Dancing Boys: Murray Morrissey, John Pierce, Cullen Clewis, George Crouth, Don DeFrancis, Gerald
Moore, Chuck Connors Jr.; Singing Ensemble: Betty Schafer, Elva Trede, Marie Rider, Marion Williams,
Yukona Cameron, Aline Loeb, Nancy Trevelyn, Alice Francis, Don DeFrancis, George Couch, Murray
Morrissey, John Pierce, Cullen Clewis, Gerald Moore, Chuck Connors Jr., Carl Meldorf; The Bachelor Four:
Hal Clovis, Stanley McCelland, Emil Coti, Fred Wilson; Male Chorus: John Fredericks, John Koroloff, Mi-
chael Miroshnik, Michael Vorobieff, Vsevolod Anissimo, Misail Speransky, Zachary Carr, Filemo Lavaly,
John Krivkosenko, Lew Jatzine, Eugene Gnotow
The action takes place in New Orleans around 1820.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Watch the Birdies” (James C. Morton); “Renita Reinette” (Vivian
Hart); “South Wind Is Calling” (Tom Burke, Vivian Hart); “Boy in the Blue Uniform” (Vivian Hart); “En-
gagement Ring” (music by Emil Gerstenberger) (Vivian Hart, Tom Burke);”Dear, Dear Departed” (Stella
Mayhew, Richard Powell, James C. Morton); “Creole Crawl” (Adelaide and Hughes); “Little Lace Petti-
coat” (lyric by Carl Carlton, music by Emil Gerstenberger) (Vivian Hart, Adelaide); Finale
Act Two: “Entre” (Ensemble); “Skeleton Ghost” (Ensemble); “Have You Forgotten?” (Tom Burke); Trio: “Rec-
itative” (Vivian Hart, Tom Burke, Luis Alberni); “The Rose Aria” (Vivian Hart, Elcie Peck, Tom Burke,
Ensemble); “Carnival of Roses” (Ensemble); Tango (Adelaide and Hughes); “The Heart Is Free” (Vivian
Hart); Finale
Lace Petticoat was the season’s second musical to look at the Creole culture of Old New Orleans in the
early decades of the nineteenth century, and like Deep River it too had a brief life on Broadway. Cast member
Luis Alberni was in both musicals, and must have felt he was cursed (of course, he should have known that
New Orleans wasn’t favored musical comedy territory; see Deep River). Later in the season, he appeared in
another failure (Lady Do), and late in the year in yet another flop (My Princess, which played for less than
three weeks). After that, he never risked another Broadway musical.
Lace Petticoat dealt with Renita (Vivian Hart) and Paul (Tom Burke), who once had an understanding. He
then went off to Annapolis, and when he returned to New Orleans as a Navy officer he discovered that Renita,
who sings at the Little Bayou Coffee House, is an outcast because she’s been exposed as a quadroon. Because
of her mixed blood, the law won’t sanction her marriage to a white man. But Renita’s not a quadroon, and it
was all a rumor spread by jealous would-be suitor Raymond DeLaLange (Alberni), described in the program
as a “Creole Don Juan.” As a result, she’s been unfairly marginalized by New Orleans society and was even
forbidden to perform the “Rose Aria” at the Old Cathedral prior to the Mardi Gras festivities (so she stood
outside the edifice and sang the aria to herself while inside an untalented and off-key snob made mincemeat
of the music). But when Renita’s background is cleared up, she and Tom are free to marry.
Variety said the production was a “sure flop”; the New York Times liked the “good” music and danc-
ing, which “relieved the monotony of dull dialogue,” and praised two dance sequences, “Creole Crawl” and
“Skeleton Ghost,” the latter performed on a dark stage where chorus members outlined in radium paint ap-
peared as skeletons. Time found the work “uneven” with “good” songs (including “South Wind Is Calling”),
“ingenious” dances, “abominable” dialogue, and “stale” humor.
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker decided Lace Petticoat was the “dullest” musical of the season,
but then he remembered Naughty Riquette and “sundry other offerings.” But “no, there are depths beyond
which the plumb line of comparison will not reach” and so Lace Petticoat was “submerged in them.” Al-
though the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “tuneful” score was “excellent,” it was “just pleasingly accept-
able to the average ear,” and the “pretty and romantic and picturesque” evening had “just enough drama to
be satisfactory.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune found the comedy “pretty bad,” but “South Wind Is
Calling” and the “Rose Aria” were the evening’s “favored” songs. And Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star
Press said the “poverty-stricken” Renita wore a “$1,000 green velvet jumper and expensive underthings,”
all of which had “several neat tears,” and he suggested producer Carle Carlton revive his 1921 hit Tangerine
because Lace Petticoat was “like nothing so much as a road company of something that played at the Casino
in 1900.”
During the tryout, at least four songs were cut (“The Girl That I Adore,” “Hoppin’ the Buck,” “One Word
from You,” and “Playthings of Love”). Variety reported that prior to the show’s premiere in Newark, two
“prima donnas” (Hope Hampton and Ida Sylvania) had been considered for the leading role, which of course
was eventually assigned to Vivian Hart.
Note that producer Carlton also directed the musical, designed its scenery, was one of the show’s two
composers, and also wrote the lyrics for one of the songs.
PIGGY (aka I TOLD YOU SO)

Theatre: Royale Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the 46th Street Theatre)
Performances: 79
Book: Alfred Jackson and Daniel Kusell
Lyrics: Lew Brown
Music: Cliff Friend
Based on the 1906 musical The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer (book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith and music by
Ludwig Englander).
Direction: William B. Friedlander; Producer: William B. Friedlander Enterprises, Inc.; Choreography: John
Boyle; Scenery: John Wenger; Costumes: Hugh Willoughby; Milgrim of New York and Chicago; Nathan;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Gress
Cast: James Jolley (Butler, Inspector), Lotta Linthicum (Mrs. Hoggenheimer), Harry McNaughton (Hon. Ce-
cil Puffington), Brooke Johns (Bobby Hunter), Rodolpho Badaloni (Signor Chali-Oppin), Eddie Conrad
(Monsieur Hohuho), Wanda Lyon (Suzanne Fair), Sam Bernard (Max, aka Piggy, Hoggenheimer), Beres-
ford Lovett (Lord Tyrone), Paul Winkopp (Second Man), Don Corbett (Valet), John Crone (Deck Stew-
art), Goodee Montgomery (Hotsie), George Clifford (Totsie), Paul Frawley (Guy Hoggenheimer), Marion
Marschante (Betty Marshall), Gladys Baxter (Lady Mildred Vane), Rosalind Bernard (Maid), John Cronin
(Mr. Shapiro), Joan Carter-Waddell (Edna); Brooke Johns’ All-American Collegians: George Freeman, Frank
Flynn, Jack Newlon, Jack Ford, Jack Mead, and Norman Lanning; American Girls: Jerry Dryden, Clare
Carroll, Sydelle Bry, Anita Pam, Edith Davis, Constance McKenzie, Billie Blake, Mabel Hill, Isabel O’Dell,
Lillian Clark, Ruth Grant, Norine Bogan, Ruth Grady, Betty Wright Jr., Hester Bailey, Louise Barrett;
English Girls: Louise McCoy, Ruth Stickney, Elizabeth Anderson, Karin Keith, Bee Goldyn, Vera Braund,
Wilma Novak, Dorothy Duncan, Natalia Lord, Wilma Roelofsma, Ethelyna Koski, Peggy Shannon, Helen
Warner, Marcelle Miller, Guerida Crawford, Bobby Campbell, Polly Ray; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Tom Riley, Jimmie Ormonde, Louis Bradley, George Frierson, William Stewart, Al Wilde, Willie Hale,
John Meehan, Leon Alton
The action takes place during the present time in London, at sea on the Atlantic, in New York City, and on
Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “How D’You Do?” (English Girls and Boys); “Follow Through” (Brooke Johns, Girls); “I
Wanna Go Voom Voom Voo” (Brooke Johns, Goodee Montgomery, George Clifford, Ensemble); “It’s Easy
to Say Hello” (Ensemble); “All Decked Out” (Brooke Johns, Goodee Montgomery, George Clifford, En-
semble); “One of Those Windows” (Brooke Johns, Collegians); “Little Bit of Atmosphere” (Gladys Baxter,
Brooke Johns, Ensemble); “Didn’t It Happen?” (Sam Bernard); “(I’ll Love You) Just the Same” (Paul Fraw-
ley, Marion Marschante); “Emigrants’ Song” (The Girls); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Do It for Charity” (The Girls); Specialty (Brooke Johns, Collegians); “It Just Had to Hap-
pen” (Paul Frawley, Marion Marschante); “Song of Love” (Brooke Johns, Marion Marschante); “Ding Dong
Bell” (Paul Frawley, Marion Marschante, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
1926–1927 Season 357
Piggy was a new musical based on an older one titled The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer. In preproduction, Piggy
was known as That Certain Party; during its tryout, it was titled That’s My Baby; for its Broadway opening,
it was Piggy; and then a few days after the premiere the title was changed to I Told You So.
The character of Max (Piggy) Hoggenheimer was first seen in the London musical The Girl from Kay’s,
which opened on November 15, 1902, at the Apollo Theatre for 432 performances with Willie Edouin as Piggy
(book by Owen Hall, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling, and music by Ivan Caryll and Cecil Cook,
with additional lyricists and composers contributing other songs). The Girl from Kay’s was presented in New
York on November 2, 1903, at the Herald Square Theatre for 205 performances with Sam Bernard as Piggy.
A sequel with Bernard opened as The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer on October 22, 1906, at Wallack’s Theatre for
187 performances with book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith and music by Ludwig Englander (with a few inter-
polations by Jerome Kern). Despite Bernard’s successful long runs in The Girl from Kay’s and The Rich Mr.
Hoggenheimer, his Piggy didn’t catch on and was gone in two months.
The slight story begins in London, when Piggy hears the bad news that his son Guy (Paul Frawley) is
romantically involved with shop girl Betty (Marion Marchante). Piggy sets sail for New York to save the boy
from a gold digger, but once he meets Betty he realizes she’s an honest girl who is truly in love with Guy, and
so Piggy gives the couple his blessing.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “average” show had “routine” book, lyrics, and music,
but John Wenger “splashed his colors lavishly over the interior and garden settings,” Hugh Willoughby had
“designed brilliantly colored costumes for animated beauty,” and choreographer John Boyle had provided “a
brisk series of steps” for the “clippety, cloppety school of hoppers.” Bernard played his role in the traditional
“burlesque manner of low breeding among imposing people of sufficiently high station,” and was “interest-
ing” even when he wasn’t “funny.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker stated the musical “deals sloppily with half a dozen or so of the old,
old themes,” but even “good songs and dances interspersed” between “witless and antique episodes” couldn’t
save the show from tedium. Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted there was “plenty of pep
furnished by the standard quality and quantity of dancers, pretty chorus girls and stage settings.” Variety said
the “amusing” show proceeded “along familiar lines” but was “brightly produced” and offered many “excep-
tionally good” dance sequences. The songs didn’t seem “strong enough,” but Frawley and Marchante “nicely”
sang a “love ditty” that appeared to be “the most tuneful in the score,” and the critic decided it must have
been added to the show at the last minute because it wasn’t listed in the program.
During the tryout, “Oh, Baby” and “Keep Your Eye on the Girl” were cut.
Piggy was the inaugural production for the Royale Theatre (which Atkinson found “quite as ostenta-
tiously attractive as the stage decorations” for Piggy), but unfortunately the playhouse got off to a lackluster
start with its earliest musical tenants. Besides Piggy, there were Judy; Oh, Ernest!; Rang Tang; The Madcap;
Bomboola; Woof, Woof; and the 1930 one-performance flop Mystery Moon. Among the venue’s biggest musi-
cal hits were two imports, The Boy Friend (1954) and La Plume de Ma Tante (1958), and although the original
1972 Broadway production of Grease didn’t open at the Royale, it transferred there early in its run and held
the house captive from 1972 to 1980. The theatre was most at home with comedies and dramas, and four
Pulitzer Prize-winning plays opened there: Maxwell Anderson’s Both Your Houses (1933), Frank D. Gilroy’s
The Subject Was Roses (1964), Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle (1992), and Nilo Cruz’s Anna in the
Tropics (2003). At 1,234 performances, Cactus Flower (1965) holds the record as the longest-running show to
have premiered at the playhouse. Today the venue is known as the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
BYE BYE, BONNIE

“A Musical Bon Bon” / “The Greater Musical Comedy” / “Awarded the Blue Ribbon in Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Ritz Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Cosmopolitan Theatre)
Opening Date: January 13, 1927; Closing Date: April 30, 1927
Performances: 125
Book: Louis Simon and Bide Dudley
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: A. Lawrence Weber; Choreography: Earl Lindsay; Scenery: Karl O.
Amend; Costumes: Robert Stevenson; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Milton Schwarzwald
Cast: Laine Blaire (Flossie), Georgie Hale (Charles Phillips), Mabel Acker (Mrs. Noah Z. Shrivell), Douglas
Wood (John Van Buren), Lottice Howell (Virginia Shrivell), John Byam (Richard Van Buren), Rudolph Cam-
eron (Ted Williams), Dorothy Van Alst (Dottie), Margie Royce (Margie), Blanche Krebs (Babs), Florence
Parker (Flo), Dorothy Loring Humphreys (Loring), Dorothy Burgess (Bonnie Quinlin), Louis Simon (Noah
Z. Shrivell), Charles Henderson (Bill Briggins, Keeper), Sue Saunders (Alice), Paul Huber (Jefferson Sparks),
Cecil Owen (Sanford Alden, Warden), William Frawley (“Butch” Hogan), Bernard Cavanaugh (Mugsie),
Ruby Keeler (Ruby), John Clemson (Simpson), Alan Moran and Walter Keldkamp (Pianists); Ladies of the
Ensemble: Rose Adaire, Dorothy Brown, Sybil Bursk, Norma Butler, Mary Carlton, Elsie Carrol, Dorothy
Chilton, Thelma Fenton, Helen McLaughlin, Ruth Penery, Evelyn Shea, Thelma Temple; Gentlemen of
the Ensemble: Elmer Berl, Dan Berrigan, Arthur Budd, Walter Carson, Charles J. Dane, Arthur La Frack,
Dick Givens, Raymond Hall, Billy McKay, William Neeley, Frank Sherlock Jr., Charles Siler, Walter
Wardell
The action takes place during the present time in Shrivelton, New Jersey, and on Welfare Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Have You Used Soft Soap?” (Georgie Hale, Ensemble); “Promise Not to Stand Me Up Again” (Laine
Blaire, Georgie Hale); “Love Is Like a Blushing Rose” (Lottice Howell, John Byam); “Out of Town Buy-
ers” (Rudolph Cameron, Dorothy Van Alst, Margie Royce, Florence Parker, Blanche Krebs, Ensemble);
Specialty (Margie Royce); “You and I Love You and Me” (Dorothy Burgess, Rudolph Cameron, The Bon-
nie Octette, Ensemble); “’Cross the River from Queens” (Rudolph Cameron, Louis Simon, Mabel Acker,
Ensemble); “Bye, Bye, Bonnie” (Dorothy Burgess, Ensemble); Specialty (Dorothy Van Alst, Georgie Hale);
Finale (Company)
Act Two: “I Like to Make It Cozy” (Cecil Owen, William Frawley, Convicts); “Toodle-Oo” (Rudolph Cam-
eron, Ensemble); Specialty (Laine Blaire); “When You Get to Congress” (John Byam, Louis Simon, Junior
Voters); “In My Arms Again” (Lottice Howell, John Byam); “Lovin’ Off My Mind” (Georgie Hale, Laine
Blaire, Dorothy Loring Humphreys, Dorothy Van Alst, Florence Parker, Blanche Krebs); Specialties (Doro-
thy Loring Humphreys, Georgie Hale); Tap Dance (Ruby Keeler); “Look in Your Engagement Book” (Doro-
thy Burgess, Ensemble); Specialty (Dorothy Van Alst, Georgie Hale); “Starlight” (Lottice Howell); “Tam-
pico Tap” (Laine Blaire, Ruby Keeler, The Tampico Tappers); Specialty (Ruby Keeler); Finale (Company)
The programs, flyers, and newspaper advertisements couldn’t quite decide on the musical’s official title
(Bye Bye, Bonnie; Bye, Bye, Bonnie; and Bye Bye Bonnie), but everyone seemed to agree that the title song
was “Bye, Bye, Bonnie.”
The plot revolved around wealthy if hapless Noah Z. Shrivell (Louis Simon), president and owner of
the Shrivell Soft Soap Company in Shrivelton, New Jersey, who is arrested the very first time he goes to a
night club. It seems the law thinks he’s a bootlegger, and so he’s off to the slammer on Welfare Island for a
thirty-day sentence. But the cliché of making lemonade from lemons works for Noah, and he uses his prison
sentence as a means of becoming the poster child for the innocent citizen who is martyred because of the
Volstead Act and he eventually runs for Congress on an anti-Prohibition ticket.
The plot seems lively enough, and there were romantic subplots for two pairs of young lovers, including
Shrivell stenographer Bonnie (Dorothy Burgess) and rich young Ted Williams (Rudolph Cameron), and plenty
of dance routines, including ones by Ruby Keeler in her first featured role on Broadway. But a look at the song
listing indicates the plot wore itself out and deteriorated into a series of dance specialties. One wonders if at
times audience members thought they were watching a revue. The evening offered no less than seven dance
specialties along with the would-be dance craze “Tampico Tap.”
The show’s most applauded moments were the prison scenes, which Charles Brackett in the New Yorker
found to be a “diverting prison burlesque.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said these scenes of-
fered the “best jokes” as well as one of the score’s “best” songs (“’Cross the River from Queens”), and the
prison was depicted as one in which the incarcerated “are treated like princes or princesses and are in danger
. . . of becoming effeminate.” The future Fred Mertz, William Frawley, was a stand-out as the inmate “Butch”
Hogan, who is later released from prison and promptly attends a party at Shrivell’s home, where he proceeds
1926–1927 Season 359
to lift valuables from the guests. Variety reported that during this sequence one of the male chorus members
said “I wish some good little fairy will return my watch,” a line that may have been ad-libbed because the
cast members began “laughing involuntarily” at what was the evening’s “best” joke.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times was cool to the entertainment. He said the plot showed “the
lamentable results of musical comedy in-breeding,” and the “workmanlike” chorus “dances out every tune
until it is ragged” and then takes “a bouncing fling at ‘specialties.’” But Brackett liked the “good” plot and
said the show was “topping entertainment, even if it is billed as ‘A Musical Bon Bon.’” Bushnell Dimond
in the Muncie Star Press said the evening made a “stab at real entertainment” with “a fairly laughable li-
bretto” and “at least two tunes that will keep the radios flickering through the spring.” Besides “‘Cross the
River from Queens,” Pollock singled out “You and I Love You and Me,” and he said Ruby Keeler “stopped
the show.”
L.V. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said Keeler “stops the show completely with
her marvelous tap dance,” Frawley was “uproariously funny,” and Albert Von Tilzer’s score was his best
(with “‘Cross the River from Queens,” “Love Is Like a Blushing Rose,” “In My Arms Again,” and “You and
I Love You and Me” the stand-out songs), and Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer praised the
“tuneful” score and “fine” dances. Variety said the “fair show” was “conventional and ordinary in musical
comedy tastes,” but Keeler was a “sensation,” Frawley “excellent,” and Burgess “charming” in the title role.
During the run, two duets for Lottice Howell and John Byam (“Love Is Like a Blushing Rose” and “In
My Arms Again”) were cut and “Every Day” was added for a brief period. For the tryout, Rollo Lloyd was
credited for the book’s staging but was succeeded by Edgar MacGregor Two songs were dropped (“Daughter
of a Banker, Too” and “I Hate to Use ‘Erl’ with My ’Ersters,” the latter Frawley’s only solo in the musical).
The tryout’s “If I Could Only Take You in My Arms” was most likely an early title for “In My Arms Again.”
For the revised post-Broadway tour, Frances White and Fritzi Scheff joined the company, which included
New York original cast members Simon and Frawley. At least four songs were added for the tour (“There’s
a Woman behind Every Man,” “My Baby That ’Ate Me,” “Anyone Who Do’s That Can’t Be So Dumb,” and
“September Night,” the latter two with lyrics by Seymour Brown).
Note that Ruby Keeler had previously appeared in the chorus of The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly, where she was
apparently unbilled. She left Bye Bye, Bonnie during its Broadway run in order to appear in Lucky, and from
there was seen in Sidewalks of New York, her third 1927 musical. She then starred in Show Girl during the
early weeks of its New York run, took a forty-two-year break from Broadway, and triumphantly returned in
the hit 1971 revival of No, No, Nanette.
YOURS TRULY
“A New Musical Play” / “The Musical Comedy Sensation” / “Glorious Musical Comedy”

Performances: 127
Book: Clyde North
Music: John Raymond Hubbell
Direction: Book staged by Paul Dickey and entire production staged by Gene Buck; Producer: Gene Buck;
Choreography: Ralph Reader; dances for The John Tiller Girls arranged by Mary Read; Scenery: Joseph
Urban; Costumes: Mabel E. Johnston; Lighting: Electric effects by Frank Detering; Musical Direction:
Raymond Hubbell
Cast: Jack Squires (Shuffling Bill), Jack Stanley (Joey Ling), John Kearney (Mac), David Herblin (Phil, Ban-
dit), Edgar Nelson (Mike), Irene Dunne (Diana), Theodore Babcock (J. P. Stillwell), Leon Errol (Truly),
Eleanor Terry (Helen), Vic Casmore (Bonzolino), Audrey Berry (Ruth), Ina Williams (Scats), Marion
Harris (Mary Stillwell), Harry Kelly (Dinty Moore), Greek Evans (Chang), Geneva Mitchell (Who’s
This), Anastasia Reilly (What’s Her Name), Hilda Ferguson (A Bowery Rose), Lotta Fanning (Tillie Du-
pont), Joy Sutphen (Minnie Fletcher), Earl Van Horn (Old “Pop”), Inez Van Horn (Cynthia Jones), Harry
Long (Tom), Ronald Wyse (Abe Levy), Charles Wheeler (Wing Sing), Aida Demaris (Paquita), Jimmie
McCallion (Jimmie), Herbert Schwartz (Herbert); Chinese Girls: Peggy Frawley, Eleanor Sweet, Dolly
Pross; Bobby Story (Miss Longstreet), Eunice Hall (Miss Nembury), Marge Lafayette (Miss Maywood),
Adele Smith (Miss Stuyvesant), Ila Hopkins (Miss Rhinelander), Beatrice Hughes (Miss Blydenburgh),
Muriel Manners (Miss Glendening), Olga Brounoff (Miss Wadsworth), Lelia McGuire (Miss Buckmin-
ster), Katherine Sacker (Miss Fairweather), Edith Maeborne (Miss Northcliffe), Joy Sutphen (Miss Mat-
teson), Lotta Fanning (Miss Tillinghast), Evelyn Lawrence (Miss Southworth); The John Tiller Girls:
Rene Todd, Cora Neary, Alice Pitman, Marie Webster, Edna McCallum, Louis Gillette, Olive Hollings-
head, Winnie Hollingshead, Frances Lunn, Marjory Griffiths, Edith Bennett, Connie Clements, Bella
Pilling, Dolly Faulkner, Millie Cox, Sadie Hudson; Dancing Girls: Dorothy Brown, Agnes Frawley,
Marta Keyes, Peggy Frawley, Emilie Marceau, Gladys Keck, Lily Smart, Juliet Morena, Georgie Moore,
Peggy O’Connor, Elizabeth Oldfield, Eleanor Sweet, Mary Williams, Beverly Maude, Kay Stafford,
Eve Sinclair, Aida DeMaris, Mary McGowan, Dolly Pross; Gentlemen: Ray Justice, Thomas Green,
Charles Perry, Jack Rogers, Frank Callahan, Preston Lewis, Irving Jackson, Robert Rachford, Ronald
Wyse, Donald Catlin, James Beattie, Edwin Young, Leo Williams, Charles Wheeler, Lawrence Arcuri,
Paul Wilsox, Harry Long
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and environs.
Musical Numbers
Act One: (a) Opening and (b) “Follow the Guide” (David Herblin, Ensemble); “Mayfair” (Irene Dunne, Show
Girls); “Shufflin’ Bill” (Jack Squires, Geneva Mitchell, Anastasia Reilly, The John Tiller Girls, Ensemble);
“Look at the World and Smile” (Marion Harris, Jimmie McCallion, Ensemble); “Somebody Else” (Marion
Harris, Jack Squires); “The Gunman” (Leon Errol); (a) Entrance of Chinese Girls and Show Girls and (b)
“The Lotus Flower” (Greek Evans, Marion Harris); “Quit Kiddin’” (Ina Williams, John Kearney, Geneva
Mitchell, Anastasia Reilly, The John Tiller Girls, Ensemble); Finale (Principals and Ensemble)
Act Two: “Mary Had a Little Fair” (Ensemble); “Googly Goo Goos” (aka “Googly Googly Goos”) (The John
Tiller Girls); “Don’t Shake My Tree” (Leon Errol, Ina Williams, Geneva Mitchell, Anastasia Reilly,
Ensemble); “I Want a Pal” (Irene Dunne, Male Ensemble); “Yours Truly” (Marion Harris, Jack Squires,
Ensemble); Specialty (The John Tiller Girls); “Jade” (Greek Evans); “Open Door Club”; Specialty: “Four
Aristocrats”; Dance (Hilda Ferguson); “Skaters” (Inez Van Horn, Earl Van Horn); “High Yaller” (Geneva
Mitchell, Anastasia Reilly, Ensemble); “Dawn of Dreams” (Greek Evans); Specialty (The John Tiller
Girls); Finale (Company)
Leon Errol’s vehicle Yours Truly found the comedian in the role of Truly, who is described in the program
as a man “from nowhere in particular.” The musical managed almost four months on Broadway, and later
Errol appeared in the post-Broadway tour, which included a stop in New York, where it opened March 12,
1928, at the Century Theatre for twenty-four performances.
The story took place throughout New York City, including a mission on Mission Square, a suburban es-
tate, Dinty Moore’s speakeasy, a Chinatown nightclub, and dank and mysterious underground caverns, all of
which were populated by cocaine smugglers, a nightclub owner and his patrons, newsboys, a Wall Streeter, a
mission worker, a shop girl, a taxi driver, a cop, a bandit, a peddler, a Chinese laundryman, immigrants, and
sundry other big-city types. Our heroine and mission worker Mary Stillwell (Marion Harris) is in love with
Shuffling Bill (Jack Squires), who outwardly seems to be a dope fiend. In reality, he’s the chief of New York’s
narcotic squad and is in pursuit of drug dealers. J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times had to leave the
performance in order to meet his deadline, but reported that “late dispatches” from “private and trustworthy
emissaries” assured him that all the “pleasant” characters were safe and sound when the curtain fell at ap-
proximately midnight.
Atkinson said the Tiller Girls danced themselves into “rhythmic knots” and their “gymnastics [were] just
three times as long as is humanly possible,” and when Yours Truly had “exhausted one clickety-clack squad-
ron and thrown it into a state of coma into the wings,” there were “fresh reinforcements” who were “ready
to go all through it again.” And of course, Errol wobbled and clowned his way about with his familiar drunk
routine, and at one point in a “shocking state of auto-intoxication” somehow managed to attach a stamp to
a letter and tried to place it in a mailbox. But he was so “unsteady” he gave up, tore the letter in shreds, and
threw it away.
1926–1927 Season 361
Time said Errol was comical, but his show wasn’t, and Charles Brackett in the New Yorker decided Errol
was a “somewhat limited comic” who “happens to have gotten on my nerves” and “hasn’t mined any very
rich new vein of humor.” The book was “worthless,” but the Tiller Girls were “superb” and he liked the “su-
preme ease and grace” that Squires and Harris brought to a ballad. Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said
the show was “quite like the better class music plays in form,” Harris was a “crooning contralto of likeable
personality,” and Errol was “comically drunken in the first act and nobly sober in the second.” Frederick F.
Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that Errol was “surrounded by all the de-luxe accessories expected
of this class of musical play,” and because he was at his “funniest” the show looked like a “success.” And
Bushnell Dimond in the Lincoln (NE) Star found Errol “funny” and surrounded by “tons of scenery” and
“tasty” melodies in an “elaborate, old-fashioned” evening “peopled with eye-filling beauties.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “ambitious” show, which mixed melodrama with
musical comedy. This “novelty” was “a relief and a diversion” and it provided “amusement designed on the
grand scale” with “fetching” costumes and “costly, massive and brilliant” décor by Joseph Urban. But the
evening required more humor as well as pruning, and Pollock decided that at least thirty minutes needed to
be eliminated. In fact, a shorter evening would allow the gags to “come closer together” and thus they’d seem
“funnier than they really are.”
During the Broadway run and for the post-New York tour, “The Gunman,” “Four Aristocrats,” and the
second-act solo dance for Hilda Ferguson were dropped. Also cut for the tour were “I Want a Pal” and “High
Yaller.” Incidentally, the tour boasted that the production included “a company of 100 real entertainers” (as
opposed to “unreal” ones?).
RIO RITA
“A Musical Comedy” / “A Romantic Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Ziegfeld Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Lyric and Majestic Theatres)
Performances: 494
Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: Sammy Lee (dances for the Albertina
Rasch Girls choreographed by Albertina Rasch); Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John W. Harkrider;
Brooks Costume Co.; Charles LeMaire; Mme. Frances; Eaves Costume Co.; Mabel E. Johnston; Matias
Santoyo); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Oscar Bradley
Cast: Juan Villasana (El Patron), Al Clair (Reporter), Walter Petrie (Roberto Ferguson, aka The Kinkajou),
Helene C. Clive (Carmen), Robert Woolsey (Ed Lovett), Fred Dalton (Grim Gomez), Vincent Serrano
(General Enrique Joselito Esteban), Gladys Glad (Raquel), Marion Benda (Conchita), Dorothy Wegman
(Juanita), Peggy Blake (Lolita), Myrna Darby (Margarita), Kay English (Santiago), Ethelind Terry (Rio Rita),
Bert Wheeler (Chick Bean), Ada-May (Dolly), J. Harold Murray (Jim), Harry Ratcliffe (Sergeant McGinn),
Donald Douglas (Sergeant Wilkins), Alf P. James (Davalos), Pedro Rubin (Escamillo), Collette (the per-
former used one name) (Herminia), Noel Francis (Katie Bean), Katherine Burke (Montezuma’s Daughter);
Aztec Goddesses: Marian Benda (Palomita), Gladys Glad (Mariposita), Myrna Darby (Margarita), Dorothy
Wegman (Manzanita), Amy West (Zinzontle), Helene Gardner (Esperanza), Yvonne Hughes (Pepita), Ag-
atha DeBussy (Marina); The Gringitas and The Cabaret Girls: Naomi Johnson, Peggy Cornell, Elsie Beh-
rens, Nondas Wayne, Mable Baade, Virginia Biddle, Kay English, Marion Strasmick, Ivanelle Ladd; The
Albertina Rasch Dancers: Mollie Peck, Florence Miller, Portia Grafton, Rita Pischel, Naomi de Musie,
Josephine Hayes, Helen Derby, Betty McHugh, Franciska Mueller, Vivian Morgan, Jennie Dolova, Mar-
garet Godsworthy, Gladys Murphy, Elma Bayer, Janet Flynn, Harriet Hughes; Ladies of the Ensemble:
Marion Benda, Myrna Darby, Agatha DeBussy, Elaine Field, Yvonne Hughes, Helene Gardner, Gladys
Glad, Camille (the performer used one name), Madeline Sheldon, Rosemary Wallace, Dorothy Wegman,
Amy West, Peggy Udell, Martha Ann, Malba Alter, Jean Crittenden, Dorothy Dickerson, Theresa Hyle,
Mary Alter, Valerie Lennox, Louise Richardson, Maxine Wells, Philomene Yvsocka, Avis Adaire, Mabel
Baade, Elsie Behrens, Virginia Biddle, Peggy Cornell, Audrey Dale, Kay English, Ann Hardman, Mignon
Hawkes, Ivanelle Ladd, Lavergne Lambert, Mildred Lunnay, Cookie Lunsford, Naomi Johnson, Lottie
Marcy, Marjorie May Martin, Frances Mildern, Alma Moore, Margaret Purple, Marjorie Purple, Rosemary
Ryder, Marion Strasmick, Lillian Shields, Norma Taylor, Florence Ware, Clarentine Wayne, Nondas
Wayne, Marion Wilson, Jean Wayne, Bernice Varden, Dorothy Patterson, Pauline Bartlett, Ann Woods,
Dorothy May, Margie Baily, Anita Banton, Suzanne Conroy, Carol Bergman; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Earl Marvin, Lucien Farland, Jack Spinelly, Robert Mathews, Alfred Arnold, Charles A. McClelland, Jo-
seph Rogers, Jack Phillips, Walter Palm, John Werner, Leo Nash, Morris Tepper, Charles Holly, Al Small,
Edward Theopold, George Butler, M. Zaharia, Richard Vernon, Bill Otero, Raymond Toben, Rass Erikson,
Douglas Steade, Frank Zolt, Jack Thomson, Owen Hervey, Henry Nelthropp, A. Safanow; The Original
Central American Marimba Band: Carlos Estrada, Francisco Torres, Jose Betancourt, Victor Bragamonte,
Gabriel Herrera, Antonio Arreola, Vincente Murtado; The South American Troubadours: Alcides Briseno,
George Anez, Manuel Valdespino
The action takes place during the present time in the Mexican border town of San Lucar, on the “floating
cabaret” The Pirate Ship on the Rio Grande, and on the Texas side of the river.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Siesta Time (in San Lucar)” (Chorus); Dances: (a) “The Jingle Dance” and (b) “The
Tambourine Dance” (Pedro Rubin, The Albertina Rasch Girls); “The Best Little Lover in Town” (Robert
Woolsey, Girls); “Eight Little Gringitas” (The Gringitas); “Sweethearts” and “River Song” (“Down by the
river of my dreams . . .”) (Ethelind Terry, Ensemble); “Are You There?” (Ada-May, Bert Wheeler); “Rio
Rita” (Ethelind Terry, J. Harold Murray); “March of the Rangers” (aka “The Rangers’ Song”) (J. Harold
Murray, Harry Ratcliffe, Donald Douglas, Rangers); “The Spanish Shawl” (Helene C. Clive, Serenaders);
“The Charro Dance” (Pedro Rubin, The Albertina Rasch Dancers); “The Kinkajou” (Ada-May, Ensemble);
“If You’re in Love, You’ll Waltz” (Ethelind Terry, J. Harold Murray); “Moonlight Ballet” (aka “Moonbeam
Ballet”) (The Albertina Rasch Dancers); “Out on the Loose” (Robert Woolsey, Glorified Girls, Gringo
Dancing Girls, The Albertina Rasch Dancers); Finale (“Tonight, a letter I write to Captain Jim . . .”)
(Company)
Act Two: “The Floating Cabaret”: (a) “The Pirates” (Ziegfeld Dancers); (b) Dance (Al Clair); (c) “The Johnnies”
(Ziegfeld Dancers); (d) “Jazz Toe Dance” (Collette); (e) “Topical Jingles” (identified as “Tropical Jingles”
in later New York programs and tour programs) (Ada-May); and (f) “Black and White” (The Albertina
Rasch Dancers); “Following the Sun Around” (J. Harold Murray); “I Can Speak Espanol” (Ada-May, Rob-
ert Woolsey); “Montezuma’s Daughter” (Ethelind Terry, Katherine Burke, The Albertina Rasch Dancers,
Aztec Goddesses); “The Jumping Bean” (Ada-May, Ziegfeld Dancers, The Albertina Rasch Dancers);
“Moonshine” (Bert Wheeler); “The Triple Moonlight Wedding” (Noel Francis, Robert Woolsey, Ada-May,
Bert Wheeler, Ethelind Terry, J. Harold Murray)
With a fourteen-month run of 494 performances, Florenz Ziegfeld’s lavish operetta Rio Rita was the
longest-running musical of the season. Lyricist Joseph McCarthy and composer Harry Tierney had previously
written two blockbusters, Irene (1919) and Kid Boots, and now Rio Rita gave them a trio of successes. The
Cinderella musical Irene played for 670 performances and became the longest-running Broadway musical up
to that time, and the Eddie Cantor vehicle Kid Boots ran for 479 showings. Rio Rita was the team’s final hit.
Their last stage collaboration, Cross My Heart, played for just two months.
Rio Rita was the first production to be presented at the Ziegfeld Theatre, which was designed by Joseph
Urban, who also created the décor for the musical. Ziegfeld’s handsome playhouse was located on Sixth Av-
enue at West 54th Street, which was well beyond the area of the traditional theatre district, and it received
rave notices. Almost everyone agreed it went to the top of the list of New York’s finest legitimate theatres,
and probably only the New Amsterdam surpassed it in pure splendor. The Ziegfeld hosted the original pro-
ductions of such hits as Show Boat, Brigadoon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Kismet, but its life span was
a short one of just thirty-eight years. And librettist Guy Bolton virtually opened and closed the doors of the
theatre, which was bookended by his musicals. With Jack Thompson, Bolton cowrote the book of Rio Rita,
and with George Abbott he co-scripted the theatre’s final production when the quick failure Anya played
there for two weeks in late 1965.
1926–1927 Season 363
Set during the present day, Rio Rita took place in the Mexican border town of San Lucar, on the “floating
cabaret” The Pirate Ship on the Rio Grande, and on the Texas side of the river. Texas Ranger Captain Jim
Stewart (J. Harold Murray) is in Mexico incognito to search for the outlaw known as the Kinkajou, who with
his gang of banditos has recently robbed a bank in Texas. Jim meets and falls in love with Rio Rita (Ethelind
Terry), who of course doesn’t know that Jim is in pursuit of the Kinkajou, who may be her brother Roberto
(Walter Petrie). In the meantime, Mexican general Enrique Joselito Esteban (Vincent Serrano) is after Rio
Rita’s hand, and for a while it seems he may win her favor when she realizes Jim is suspicious of Roberto. But
all ends well when Jim exposes Esteban, who turns out to be the Kinkajou himself and has orchestrated the
group’s criminal activities. It seems Roberto was but an innocent pawn in Esteban’s dastardly schemes and
thus is no longer under the eye of the law.
The musical included not one but two secondary comic couples, Ed Lovett (Robert Woolsey) and Katie
Bean (Noel Francis), who was once married to Chick Bean (Bert Wheeler) who is now married to Dolly (Ada-
May), only he isn’t because it seems his divorce from “has-Beanie” Katie isn’t yet final. In the meantime,
Katie has inherited three million dollars, and Ed sincerely assures her he’d love her even if she’d inherited
only two million.
Note that Rio Rita was the first teaming of Wheeler and Woolsey, who starred together in over twenty
films, including the movie versions of Rio Rita, The Ramblers (filmed as The Cuckoos), and Girl Crazy.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times warned that if you were interested in the plot you’d have “a
detective’s job on your hands.” The book was “commonplace” and didn’t explore a “fresh trail into the hin-
terland of musical comedy,” but “for sheer extravagance of beauty, animated and rhythmic,” the musical had
“no rival among its contemporaries.” The costumes were “lustrous,” the décor offered the “limitless space of
Mexican outdoors and the evening warmth of a patio,” and the production overflowed with “lavish beauty.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker found the “middling” musical “several cuts” below Kid Boots but
better than the “unfortunate” Betsy, but he liked the “pleasing” score and “superb” scenery. Time said the
plot was “mere parsley when the eyes and ears are well feasted” with “fresh, feathery ballet dancers and a
chorus that made strong men sigh.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune reported he had been ill and unable
to attend the musical, and so his column included comments by Frank Vreeland from the Evening Telegram,
who said Rio Rita was the likely “heiress” to Sally with its “sumptuous” costumes, “splendid” décor, “be-
witching” ballets, “galvanic” dances, and a “brisk if slightly conventional” book. Vreeland noted that one
of Ziegfeld’s former representatives kiddingly suggested that the producer sometimes “deliberately” put on
a failure in order to come back “more strongly in his next show,” and if this was the case, “one should be
bound to like” Rio Rita because Betsy “was so bad.” But in truth one was “bound to like” Rio Rita because
it was “the pinnacle of Ziegfeldian showmanship, which is saying a dictionaryful.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer stated Rio Rita was Ziegfeld’s “best” show. It may not
have been “so original that it will set a precedent in either its music or libretto,” but it was “so colorful, so
full of snap and sentiment,” and “so generous with its dances, its Ziegfeld-personally-selected lovely girls,
its gorgeous stage settings and costumes, its popular type songs, [and] its well-selected cast” that one could
“forgive” Ziegfeld “for a recent presentation of a vehicle that did not have these attractions, and, therefore,
could not boast of more than a short acquaintance with Abie’s Irish Rose nearby” (the referenced show was,
of course, Betsy).
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press said the plot was “inconsequential” but the score included some
“excellent” songs and the production offered “lavish” costumes and décor. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised
the musical’s “gracious beauty and fine manner,” and noted the book offered “unassuming humor very pleas-
ant and quite unexpected and almost effortless.” The comic leads were a “knockout,” and the show itself was
“beautiful” with inventive dances and music that fit “the ear in kindly fashion.”
Variety reported that at its second performance the show suffered a “setback” when Terry “broke down”
during a first-act song, and although she had begun the act “superbly” it seemed the “nervous strain” of a cold
the week before the opening, then the opening night itself, and finally the matinee performance, were all “too
much for her.” Because of her “plight,” a “wave of sympathy” from the audience was “almost perceptible,”
and as the first act curtain fell Terry burst into tears. When she made her second act entrance, the audience
“vigorously applauded” but she “was forced to speak the lyrics.”
The London production opened on April 3, 1930, at the Prince Edward Theatre for fifty-nine perfor-
mances. The cast included Edith Day (Rio Rita), Geoffrey Gwyther (Jim), Bernard Nedell (Esteban), Leslie Sa-
rony (Chick), George Gee (Ed), and Rita Page (Dolly). Day, Gwyther, and Jack Hylton’s Prince Edward Theatre
Orchestra recorded five numbers from the Broadway score (“The Rangers’ Song,” “If You’re in Love, You’ll
Waltz,” “Following the Sun Around,” “The Kinkajou,” and the title song); one from the 1929 film version
(“You’re Always in My Arms, but Only in My Dreams”); and a new one written for the London production
with music by Gwyther and lyric probably by McCarthy (“I’d Rather Have a Memory of You”). These selec-
tions are part of Rio Rita (Monmouth-Evergreen Records LP # MES-7058), which also includes original cast
performances by Day from the London productions of Rose-Marie and Show Boat.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French, and reflects the British production, including
the interpolated “You’re Always in My Arms, but Only in My Dreams,” which was written for the 1929 film
version. The script also includes the brief lyric of “Roses” for Jim and Rio Rita, which seems to have been
written for the London production (but “I’d Rather Have a Memory of You” isn’t part of the script).
The 1929 film was released by RKO Radio Pictures; directed by Luther Reed and choreographed by Pearl
Eaton, the musical direction was by Broadway conductor Victor Baravalle, who was also the musical director
for the 1929 film version of The Desert Song. The cast included Bebe Daniels (Rio Rita), John Boles (Jim), Don
Alvarado (Roberto), Georges Renevant (General/Kinkajou), Dorothy Lee (Dolly), Helen Kaiser (Katie), and of
course Wheeler and Woolsey in a reprise of their Broadway roles.
The film was originally released at 135 minutes, but the only extant print (available on DVD by the War-
ner Brothers Archive Collection) runs 102 minutes; part of the film was photographed in Technicolor, and
happily the vivid color sequences survived. The film is extremely faithful to the Broadway script, including
many of the jokes. Boles makes a stalwart if sometimes stagy hero and Daniels is a lovely if occasionally
tiresome and vacillating heroine, but these minor flaws are more the fault of the direction and script than
the performers. Wheeler and Woolsey come off best, and the latter’s shyster lawyer is a complete delight.
Wheeler and Lee cavort in two eccentric dances, and the two-tables dining scene for Woolsey and Kaiser and
for Wheeler and Lee is one of the film’s comic highlights, especially when an argument between Lee and Kai-
ser is treated in the manner of a boxing match.
The complete film included twelve numbers from the Broadway production (“Are You There?,” “The
Charro Dance,” “I Can Speak Espanol,” “If You’re in Love, You’ll Waltz,” “Out on the Loose,” “The Kin-
kajou,” “The Jumping Bean,” “March of the Rangers” [aka “The Rangers’ Song”], “Rio Rita,” “River Song,”
“Siesta Time,” and “Sweethearts”) and four new ones by Tierney and McCarthy (“Over the Boundary Line,”
“Poor Fool,” “Sweetheart, We Need Each Other,” and “You’re Always in My Arms, but Only in My Dreams”).
“Beneath the Silken Shawl” was probably the Broadway production’s “The Spanish Shawl.” The lost portions
of the film include “Are You There?,” “I Can Speak Espanol,” and “The Kinkajou.”
The 1942 film is an in-name-only adaptation released by Universal Pictures and directed by S. Sylvan Si-
mon. The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello vehicle also includes Kathryn Grayson, John Carroll, Tom Conway,
and Barry Nelson. The plot revolves around two zanies who work at a Western ranch infested with Nazis; two
numbers from the original Broadway production were retained (“The Rangers’ Song” and the title number),
and lyricist E. Y. Harburg and composer Harold Arlen contributed “Long Before You Came Along.” The DVD
of “The Daffy-Dilly Jubilee of Mirth and Music!” is available on the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
JUDY
“The Jolly, Joyous Musical Comedy” / “The Peppiest Dancingest Show on Earth” / “The Perfect Darling of
Musical Comedies”
Theatre: Royale Theatre

Performances: 96
Book: Mark Swan
Lyrics: Leo Robin
Music: Charles Rosoff
Based on the 1924 play Judy Drops In by Mark Swan.
Direction: John Hayden; Producer: John Henry Mears; Choreography: Bobby Connolly; Scenery: P. Dodd Ack-
erman; Costumes: Hugh Willoughby; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Jay Gorney
Cast: George Meeker (Tom Stanton), Edward Allen (Dick Wetherbee), Frank Beaston (Harry Danforth),
Magda Bennett (Anita), Laura Hamilton (Babette), Charles Purcell (Jack Lethbridge), Lida Kane (Mrs. Ma-
1926–1927 Season 365
guire), Alice Mackenzie (Lucy Lethbridge), Elizabeth Mears (Florence), Mary Lucas (Dorothy), Queenie
Smith (Judy Drummond), James Seeley (Nathan Gridley), John T. Dwyer (Mathew Lethbridge); The Judy
Specialty Dancers: Helen Ellfelt, Magda Bennett, Mary Lucas, Dorothy Casey, Ethel Guerard, Madelyn
Eubanks, Elizabeth Mears, Eleanor Meeker, Diana Hunt, Ann Loomis, Margaret Litz, Mildred Lorrain,
Georgie Tapps, Frank Cornell
The action takes place during the present time in Greenwich Village.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Hobohemia” (George Meeker, Edward Allen, Frank Beaston, Girls); “Hard to Get Along With”
(Elizabeth Mears, George Meeker, Edward Allen, Frank Beaston, Girls); “Looking for a Thrill” (Alice
Mackenzie, George Meeker, Edward Allen, Frank Beaston, Girls); Dance (Edward Allen, Elizabeth Mears);
“(Poor) Cinderella” (Queenie Smith); “Six Little Cinderellas” (Elizabeth Mears, Dorothy Casey, Mary
Lucas, Diana Hunt, Madelyn Eubanks, Ethen Guerard); “Pretty Little Stranger” (Charles Purcell, Queenie
Smith); “One Baby” (Elizabeth Mears, Frank Beaston); Specialty (Helen Ellfelt); “Wear Your Sunday
Smile” (Queenie Smith, Charles Purcell, Girls); Dance (Georgie Tapps, Dorothy Casey); Finale
Act Two: “What a Whale of a Difference a Woman Can Make” (Lida Kane, Charles Purcell, Elizabeth Mears,
Girls); Specialty (Ann Loomis); “Judy” (Queenie Smith, Charles Purcell, George Meeker, Edward Allen,
Frank Beaston, Girls); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Queenie Smith); “When Gentlemen Grew
Whiskers and Ladies Grew Old” (Elizabeth Mears, Charles Purcell, George Meeker, Edward Allen, Frank
Beaston, Ann Loomis, Margaret Litz, Frank Cornell); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Queenie
Smith); “Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight” (George Meeker, Edward Allen, Frank Beaston, Girls); Specialty
(Mary Lucas, Magda Bennett); “Six Little Cinderellas” (reprise) (performer[s] not identified in program);
“Start Stompin’” (Edward Allen, Girls); Specialty (Diana Hunt, Edward Allen); Reprise (song not identified
in program) (Queenie Smith); Finale (Company)
Judy was a vehicle for Queenie Smith, and it managed almost three months on Broadway before taking to
the road (with “the original splendid cast” and “12—Joyous Judy Joywalkers—12,” the latter of whom “Stop
the Traffic!”). After a round of musicals set in Long Island, Westchester, Florida, Monte Carlo, and various
Ruritanian kingdoms, Judy took audiences back to the prehistoric era of the early 1920s with its Greenwich
Village locale and (like so many of the decade’s earlier musicals of the Sally and Mary ilk) a familiar Cinder-
ella story. The show was based on the 1924 comedy Judy Drops In by Mark Swan, who wrote the book for
the musical.
Judy (Smith) is an orphan ill-used by her stepfather. She meets and charms an Irish landlady, who hires
her on the spot as cook and housekeeper for her boarding house The Rookery, which is soon known as The
New Rookery once Judy assumes her duties and transforms the place. The lodgers consist of four young men,
all of whom fall for Judy, and she gives her heart to the young lawyer of the group, Jack Lethbridge (Charles
Purcell), who comes from a wealthy family but wants to apply his legal talent to aid the deserving poor.
The musical consisted of the basic boarding house set, with occasional scenes in Cinderella Lane, and the
cast numbered twenty-four players. Variety estimated that if the production earned $10,000 weekly it could
break even, and because Judy was the lowest-priced musical in New York (with a $3.30 top) it might manage
a “moderate” but “not real” run.
The New York Times said save for Smith’s performance the “modest” show was “thoroughly routine.”
The score included both “gay” and sentimental songs, and one number had its “staunch adherents”: “When
Gentlemen Grew Whiskers and Ladies Grew Old” dealt with “affairs in the mauve decade” (the Gay Nine-
ties), and the critic noted the lyric was “particularly memorable” because “at least [in] one instance” the word
whom was “used correctly.”
Time found the musical “thin,” but said Smith was “a charming twinkle-toes” and the score included “a
song hit presumptive” (“When Gentlemen Grew Whiskers and Ladies Grew Old”); Lucy Jeanne Price in the
Munster (IN) Times declared that Smith’s “fairy-footed dancing, her piquancy and her true talent for acting
are a combination that not many of our musical comedy stars can beat.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star
Press noted Judy was in the “Irene pattern, but has neither the melodic bubbles nor the graceful book of that
modest classic.” And the Brooklyn Daily Eagle warned that Oh, Kay! had a “new neighbor and a dangerous
rival” because Judy was a “tuneful” and “fast-stepping” affair that boasted “the neatest dancing numbers we
have seen in a long time.”
During the tryout, Patti Harrold and Robert Armstrong were succeeded by Smith and Purcell. During
the Broadway run, “Looking for a Thrill” and the first act dance sequence (performed by Georgie Tapps and
Dorothy Casey) were dropped and “When the One You Care For” (for Purcell) was added.
Variety reported that one of the characters in the musical noted she had “a permanent job—as bridesmaid
to Peggy Hopkins Joyce.” It turns out that for the premiere, the much-married Joyce was “sitting down front
with a new guy,” and of course she heard the crack. As a result, she and her male companion “sailed out
at the intermission.” A somewhat similar joke was heard in the 1943 Ziegfeld Follies. During the opening
sequence of the revue, Milton Berle appeared on stage in a fast-and-furious monologue (“Something for the
Berles”) in which he chatted up the audience. When the comic spied the oft-married playboy and millionaire
Tommy Manville in the audience, he noted that Manville was in the eighth row with his sixth wife . . . or
was he in the sixth row with his eighth wife? But Manville got a kick out of the quip, and didn’t storm out.
(One wonders if Joyce later walked out on other Broadway musicals, because she was referenced in songs by
Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.)
POLLY OF HOLLYWOOD
“A Musical Comedy Satire”

Performances: 24
Book and Lyrics: Will Morrissey
Music: Edmund Joseph
Direction: Will Morrissey; Producer: Harry L. Cort; Choreography: Walter Brooks; Scenery: Uncredited; Cos-
tumes: Paul Aimes; Lighting: Unknown; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Midgie Miller (Polly), William Friend (Roderick), Edward Gargan (Gambler), Jerome Daly (Sheriff), Hugh
Kidder (Pablo), Bertee Beaumont (Valencia), Dave Ferguson (Tom Dix), Franker Woods (Chick), Earle S.
Dewey (Nelse), John R. Agee (Driver), Marguerite Zender (Roberta), Willard Hall (Assistant Director),
Matty Fain (Camera Man), R. Luketas (Property Man), Robert G. Pitkin (Greener), Alice Wood (Julie),
Lillian Jordan (Irene), Barney Ward (Abe Stein), Hugh Herbert (Moe Stein), Jacob Prank (Hymie Cohen),
Anna Mycue (Typist), Deenova and Berinoff (Dancers), Charles Guglieri (Comic Musician), King Woodford
(Dancer), Bryson and Jones (Dancers), The Flying Martins (Acrobats), Mammy Jinny (Singer), The Lenora
Eight High Steppers (Dancers); Ensemble members included: D. Baker, M. Bligh, A. Brunner, H. Cambridge,
C. Durham, L. Evans, G. Fay, C. Hackett, W. Hall, V. Hart, J. Horton, K. Hunter, M. Mitchel, A. Mycue,
H. Newton, S. Newton, R. Ramsey, M. Shaw, E. Smith, O. Skinner, P. Tueset, A. Wallace, M. Wallace, E.
Wright; animal acts included John R. Agee’s trained bull Bill Bailey and trained horse Black Bottom
The action takes place during the present time in Texas and Hollywood.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Midnight Daddy” (Bertee Beaumont, William Friend); “Polly of Hollywood” (Male Septet, Bryson
and Jones); “Hardware Harmony” (Charles Guglieri); “Texas Stomp” (Midgie Miller, Quartet, Ensemble);
“Wanting You” (Marguerite Zender, Willard Hall); “Exploitation Number” (performer[s] unknown);
“Tango” (Deenova and Berinoff); “Recitation” (Dave Ferguson); “Tambourine Dance” (The Lenora Eight
High Steppers); “A Lot of Bull” (Midgie Miller, Ensemble); Finale
Act Two: “Doubles” (Midgie Miller, Franker Woods, Earle S. Dewey); “Mr. DeMille” (Edward Gargan, Dave
Ferguson; Four Pages: V. Hart, M. Mitchel, C. Hackett, A. Brunner; O. Skinner; Chinese: P. Tueset;
Gainsboro: I. Evans; Egyptian: H. Newton; Champagne: M. Shaw; Black Beauty: P. Tueset; Elizabethan:
C. Durham; Melody: M. Wallace; Springtime: A. Wallace; American Beauty: K. Hunter; Spider: E. Wright);
1926–1927 Season 367
Ballet (E. Smith, H. Cambridge, G. Fay, R. Ramsey, D. Baker, M. Bligh, J. Horton, S. Newton); “Adagio”
(Deenova and Berinoff; Bride: A. Mycue); “Advice to Movie-Mad Maidens” (Midgie Miller); “Variety”
(Robert G. Pitkin); The Flying Martins; “Company Madness” (Marguerite Zender, W. Hall); “Drill” (En-
semble); “As It Should Have Been Directed” (Dave Ferguson); “Waltz” (Deenova and Berinoff); “A New
Kind of Rhythm” (Mammy Jinny); Bryson and Jones; Finale
Will Morrissey’s Polly of Hollywood was a spoof of Hollywood movie-making which failed to make much
of an impression and lasted just three weeks.
The slender story centered on Polly (Midgie Miller), who lives on a farm in Texas and hopes to crash Hol-
lywood. Her dreams come true when a film director chooses her and her friends at the Bar X ranch to go to
tinsel town and star in the movies. Although she finds celluloid fame, Polly decides life on the old farm is
preferable to the glamorous world of the silver screen. Later musicals that followed the same theme of small-
towners who make it big in Hollywood but give it all up and return to podunk are America’s Sweetheart
(1931) and Yokel Boy (1939).
The show was coyly divided into reels instead of acts; the scenes were named and described in Hollywood
jargon such as fade-outs, fade-ins, long shots, close-ups, medium foregrounds, and dissolves; and occasionally
short film sequences were projected on a screen. Note that future film-favorite character actor Hugh Herbert
played a movie mogul.
The New York Times was of two minds about the “hodge-podge.” It was “high-spirited and generally
uproarious,” but it also contained “mediocre stuff” and “never quite [became] as funny as [was] promised
by the introductory film.” The music was “strikingly reminiscent” and there were lyrics “of a sort.” J.H.L.
in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the production was “one of those wholly unnecessary although satisfying
extravaganzas” that was “incoherent but so ridiculous as to be funny.” It wavered “from the ridiculous to the
sublime” and it offered two-and-a-half-hours “of more or less mirth.”
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press said the “merry hodge-podge” was a “jamboree” of entertain-
ment and a “rollicking travesty” of Hollywood. Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star found the plot “very
fragile” and noted it “soon blooms into a typical revue.” Time reported that the production offered “several
moderately boisterous skits,” noted that a “more perfectly trained chorus does not kick along Broadway,” and
that the adagio dancers Deenova and Berinoff “amazed and pleased.” Wilk also mentioned the dancing horse
(but the critics couldn’t quite agree if the equine Charlestoned or black-bottomed). The “funniest” sequence
occurred when the “sobbing” hero professes “constant affection” for the heroine who is leaving him and the
ranch for the glittering pastures of Hollywood, and then suddenly “administer[s] unto the wayward lass a ter-
rific kick in the pants.”
Variety noted the “decidedly economical” show was a “cheap musical to run” and gave “little for the
money.” There were “cheap” costumes, “old” scenery, and fully staged numbers were danced before “cheap
drapes.” There was “no startling lack of talent in the show, and by the same token” no one did “anything
startling” either, except perhaps the trapeze artists the Flying Martins, the dancers Deenova and Berinoff, and
Dave Ferguson, who parodied John Barrymore (“As It Should Have Been Directed”). Otherwise, the music
couldn’t be “whistled,” the chorus work was “mediocre,” one or two numbers were “decidedly passé,” and
Miller’s entrance sitting atop the trained bull Bill Bailey fell “flat.”
THE KING’S HENCHMAN

Theatre: Metropolitan Opera House
Libretto: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Music: Deems Taylor
Direction: Wilhelm Von Wymetal; Producer: The Metropolitan Opera Company; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Cos-
tumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Choral Direction: Giulio Setti; Musical Direction: Tullio Serafin
Cast: Edward Johnson (Aethelwold), Florence Easton (Aelfrida), Lawrence Tibbett (Eadgar), William Gus-
tafson (Maccus), Merle Alcock (Ase), Louis D’Angelo (Ordgar), George Meader (Dunstan), Grace Anthony
(Ostharu, Fisherman’s Wife), Louise Lerch (Godgyfu, Girl), Henriette Wakefield (Hildeburh), Dorothea
Flexer (Leofsydu, Servant), Joseph Macpherson (Brand, Miller), George Cehanovsky (Cynric), Max Altglass
(Gunner), James Wolfe (Oslac, Blacksmith), Millo Picco (Wulfred), Max Bloch (Hwita, Old Man), Arnold
Gabor (Thored), Minnie Egener (Blacksmith’s Wife), Paolo Ananian (Saddler), Mary Bonetti (Miller’s Wife),
Frederick Vajda (Fisherman); The Metropolitan Opera Company Chorus
The action takes place in England during the tenth century.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t include a list of musical numbers.
Set in England during the tenth century, Deems Taylor’s opera The King’s Henchman focused on King
Eadgar (Lawrence Tibbett), who sends his friend and henchman Aethelwold (Edward Johnson) to Devon to
escort the king’s soon-to-be-bride Aelfrida (Florence Easton) to the court. Eadgar has never seen Aelfrida, and
when Aethelwold meets her he’s stunned by her beauty, sends word to the king that she’s not worth mar-
rying because of her unattractiveness, and then marries her himself. The king eventually comes to know of
his friend’s betrayal, Aelfrida is outraged when she realizes she could have been queen, and Aethelwold kills
himself.
Olin Downes in the New York Times found the work the most “artistically wrought American opera,”
and said Taylor’s “melodic gift” had “spirit” and a “sense of drama.” He singled out such passages as a “brief
and brilliant orchestral prelude,” a “rousing” folk-like song, and a love duet that made “good theatre,” and
while Millay’s libretto was “poetic” it was “more literary than dramatic in spite of its imaginative and emo-
tional character.” The words weren’t always “amenable to melodic setting,” but Taylor “succeeded in an
astonishing degree in giving this text musical form and organic musical rhythms.”
Frederick A. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the opera was a “splendid success,” and R.A.S. (Rob-
ert A. Simon) in the New Yorker noted that his earlier perusal of the opera’s piano score led him to observe
that The King’s Henchman was “the best first opera ever written,” but now he decided it was “a remarkable
opera for anyone to have written.” Simon also said Tibbett did the “best work of his career,” Johnson was
more “like an actor” than an opera singer and his enunciation was a “joy,” and Easton conveyed “the shal-
lowness and the silliness of the girl without clowning, and projects her futility without making her vapid.”
Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society noted that the “excellent” work offered a libretto of “lit-
erary worth,” and the score’s “orchestral part” was “impressive throughout.” There were also “outstanding”
choral effects and musical passages of “genuine beauty.”
Despite its initial enthusiastic reception, the opera has all but disappeared. But during the era it was
performed at the Met eight more times during the next two seasons for a total of fourteen showings over
three seasons. A condensed version was broadcast on radio by CBS on September 18, 1927, and prior to the
premiere, a private and limited hardback edition of the libretto was published in 1926 by the Metropolitan,
which was followed by an official edition published in hardback by Harper & Brothers in 1927.
Tibbett created leading roles in the world premieres of five American operas produced by the Met. After
The King’s Henchman, he appeared in Taylor’s Peter Ibbetson (1931), Louis Gruenberg’s The Emperor Jones
(1933), Howard Hansen’s Merry Mount (1934), and John Laurence Seymour’s In the Pasha’s Garden (1935).
(Note that Merry Mount had been previously produced in concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and so the Met
cautiously described its production as a “world operatic premiere.”) Tibbett’s career at the Met spanned the
period 1923–1950, in 1950 he starred in the Broadway production of Jan Meyerowitz’s opera The Barrier, and
he succeeded Ezio Pinza in the role of Cesar during the original Broadway run of Harold Rome’s 1954 musical
Fanny. From 1930 to 1936 he also starred in six films, including New Moon, the first film version of Sigmund
Romberg’s The New Moon.
LUCKY
1926–1927 Season 369
Performances: 71
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Per program, “by Otto Harbach, Bert Kalmer, Harry Ruby, Jerome Kern”
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: dances and ensembles by David (Dave)
Bennett; dances for The Albertina Rasch Girls by Albertina Rasch; Mary Eaton’s solo ballet arranged by
Tarasoff; Scenery: James Reynolds; Costumes: Mabel E. Johnston; Francillon, Inc.; Frances & Co., Inc.;
Brooks Costume Company; Eaves Costume Company; Finchley; Tappe, Inc.; Schneider-Anderson Com-
pany; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Kumara Singha (Cyngie), Henry Mowbray (Chuck Dugan), Bert Gould (A Pearl Thief), Martin Berke-
ley (Finch), Paul Everton (Barlow), Joseph Santley (Jack Mansfield), Kathryn Hamill (Notoya), Richard
“Skeets,” aka “Skeet,” Gallagher (Teddy Travers), Joan Clement (First Tourist), Jeanne Fonda (Second
Tourist), Al Ochs (Long Ling), Walter Catlett (Charlie Simpson), Princess White Deer (Strawberry), Ivy
Sawyer (Grace Mansfield), Ruby Keeler (Mazie Maxwell), Mary Eaton (Lucky), Hugh Francis Murphy (Of-
ficer), Charles Gibney (The High Priest); Mendicant Monks: Fred Wilson, Stanley McClelland, Hal Clovis,
and Emile Cote; Fred Lenox (First Waiter), George Ferguson (Second Waiter), Al Wyart (Third Waiter),
Charles Eaton (Page), Richard Farrell (Wilton), Charles Mitchell (Shellbach); Paul Whiteman and His
Orchestra; Specialty Act: The Keller Sisters and Al Lynch; The Albertina Rasch Girls: Marian Dickson,
Martha Wilbert, Eda Vittollo, Julia Barashkova, Lenore Shearer, Elvira Gomez, Betty Keen, Dorothy Belle,
Dulce Bentley, Nita Rosso, Leonore Blair, Regina Tuahinska, Aili Halmemaa, Emily Slater, Katharine
Lambly, Maxine Demmler; Show Girls: Kathleen Krosby, Olga Marye, Patricia Preston, Dorothy Phillips,
Lillian Morehouse, Trude Marr, Kathryn Hamill, Pauline Hall; Dancers: Rosemary Farmer, Mary Brady,
Virginia Clark, Peggy Cunningham, Alma Drange, Ethel Forrest, Lily Kimari, Myrtle Lane, Edna Locke,
Josephine Mostler, Chere Pelham, Nickie Pitell, Anna Rex, Phyllis Reynolds, Louise Starck, Peaches
Tortoni, Teddy Ward, Dorothy Wyatt, Pearl Bradley, Eleanor Elden, Elizabeth Ryder, Betty Block; The
Elida Webb Girls: Elida Webb, Billie Cain, Rose Gaillard, Hyacinth Curtis, Bessie Allison, Vivian Harris;
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Max Hugo, Alfred Arnold, Walter Arnold, Charles Bannister, Dick Bennett,
Albert Birk, Charles Conkling, Jack de Lys, Milton Halpern, Jack Hughes, Ray Justus, Don Lee, Bob Max-
well, Bob Morris, Don Oltarsh, Hugh Sorenson, Jack Talbot, Ayres Tavitt, Archibald Thompson, George
Vigouroux, Bill O’Donnell, Alfred Hall
The action takes place during the present time in Ceylon and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Note: When known, lyricist and composer credits are given.
Act One: Opening: “The Treasure Hunt” (Ensemble); “Cingalese Girls” (lyric and music by Otto Harbach,
Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby) (Joseph Santley, The Albertina Rasch Girls, Ensemble); Quartette: “With-
out Thinking of You” (Ivy Sawyer, Ruby Keeler, Walter Catlett, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher); “Entrance
of Lucky” (Ensemble); “Lucky” (Mary Eaton, Ensemble); Duet: “That Little Something” (lyric by Bert
Kalmar and Harry Ruby, music by Jerome Kern) (Mary Eaton, Joseph Santley); Finaletto (Ensemble); “Co-
coanut Dance” (The Albertina Rasch Girls); Duettino: “When the Bo-Tree Blossoms Again” (lyric by Bert
Kalmar and Harry Ruby, music by Jerome Kern) (Mary Eaton, Joseph Santley); Specialty: The Keller Sisters
and Al Lynch; “Dancing the Devil Away” (lyric and music by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby) (Mary Eaton,
Ensemble); Specialty: The Elida Webb Girls; Finale (Mary Eaton, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening; “Pearl of Broadway” (Ruby Keeler, Ensemble); “Spring Is Here” (Mary Eaton, Walter
Catlett, Richard Gallagher, Male Ensemble); “The Same Old Moon” (lyric and music by Bert Kalmar and
Harry Ruby) (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley); “If the Man in the Moon Was a Coon” (lyric and music by Fred
Fisher) (Ruby Keeler, Show Girls); “Shine On, Harvest Moon” (from the national tour of [Ziegfeld] Follies
of 1908; lyric and music attributed to Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes) (The Keller Sisters and Al Lynch);
“By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (attributed to the Ziegfeld Follies of 1909; lyric by Edward Madden,
music by Gus Edwards) (Walter Catlett, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Dancers); “Once in a Blue Moon”
(Stepping Stones, 1923; lyric by Anne Caldwell, music by Jerome Kern); Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
(selections included “Rhapsody in Blue,” music by George Gershwin; “Sam, the Accordion Man,” lyric and
music by Walter Donaldson; “In a Little Spanish Town,” lyric by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young, music by
Mabel Wayne; “Sunday”; and medley of songs from Lucky); Ballet: “The Pearl of Ceylon” (music probably
by Jerome Kern) (Mary Eaton, The Albertina Rasch Girls, Ensemble)
Lucky was a luckless hodgepodge that lasted less than two months on Broadway, a short run that never
came close to allowing the musical to recoup its enormous production costs. Jerome Kern composed some of
the songs, and like his score for Criss Cross earlier in the season, his contributions to Lucky were disappoint-
ing and failed to produce an enduring standard.
The show was literally all over the map. The first act took place in Ceylon and dealt with pearl smugglers
and the hunt for a sunken treasure, and for the second half most of the characters moved to New York City to
enjoy the world of cabarets and speakeasies. The title role in the Cinderella story was played by Mary Eaton,
here groomed for stardom by producer Charles Dillingham as another Marilyn Miller (who had starred in his
hit Sunny). But Eaton was no Miller, and Lucky wasn’t very Sunny. Eaton had been featured in Dillingham’s
hit Eddie Cantor vehicle Kid Boots, but unfortunately Lucky was a conspicuous failure and didn’t place her in
the top echelon of Broadway royalty. Later in the year, however, she enjoyed a solid success as The 5 O’Clock
Girl, and with Oscar Shaw introduced the hit ballad “Thinking of You.”
Poor Lucky lives in Ceylon with her unpleasant and underhanded father, Barlow (Paul Everton), and she
works for him as a pearl diver (Burns Mantle in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle noted that Eaton’s
“shimmering whiteness” indicated she did “all her diving in a glass-enclosed boudoir”). She meets Jack Mans-
field (Joseph Santley), a young man in the pearl business, and when everyone decides to go to New York for the
second act she discovers that the young and handsome fellow is also a millionaire. And it turns out that the
treacherous thief Barlow isn’t her father at all, and that her real father died at sea and left her and her brother
$2 million. Moreover, Lucky has become the darling of the cabaret set and becomes a famous singer and dancer.
The plot stretched credibility even for a musical, but the show might have had a chance with a strong
score and one or two hit songs. Unfortunately, none of the numbers hit the mark, and there wasn’t a unify-
ing vision behind the music because like the story itself the score was a smorgasbord of styles. Some of the
music was by Kern, with lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby; other songs were by Kalmar and Ruby, sans
Kern; one or two lyrics were by Otto Harbach; one (“Once in a Blue Moon”) was an interpolation from Kern’s
1923 musical Stepping Stones; a few songs were from earlier Ziegfeld Follies productions; and for Ruby Kee-
ler, who was fresh from the still-running Bye Bye, Bonnie, there was a retread of Fred Fisher’s 1905 hit “If
the Man in the Moon Was a Coon.” The production even included George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,”
courtesy of Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, who made a late second-act cameo appearance (conveniently,
the orchestra was playing at Paul Whiteman’s, a nightclub on West 48th Street, just a few blocks from the
New Amsterdam). Whiteman’s specialty act also included “Sam, the Accordion Man,” “In a Little Spanish
Town,” and “Sunday.” All this, and there were even a few songs for which no one has been able to pinpoint
authorship. The program’s title page read “Lucky by Otto Harbach, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Jerome Kern,”
and to a casual reader the song list gave the impression that the four credited gentlemen had written all the
songs heard in the production.
Because of the program’s vagueness, most critics assumed Kern had written the complete score, but Kern’s
biographer Gerald Bordman notes that only two songs (“When the Bo-Tree Blossoms Again” and “That Little
Something”) were “definitely” by the composer, and three (“Cingalese Girls,” “The Same Old Moon,” and
“Dancing the Devil Away”) were by Kalmar and Ruby (although Otto Harbach may have had a hand in the
latter song). Some sources speculate that the ballet “The Pearl of Ceylon” might have been composed by Kern.
Note that “Dancing the Devil Away” was interpolated into the The Cuckoos, which was the film version of
The Ramblers.
The New York Times said the score was “always pleasant, always infectious and sometimes more than
a little reminiscent,” but had “catchy and lilting qualities”; Time said the score “pleases” and Variety found
the “serviceable” music “charming, original and never tiring.”
Whiteman and his orchestra were the real sensation of the evening. But Keeler, the Albertina Rasch
troupe, and the Elida Webb Girls also impressed with their dances, and Richard “Skeets” Gallagher and
Walter Catlett were around for the comedy, Joseph Santley was the stalwart hero Jack, and Ivy Sawyer (Mrs.
Santley offstage) added pepper to the role of his snobbish sister.
Otherwise, the costumes and James Reynolds’s lavish décor were visual showstoppers, and the Times
suspected Lucky was as “opulent” a musical as Dillingham had ever produced and said the Ceylon setting
1926–1927 Season 371
gave an “excuse for as novel and beautiful settings and costumes as the prodigal New Amsterdam has beheld”
during its existence. Further, the first act finale was “an orgiastic frenzy of color and action during which a
whole stage full of dancing girls is transformed into a conclave of Buddhist gods and pagan evil spirits.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the musical had a “weak framework,” and although Eaton was
“as pretty as a pink cake iced with gold trimmings” he found her “as tasteless as some such confections I
have eaten.” Otherwise, the show was an “impressive structure” with “gorgeous” sets and costumes and
“superb divertissements” such as Whiteman and his orchestra, the Albertina Rasch dancers, and the Keller
Sisters. Time said the show offered up “a chromatic scale of splendors to even greater heights of extravagance,
splashing the theatre with explosions of scenic brilliance.” As for the “agreeable” Eaton, she had “no magic
to make this opulence personally charming.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found “beauty,” “color,” and “engaging sound” in the pro-
duction, but noted “it would be trite to say that the book of Otto Harbach is not altogether funny.” Variety
said the musical was “a whale of an entertainment” with “a splendiferous riot of color and pageantry” in the
first act and “equally artistic and fetching” décor in the second. The trade paper surmised that Lucky was the
“highest priced musical comedy ever mounted,” its weekly payroll was “huge,” with a “terrific overhead,”
and at capacity could probably gross over $50,000 each week. Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer
reported that opening-night seats fetched a whopping $13.50, and thereafter all orchestra seats would cost
$6.60, the “first time that such a charge has been made for the entire orchestra of a musical production.”
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Theatre: 44th Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Cosmopolitan Theatre)
Performances: 56
Based on the 1917 play The Willow Tree by J. H. Benrimo and Harrison Rhodes.
Direction: Lew Morton; Producer: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Michie (aka Michio)
Itow; Ralph Reader; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Ernest R. Schrapps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest
Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, E. R. Schraps, and Ernest Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Ann Milburn (Stella Maywood), James Marshall (Jefferey Fuller), Bernard Gorcey (George Washington
Goto), Frederick Kaufman (Imaru), Fred Harper (Kamura), Goodie Galloway (O-San-Dam), Desiree El-
linger (Yo-San), Helen Norde (alternate for Yo-San), Howard Marsh (Ned Hamilton), Marie Laval (First
Shop Girl), Ronnie Madison (Second Shop Girl), William Pringle (Tomotado), Frank Greene (Shimamura),
Harold Kravitt (The Bonze), Frank Davenport (Nogo), Anne Yago (Street Singer, Sylvia Peterson), Gladys
Baxter (Mary Temple), El Thompson (First Officer), Dan Douglas (Second Officer), Walter Tenney (Larry
Fuller), Desiree Ellington (O-Yuki-San), Helen Norde (alternate for O-Yuki-San), Marion Keeler (Kiku
San), Verona (A Dancer; performer known by one name); Choral Boys: Jean Spiro, Efin Vitis, Roy Mace,
Willard Frye, Colman Ashe, Lar Kreisel, Joseph Polasy, Charles V. Maynard, Frank Pondolfi (possibly Pan-
dolfi); Choral Girls: Nedine Ruslanova, Helen Pandresco, Jimmie Beach, Marjory Tell, Marion Macy, Adele
Aricon (possibly Arleon), Emily Wenty (possibly Wentz), Helen Dmitrieff, Alice Bussee; Boys: Rolland Car-
penter, William Brainard, John F. Roche, Jack Baker, Henry Clay, Howard Leighton, Dale Grigsby, Arthur
Schnitzer, Gerald Gehlert, Maurice Warner, Albert Fontaine, El Thompson, Carlyle Lyndel, Dan Douglas,
John Fredericks, Louis Sears; Girls: Margaret Speake, Marjorie Sutter, Helen Cunihan, Marie Laval, Flor-
ence Tyner, Rebekah Crawford, Sylvia Peterson, Naan Lane, Elena Meade, Katrina Trask, Ethel Daniels,
Lenore Wilder, Muriel Seeley, Ronnie Madison, Diane D’Arle, Violet Code; Dancing Girls: Evelyn Cham-
bers, Bobby Bliss, Elsie Golden, Sally King, Ada Grae, Polly Shaw, Camille Griffith, Natalia (performer
known by one name), Yvette Reals, Peggy E. South, Helen Murray, Dorothy Sabinee, Dorothy White; Note:
The last two-named performers may be the same person.
The action takes place during the span of seventeen years (probably 1910-1927) in Japan and the United States.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Choral Prelude (Chorus); Opening: (a) Ensemble and (b) Ann Milburn, Ensemble; “I’ll Peek-a-Boo
You” (Ann Milburn, James Marshall); “Legend Song” (Desiree Ellinger, Girls); “Duet” (Howard Marsh,
Desiree Ellinger); “If You Know What I Think” (Fred Harper, Goodie Galloway); Finale (Harold Kravitt,
Ensemble); Choral Interlude (Chorus)
Act Two: “Feast of the Lanterns” (Ensemble); “Cigarette Song” (Howard Marsh); “Happy Rickshaw Man”
(aka “The Jinrikisha Song”) (Ann Milburn, James Marshall); Finaletto (Howard Marsh, Desiree Ellinger);
“Japanese Serenade” (Harold Kravitt, Ensemble); “Duet” (reprise) (Howard Marsh, Desiree Ellinger); “I
Want to Be There” (Gladys Baxter, Boys); “Romance” (Desiree Ellinger); Finale (Gladys Baxter, Howard
Marsh, Desiree Ellinger); Choral Interlude (Chorus)
Act Three: Pit Solo (J. Beech); Opening (Ensemble); “‘Neath the Cherry Blossom Moon” (lyric by J. Keirn Bren-
nan, music by William Ortmann) (Desiree Ellinger, Walter Tenney, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Produced by the Shuberts, and with a score by Sigmund Romberg, book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith,
and the leading role sung by Howard Marsh (who was Franz Schubert’s best friend in Blossom Time and who
originated the title role in The Student Prince in Heidelberg), Cherry Blossoms couldn’t escape its operetta
trappings. Here was the clichéd across-the-generations star-crossed love story, and of course the old operetta
rule was solidly in play: bitter romance for one generation will be sweet for the next one. Despite lavish pro-
duction values, the work lasted just seven weeks on Broadway, but later in the year Marsh was cast as Gaylord
Ravenal in the decade’s most important and enduring musical Show Boat.
The hero and heroine of Cherry Blossoms are vacationing American Ned Hamilton (March) and native
Japanese Yo-San (Desiree Ellinger), who meet and fall in love despite the rule that East Must Not Meet West.
But meet they do, and long enough for Yo-San to become pregnant with Ned’s child, whom he knows nothing
about. When Yo-San realizes Ned still pines for an old flame back home, she manages to purposely alienate
him, and so he leaves Japan. Seventeen years later he returns and learns that Yo-San has died, and that he has
a daughter named O-Yuki-San (also played by Ellinger), who is now a young woman in love with an American
Naval officer. Thus, love lost in one generation blooms in another, and one trusts O-Yuki-San and her lieuten-
ant will be happier than Madama Butterfly and Pinkerton.
The New York Times said the “typical” Shubert offering was “colorful, tuneful and somewhat trite”
and in need of “judicious pruning.” But the décor was “lavish and effective” with “really beautiful” willow
gardens and “bizarre” costumes that were “French variations on Japanese motifs.” Romberg’s score included
“desultory rambles in Oriental motifs” with “the usual handy use of dissonances, muted cornets and banging
of gongs.” And for “exotic flavor,” a large chorus was placed in the orchestra pit as “chroniclers.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the special chorus was the evening’s “one flash of inspiration”
and a “pleasing feature” of the production. Throughout the performance the chorus became part of the action
and voiced “prophecies of what is to happen, after the manner of a Greek chorus.” Otherwise, Smith and
Romberg’s contributions were just “one more royalty job,” and Marsh was “one of the prettier baritones and
fearfully actorish.”
Time also said the show was “typical” of the Shuberts, and noted the evening supplied “Oriental hokum,
whanging of gongs, plenty of singing but no palpable hit, bizarre costumes, [and] gaudy scenery.” Charles Brackett
in the New Yorker reported that the “acutely undistinguished” musical took place in a Japan “Shuberted up”
with “elaborateness.” Further, “heavy black wigs” made the chorus “uniformly, if orientally, unattractive” and
the score was “dull.” As for the “very fancy” Marsh, when he lit a cigarette and ground the match on the floor
with his foot he seemed “to be in the throes of a nautch dance,” and the way he used his hands was “positively
garrulous.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press decided the “ornately garnished” operetta was a “gorgeous
eyeful” but “a bit heavy in its thematic treatment.” Marsh had a “romantical starchy bearing,” and “avalanches
of girls [were] tricked out in the scarlets and golds of that Japan which never was on sea or land.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said Romberg’s score was “pleasing” but lacked songs
“which particularly impress one as likely to haunt the memory.” Otherwise, there were all “the things one
expects of a Shubert operetta,” including “beautiful” décor, “lovely” costumes, “excellent” singing, “special”
dances, and a “large” chorus. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the operetta was “most sumptuous in the way
of costumes and ensembles” with “elaborate” décor and “all the fanfare and trappings of the Orient in an
abundance and blaze of color.” The critic singled out two songs (the “slow” and “insidious” waltz “Romance”
1926–1927 Season 373
and “‘Neath the Cherry Blossom Moon” [the latter an interpolation with lyric by J. Keirn Brennan and music
by William Ortmann]), and commented that Marsh was “adequate to the acting involved” and Ellinger was
“admirable,” “delightful,” and “abundantly saccharine.”
During the tryout, the musical was known as Yo-San, and Helen Norde played both Yo-San and O-Yuki-
San. For New York, Norde and Desiree Ellington alternated, and the latter played the roles on opening night.
Songs deleted during the tryout were: “Wait and See,” “Busiest Man,” “How to Be Happy,” “Street Singers’
Song,” “Japanese Moon,” and “The Woolworth of Japan,” the latter an intriguing title.
LADY DO
“The Surprising New Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Comedy Hit”

Performances: 56
Book: Jack McClellan and Albert Cowles; book revised by Edgar (J.) MacGregor
Lyrics: Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young
Music: Abel Baer
Direction: Edgar (J.) MacGregor; Producer: Frank L. Teller; Choreography: “Buzz” (Busby) Berkeley; Scenery:
Kennel and Entwistle; Triangle Scenic Studios; Costumes: Marguerite and Strauss, and based on sketches
by Ellis Porter; Karyl Norman’s creations designed by himself; Nat Lewis; Lighting: Electrical effects by
Duwico; Musical Direction: Frank Barry
Cast: Nancy Welford (Dorothy Walthal), James A. Waites (A Bricklayer, First Gendarme), Karyl Norman
(Buddy Rose, Paris Rose, Rose Walthal), Maude Odell (Mrs. Walthal), Luis Alberni (“Pop” Poulet), Philip
Duey (Second Gendarme, Another Flunkey), Paul Darnelle (Louis), Ninon Natalie (Fifi), Marguerite
Dunne (Mimi), Glenn McComas (Henri), Henry Shope (Marcel), Ada Winston (Georgette), Jean Watson
(Marie), Jane Swanson (Henriette), Leonard Saxon (Georges), Joseph Lertora (Duke De Corsona), A. S.
Byron (William Walthal), Frances Upton (Marion Hobart), Ralph Whitehead (Powers), Harriett Lorraine,
aka Baroness DeHollub (Valda De Corsona), Rita Dunne (Fleurette), Billy Skinner (Jacques), Lew Hearn
(Pat Perkins), Sylvan Lee (Jack), Jane Moore (Jill), Rita Howard (Rita), Helen Fables (Helen), Julio Alvarez
(A Flunkey), Juanita Zerbe (The Nurse), Bob Hamill (Pianist); Ladies of the Ensemble: Hesta Bailey, Cecil
Boylan, Bobby Campbell, Rita Dunne, Marguerite Dunne, June Ferguson, Marion Herson, Elizabeth Hu-
ber, Helen Landis, Betty McMillan, Peggy Pidgin, Thelma Rankin, Edyth Ray, Polly Ray, Virginia Ray,
Ruth Sato, Margaret Seidel, Frances Suzanne, Jean Swanson, Rosalie Trego, Johanna Unger, Jean Watson,
Ada Winston, Juanita Zerbe; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: John Coughlin, George Ganz, Glenn McComas,
Edward Mackey, Buddy Niles, Billy Skinner, Oliver Wendel Twist, Lew Walker; The Four Buddies: Philip
Duey, Leonard Saxon, Henry Shope, and James A. Waites
The action takes place mostly in the present time in New York City, Paris, at sea on the Atlantic, and Long
Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue: “Buddy Rose” (Nancy Welford, Karyl Norman); “Live Today” (Joseph Lertora, Ensemble);
“Paris Taught Me Zis” (Karyl Norman); “Dreamy Montmartre” (Karyl Norman, The Four Buddies, En-
semble); “Double Fifth Avenue” (Karyl Norman, The Four Buddies); “You Can’t Eye a Shy Baby” (Sylvan
Lee, Jane Moore, Ensemble); “O Sole Mi—Whose Soul Are You?” (Joseph Lertora, Nancy Welford); “Lady
Do” (Frances Upton, Ralph Whitehead, Ensemble); Specialty (Ninon Natalie, Paul Darnelle); “Little Miss
Small Town” (Karyl Norman, Lew Hearn, Ensemble); Finale (Principals, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Snap into It” (Frances Upton, Sylvan Lee, Jane Moore, Maids and Butler); “Too Blue” (Nancy
Welford, Ensemble); “Reprisal” (song not identified in program; or perhaps this wasn’t a reprise and
was actually a song titled “Reprisal”) (Sylvan Lee, Jane Moore); “In the Long Run” (Ralph Whitehead,
Frances Upton, Ensemble); “In My Castle in Sorrento” (Joseph Lertora, Karyl Norman, Ninon Natalie,
Paul Darnelle); “Burlesque Reprise” (Harriett Lorraine, Lew Hearn); “This Is My Wedding Day” (Karyl
Norman, Boys); “Jiggle Your Feet” (Frances Upton, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Lady Do starred Karyl Norman, a female impersonator from vaudeville who here made his Broadway
debut as Paris Rose, a female impersonator in Montmartre’s Pop Poulet’s Café. American millionaire Wil-
liam Walthal (A. S. Byron) is unhappy over the engagement of his daughter Dorothy (Nancy Welford) to the
obviously phony Duke De Corsona (Joseph Lertora), a crook who is after the Walthal fortune and who travels
about with his “sister” Valda De Corsona (Harriett Lorraine), who is really his paramour. Walthal hires Paris
Rose to visit his Long Island estate as his fresh-from-the-convent “niece” Rose Walthal, the idea being that
Rose is an heiress and will attract the Duke and thus expose him as a fraud. Happily, it turns out that back in
the old days Paris Rose (originally Buddy Rose) and Dorothy were childhood sweethearts, and now they pick
up from where they left off. So Walthal need not worry about Corsona anymore.
The musical didn’t generate much excitement and was gone in seven weeks. The New York Times
noted the evening was in two “exceedingly long acts,” and despite a “quantity of silks and wigs” Norman
didn’t “look like a girl” at all. In fact, an audience member might easily suppose he’d walked into “the grand
ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria” at a Mask and Wig Club entertainment. Further, the evening ran “true to
model” with double entendres, “sudden concealment of lighted cigars,” and the “forgetful adoption of too
deep-toned a voice.” But Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “well-drilled” dancers,
“speedy” movement, and “pleasing” songs, and said Norman showed that he was “merely acting in his femi-
nine attire and that he is just as manly as we expect him to be.” Time said Norman impersonated a woman
“easily,” and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that at the musical’s first tryout performance in Brooklyn,
Norman’s “admirers” presented him with an eight-foot-high flower horseshoe.
During the tryout, the roles of the specialty dancers Louis and Fifi were played by Cesar Romero and Lis-
beth Higgins, who were succeeded by Paul Darnelle and Ninon Natalie. Note that for Lady Do, choreographer
Busby Berkeley was identified as “Buzz” Berkeley.
THE CIRCUS PRINCESS

“The International Musical Comedy Success”

Opening Date: April 25, 1927; Closing Date: October 8, 1927
Performances: 192
Book and Lyrics: Original German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald; English book and lyrics
by Harry B. Smith
Music: Emmerich Kalman
Based on the 1926 operetta Die Zirkusprinzessin (libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grunwald and music
by Emmerich Kalman).
Direction: dialogue staged by M. H. Varnel and play staged by J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert
(Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Allan K. Foster; J. C. Huffman; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: E. R.
Schraps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrap, Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro);
Josephs; Vanity Fair Costume Co.; Max Weldy of Paris; Miss Rae of Wm. Fischman Co; Lighting: Uncred-
ited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Roy Vitalis (Loris), Starr Jones (Nicholas, Grand Duke’s Adjutant), Herbert (aka Henry) Lyle (Paul, An
Officer), Harry Shackelford (Constantine), Joseph Toner (Ivan Panin), Guy Robertson (Prince Alexis Or-
loff, Mr. X), Arthur Barry (Prince Palinsky), Robert O’Connor (Stanislavsky), James C. Morton (Pinelli,
Second Cossack, First Waiter), Stanley Harrison (Baron Sakuskine), Frank Horn (Lieutenant Petrovitch),
Desiree Tabor (Princess Fedora Palinska), Edmund Ruffner (Commissionaire, Majordomo), George Hassell
(Grand Duke Sergius), Ted Doner (Toni Schlumberger), Gloria Foy (Mabel Gibson, aka Fritzi Burgstaller),
Virginia Hassell (Barmaid), Bee Starr (as herself), Six Pachas (as themselves), Poodles Hanneford and Fam-
ily (as themselves), Fred Derrick (An Old Clown), Oscar Lowande (A Clown), Edouard Grobe (Footman),
Poodles Hanneford (First Cossack, Bus Boy), John Henry (Archbishop), George Bickel (Pelican), Billy (aka
William) Culloo (Porter), Florence Morrison (Frau Schlumberger); The Sixteen Foster Girls; The Eight
Liebling Singers; Hussars of the Palace Guard: Billy Arnold, Michael Brent, William Browne, Russell Bry-
1926–1927 Season 375
ant, Thomas Coppe, Billy (aka William) Culloo, Edward Donohue, Tom Donohue, Herbert Eaddy, Frank
Horn, Paul Jones, Starr Jones, Herbert Lyle, Gerald Moore, Donald McGill, Ray Moore, Alfred Russ, Bob
Schutte, Harry Shackelford, Sam True, Roy Vitalis, Max Wolfe, John Zimmerman; Circus Attendants:
Billy (aka William) Culloo, Thomas Coppe, Edward Donohue, Gerald Moore, Alfred Russ, Max Wolfe;
Clowns: Billy Arnold, Tom Donohue, Herbert Eaddy, Paul Jones, Donald McGill, Ray Moore, Sam True;
Equestrians: Dorothy Chamber, Jessica Hagenah, Florence Kowalewska, Margaret (Billy) Luerssen, Marie
Minor, Stella Shields, Eleanor Witmar; Guests: Dorothy Chamber, Karin Colon, Rose Gordon, Virginia
Hassell, Jessica Hagenah, Florence Kowalewska, Margaret (Billy) Luerssen, Wilma Miller, Marie Minor,
Phyllis Newkirk, Katherine O’Neale, Mary Paterson, Lolita Savini, Katherine Scheerer, Stella Sheilds,
Eleanor Witmar
The musical was presented in a prologue and three acts.
The action takes place during the years 1910–1912 in St. Petersburg and Vienna.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue: “(But) Who Cares?” (Guy Robertson, Officers); “Silhouette” (The Sixteen Foster Girls);
“Bravo, Bravo” (Robert O’Connor, James C. Morton, Audience); “There’s Something about You” (Gloria
Foy, Ted Doner); “Dear Eyes That Haunt Me” (Guy Robertson); “Same Old Love Songs” (Desiree Tabor,
Officers); “I Dare to Speak of Love to You” (Desiree Tabor, Guy Robertson); “Girls, I Am True to All of
You” (Ted Doner, The Sixteen Foster Girls); Finale (Desiree Tabor, Gloria Foy, Guy Robertson, George
Hassell, Ted Doner, Company, Poodles Hanneford and Family, The Sixteen Foster Girls)
Act Two: “Joy Bells” (Guests); “The Hussars’ Song” (Guy Robertson, George Hassell, Officers); “The Blue
Eyes I Dream Of” (Desiree Tabor, Guy Robertson); “I Like the Boys” (Gloria Foy, Officers, The Sixteen
Foster Girls); “What Do You (D’ya) Say?” (lyric by Raymond Klages, music by Jesse Greer) (Gloria Foy,
Ted Doner); “Guarded” (Ted Doner, Poodles Hanneford, James C. Morton); Finale (Desiree Tabor, Guy
Robertson, George Hassell, Robert O’Connor, Company, The Sixteen Foster Girls, The Eight Liebling
Singers)
Act Three: “Waiters” (Poodles Hanneford, James C. Morton, The Sixteen Foster Girls, Waiters); “Dear Eyes
That Haunt Me” (reprise) (Guy Robertson, The Eight Liebling Singers); “I’ll Be Waiting” (Gloria Foy, Ted
Doner, The Sixteen Foster Girls); Finale (Company)
The Circus Princess was the Shuberts’ lavish production of Emmerich Kalman’s Die Zirkusprinzessin,
which had premiered on March 26, 1926, at the Theatre an der Wien in Vienna. The presentation was a hy-
brid of circus and operetta, enjoyed a six-month run at the Winter Garden for a total of almost two-hundred
performances, and two days after the New York closing, the show began a national tour at Boston’s Shubert
Theatre on October 10 with most of the Broadway leads.
Despite the circus trappings, the show was still Operetta 101 with its prince-in-disguise story. In this
case, Russian Prince Alexis Orloff (Guy Robertson) is disinherited, and as Mr. X, our Alexis joins the Circus
Stanislavsky where he becomes a famous acrobat and horseback rider. He always wears a mask to hide his
true identity, and the New York Times reported his disguise was about the “most revealing” one “ever used
in an attempt to conceal the human visage,” and “with it or without” he’s “still Guy Robertson.”
Because the Grand Duke Sergius (George Hassell) has been turned down in his proposal of marriage to Prin-
cess Fedora Palinska (Desiree Tabor), he devises a plan of revenge by encouraging Alexis to woo her under the
guise of being a real-life prince (oh, what a joke on the Grand Duke!). Fedora and Alexis fall in love and marry,
and when Fedora discovers Alexis is not only an imposter but also a common circus performer, she in a royal
rage ups and leaves him (and what a merry joke on her when she finds out the faux prince is a real one!). Of
course, the two are reunited. John Anderson in the Minneapolis Star Tribune noted that the story’s up-and-down
“blisses of love, anger, [and] misunderstanding” eventually pave the way for a finale of “ultimate happiness
among high life and high notes.” Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press commented that the necessary third act
got the lovers “back to singing duets,” and Time mentioned that prior to the reconciliation Alexis stays married
to Fedora “because he is so handsome.”
The Times said the circus elements added “color and interest” to what was otherwise a show in the
“typical operetta tradition.” As a result, Poodles Hanneford was a “diverting equestrian clown” with his
“hard-riding” family members, and there was an “expert” aerialist (Bee Starr), six tumblers (the Pachas), and
various clowns, not to mention the “apparently indefatigable” Sixteen Foster Girls and their dance routines.
The critic reported that he was “surrounded on one side by cornetists who had overflowed the orchestra pit,”
but for all the size of the orchestra Kalman’s score didn’t seem to be his “best.” However, the songs were
“melodious” and had “better than a fair share of lush and lilting Viennese tunes.” Robertson was in “good
voice” and “scored what appeared to be something of a personal success,” Tabor (who was a last-minute re-
placement in the role of the princess) “worked pretty hard,” and Hassell was “much funnier than his material
should have permitted him to be.”
Time noted that “invariably” and “inevitably” operettas showed “the travail of royalty romancing
incognito,” and The Circus Princess went one better by “employing the relatively novel device of double
incognito.” When Hanneford and his horses took over the stage, the show was “lively,” and in the final
act a waiter (George Bickel) “partially resurrected” the evening “with a few laughs.” Charles Brackett in
the New Yorker said the “virtues” of the music “almost entirely concealed” the “worst set of lyrics that
ever outraged these old ears,” and the operetta itself would be “pretty awful” except “for a number of cir-
cumstances which make it one of the most entertaining musical shows in town.” These circumstances in-
cluded “sawdust” interludes of “sheer rapture,” a comic performance by Hassell (who had never been more
“gloriously ridiculous”), and the singing of Robertson and the chorus, all of which allowed the musical to
go “toward the top of the list of musical offerings.” Brackett warned that the final act was “interminably
tedious” with its “amorous reconciliations,” and he only mentioned this in order to be “entirely on the up
and up with my public.”
Mantle said the show was “big in size but no better than just average in quality,” and while Robertson
got “quite a reception” and Tabor was “in from the road” to sing the role of the princess, the critic “failed
to understand the excitement about these two people, capable though they are.” Bushnell Dimond in the
Muncie Star Press found the evening “extremely amusing” and “distinctly entertaining,” and praised the
production’s “excellent taste.” In one scene, Robertson was “almost indecently real, and hugely interest-
ing,” and he suspected many of Hassell’s gags were “probably concocted ad lib.” The décor of “cool greens
and aquamarine blues and dim golds” made a “pleasant” background, and Kalman’s score carried on the
“Viennese waltz tradition with good results.” But the lyrics seemed to have “been chiseled out by an epi-
leptic office boy.”
Dixie Hines in the Huntington (Indiana) Press praised the “lavish, spectacular, tuneful and highly enter-
taining affair”; the Cincinnati Enquirer said the circus acts were “as good as may be found at the real circus
now at Madison Square Garden,” and Kalman’s score was “at all times appropriate to the occasion, sprightly,
melodious, smashing, but not possessing the lilting quality” of his earlier Countess Marirza; Anderson liked
the “handsome and resounding” show and said Hassell was “tremendously funny” and behaved “like a ner-
vous accordion at an earthquake”; and Alexander Woollcott in the Indianapolis Star praised the “merry” and
“tuneful” operetta, and noted that Hassell, Bickel, and Hanneford “kept your correspondent in such a state of
chuckles that he quite forgot his habitual disdain for this form of entertainment.”
Songs published but apparently not used in the Broadway production were “You Are Mine Evermore,”
“Like You,” and “We Two Shall Meet Again.”
A German silent film version was released in 1929, and two Russian adaptations were made in 1958 and
1982, the former as Mister X. Among the recordings is Eurodisk’s single CD set of highlights sung in German
(with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and with Robert Stolz conducting the Berliner Symphony).
HIT THE DECK!

“The Nautical Musical Comedy Hit”
Theatre: Belasco Theatre

Opening Date: April 25, 1927; Closing Date: February 25, 1928
Performances: 352
Lyrics: Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
Based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne.
1926–1927 Season 377
Direction: Alexander Leftwich; Producers: Vincent Youmans and Lew Fields; Choreography: Seymour Felix;
Scenery: Ward and Harvey; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Paul Lan-
nin
Cast: Brian Donlevy (“Donkey”), Arnold Brown (“Dinty”), Jack Bruns (Marine), Franker Woods (“Battling”
Smith), Ben Carswell (Chick), Cliff Whitcomb (Gus), Robert Duenweg (Bob), Stella Mayhew (Lavinia),
Louise Groody (Looloo), John McCauley (Ensign Alan Clark), “Bobbie” Perkins (Toddy Gale), Madeline
Cameron (Charlotte Payne), Roger Gray (Mat), Charles King (“Bilge” Smith), Edward Allan (“Bunny”),
Jerome Daley (Captain Roberts), Anthony Knilling (Ah Lung), Billie Sibelle (Mun Fang), Peggy Conway
(Rita), Ah Chong (Coolie), Nancy Corrigan (Chia Shun), The Locust Sisters (Four Missionaries), The Lyric
Quartette (Four Mandarins); Dancers: Celie Neska, Lila Anderson, Margie Collins, Florence Rice, Olive
Pearson, Mars Craft, Gladys Pender, Elsie Lawritson, Beatrice Wilson, Jane Hurd, Jeanne West, May
Hunter, Fan Conway, William McGurn, Leo Nierle, Cecil Shires, Sid Salzberg, Jimmie Cushman, Murray
Browne, Jack Mead, John Kneley, Dan Sparks; Singers: Ruth Witmer, Mary Carney, Jeanne Sutro, Billie
Sibelle, Anne Austin, Harriet Britton, Nancy Corrigan, Rachel Chester, Kendall Northrup, Charles Mc-
Clelland, Victor Young, John Perkins
The action takes place during the present time in Newport, Rhode Island, aboard the U.S.S. Nebraska, and in
a seaport town in China.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Join the Navy” (Louise Groody, Gobs and Girls); “What’s a Kiss Among Friends?” (“Bobbie” Per-
kins, Madeline Cameron, Jack McCauley, Girls); “Harbor of My Heart” (Louise Groody, Charles King);
“Shore Leave” (Girls and Boys); “Lucky Bird” (Stella Mayhew); “Looloo” (Louise Groody, Boys); “Why,
Oh Why?” (Madeline Cameron, Boys and Girls); “Sometimes I’m Happy” (lyric by Irving Caesar) (Louise
Groody, Charles King); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening (Nancy Corrigan, Ensemble); “Hallelujah!” (Stella Mayhew, Boys and Girls); Finaletto
(Ensemble); “Hallelujah!” (reprise) (Stella Mayhew); “Looloo” (reprise) (Louise Groody, Boys); “Utopia”
(Louise Groody, Edward Allan); Finale (Company)
Vincent Youmans’s Hit the Deck! was one of the season’s biggest hits, and a perfect companion piece to
the composer’s 1925 smash No, No, Nanette. Both starred Louise Groody, and both were lively examples of
the era’s lighthearted musical comedies that offered a “smart” alternative to romantic, old-fashioned operet-
tas. The score yielded two evergreens (the ballad “Sometimes I’m Happy” and the revival-like spiritual “Hal-
lelujah!”), and the show had a healthy national tour, a popular London production, and two film versions. But
the musical was Youmans’s last Broadway success, and although he contributed distinguished songs for later
shows he never again enjoyed another blockbuster. The success of Hit the Deck! must have been particularly
sweet for Youmans after his sour experience with Oh, Please! earlier in the season.
The musical marked Groody’s last Broadway musical, and her final New York appearance was in the 1933
play A Church Mouse. Besides her leading roles in No, No, Nanette and Hit the Deck!, she had earlier been
prominently featured in the Jerome Kern hits The Night Boat and Good Morning Dearie. During her career,
she introduced such memorable songs as “Tea for Two,” “I Want to Be Happy,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,”
“Blue Danube Blues,” and “Good Morning, Dearie.”
The heroine of Hit the Deck! is the plucky Looloo (Groody), who lives in Newport, Rhode Island, and,
according to Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press, runs a “Mocha and Java filling station” (that is, a coffee
house) where the gobs hang out. She’s in love with sailor “Bilge” Smith (Charles King), who has a roving eye,
and when his Naval duties take him to the other side of the world Looloo dutifully follows. In the meantime,
she inherits a fortune, and any possible romance between the two seems doomed because “Bilge” vows he’ll
never allow himself to be “kept” by a rich wife. Looloo handles this roadblock by renouncing her fortune and
putting all her money in trust for their future children.
The fast-and-loose story focused on the sailors and their girls, and the plot’s only misfire was a sequence
in the second act that depicted a minor Naval excursion to a seaport town in China in order to rescue
American missionaries. The critics decided this foray didn’t do much for the story, but they praised Ward
and Harvey’s realistic set for the U.S.S. Nebraska, a full stage affair that depicted the forward deck, replete
with its web mast and gun turrets. J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the set “spectacular,”
but noted the invasion business was “purely superfluous.”
Atkinson said the new musical “plunges through its routine business with snap, ginger and a cocky, hat-
on-one-eye self-confidence” with (“for once”) a male chorus that “fairly reeks with masculinity.” Further, the
“excellent” score offered “music of original patterns,” the choreography was “imaginative and boisterous,”
and the cast members were “galvanic.” Atkinson singled out four songs (“Join the Navy,” “Shore Leave,”
“Sometimes I’m Happy,” and “Hallelujah!”), but noted that for “What’s a Kiss Among Friends?” Youmans
had gone “beyond his ability in search of originality.”
Time praised the “merry tunes, jolly chorus, [and] salty high-spirits,” and said the musical had “the rar-
est quality of the season—humor.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “smart dancing, music, staging and
at least one sure-fire hit in song,” and this was “Hallelujah!,” a “slow, jazz-blue melody with New Yorkese
spiritual interpolated” that was “plugged with gusto and abandon” by Stella Mayhew (in a blackface role).
And Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register said “the gayest of the recent spectacles” was “bright, pretty
and much the superior of most of its kind,” especially “considering that it is a musical comedy.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press said the show was “just swell,” and at times he thought the
audience “was going to wreck the place, so riotous was its enjoyment.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincin-
nati Enquirer liked the “jolly proceedings” and said the “well-staged” production was “bubbling over with
comedy.” The songs were “peppy,” “tuneful,” and “fresh” (he singled out “Join the Navy,” “Sometimes I’m
Happy,” “Shore Leave,” and “Hallelujah!,” the latter with “a peculiar syncopation which is irresistible”), and
the deck scene for the Nebraska was “particularly attractive.”
During the Broadway run, “Why, Oh Why?” was revised as “Nothing Could Be Sweeter,” and “Utopia”
was revised as “If He’ll Come Back to Me.” Songs dropped in preproduction or during the tryout were:
“An Armful of You,” “For Myself Alone,” “Quite the Thing,” “The Thing to Do,” and “The Way You
Manoeuver.”
Many songs in the score were based on early Youmans material. “Hallelujah!” was a non-show composi-
tion Youmans had written during his military years, and “Sometimes I’m Happy” had been heard as “Come
On and Pet Me” (lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II and William Cary Duncan) in Mary Jane McKane. With a
new lyric by Irving Caesar, it was introduced as “Sometimes I’m Happy” for the 1925 musical A Night Out,
which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout. Youmans’s biographer Gerald Bordman notes that some of the
music for “What’s a Kiss Among Friends?” was heard as both “We’re Off to India” for Two Little Girls in
Blue and as “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You” for Wildflower; “Utopia” (which was later revised as “If
He’ll Come Back to Me”) was heard as “Utopia” in Two Little Girls in Blue; and the deleted “The Way You
Manoeuvre” had been heard as “Really, Would You Believe It?” in the out-of-town casualty A Night Out.
The first national tour starred Queenie Smith (Looloo) and Charles Purcell (“Bilge”), and a later one put
Kate Smith’s name above the title (in the role of Lavinia). The London production opened on November 3,
1927, at the Hippodrome for 277 performances with Ivy Tresmand (Looloo) and Stanley Holloway (“Bilge,”
and here named Bill). Eight numbers from the British production were recorded by various cast members as
well as the Hippodrome Orchestra, and these (along with selections from the London company of No, No, Na-
nette) were later issued on LP by WRC/EMI Records (LP # SH-176). The numbers are: “Join the Navy,” “Shore
Leave,” “Lucky Bird,” “Loo-Loo,” “Why, Oh Why?,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,” “Hallelujah!,” and “Fancy Me
Just Meeting You” (this last was written especially for the London production, with music by Youmans and
lyric by Weston and Lee).
A studio cast recording of selections from the score was issued by Epic Records (LP # LN-3569) on a pairing
with Jerome Kern’s The Cat and the Fiddle (1931). The songs are “Join the Navy,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,”
“Why, Oh Why?,” “Harbor of My Heart,” and “Hallelujah!,” along with “I Know That You Know” (from
Youmans’s Oh, Please!), and the singers are Doreen Hume, Denis Quilley, and the Michael Sammes Singers.
The collection Vincent Youmans Revisited (Painted Smiles CD # PSCD-142) includes “Keepin’ Myself for
You” (which was written for the 1929 film version) and “Come on and Pet Me” (which as noted was rewritten
as “Sometimes I’m Happy”). The collection Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans (Arabesque
Records CD # Z-6670) includes “Hallelujah!,” “An Armful of You,” and “Sometimes I’m Happy,” and The
Carioca: Songs of Vincent Youmans Arabesque CD # Z-6692) includes “Why, Oh Why?,” “Lucky Bird,” and
“Keepin’ Myself for You.”
1926–1927 Season 379
The 1929 film version was released by RKO, and the final thirty minutes were shot in Technicolor. The
cast included Polly Walker (as Looloo, who had appeared in two musicals by George M. Cohan, Molly Malone
for The Merry Malones and the title role in Billie); Jack Oakie (“Bilge”); June Clyde (Toddy); and, from the
original Broadway cast, Roger Gray (Mat) and Franker Woods (Bat, aka “Battling,” Smith). The direction was
by Luther Reed, and the musical direction was by Victor Baravalle, one of the busiest Broadway conductors of
the era. Retained from the original production were: “Hallelujah!,” “Harbor of My Heart,” “Join the Navy,”
“Nothing Could Be Sweeter” (a rewritten version of “Why, Oh Why?,” which had been replaced by “Nothing
Could Be Sweeter” during the Broadway run), “Sometimes I’m Happy,” and “An Armful of You,” which had
been cut prior to the opening of the original Broadway production. The film included a new song by Youmans,
“Keepin’ Myself for You” (lyric by Sidney Clare). Unfortunately, the film appears to be lost.
The 1955 MGM film version was in name only, and, besides the title itself, the movie included songs by
Youmans and a plot that revolved around sailors, in this case, three sailors out on the town for shore leave (but
here the setting was San Francisco, not New York). The cast members included Jane Powell, Tony Martin,
Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Ann Miller, Kay Armen, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Raymond, Russ Tamblyn, J.
Carrol Naish, Richard Anderson, and Jane Darwell. The direction was by Roy Rowland and the choreography
by Hermes Pan. The film retained six numbers from the Broadway production (“Sometimes I’m Happy,”
“Lucky Bird,” “Join the Navy,” “Looloo,” “Why, Oh Why?,” and “Hallelujah!”); one that was dropped from
the stage version during preproduction (“An Armful of You”); one that was written for the 1929 film version
(“Keepin’ Myself for You”); two songs from other Youmans musicals (from Oh, Please!, “I Know That You
Know,” lyric by Anne Caldwell; and from Great Day!, “More Than You Know,” lyric by Edward Eliscu and
Billy Rose). There was also a song from Youmans’s trunk that was fitted with a lyric by Leo Robin and added
especially for the movie (“The Lady from the Bayou”). It would seem that “A Kiss or Two” might also be a
trunk song (The Hollywood Musical credits the lyric to Robin). The film also included a non-Youmans inter-
polation (“Chiribiribee,” aka “Ciribiribin,” lyric and music by A. Pestalazza, aka A. Pestalozzi, and English
lyric by Howard Johnson).
The 1955 soundtrack album was released by MGM Records (LP # E-3163), and an augmented soundtrack
was issued on CD by Rhino Records (# R2-76668) with previously unreleased material, including outtakes.
The DVD, which includes bonus material, was released by Warner Brothers as part of the nine-film set Classic
Musicals from the Dream Factory Vol. 3.
Hit the Deck! was based on Hubert Osborne’s comedy Shore Leave, which had opened on August 8, 1922,
for 151 performances at the Belasco, which was later the home for the musical. Osborne’s play was also the
basis for Irving Berlin’s hit 1936 film musical Follow the Fleet, which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
and included such gems as “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Let Yourself Go,” “We Saw the Sea,” “I’m
Putting All My Eggs in One Basket,” “Get Thee Behind Me Satan,” and “But Where Are You.”
OH, ERNEST!
“A New Musical Comedy” / “Musical Comedy Sensation”
Theatre: Royale Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Earl Carroll Theatre)
Performances: 56
Book and Lyrics: Francis DeWitt
Music: Robert Hood Bowers
Based on the 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
Direction: William J. Wilson; Producer: P. T. Rossiter; Choreography: Ralph Riggs; Scenery: Ward and Harvey
Studios; Costumes: Nesor Costume Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Robert Hood Bowers
Cast: William Jordan (Sir Percy Middowshire), Ralph Riggs (James Lane), Harry McNaughton (Algernon
Moncrieff, aka Algy, aka Bunbury), Phyllis Austin (Jessica Esmond), Hal Forde (Jack, aka John, aka Ernest
Worthing), Flavia Arcaro (Lady Bracknell), Marjorie Gateson (Gwendolyn Fairfax), Katharine Witchie
(Martha), Vivian Marlowe (Jane), Dorothy Dilley (Cecily Cardew), Sonia Winfield (Miss Prism), Jethro
Warner (Reverend Canon Chasuble), Barbara Newberry (Pollyanna Montague), Patricia Wynne (Peggy
Vernon), Edith Mae Wright (Anne Aubrey), Dimples Riede (Clarice Chitworth), Dorothea Mabie (Evelyn
Stuart); Friends of Cecily: Wilma Roelof, Florence Gunther, Anita Loring, Dorothy Dawn, Virginia Myers,
Erma Chase, Mae Bligh
The action takes place circa 1895 in London and Hertfordshire.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “On the Beach” (Harry McNaughton, Phyllis Austin, Patricia Wynne, Edith Mae Wright, Dimples
Riede, Dorothea Mabie); “Taken by Surprise” (Marjorie Gateson, Hal Forde); “Ancestry” (Hal Forde, Fla-
via Arcaro); “Cupid’s College” (Marjorie Gateson, Harry McNaughton, Hal Forde, Patricia Wynne, Edith
Mae Wright, Dimples Riede, Dorothea Mabie); “Didoes” (Harry McNaughton, Ralph Riggs, Phyllis Aus-
tin, Katharine Witchie, Patricia Wynne, Edith Mae Wright, Dimples Riede, Dorothea Mabie); “Over the
Garden Wall” (Vivian Marlowe, Maids); “Cecily” (Dorothy Dilley, Sonia Winfield); “Let’s Pretend” (Harry
McNaughton, Dorothy Dilley); “Specialty Waltz” (Ralph Riggs, Katharine Witchie); “Pollyanna” (Barbara
Newberry, Girls); Finale: “Don’t Scold” (Company)
Act Two: Interlude: “Dastardly Attack on W. Epigram” (Marjorie Gateson); Dance (Girls); “Give Me Some-
one” (Dorothy Dilley, Girls); “Just a Little Stranger” (Barbara Newberry, Girls); “Rose in Bloom” (Hal
Forde, Marjorie Gateson); Finaletto: “Tangles” (Company); “There’s a Muddle” (Hal Forde); Dance (Ralph
Riggs, Katharine Witchie); “Give Me Someone” (reprise) (Dorothy Dilley, Barbara Newberry); “Never
Trouble Trouble” (Marjorie Gateson, Dorothy Dilley, Harry McNaughton, Hal Forde, Girls); Finale
Oh, Ernest! was a musical version of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. The
musical opened to poor reviews, and in an attempt to overcome critical and audience apathy the producer
radically revised the production about halfway through the Broadway run. But the changes didn’t help, and
the show closed after just seven weeks.
The musical not only added chorus girls to Wilde’s original, but a new character was introduced, one Pol-
lyanna Montague (Barbara Newberry), a show girl from Indiana. Otherwise, the story pretty much followed
Wilde. Friends Algernon (Harry McNaughton) and Jack, aka John (Hal Forde) discover they both lead double
lives for mostly social reasons; the former has adopted the name of Bunbury, and the latter the name of Ernest.
Jack is guardian to Cecily (Dorothy Dilley) and is in love with Algernon’s cousin Gwendolyn (Marjorie
Gateson), but faces two obstacles: Gwendolyn has decided that only a man with the name of Ernest could ever
win her heart, and her mother Lady Bracknell (Flavia Arcaro) is wary of Jack because he lacks proper social
credentials. All ends well with the revelations that Jack comes from a high-born family, is related to Lady
Bracknell, and has the legal name of Ernest. Because Algernon and Cecily have fallen in love, and because
the governess Miss Prism (Sonia Winfield) and Reverend Chasuble (Jethro Warner) have also found romance,
the play concludes with three happy couples. With its avalanche of epigrams, Wilde’s comedy is a classic, but
unfortunately the musical came nowhere near to capturing the wit and flavor of the original.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the musical’s creators had taken the “cadaver” of Wilde’s
comedy and turned it into “a dance of death on the coffin lid.” The work was “excessively witless,” and
“from almost any point of view it seems to be below the average of musical comedies.” The lines were “as
flat as they can be” with “perfunctory” serenades.” Atkinson was also cool to Wilde’s original play, and said
it seemed “rather blowsy—a little fat and jaundiced.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker was amazed “what
miracles a pair of scissors, the introduction of some third-rate musical comedy material, and some ghastly
performances” could do to “the most sparkling play produced in the nineteenth century,” and he decided Oh,
Ernest! was what Wilde “in his more cynical moments would have imagined America might do to him.” But
Ralph Riggs provided “ingenious” choreography, and Time said the dances were “agreeable” even though the
musical itself was “as sodden and pale as a 10-cent portion of mashed potatoes.”
Arthur Pollack in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that most of Wilde’s original dialogue had been re-
tained, but “all their sparkle [had] gone from them like the bubbles from stale champagne.” The score was
“good” but “conventional,” the staging “gawky,” and the would-be “glib” performers “merely gobble[d] their
words.” The chorus girls were “only a few but oxen all, girls as heavy-footed as most of Wilde’s myriad imi-
tators.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press said the musical was “on view—but briefly, I trust.” The
adaptation was a “masterly botch” of “mirthless ignominy” with “some of the most terrible wise cracks ever
1926–1927 Season 381
heard on any stage.” Variety said the musical was “not New York stuff, and even less is it road stuff.” It took
“a stroke of genius to make Oscar Wilde sound, act and play stupid,” and this was “about the only genius
displayed” in the “undistinguished” production.
For the revamped version, Clifford Grey revised the book, lyricist Leo Robin and composer Joe Meyer pro-
vided additional songs, Pearl Eaton succeeded Riggs as choreographer (although Riggs remained with the show
in his role of James Lane), and Claire Grenville succeeded Flavia Arcaro as Lady Bracknell. For the revision,
there was a major reordering of the musical numbers; a total of six songs were added (“Tea,” “Mama,” “True
to Two,” “There’s Trouble,” “Shake a Little Shoe,” and “What Can a Girl Do?”) and nine were cut (“Ances-
try,” “Didoes,” “Cecily,” “Let’s Pretend,” “Dastardly Attack on W. Epigram,” “Rose in Bloom,” “Tangles,”
“There’s a Muddle,” and “Never Trouble Trouble”).
Oh, Ernest! was the first of at least a dozen musical adaptations of Wilde’s comedy. Who’s Earnest? was
telecast on CBS as a U.S. Steel Hour presentation on October 9, 1957, with lyrics by Anne Croswell and mu-
sic by Lee Pockriss, and with a cast that included Edward Mulhare, Dorothy Collins, and Martyn Green. As
Ernest in Love, an expanded version opened Off Broadway on June 14, 1960, at the Gramercy Arts Theatre
for 111 performances, and its delicious score includes “The Muffin Song” and “A Handbag Is Not a Proper
Mother” (the cast album was released by Columbia Records LP # OL-5530 and later issued on CD by DRG
Records # 19045).
With lyrics and music by Vivian Ellis, Half in Earnest was produced in U.S. regional theatre in 1957, and
was later staged in Britain; other British versions include Found in a Handbag (1957), Earnest in Tune, or My
Dark Gentleman (1958), Ernest (1959), and The Importance (1984). The latter was presented in London, and
in 2016 a studio cast recording was issued on CD by Imports Records. Alec Wilder’s Nobody’s Earnest (1974)
played in U.S. regional theatre and its script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1983, and Dear
Ernest (1972) appears to have been presented only in Britain. On June 30, 2000, an Off-Off-Broadway adapta-
tion titled Ernest played for seven performances, and a German adaptation as Mein Freund Bunbury opened
on October 2, 1964, and was recorded by Nova Records (LP # 8-85-031).
THE WHITE SISTER

Theatre: Wallack’s Theatre

Performances: 7
Libretto and Music: Clement Giglio
Based on the 1909 novel The White Sister by Francis Marion Crawford and the 1909 stage adaptation by
Crawford and by Walter Hackett.
Direction: Clement Giglio; Producer: Arthur F. Warde; Musical Direction: Chevalier Lovreiglio (no other
credits available)
Cast: Josie Jones (Sister Giovanna), Maria Spinelli (Countess Chiaramonte), Eugene Scudder (Captain
Giovanni Severi), Enzo Sarafini (Lieutenant Basile), George Puliti (Monsignor Seracinesca), Alexander
Giglio (Bresca), S. Gridelli (Inspector), G. Magni (Doctor); Chorus
The action takes place mostly in a cathedral and a convent.
Note: The program didn’t include musical numbers.

Clement Giglio’s opera The White Sister played seven performances on Broadway. It opened three months
to the day of the Metropolitan Opera Company’s premiere of Deems Taylor’s The King’s Henchman, and
while Taylor’s opera was one of the season’s major and most widely covered musical events, The White Sister
came and went without a ripple. Despite wildly divergent receptions at the time of their openings, both works
are virtually forgotten today.
The work was presented in English, and this was its third New York production. The opera was based on
Francis Marion Crawford’s 1909 novel The White Sister, which Crawford and Walter Hackett adapted for the
stage. The play opened at Daly’s Theatre on September 27, 1909, for forty-eight performances, and two silent film
versions were released in 1915 and 1923. The first was directed by Fred E. Wright with Viola Allen and Richard
C. Travers in the leading roles, the second by Henry King with Lillian Gish and Ronald Colman in the leads. A
third film version released in 1933 was directed by Victor Fleming and starred Helen Hayes and Clark Gable.
The opera had first been presented Off Broadway at the Nation Theatre on February 18, 1926, with Mil-
dred Parisette as Sister Giovanna (Parisette created the role of Margot during the tryout of The Desert Song
when it was known as Lady Fair, and was succeeded by Vivienne Segal for Broadway). The opera was sung
in Italian, and was known as both La Monaca Blanca and The White Sister. The Hartford Courant reported
that the March 3rd evening performance at the Nation Theatre would be broadcast live by New York’s WBPI
radio station from 9:00 to 11:00 and would be conducted by Giglio.
On May 18, the Courant announced that The White Sister would open at Hartford’s Parsons’ Theatre
beginning on May 24 after a run of fifty consecutive performances in its Off-Broadway production. The score
was reportedly “melodious and in the fashion of the early Puccini,” and an advertisement for the production
said the company numbered seventy-five singers, ballet dancers, and musicians (the ticket prices ranged from
$1.15 to $2.88). The critic for the Courant said La Monaca Blanca was “very effectively sung” but “very
inadequately produced.” The libretto was “overlong” and dramatically undeveloped, the music had melodic
“charm” but “little dramatic value,” the décor was inadequate, and the dancers “were practically invisible
to the audience” (but they were given “charmingly melodic dream music” for their ballet). Ilda Sara sang the
title role and was in “excellent voice, though without distinguished dramatic strength.” Overall, the music
was “well worth while” and was “a great credit to its apparently quite youthful composer,” and the opera
deserved “a full-size orchestra and a good scenic environment.”
The opera was revived in New York the following fall on October 7 at the Fourteenth Street Theatre with
Mayor James J. Walker in attendance; the New York Times reported that three singers would alternate in the
title role (Doris Malbro and the “Mmes. Veneroni and [Josie] Jones”).
In reviewing the current production, which opened at Wallack’s Theatre on May 27, 1927, and played for
seven performances, the Times said the original Italian text and the score were of “Latin derivation.” The
music was “conventionally Italian” and particularly reminiscent of the verisimo school, a type of music now
“largely outmoded,” and it had “little originality or individual savor.”
The tragic story focused on Captain Giovanni Severi (Eugene Scudder) and Sister Giovanna (Josie Jones).
Years ago they were engaged, and soon thereafter he was called to war. Giovanna’s jealous sister falsely re-
ported his death on the battlefield, and as a result Giovanna joined a convent. When Giovanni returns, he’s
unable to persuade Giovanna to abandon her vows, and even resorts to force and trickery to compel her to
leave the Church. But Giovanna says she’s as much wedded to her religious vows as he is to his military du-
ties. Overcome with grief and remorse, Giovanni kills himself and dies in Giovanna’s arms.
TALES OF RIGO
“A Drama with Music”

Performances: 8
Book: Maurice V. Samuels
Lyrics and Music: Ben Schwartz
Based on a story by Hyman Adler and the 1925 play Drift by Adler and by Maurice V. Samuels.
Direction: Clarence Derwent; Producer: Jacob Oppenheimer; Choreography: Musical numbers staged by Clar-
ence Derwent; Scenery: August Vimnera; Costumes: Mahieu; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Uncredited
Cast: Mildred Holland (Maria), Maurice M. Fein (Roberts), Jay Fassett (Bones), Hugh Kidder (Jose), Hyman
Adler (Rigo), Mira Nirska (Zita), David Leonard (Seton), Marguerite Borough (Vivien Ranger), Warren Ster-
ling (Ralph Clark), Madeline Grey (Mrs. Ranger), George Stillwell (Henry Clark), Carl Reed (C. Marsden),
Gladys Wilson (Mrs. Marsden); Gypsies: Samuel Nusbam (Pablo), Walter Deloff (Kashi), Andrew Salama
(Buzi)
The action takes place during the present time in and around San Diego.
1926–1927 Season 383
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I’ll Tell You Someday” (Hyman Adler, Mira Nirska); “In Romany” (Hyman Adler, Gypsies)
Act Two: “What Care We?” (aka “Song of Destiny”) (Mira Nirska, Gypsies); “Little Princess” (Mira Nirska);
“Zita” (Hyman Adler, Gypsies)
Act Three: “Rigo’s Last Lullaby” (lyric and music by Evelyn Adler) (Hyman Adler, Gypsies)
Violin-playing and fortune-telling gypsies meet snobbish high society types in modern-day San Diego!
Who could ask for anything more? Well, very few asked, and so Tales of Rigo closed out the season with a
one-week run.
The musical was based on a story by Hyman Adler, which he and Maurice V. Samuels dramatized as Drift,
an Off-Broadway play that opened on November 24, 1925, at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Adler played the role
of Rigo, and reprised the character for the musical version, which was adapted by Samuels with a musical
score by Ben Schwartz.
The main character is the fiery gypsy Zita (Mira Nirska), who according to J. Brooks Atkinson in the
New York Times is “lavishly endowed with ‘it.’” She’s in love with wealthy society boy Ralph Clark (Warren
Sterling), who comes from the highest echelons of San Diego’s upper crust, but bitchy snob Vivian Ranger
(Marguerite Borough) wants Ralph all to herself. With vindictive cunning, Vivian invites Zita to a grand din-
ner party where Ralph’s father, Henry Clark (George Stillwell), will be in attendance. Vivian is certain Zita
will faux-pas herself out the front door, and just to ensure that the upstart makes a spectacle of herself Vivian
connives with the villainous Seton (David Leonard) to maneuver Zita into a compromising situation.
But Vivian’s devious plans fall through when the local chapter of the San Diego gypsies crash the party
and Rigo, whom Zita has always assumed is her father, announces to one and all that Clark once had an af-
fair with a gypsy, and the result of their union was Zita! And Zita’s mother is no less than Rigo’s daughter!
Which makes Zita’s grandfather none other than Rigo! And Ralph is but Clark’s foster son! As a result, Zita
and Ralph can marry, and so put that in your pipe and smoke it, spiteful Vivian!
Atkinson said that “friends” of the show “applauded warmly,” but “pundits of the drama” began “to
trickle away” after the first of three acts, all of which constituted a very “long performance.” Otherwise, the
evening lacked “nothing so much as entertainment,” and had entertainment been provided the musical might
not have seemed “so boring.” Atkinson noted that the cast members were “below standard in their exhibi-
tions of thespian artistry,” and he mentioned that an unnamed “professional mortician” said Tales of Rigo
wasn’t even “adequate.” Arthur Pollack in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the music wasn’t “bad,” but
found “little” that was “pleasing or real” in the “extremely elementary” presentation, and Variety said the
direction of the “still-born affair” was “hard, angular, creaky and of the two-a-week stock company school”
with Nirska “the apotheosis of the miscast amateur” who “sang shrilly and sourly” and gave “an all-around
performance like nothing that ever a just providence let live.”
Lois Long in the New Yorker said the “innocuous, pathetic trifle” included “incredibly clean gypsies”
who at intervals appeared on stage “to be merry.” Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press reported that the
first-night audience “took no account of the growing sentiment opposed to capital punishment.” Dixie Hines
in the Wilmington Morning News said “we didn’t like it, and except for the members of the cast and the
producers, we haven’t found anybody else who liked it.” Time stated that the “stagnant” evening offered
“tolerable” and “vaguely familiar” songs, and for “sheer dramatic prostration” the musical was “positively
pathological.” Perhaps the highlight of the presentation occurred during the show’s second performance.
Time reported that two cats made their impromptu Broadway debut in a surprise appearance, “wandered”
about the stage for a few moments, and then scurried off. They knew they were in a turkey.
1927–1928 Season
NAMIKO-SAN
Theatre: Selwyn Theatre
Performances: 16
Libretto and Music: Aldo Franchetti
Based on an unidentified ancient Japanese play in a translation by Leo Duran.
Note: The production was presented in two parts; the first consisted of dance and pantomime interludes and
the second was the two-act opera Namiko-San.
Direction: For Namiko-San, direction uncredited (Sessue Hayakawa supervised the production); Producer:
Florence M. P. Van Kirk; Choreography: For first-act dance interludes, choreography by Julia Hudak and
Serge Sergieff; Scenery: Kosai Studios; Costumes: Tamaki Miura; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Aldo Franchetti
Cast: For Dance and Pantomime Interludes—Julia Hudak, Serge Sergieff; Dance Ensemble: Louise Ro-
thacker, Stella Rothacker, Celia Pekelner, and Edna Kuhler; For Namiko-San—Tamaki Miura (Namiko-
San), Graham Marr (Jiro Vanyemon), Julian Oliver (Yasui), Felice de Gregorio (Sato), Joseph Cavadore
(Kojiro), Hazel Cavadore (Towa-San), Fausto Bozza (Soldier), Yolanda Rinaldi and Joseph Cavadore
(The Lovers); Spirits of the Woods: Julia Hudak, Serge Sergieff, Louise Rothacker, Stella Rothacker,
Celia Pekelner, and Edna Kuhler; Dance Ensemble (Wood Sprites, Samurai, Attendants of the Daimyo,
Others); The production was presented in two parts. Prior to part one, the orchestra played Schubert’s
Unfinished Symphony.
Part One: Dance and Pantomime Interludes: “Mousme Dance” (music by Edgar Stillman Kelly) (Ensemble):
“A Flirtation” (music by Meyer Helmund) (Julia Hudak, Serge Sergieff); “Cherry Blossoms” (music by
Strauss) (Ensemble); “A Mousme’s Farewell to Her Forbidden Fisherman Sweetheart” (arranged by Ta-
maki Miura; pantomime performed by Julia Hudak and Serge Sergieff); “Broken Doll” (music by Tamaki
Miura; pantomime performed by the ensemble); “Warrior Dance” (music by Fosse) (Serge Sergieff); “Varia-
tions” (music by Taliaferri) (Julia Hudak); “Wedding Dance” (music by Michilos) (Julia Hudak, Serge
Sergieff); “Fantasy Tzigane” (music by Bizet) (Julia Hudak, Serge Sergieff)
Part Two: Namiko-San
The opera was presented in two acts.

The action takes place in ancient Japan.
The program for the opera didn’t include a song list.
Aldo Franchetti’s opera Namiko-San premiered in Chicago, was later presented at the Brooklyn Academy
of Music on April 5, 1927, and then two months later opened on Broadway for sixteen performances. The
385
work was sung in English, and the composer had created the piece as an alternate vehicle for soprano Tamaki
Miura, who heretofore had been relegated to guest artist status when she sang Madama Butterfly in numerous
productions of Puccini’s opera given in Europe and the United States. The Chicago and Brooklyn presenta-
tions were performed in one act, and the Brooklyn performance was presented on a double bill with Pietro
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. For Broadway, Namiko-San was slightly expanded, divided into two acts,
and Franchetti added an overture.
Namiko-San (Miura) is a geisha who lives in ancient Japan and serves the powerful daimyo Jiro Vanyenson
(Graham Marr) but falls in love with itinerant Buddhist monk Yasui (Julian Oliver). Jiro discovers Namiko-
San’s infidelity, and when the two men duel Namiko-San steps between them and takes the sword intended
for Yasui.
The New York Times said the music was “of the modern Italian school” and thus “strongly reminiscent
of Puccini.” There were many “pleasing passages,” but the score lacked “originality or melodic invention.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune decided the opera offered “nothing with which to interest Broadway,”
and at the second performance Miura “looked tearfully pained” when she realized there were “no more than
a hundred or so customers assembled to hear her.” Although the work was sung in English, “not many knew
that,” and the opera’s backers hoped in vain that a top ticket price of $3.30 would ensure that “enough of the
Metropolitan fringe” attended the presentation.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the story “conventional,” and predicted the score would prove “far
more interesting to lovers of music than of the spoken drama” because “musically” it was “entertaining and
frequently lyrical” although “not of great depth.” Miura was vivid and appealing and her voice was “delight-
fully fresh.” R.A.S. (Robert A. Simon) in the New Yorker noted that with the exception of Marr the principals
sang “in a strange tongue which sometimes sounded like English.” The “whole affair” was little more than a
“routine” opera with a libretto of “good conventional stuff” and music that “score[d] neatly and underline[d]
the play prettily” but lacked variety.
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press decided the “novelty” might “prove appealing” but was afraid
it was “foredoomed to a short life and a not very merry one.” Variety found the evening “tiresome and not
melodious enough,” and it was a “generally deficient musical excursion full of bombast, high notes and dic-
tion of so atrocious a nature that you’d never guess the plot.” Franchetti offered “familiar Italian strains,” and
the “nearest thing to real melody” was a first-act duet for Miura and Oliver.
For opening night, the first part of the presentation consisted of a series of dance and pantomime inter-
ludes choreographed, directed, and performed by Julia Hudak and Serge Sergieff, who were backed by a four-
woman ensemble. The Eagle reported that for the second performance a note in the program indicated that
Miura had decided the “dance divertissement interfered with the proper presentation of the opera itself,” and
so the entire first part was dropped after the first showing. Variety said Hudak and Sergieff seemed “uncer-
tain” of their own choreography with dances little more than in the nature of “school routines,” and Simon
described the dances as, “to phrase it gently, an ambitious waste of time.” Once the first part was dropped,
the opera began at 8:50 and ended at 10:45, and this period included one intermission.
Although no director was credited for the production, Namiko-San was “supervised” by Sessue Hay-
akawa, who today is best remembered for his performance as the Japanese officer in the 1957 Oscar-winning
film The Bridge on the River Kwai.
TALK ABOUT GIRLS

Theatre: Waldorf Theatre
Performances: 15
Book: William Carey Duncan and Daniel Kusell
Lyrics: Irving Caesar
Music: Harold Orlob and Stephen Jones
Based on the 1921 play Like a King by John Hunter Booth.
Direction: Daniel Kusell; Producers: Harry S. Oshrin and Sam H. Grisman; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scen-
ery: Walter Harvey; Costumes: Gertrude Johnson; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Gress
1927–1928 Season 387
Cast: Frances Upton (Jane Riker), William Cook (Andrew Lowe), William Frawley (Henry Quill), Edwin Fors-
berg (General Weston), Lillian Michel (Elsie), Spencer Charters (Calvin Lowe), Madelyn Killeen (Abigail),
Jane Taylor (Sue Weston), Floyd Marion (Charles Parsons), Florence Earle (Mrs. Alden), Russell Mack
(Philip Alden), Andrew Tombes (Dan Mason), Bernard McOwen (J. W. Savage), John Meehan Jr. (Sim-
mons), Joseph Smiley (George V. Grubble), Constance McKenzie (May James); Ladies of the Ensemble:
Florence Murray, Marie Marceline, Alice Akers, Ellen O’Brien, Kathleen McLoughlin, Alice O’Brien,
Madeline Janis, Edith Hayward, Betty Wright, Ida Berry, Gertrude Lowe, Lillian Michel, Gertrude Arthur,
Edna Hopper, Liane Mamet, Cora Stephens, Beth Milton, Helene Sheldon; Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Harold Ettus, Bernard Hassert, Frank Phillips, William Sahner, William Bailey, Aaron Fischer, Floyd
Marion, Richard Tyle, Kenneth Smith
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Lower Falls, Massachusetts.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “In Central Park” (Ensemble); “Come to Lower Falls” (Ensemble); “The Only Boy” (William Cook,
Ensemble); “Oo, How I Love You” (Madelyn Killeen, William Frawley); “Home Town” (Florence Earle,
Russell Mack); “Talk about Girls” (Russell Mack, Andrew Tombes); “A Lonely Girl” (Jane Taylor, Russell
Mack, Ensemble); “Maybe I Will” (Frances Upton, Andrew Tombes, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Heel and Toe” (Madelyn Killeen, Ensemble; Specialty Dancers: Constance McKenzie, John Mee-
han Jr.); “In Twos” (Jane Taylor, Russell Mack); “Sex Appeal” (Andrew Tombes, Ensemble); “That’s My
Man” (Jane Taylor, Frances Upton, Madelyn Killeen); “Nineteen Twenty-Seven” (Frances Upton, Ensem-
ble); Specialty (Constance McKenzie, John Meehan Jr.); “One Boy’s Enough for Me” (Jane Taylor, Boys);
“Maybe I Will” (reprise) (Frances Upton, Andrew Tombes); Finale (Company)
Talk about a fast flop. Talk about Girls was one of the season’s shortest-running book musicals, and yet
another disappointment for composer Harold Orlob. Despite numerous failures, he kept plugging away, and
finally his Broadway career came to an end with the infamous three-performance bomb Hairpin Harmony
(1943), for which he was the producer, librettist, lyricist, and composer.
Talk about Girls was a variation of sorts on the familiar story of the city boy who cons the small-towners.
Jerome Kern’s The City Chap was a similarly themed musical that didn’t make it, but Meredith Willson’s
smash The Music Man (1957) proved there was still life in the old yarn about the slicker among the hayseeds.
Penniless hero Philip Alden (Russell Mack) meets chauffeur Dan Mason (Andrew Tombes) in Central
Park, and because the latter’s Rolls-Royce is out of gas, he asks Alden to fetch some gasoline while he guards
the car. In return, Mason agrees to drive Alden anywhere he wants to go, and Alden, who hasn’t made it big
in the big city, decides to return to his hometown of Lower Falls, Massachusetts. When Alden arrives with a
driver and a Rolls-Royce, everyone assumes he’s a millionaire. And Alden and Mason devise a scheme to get
rich quick through an investment in a water works. Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star said the two
talk “a million out of skinflint village magnates, just how I don’t know,” but “it had something to do with
a water fall.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “innocuous” show was “fairly likable,” but the scen-
ery was “routine” and the lyrics and music were “indifferent.” The songs included “conventional serenades,”
and most of the singing lacked “distinction” and was sometimes “sour.” Most of the company improvised
their trills, “like the lithesome lark,” but Atkinson declared their voices “hath no charms to soothe this sav-
age critical breast.” Tombes and Mack, however, were “dry,” “droll,” “frank,” “agreeable,” and “amusing,”
and the two compensated “a good deal for the want of talent in the production.” Other characters included
the town’s political boss, his “anemic” son, a “grey-haired” mother, and a “jazz queen,” and all these types
were “played as described.”
Saul Wright in the New Yorker noted that for the first twenty minutes the score “seemed bearable but un-
necessary,” and then it seemed “someone was dispatched hastily to ask Mr. Gershwin how music is written”
and so the title song was reminiscent of the one from Oh, Kay! Time liked the show’s “good leg work” and
said Tombes and Mack “soothingly” played their roles, but otherwise the singing was “terrible.” Dimond said
the “dull” book was “on the edge of unbearable dreariness,” but the dances devised by choreographer Sammy
Lee turned the musical into a “bubbling and breathless carnival.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the evening offered “a bountiful supply of jazz”
with “lively” lyrics and music, and the comic leads provided “most of the funny moments.” Robert F. Sisk
in the Baltimore Sun noted that the plot allowed “for nice latitudes in the way of comedians, song and dance
numbers, and neat lyrical devices which add considerably to the thoroughly catchy tunes.” And Arthur Pol-
lock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that because the musical had undergone last-minute alterations,
the cast “seemed uncertain of their lines and not always sure what they ought to do at any given minute.”
The changes prior to the Broadway premiere and after the opening (which included the deletion of “In
Twos” and “Sex Appeal” and the addition of “Loving Time”) didn’t save the show, and (like its source, the
1921 play Like a King) it lasted for just two weeks. Later in the season, the song “Maybe I Will” was added
to the score of Yes, Yes, Yvette.
BOTTOMLAND
Theatre: Princess Theatre
Opening Date: June 27, 1927; Closing Date: July 13, 1927
Performances: 19
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Clarence Williams
Direction: Clarence Williams and Aaron Gates; Producer: Clarence Williams, Inc.; Choreography: Uncred-
ited; Scenery: Beaumont Studios; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Clar-
ence Williams
Cast: Eva Taylor (Mae Mandy Lee), Clarence Williams (Pianist), Sara Martin (Mammy Lee), James A. Lilliard
(Pappy Lee), Louis Cole (Jimmy), Katherine Henderson (Tough Tilly), Slim Henderson (Joshua), John Ma-
son (The Dumb Waiter), Charles Doyle (Henry Henpeck), “Nuggie” Johnson (Shiftless Sam), Raymond
Campbell (Skinny), Edward Farrow (Rastus), Olive Otiz (Sally), Willie Porter (Mammy Chloe), Emanuel
Weston (Kid Slick), Edwin Tonde (Policeman Doolittle), Craddock and Shadney (Specialty Dancers); Cho-
rus: Dot Campbell, Alice Carter, Gansea Otiz, Bertha Wright, Billie Yarbough, Dolly Langhorn, Portia
Hands, Edith Dunbar, Mildred Pritchard, Walter Miller
The action takes place during the present time in Bottomland, Mississippi, and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list musical numbers.
The new season continued with its string of flops. Clarence Williams’s Bottomland played for nineteen
performances, and served as a showcase for Williams and his wife Eva Taylor, both of whom were radio per-
sonalities and recording artists. Besides appearing in the musical, Williams produced, codirected, served as
musical director, and wrote the book, lyrics, and music (the score also included material by other lyricists
and composers).
Bottomland received mostly dismissive reviews. A few critics complained about the cheap if not shoddy
look of the show, and others decided it wasn’t “black” enough because it mimicked white musicals and didn’t
follow the lead of Shuffle Along with a more independent (that is, less white) point of view. The critics were
also disappointed that the production didn’t include a breakout performance, and noted that earlier revues and
musicals had introduced singers on the order of Ethel Waters, Florence Mills, and Josephine Baker. But dancer
Louis Cole received favorable notices and walked if not danced away with the show.
The story began in the small Mississippi town of Bottomland, where May Mandy Lee (Eva Taylor) longs
for a career on Broadway. She leaves her hometown for the big city, becomes quickly disillusioned with the
ways of New York and Broadway, and decides that life in Bottomland with her boyfriend Jimmy (Cole) and
her parents Mammy Lee (Sara Martin) and Pappy Lee (James A. Lilliard) is what she really wants.
The sub-headline of the review in the New York Times said the musical had an “ambling” book and
lacked “racial distinction.” In fact, the show was “baffling” because it was neither “essentially racial” nor a
1927–1928 Season 389
“slavish imitation of the Caucasian song and dance fiestas.” It struck a middle ground that was “amorphous”
with “routine and stereotyped” moments, and it made “too many compromises to arrive at anything defi-
nite.” Further, there were just one or two sequences (especially “Shoot ’Dat Pistol” aka “Shootin’ the Pistol,”
lyric by Chris Smith) that allowed the show to become “downright negroid” and thus give the evening “a
distinctiveness of its own.” The “loose” book went “no place in particular” and took “its time about it,” and
the “plentiful” score made it seem that “every tenth line was a song cue.”
Time said it was a “mistake” for Williams to have produced Bottomland because it was “full of poor
white pretensions, ineffective gusto, and brown whirligig.” Dixie Hines in the Huntington (IN) Press indi-
cated the “lugubrious affair” was “commonplace” and lacked “originality, interest or humor.” Alison Smith
in the Louisville (KY)Courier-Journal noted the evening “had little to recommend it except its confiding na-
ivete and that spontaneous racial hilarity which is always there whenever two or three colored entertainers
are gathered together.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show was “mediocre” with an unimaginative plot,
and noted that “a hundred musical comedies have told [the story] before this and told it better.” But the cast
worked “terrifically,” and Louis Cole was “the best-looking person in the company, excelling the chorus girls
easily in beauty, acting self-consciously as if a little spoiled and dancing jauntily.” In fact, “there ought to
[have been] more of his dancing.” Saul Wright in the New Yorker also noted that Cole was “beautiful.”
Pollock complained about the number of encores, all of which slowed down the evening (this was a com-
mon complaint by critics well into the 1940s). The production required a “shrewd” director who knew what
to retain and what to “eliminate,” and Wright commented that the show was “miles too long.” The Pitts-
burgh Courier said the musical had “a wealth of material” but fell victim to “inferior directing,” and if the
“unnecessary clap-trap” could have been weeded out and the “really good material” rearranged, the produc-
tion might have been “whipped into a fair summer show for Broadway and a good road show.” Further, “the
intensely racial people who are clamoring for more plays by Negroes, about Negroes and for Negroes, should
see Bottomland.” The critic also reported that references to “nappy hair” went over the heads of white audi-
ence members, and so for the benefit of whites the script included familiar references to craps and chicken
(the critic wondered why the script didn’t get around to the mention of watermelons).
Variety said the score included “dreary” songs, but liked the title number. Otherwise, the musical didn’t
have a “chance,” and while it could run “at very little gross, [it] won’t get it,” and “if it stays two weeks it
will play to nothing at all.”
As noted, the program didn’t include a song list, but “Shoot Dat Pistol” and the title number (lyric by
Jo Trent) were singled out by the critics. The Pittsburgh Courier liked one of the “cleverest bits” when May
Mandy’s mother “sings a letter” that the girl’s father writes, telling their daughter to come back to Bottom-
land (“Come On Home,” lyric and music by Donald Heywood); there was also a “pleasing” love song, the
“usual blues,” and a “touch of grand opera.” The Eagle reported that the song that “proved most popular”
with the audience was one in which a character chided another for dancing the Black Bottom, and Variety
said a “Hawaiian number almost got into the [expected] swing” (probably “I’m Gonna Take My Bimbo Back
to the Bamboo Isle”). The score also included “When I March with April in May” (lyric and music by Spencer
Williams and Gerald Williams), one of the irresistibly cheesy song titles of the decade.
KISS ME!

Opening Date: July 21, 1927; Closing Date: August 13, 1927
Performances: 28
Book: Derick Wulff and Max Simon
Lyrics: Derick Wulff
Music: Winthrop Cortelyou
Based on an unidentified French play adapted by Richard Kessler.
Direction: Edward Elsner; Producer: J. J. Levinson; Choreography: M. Senia Gluck; Scenery: August Vimnera;
Costumes: Robert Stevenson; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: William Sellery (Billings), Marjorie Peterson (Denise), Ralph Whitehead (Tom Warren), Charles Law-
rence (Eugene Moreaux), Eddie Russell Jr. (Marriage License Clerk, Gendarme), Frederic Santley (Paul
Travers), Desiree Ellinger (Doris Durant Dodo), Joseph Macauley (Prince Hussein Dschahangie Mirza),
Enid Romany (Talazada); Models and Harem Girls: Dorothy Dawn, Dorothy Dodd, Gladys Englander,
Betty Andrews, Nettie Bennis, Crystal Moray, Dorothy Dixon, Mona Fay, Hazel Stanley, Helen Thomp-
son, Olga Borowski, Alice Blaine, Myra Blaine, Rosalie Trego, Ursula Murray, Elvira Trego
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Persia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Ensemble (Ladies of the Ensemble); “Kiss Me!” (Marjorie Peterson, Robert Whitehead); “I
Have Something Nice for You” (Charles Lawrence, Girls); “Sleeping Beauty’s Dream” (Desiree Ellinger);
“Arab Maid with Midnight Eyes” (Joseph Macauley, Girls); “You in Your Room, I in Mine” (Desiree El-
linger, Fredric Santley); “Two Is Company” (Marjorie Peterson, Robert Whitehead, Charles Lawrence,
Girls); Specialty (Eddie Russell Jr.); Finale (Desiree Ellinger, Frederic Santley, Robert Whitehead, Charles
Lawrence, William Sellery, Girls)
Act Two: Dance (Harem Girls); “Dance of the Green Eyes” (Enid Romany); “Rose of Iran” (Desiree Ellinger,
Joseph Macauley); “Welcome Home” (Marjorie Peterson, Girls); “If You’ll Always Say Yes” (Desiree El-
linger, Frederic Santley, Girls); “I Have Something Nice for You” (reprise) (Marjorie Peterson, Robert
Whitehead); “Rose of Iran” (reprise) (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph Macauley); “Kiss Me!” (reprise) (Desiree
Ellinger, Robert Whitehead, Marjorie Peterson, Girls); Specialty (Girls); “Dodo” (Desiree Ellinger, Joseph
Macauley, Frederic Santley, Robert Whitehead, Charles Lawrence); Specialty (Eddie Russell Jr.); “Pool of
Love” (Desiree Ellinger, Frederic Santley); “Always Another Girl” (Robert Whitehead, Marjorie Peterson,
Girls); Finale (Desiree Ellinger, Frederic Santley, Company)
The failures continued with the demand of Kiss Me! Critics and audiences kissed off the show, it disap-
peared after less than four weeks on Broadway, and “Rose of Iran” and “Arab Maid with Midnight Eyes” never
quite reached hit status.
Parisian artist Paul Travers (Frederic Santley) receives a commission from Prince Hussein (Joseph Macau-
ley) to travel to Persia and paint a portrait of one of his harem favorites. In order to ensure that Paul behaves
himself with the harem girls, the prince stipulates that Paul must be accompanied by his wife, a demand
that poses a slight problem because Paul isn’t married. Soon Paul hits upon the notion of a marriage of con-
venience to his secretary Doris Durant Dodo (Desiree Ellinger), otherwise known as Dodo and a name which
the New York Times noted was a “handicap.” Once Paul and his bride arrive in Persia, it’s clear the prince
has designs on Dodo, but musical comedy tradition demanded that an in-name-only marriage must become a
real one, and so it does when Paul comes to realize that Dodo has always loved him.
The New Yorker reported that the valiant cast couldn’t overcome “a 5 & 10-cent” musical that seemed
“to have been assembled by an auctioneer, tied together with a shoestring and marked down for quick sale.”
E.B.W. (E.B. White) in the New Yorker said the show “was far too feeble even for the diligent first-aid of its
perfectly good cast.” And Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning News also used the H-word when he noted
that the show was a “handicap,” and he said “if we must take the show in order to get the kiss, well, we will
just have to do without it.”
The Times said the “decidedly routine” musical had a “stereotyped” book and was a “throwback” of “pre-
war quality.” The score was “not unmelodious” (and in fact contained “honeyed ballads”) but was “familiar
and pretentious,” the dances were “hardly of 1927 vintage,” and in fact the year of “1923 seem[s] to hang
ominously over most of the proceedings.” However, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the “hodgepodge”
was “darn nice” and “much better than it had any right to be.” There was “sufficient originality to make the
story interesting,” there were “many good tunes,” and specialty dancer Eddie Russell Jr. “somehow manage[d]
to control his unmanageable legs long enough to stop the show.”
Variety predicted the musical was destined for Cain’s warehouse because the production evidenced “in-
expert treatment and deficiency of general showmanship” due to being “frugally mounted, meagerly cast, and
economically lightweight in every department.” Winthrop Cortelyou’s score was “not bad” and was “fash-
ioned along high-grade operetta lines” in the tradition of Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg. But unlike the
music of those composers, the score lacked any song hits.
1927–1928 Season 391
Variety reported that the composer came from a wealthy background, but any “suspicion” that family
money backed the enterprise was “offset by the reported strenuous family objections to the composer mixing
in the show business.” The composer’s father was George B. Cortelyou, who served under the administrations
of Presidents Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt, and for the latter was secretary
of commerce and labor, postmaster general, and secretary of the treasury, and in private capacity was presi-
dent of Consolidated Gas Company (Con Ed). When McKinley was assassinated, Cortelyou was with him, and
it was to him that the president spoke his last words.
Kiss Me! proved to be Winthrop Cortelyou’s only Broadway score.
FOOTLIGHTS (aka BEYOND THE FOOTLIGHTS)

“A Musical Comedy Novelty”
Theatre: Lyric Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Waldorf Theatre)
Performances: 43
Book: Roland Oliver (aka Henry White)
Lyrics and Music: Harry Denny
Direction and Choreography: Bunny Weldon; Producer: The Tom Cat, Inc.; Scenery: August Vimnera; Cos-
tumes: Mahieu Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Oscar Radin
Cast: LeRoi Operti (Oscar Jennings), Jack Coyle (Roy Royal), Louis Sorin (Jacob Perlstein), Jack Wilson (Sam),
J. Kent Thurber (George Weston), Harry Denny (Meyer Schmidt), Ruth Wheeler (Violet Wilding), Lorraine
Sherwood (Elsie Quinn), Ellalee Ruby (Hazel Deane), George Sweet (Billy Bamper), Edward Shaw (Tom),
Francis Walker (Lola La Verne), Lulu Thorne (Fawn Rosey), Nathalie Segal (Cleo Patrick), Vilma Walden
(Rachel Murphy), Lenore Laurence (Jeannie Grinkle), Anne Page (Maisie Buckman), Rita Krivett (Patsie
Cohen), June Martin (Weenie De la Tour), Tiah Devitt (Marigold Murphy), Catherine Dixon (Estelle
Flannigan), Evelyn Warcoux (Cutie Fischbaum), Evelyn Eldridge (Silvya Wimple), Judy Gilmore (Trilbie
Jenkins), Lily Burton (Eileen Olsen), Doris Babb (Billie McIntyre), Mae Cathcart (Gloria Lyttle), Dorothy
Livingston (Mugsie Mulligan), Harriette Dixon (Lucia Baccigaloupi)
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Love-O-Love” (Ellalee Ruby); “Sure Sign You Really Love Me” (Ellalee Ruby); “Champagne” (LeRoi
Operti, Company); “The Ducks Call It Luck” (Ellalee Ruby, George Sweet, Ensemble)
Act Two: “College Pals” (Jack Coyle, Company); “Just When I Thought I Had You All to Myself” (lyric and
music by Harry Denny and Joe Fletcher) (Ruth Wheeler); “Footlight Walk” (Ruth Wheeler, Chorus); “You
Can’t Walk Home from an Aeroplane” (lyric and music by Irving Bibo and William B. Friedlander) (Jack
Wilson); “Gypsy Sweetheart” (lyric by Francis Wheeler and Irving Kahal, music by Ted Snyder) (Jack
Coyle, Lorraine Sherwood, Chorus); “I Adore You” (lyric by Ballard MacDonald and Sam Coslow, music
by Rene Mercier) (George Sweet, Chorus); “Sahara Moon” (lyric and music by Harry Denny and Dave
Ringle) (Ruth Wheeler, Ellalee Ruby, George Sweet, Chorus); “Sure Sign You Really Love Me” (reprise)
(Ellalee Ruby); Finale (Company)
Footlights was a would-be attempt to kid the process of how a musical comedy is put together by giving us
an inside look at the undertaking. But the presentation was hopelessly inept and floundered after five weeks
on Broadway. During the run, the show’s title was altered to Beyond the Footlights.
The New York Times noted that the actual back story of virtually any musical production was “ludi-
crous enough,” and so the idea of lampooning the process was simply “lily gilding.” The musical depicted
various backstage incidents and characters, including the cliché of a small-town boy and girl experienc-
ing their first time out in musical comedy (others were a hard-driving producer, an effeminate director,
a composer, a backer, a hard-boiled leading lady, a featured comic, an innocent chorus girl, a wardrobe
mistress, and a chief carpenter).
LeRoi Operti played the swishy director Oscar Jennngs in “very, very heliotrope” fashion, and blackface
comedian Jack Wilson (as Sam) proved to be “unfunny.” The evening caused intermission debates as to
whether or not Footlights was “the worst” show “ever seen,” and the final sequence revealed “prophetic
true-talk” when in reference to the musical-within-the-musical the producer Jacob Perlstein (Louis Sorin)
states “Such a terrible flop I never saw in my life” and “I don’t believe we’ll live until Saturday.” There
were rumors that because of its backstage subject matter the show “might infringe upon two impending
productions” (Burlesque and White Lights), but the Times was certain these two shows had “nothing to
worry about.”
Time noted that the “effeminate” director “fumes” amid all the dress rehearsal and dressing room scenes,
and when Sorin’s character made the comment about the “terrible flop,” the “real audience at the Lyric
Theatre mocked him with loud applause.” G.C.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided Sorin was the only
performer who exuded “aplomb” because “he knew he had a line coming along that would please the audi-
ence,” and as a result of his line “he made the personal hit of the evening.” Otherwise, the show was written
and produced “in a great hurry,” and the show’s idea of humor resulted in lines on the order of “We’ll stick
together like postage stamps, but we can’t be licked.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Indianapolis Star said the “crudely written” production “unblushingly” ridi-
culed with “malicious” caricature “a celebrated theatrical producer and his stage director.” As a result, there
might be “a good deal of cursing and legal conferences” but because the production made “so feeble a stab”
it seemed “likely” no one received “a mortal wound.” The critic noted that Sorin “succeeded so thoroughly
in resembling the producer he was burlesquing that the wise ones [in the audience] squirmed in discomfort,”
and Operti played “the dubious stage director with unerring comic sense.”
Variety summed up Footlights by proclaiming that it “rates among the prize flops.”
GOOD NEWS
“A Collegiate Musical Comedy” / “Musical Comedy Smash”

Performances: 551
Lyrics: B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown
Music: Ray Henderson
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producers: Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel; Choreography: Bobby Connolly;
Scenery: Donald Oenslager; Costumes: “Frocks” by Kiviette; Stratford; A.G. Spalding Co.; De Garcy Co.,
Inc.; Milgrim; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: John Price Jones (Tom Marlowe), John Grant (“Beef” Saunders), Gus Shy (Bobby Randall), Edwin Red-
ding (“Big Bill” Johnson), John Sheehan (“Pooch” Kearney), Edward Emery (Charles Kenyon), Shirley Ver-
non (Patricia Bingham), Mary Lawlor (Constance, aka Connie, Lane), Inez Courtney (Babe O’Day), Don
Tompkins (aka Tomkins) (Sylvester), Wally Coyle (Windy), Jack Kennedy (Slats), Ruth Mayon (Millie),
Zelma O’Neal (Flo), George Olsen (The Band Leader), George Olsen’s Band (The College Band), The Glee
Club Trio (Bob Rice, Frank Frey, and Bob Berger); Boys and Girls at Tait College—Boys: Herbert Rothwell,
Andreas Erving, Roy Nelson, Jack Kennedy, Frank Cullen, Joe Carey, William Pahlman, Arthur Appell,
Charles Mayon, Phil Dewey, Gerald Gehlert, Jack Boggs, George Oliver, Dan Douglass, Richard Renaud,
Larry Larkin, Mack Murray, John McAvoy, Irving Carter, Gilbert White; Girls: Ann Lee, Margaret Shea,
Gwendolyn Vernon, Betty Gayle, Roberta Greene, Roberta White, Emily Burton, Zelda Mansfield, Bodil
Lund, Claire Joyce, Christine Ecklund, Irene Hamlin, Minerva Wilson, Anita Pam, Dorothy Day, Carol
Young, Clara Blackath, Sherry Pelham, Betty Garson, Ethel Lawrence, Mildred Stevens, Zilpha DeWitt,
Valeda Duncan, Viola Goring, Irene Warner, Ruth Kelly, Elsie Lombard
The action takes place during the present time at Tait College, a coeducational institution in a small town.
1927–1928 Season 393
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (“Students Are We”) (Ensemble); “(He’s) A Ladies’ Man” (Zelma O’Neal, Boys
and Girls); “Flaming Youth” (Inez Courtney, Ruth Mayon, Wally Coyle, Boys and Girls); “Happy Days”
(John Price Jones, Boys and Girls, The Glee Club Trio); “Just Imagine” (Mary Lawlor, Shirley Vernon,
Ruth Mayon, Girls); “The Best Things in Life Are Free” (John Price Jones, Mary Lawlor); “On the Cam-
pus” (Don Tompkins, Zelma O’Neal, Wally Coyle, Ruth Mayon, Ensemble); “The Varsity Drag” (Zelma
O’Neal, Ruth Mayon, Don Tompkins, Jack Coyle, Boys and Girls); “Baby! What?” (Inez Courtney, Gus
Shy); “Lucky in Love” (Mary Lawlor, John Price Jones); “Tait Song” (John Sheehan, George Olsen, Edwin
Redding, Ensemble); Finale (reprises of “A Ladies’ Man” and “Lucky in Love”) (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Today’s the Day” (Shirley Vernon, Ruth Mayon, Girls); “The (A) Girl of the Pi Beta Phi”
(Shirley Vernon, Girls); Special Dance (Ruth Mayon); “After Commencement—What?” (The Glee Club
Trio); “In the Meantime” (Gus Shy, Inez Courtney); “Good News” (Zelma O’Neal, Boys and Girls); “The
Best Things in Life Are Free” (reprise) (Mary Lawlor, John Price Jones); “The Varsity Drag” (reprise) (En-
semble); Finale (reprise of “Good News”) (Company)
Opening just in time for the beginning of the college year and the football season, Good News (aka Good
News!) was one of the season’s biggest hits, a show that helped define 1920s musical comedy and became the
definitive college musical. It was the season’s second-longest-running musical (after Show Boat), and became
the fifth-longest-running book musical of the decade. G.H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island
Society praised the show’s “furious” pace and decided the musical was “the fastest, snappiest production
of its kind ever staged in the metropolis,” Burns Mantle in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle said the
production had “flaming, flaring, infectious youth,” and Walter Winchell in the New York Evening Graphic
went all the way and said Good News was “a flip, fast, furious, free and flaming festival.”
As the audience entered the theatre, some may have been confused: maybe they weren’t in the 46th Street
Theatre at all! Perhaps they’d been transported to a real college campus! After all, the ushers wore college
jerseys, and George Olsen and his orchestra members wore college sweaters and chanted an incantation that
sounded like “Rah! Rah! Rah!” Yes, here was a musical look at college life and its three most important ele-
ments: football, dancing, and sex (although not necessarily in that order).
The story focused on all the typical campus types, including college vamps, college clowns, and col-
lege bookworms, not to mention Tait College’s football hero and team captain Tom Marlowe (John Price
Jones) who might not be able to play in the Big Game against Tait’s arch rival Colton because he can’t pass
astronomy. But serious and studious co-ed Connie Lane (Mary Lawlor) comes to the rescue and tutors him
on to victory, and one of the show’s most impressive sequences depicted Tom running on a treadmill while
he attempts a touchdown. When he fumbles the ball, the fumble somehow becomes a lateral pass which is
caught by side-liner and bench-sitter Bobby (Gus Shy) who manages to stumble over the goal line and fall on
the ball. So, it’s a touchdown that leads Tait to victory, and Bobby and Tom share the honors because every-
one assumes Tom’s fumble was really “the cleverest play of the season.”
And of course Bobby’s victory on the field clinches his relationship with campus man-trap Babe (Inez
Courtney), who’s always telling him she doesn’t want a rich, handsome, and clever man, she just wants him.
Brooklyn Life was particularly taken with one of the show’s “funniest” scenes with Shy and his battered
hand-me-down flivver that was dotted with chalk inscriptions, including one that read “I do not choose to
run.” The critic reported that every time someone leaned against the car it lost a part, and in a touch of stage
magic each sad piece of junk moved off stage “apparently under its own power.”
As for Tom’s academic work, one must be scrupulously honest and report that he actually flunked his astron-
omy exam. But enlightenment came to stern Professor Kenyon (Edward Emery), who realized that some things in
life (like football) are more important than mere astronomy exams and academic integrity. As a result, Brooklyn
Life noted that the good professor performed a “noble deed” and thus broke the rules by giving Tom a passing
grade, and the reader will rejoice that the prof’s act of kindness brought forth “great applause from the audience.”
B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson had written memorable songs for the 1926 edi-
tion of George White’s Scandals (including “The Birth of the Blues” and the dance craze “Black Bottom”),
but here they topped themselves with a score that depicted the flavor of the twenties and the moxie of
carefree college life (“Flaming Youth,” “Students Are We,” “On the Campus,” “The Girl of the Pi Beta
Phi,” “After Commencement—What?,” and “Happy Days,” the latter a brief catalog that reflects the joys
of receiving “daddy’s check” and having a girl to neck).
The score included three classic ballads, the wistful “Just Imagine,” the upbeat “Lucky in Love,” and
“The Best Things in Life Are Free,” which anticipated those Broadway and Hollywood songs that chased away
the Depression blues. There was also the merry salute to “A Ladies’ Man,” the explosive title song, and the
rousing blockbuster of a dance, “The Varsity Drag,” one of those numbers like “Black Bottom” and “Charles-
ton” (from Runnin’ Wild) that practically defines the sound of 1920s musicals.
In fact, “The Varsity Drag” not only stopped the show but practically ripped up the stage and blew the
roof off the 46th Street Theatre. According to Charles Brackett in the New Yorker, it was danced with “Holy
Roller abandon,” and Time said Zelma O’Neal’s “educated black bottom” explained “why some fellows will
never, never leave Tait.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that she stopped the show and
drove “the house wild” as she “pounded” the stage “with the ardor of a comic cyclone,” and her dancing
ensured that life would “never be quite the same again.” Then a chorus “of equally cyclonic young things
pounded the floor in unison a good 15 minutes more, almost driving the stage floor down into the cellar,”
and they “stopped the show again.” He decided this “one number alone has in it more fun than the pathetic
majority of college musical comedies” and “nothing ever [got] hotter.” J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York
Times said O’Neal danced herself into “willing exhaustion” to the “snapping” tune, and Brooklyn Life said
she danced “with incredible violence” and got the “biggest applause of anyone in the show.”
Atkinson praised the “ripping good” musical, a “rattling good entertainment” that was “lively, humor-
ous, and skillfully staged” and filled the evening “with solid pleasure.” Here was an excursion into a campus
where students “step rapidly and clap their hands in unison,” where the men’s dormitory “is one merry round
of alarm-clock attachments, games, ill-kempt clothes and football signals,” and where the audience is given
a glimpse of sorority girls and their “mystic rites of pajama parties.” Brackett said the show was “smashingly
gay” and “melodiously wistful” with “pleasantly accomplished” singing and “clowning turned out with vigor
and effect.” Like the Times, Time also described the show as “rattling good,” and Pollock noted that the show
“crashed” into the theatre with “a healthy roar that must have been heard for blocks,” and “never has such
furious dancing been seen in New York outside of a colored show and seldom inside.” Mantle said the evening
was “a harmonious jumble of riotous dances” and “everybody goes madly into the title song and dance.” As
for “The Varsity Drag,” it found “fifty or sixty of them down on their heels, up on their toes, with every ounce
of energy” that choreographer Bobby Connolly could “get out of them.”
Alexander Woollcott in the Indianapolis Star liked the “rowdy” if “bumptious” musical, and noted that
because of its college setting it brought back memories “of effeminate chorus men, giving long shrill yells
for the good old team, and of undergraduates played by actors so seasoned that they fairly tottered across the
stage.” But Good News was “really pretty good” and at every performance there was “a vast multitude” try-
ing to get tickets for the show.
The London production opened on August 15, 1928, at the Carlton Theatre for 132 performances. The
cast included Neil Collins (Tom), Evelyn Hoey (Connie), George Murphy (Windy), and Zelma O’Neal, who
reprised her original role of Flo.
After a year-long national tour, the musical was revived on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on De-
cember 23, 1974, for sixteen disappointing performances. The cast included Alice Faye (as Professor Kenyon,
here a female character), John Payne (who remained with the show until the early New York preview period
and then was succeeded by Gene Nelson), Stubby Kaye, Scott Stevenson (Tom), Marti Rolph (Connie), and
Tommy Breslin (Sylvester). The revival was designed by Donald Oenslager, who had created the décor for the
original production, and the stunning costumes (and the especially colorful college sweaters) were by Donald
Brooks. The show retained a number of songs from the original production as well as interpolations from the
DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson catalog.
Those who had seen the revival during the early months of the tour were shocked when Good News
closed abruptly in New York after tepid reviews. How could this have happened to such an entertaining
show? Perhaps Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal had the answer. He’d seen the musical almost a year
earlier when director and adaptor Abe Burrows “with tremendous love and warmth” had created an “affec-
tionate Valentine” to a Never Land world of nostalgic college days. When Burrows was replaced by director
Michael Kidd and new book adaptor Garry Marshall, the work became a “slick, glossy, fast-paced” evening
that the material wasn’t able to support and thus the show proceeded to lose its heart. As a result, the “bright-
faced” performers were now “calculating pros” who aimed for laughs, and some of the sincere songs were
“hoked up beyond recognition.”
1927–1928 Season 395
During the run of the original production, company members George Olsen and his orchestra recorded
four songs for Victor Records (“Good News,” “The Varsity Drag,” “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” and
“Lucky in Love”), and while there wasn’t an official cast album for the 1974 revival, a lavish two-LP recording
was privately issued (unnamed company and unnumbered LP) that included songs from the Broadway produc-
tion; numbers cut during the tour; and such esoterica as rehearsal tracks, Alice Faye’s entrance during the first
tryout performance, and the Broadway finale, which included Gene Nelson in the company.
A cast album of a 1993 revival by the Music Theatre of Wichita was released by That’s Entertainment
Records (CD # CDTER-1230) and includes almost a dozen songs from the stage production as well as inter-
polations from other DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson scores.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1959, and includes “After Commencement—
What?” and “Tait Song,” both of which weren’t listed in the New York program.
MGM filmed the musical twice, in 1930 and 1947. The first version is delightful, as far as it goes; unfortu-
nately, the final reel (which was filmed in Technicolor) is lost (or, at least, hasn’t surfaced). But what remains
are entertaining high-jinks, including a “Varsity Drag” in which even the cartoon amoeba under the science-
class microscope are seen dancing down on their heels and up on their toes. Choreographed by Sammy Lee,
the players include Mary Lawlor and Gus Shy in a reprise of their stage roles as well as Stanley Smith, Cliff
Edwards, Dorothy McNulty (later known as Penny Singleton), Bessie Love, and Lola Lane. Six songs (some in
truncated versions) were retained for the movie (“Students Are We,” “A Ladies’ Man,” “The Varsity Drag,”
“Tait Song,” “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” and the title number) and four songs (“I Feel Pessimistic,” “If
You’re Not Kissing Me,” “Gee, but I’d Like to Make You Happy,” and “Football”) were contributed by a va-
riety of composers and lyricists (Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, Felix Feist Jr., and Ward and Montgomery).
In his comprehensive notes about the film when it was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1971, film
and theatre historian Miles Kreuger reports that the original duet versions of “The Best Things in Life Are
Free” and “Lucky in Love” were “filmed and publicly announced” but never made it to the final release print.
Similarly, a new song (“That’s How You Know We’re Co-Eds”) was filmed but deleted from the original print.
The 1947 version was a Technicolor festival that starred June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Mel Torme, Joan
McCracken, Patricia Marshall, and Ray McDonald; the screenplay was by Betty Comden and Adolph Green,
the direction by Charles Walters, and the choreography by Robert Alton. Seven songs were retained (“A La-
dies’ Man,” “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” “Lucky in Love,” “Just Imagine,” “The Varsity Drag,” “Tait
Song,” and the title number), and two new ones were added (“Pass That Peace Pipe,” lyric and music by Roger
Edens, Hugh Martin, and Ralph Blane, and “The French Lesson,” lyric by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
and music by Edens). An expanded soundtrack album issued by Rhino (CD # RHM2-7763) includes various
outtakes (such as the deleted new song “An Easier Way,” lyric by Comden and Green and music by Edens)
and two numbers from the 1930 soundtrack (“The Varsity Drag” and the title song, both sung by McNulty).
The DVD of the 1947 film was released by Artiflix (unnumbered DVD).
The program notes for the 1927 production stated that “the authors are indebted to Knute Rockne, coach
of Notre Dame University, for expert advice in football technique.”
HALF A WIDOW
“A Musical Play of the World War” / “Wally Gluck’s Musical Trajocomedy”
Theatre: Waldorf Theatre

Opening Date: September 12, 1927; Closing Date: September 17, 1927
Performances: 7
Book and Lyrics: Frank Dupree and Harry B. Smith
Music: Shep Camp
Direction: Lawrence Marston and Edwin T. Emery; Producer: Wally Gluck; Choreography: Billy Pierce; Benny
Rubin; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Orrin Kelly (later, Orry-Kelly); Lighting: Uncredited; Cho-
ral Direction: Geoffrey O’Hara; Musical Direction: Henry C. Redfield
Cast: Gertrude Lang (Babette), Halfred Young (Captain Bob Everett), Benny Rubin (Izzy Preiss), Julia Kelety
(Nita), Robert C. Cloy (Captain Wagner), Frances Halliday (Edith Proctor), Geoffrey O’Hara (Lieutenant
Turner), Paul Doucet (Jean Marie Alphonse Bettincourt), Albert Froom (Pierre Lafarge), Lew Christy
(Gyp), Lewis Newman (Stubbs), Ralph D. Sanford (Brannigan), Beryl Halley (June Love), Vivian Martin
(Antoinette), Harry Donaghy (Murphy), Daniel Da Silva (Tony), Edgar Welch (Scotty), George Rogers
(Orderly); The Carter-Waddell Dancers, The Cochran Twins (Dancers), Wantayo (Dancer; performer
identified by one name), Joan Carter-Waddell (Dancer); Ensemble: Red Cross and Salvation Army
Girls—Maud Allyn, Ruth Burr, Maria Convere, Elizabeth Crandell, Fainille Davies, Pauline Grayce,
Dorothy Lyons, Alan Moray, Miriam Phillips, Ava Sand, Verna Scott, Beatrix Tinsley; Peasant Girls—
Margot Bazin, Louise Brooks, Bunny Brown, Blanche Bryer, Rose Fleming, Carolyn Gerken, Hilda Hol-
lis, Jesse James, Shirley Lyons, Bernice Plante, Genay Ramsey, Ilys Ravel, Bernadette Spencer, Gertrude
Waldon, Geraldine Wells, June Wells; Boys of the A.E.F.—Harry Ardatoff, George Bratis, Andrew Bur-
joyne, Albert Carties, Gordon Clarke, Alfred Cortez, William Dunn, Roman Von Sternberg Elsky, Benno
Juerling, Al Josephs, Cyril Joyce, Zachary Karr, John Krivokosenko, Benjamin Lewis, Leon Mandas,
Harry Miller, Abraham Mitchell, Bernard Mitchell, Arthur Nulens, Gregory Pravduk, George Sawyer,
Marshall Scott, Norman Stengel, Charles Salton, Benjamin Tilberg, Walter Timoff, Serge Vinogradoff,
Efin Vitis, Peter Zengel
The action takes place in France during and after the Great War.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “Let’s Laugh and Be Merry” (Geoffrey O’Hara, Robert C. Cloy, Male Choir);
“Under the Midsummer Moon” (lyric by Harry B. Smith) (Frances Halliday, Robert C. Cloy); “It’s Great to
Be a Doughboy” (lyric by Frank Dupree) (Gertrude Lang, Male Choir); “Longing for You” (lyric by Frank
Dupree) (Gertrude Lang, Halfred Young); “I Wonder If She Will Remember” (Halford Young, National
Quartette); “Song and Dance” (Julia Kelety, Benny Rubin, Girls); “America” (Halford Young, Company)
Act Two: “Step, Step, Step” (lyric and music by Jack Murray and Joe Brandfon) (Benny Rubin, Beryl Halley,
Vivian Martin, Girls); “Tell Me Again” (lyric by Frank Dupree) (Gertrude Lang, Halfred Young); “A Thou-
sand Times” (Julia Kelety, Benny Rubin); “Soldier Boy” (Gertrude Lang, Halfred Young); “I Don’t Want
to Be a Soldier” (Benny Rubin)
Act Three: “Babette’s Wedding Day” (Ensemble); “Babette’s Military Dance” (Vivian Martin, Benny Rubin,
Girls); “You’re a Wonderful Girl” (Frances Halliday, Robert C. Cloy); “I’m Thru with War” (Ralph D. San-
ford, Lew Christy, Lewis Newman); “Spanish Love” (Julia Kelety, Girls); “France Will Not Forget” (lyric
and music by Geoffrey O’Hara and Gordon Johnstone) (Robert C. Cloy, Male Choir); Finale (Company)
With a run of just seven performances, the self-described “tragocomedy” Half a Widow (aka Half-a-
Widow) was the shortest-running book musical of the season. At least one or two sources indicate it played
for sixteen showings, but on September 20, 1927, the New York Times reported that the production “sud-
denly” closed after the matinee performance of September 17 (following its Broadway premiere on September
12). The Times noted that the producers “declared” the show would reopen “in about four weeks, following
revisions.” Moreover, the producers said the closing was “brought about by the illness of the principal co-
median” (Benny Rubin). So which was it? A premature closing because revisions were necessary? Or because
Rubin was ill?
On September 29, the Pittsburgh Press ran an article headlined “Hungry Show Girls Awaiting Reynolds”
with the sub-headline “Producers Believe Tobacco Heir, Alleged Backer of Half a Widow, Will Pay Salaries of
Chorus and Principals of Production.” The article noted that the twenty-one-year-old Richard J. Reynolds Jr.,
was heir “to a fifth of the $50,000,000 Reynolds tobacco fortune” and was the “alleged” backer of the show,
which “floundered” after “a week’s run” in New York, Reynolds had “disappeared” on September 16 (the day
before the production closed), and was later “found posing under the name of Joy K. Fleet.” Some $110,000
had already been “sunk” into the show, and upon its closing weekly salaries and bills became due to the tune
of $13,500. The article indicated the show’s management didn’t know if Reynolds would “sponsor a revival”
of the presentation.
Surely all this offstage turmoil was more interesting than the musical itself. The story centered on Cap-
tain Bob Everett (Halfred Young) of the American Expeditionary Forces, who enters into a marriage of conve-
nience with the French Babette (Gertrude Lang) so that she’ll inherit his insurance should he die in the war.
When he returns very much alive, it seems that Babette’s parents are pressuring her to marry French officer
Jean Marie Alphonse Bettincourt (Paul Doucet). But all ends well when Bob and Babette realize they’re deeply
1927–1928 Season 397
in love. A comic subplot dealt with Izzy Priess (Benny Rubin), a former pants presser who now excels in K.P.
duty with the A.E.F.
The Times said the show’s creators used all the “conventionalities that go with portraying war on the
stage,” and on opening night it was “evident” the production wasn’t “quite ready” for Broadway. The “antics”
and the “impromptu humor” of the “amusing” Rubin helped make the evening “bearable” for both the audi-
ence and the stage hands because “matters backstage were not what they should have been” (see Variety’s
comments below). Otherwise, “ancient gibes were resuscitated,” Shep Camp’s score was “typical of many
previous musical productions,” and the book “jogs along until the prima donna and her hero seem to think a
duet is necessary.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker stated that the musical bore the “guarantee of shod-
diness” because Harry B. Smith was its coauthor (along with another “manufacturer,” Frank Dupree). The
heroine seemed to be “constantly going to marry somebody or other for reasons any of which would entitle
everybody concerned to a free trip to the nearest state-run institution for the feeble-minded.”
Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun remarked that the “handsome” and “good singer” Young was “called
upon to duet eternally with the prima donna” who “is torn between true love and papa’s choice of a husband.”
In this “tragic situation,” the comic Rubin proved that “the show needs Rubin more than he needs the show.”
Variety called the musical an “alleged” entertainment in which Rubin was “compelled to ad lib profusely”
to cover “stage waits” when sets toppled over and cues went “awry.” Meanwhile, adagio, ballet, contortion-
ist, and Spanish dancers flitted “on and off for no reason.” As for the jokes, they were on the order of: “Do
you know the King’s English?” / “Well, if he isn’t he ought to be.” The score had a few “tuneful moments”
but was otherwise “mediocre and reminiscent,” the cast “struggled hopelessly” with their “hopeless assign-
ment,” and ultimately the musical never had “a chance.”
Although the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the work “decidedly pretentious at times,” it was “entertain-
ing” with “very good” scenic effects, an “excellent” male chorus, and a score that was “tuneful and suffi-
ciently reminiscent to be both catchy and a bit stirring.” And as a member of the “kitchen police,” Rubin was
humorous and “far and away the most entertaining” cast member.
Note that Richard J. Reynolds’s brother was Zachary Smith Reynolds, who died under mysterious
circumstances in 1932. He was married to Broadway singer Libby Holman, and during a party at the fam-
ily estate Reynolds was found dead of a bullet wound. His death was originally ruled a suicide, and then
murder. Holman was temporarily charged with the crime, but due to lack of evidence the matter never
went to trial.
MY MARYLAND
“Musical Triumph” / “A Musical Romance” / “A Musical Romance of the Crinoline Days”
Theatre: Jolson’s Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Performances: 312
Based on the 1899 play Barbara Frietchie by Clyde Fitch.
Direction: J. C. Huffman (stage direction by Edward Scanlon); Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.);
Choreography: Jack Mason; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: E. R. Schraps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest
Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Oscar Radin
Cast: Berta Donn (Sue Royce), Margaret Merle (Laura Royce), Mattie Keene (Mammy Lou), Rollin Grimes Jr.
(Edgar Strong), Joan Ruth (Sally Negly), Evelyn Herbert (Barbara Frietchie), Warren Hull (Jack Negly), Ed-
win Delbridge (Doctor Hal Boyd), George Rosener (Zeke Bramble), Louis Casavant (Colonel Negly), James
Meighan (Arthur Frietchie), Nathaniel Wagner (Captain Trumbull), Fuller Mellish (Mr. Frietchie), George
V. Dill (Sergeant Perkins), Marion Ballou (Mrs. Hunter), Wallace Mattice (Fred Gelwex), Arthur Cun-
ningham (Tim Green), James Ellis (General Stonewall Jackson); Young Southern Girls, Northern Soldiers,
Southern Soldiers, Townspeople, and Children: First Tenors—S. Simmons, A. Barratt, Robert Marco,
Howard Schreiber, Walter Higgins, G. McGray, L. Provost, J. Cleary, R. Sabater, Leon Canova, Arthur
Sherman, Edward Donahue, W. B. Brooks, Thomas Coppi, Leo Branson, Efim Knoff, Ernest McChesney,
V. Rudolph, Joseph Johann, Lee Burroughs; Second Tenors—Walter Herbert, G. Simonelli, Donald Lee,
E. B. Smythe, S. Rasmussen, Carl Linke, J. Berkley, L. Karcher; Baritones—Robert Smith, J. H. Halligan,
J. H. Vantyle, L. Moran, C. Hallgren; Bassos—R. H. Thomas, M. Cavanaugh, Robert Moody, Al Green,
L. R. Archer, Harrison Fuller, E. Sanborn, L. Wines, R. Schofield, E. Izmallov, C. Koster, Curt Combs, Her-
man Amend, Ivan Alexis, John Frederick, Leo Williams; Sopranos—Gladys Head, Frances Donovan, Viola
Green, Marybeth Conoly, Isabel Blanca, Florence Herbert, Emily Smithson, Mildred Saunders, Florence
Elmore; Altos—Norma Struse, Marion Newman, Elsie Kornegay, Valerie Galanine, Vivian Bartlett, Lucie
Belmont, Frances Wagner, Patty Patterson, Marian Sothern
The action takes place during a few days in 1862 in Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Strolling with the One I Love the Best” (Joan Ruth, Margaret Merle, Rollin Grimes
Jr., Edwin Delbridge, Chorus); “Mr. Cupid” (Evelyn Herbert, Joan Ruth, Berta Donn, Margaret Merle);
“Won’t You Marry Me?” (Evelyn Herbert, Warren Hull); “Schottische” (Evelyn Herbert, Joan Ruth, Berta
Donn, Margaret Merle, Rollin Grimes Jr., Edwin Delbridge, Boys and Girls); “Your Land and My Land”
(Nathaniel Wagner, Men); “The Same Silver Moon” (Nathaniel Wagner, Evelyn Herbert); “The Mocking
Bird” (Joan Ruth, Berta Donn, Margaret Merle, Rollin Grimes Jr., Edwin Delbridge, Boys and Girls); Finale
(Evelyn Herbert, Nathaniel Wagner, Male Chorus)
Act Two: Opening: “Strawberry Jam” (Marion Ballou, Girls); “Mexico” (George Rosener, Girls); “Your Land
and My Land” (reprise) (Evelyn Herbert, Nathaniel Wagner); “Something Old, Something New” (Evelyn
Herbert, Nathaniel Wagner, Marion Ballou, Joan Ruth); “The Same Silver Moon” (reprise) (Evelyn Her-
bert, Nathaniel Wagner); “Old John Barleycorn” (Evelyn Herbert, Wallace Mattice, Arthur Cunningham);
Finale (Evelyn Herbert)
Act Three: “Song of Victory” (Joan Ruth, Margaret Merle, Girls); “Ker-Choo!” (Berta Donn, Margaret Merle,
Joan Ruth); “Boys in Gray” (George Rosener, Rollin Grimes Jr., Edwin Delbridge, Berta Donn, Joan Ruth,
Boys and Girls); “Country Dance” (George Rosener, Rollin Grimes Jr., Edwin Delbridge, Berta Donn, Joan
Ruth, Boys and Girls); “Mother” (Evelyn Herbert); “Won’t You Marry Me?” (reprise) (Evelyn Herbert,
Warren Hull); “Intermezzo” (Orchestra); “Bonnie Blue Flag” (Berta Donn, Joan Ruth, Margaret Merle,
Ensemble); “Hail, Stonewall Jackson” (Company); Finale (Company)
Four musicals by Sigmund Romberg opened during the 1927–1928 season. My Maryland and Rosalie
bookended the quartet and were major hits, but My Princess and The Love Call were quick failures and played
for only a few weeks. After a run of forty weeks in Philadelphia, My Maryland played in New York for nine
months and then embarked on a national tour. Despite its popularity, the musical failed to yield any ever-
greens like the composer’s The Student Prince in Heidelberg and The Desert Song, but the following year
Romberg enjoyed a huge hit with The New Moon, which included numerous standards and starred Evelyn
Herbert, the leading lady of My Maryland.
My Maryland was based on Clyde Fitch’s 1899 play Barbara Frietchie, which in turn had been inspired by
the real-life story of Barbara Fritchie (aka Frietchie) (1766–1862) and by John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1863 poem
“Barbara Frietchie.”
Frietchie (Herbert) lives in Frederick, Maryland, and finds herself pursued by Union soldier Captain Trum-
bull (Nathaniel Wagner) and Confederate Jack Negly (Warren Hull), and it’s the former who wins her heart.
She later defies the Confederate Army led by Stonewall Jackson (James Ellis) by waving the Union flag.
Greenleaf captured the flag-waving moment with his famous line, “Shoot if you must this old gray head,
but spare your country’s flag.” History isn’t certain of the veracity of the encounter between Frietchie and
Jackson, and certainly Fitch’s play and the new musical romanticized the story by setting the time during
1862, the year when the actual Frietchie died at the age of ninety-six. By shaving a mere seventy-three years
off her age, the heroine’s hair is blonde instead of gray and she must choose between two different men, a
dilemma faced by many an operetta heroine.
The New York Times said Dorothy Donnelly’s book was “notable rather for theatrical competence than
for wit and taste,” but Romberg’s “musical achievement” was “really remarkable” for his blending of “famil-
iar American airs” and “the European operatic form,” a mix “analyzed most simply as a background of Of-
1927–1928 Season 399
fenbach with Viennese color and American decorations and flourishes.” The critic praised the march (“Your
Land and My Land”), a “sneezing song” with a “quaint dance” (“Ker-Choo!”), and “a very cheerful ditty” that
was “the one utterly abandoned ragtime piece of music in the score” (“Mexico”).
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker praised the “billowy” costumes and “pillared” Southern mansions,
and while Romberg’s score was “not up to” his best, there were “frequent reprises [which] make a few good
numbers do double and triple duty.” Time said the “melodramatics are so naïve that a rousing march” that
was “accompanied by stagy gestures” actually “failed,” and sometimes the impression was that “a great
crowd of children had left off ‘cowboys and Indians’ to play Civil War.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that “the old Southern mansions were tastefully and lavishly” depicted
with “eye-filling exteriors and interiors,” the evening was “pretty and tuneful and played in rapid tempo,”
and the outstanding songs were “Your Land and My Land” and “The Same Silver Moon”; Burns Mantle in the
Chicago Tribune said Donnelly’s book didn’t “amount to much,” but Romberg’s score was “often lovely” and
Herbert was “one of our most satisfying prima donnas”; and Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer
reported that for “Bonnie Blue Flag” the “full stage” displayed “dozens of Confederate flags” that waved along
to the music, and he noted “they will love this down South” (he singled out “Your Land and My Land,” “The
Same Silver Moon,” “Mr. Cupid,” and “The Mocking Bird”).
Variety found the plot “weak and woefully padded” with “negligible” humor, but singled out “Your Land
and My Land,” “Mexico,” and “Won’t You Marry Me?” Herbert sang “splendidly” and put over the show, but
at a performance a few days after the opening Wagner was “woefully lacking in voice,” and whether he “had
a cold or was otherwise indisposed, he gave a wretched performance” (programs from later in the run show
that Wagner remained in the production). The critic decided My Maryland was more of a road show than a
New York one, and said “the advance dope predicting a smash sure is dopey.”
Evelyn Herbert recorded two songs from the score (“Mother” and “The Same Silver Moon”), and these are
included in the collection The Ultimate Sigmund Romberg: Volume 1 (Pearl/Pavilion Records CD # GEM-0112).
ENCHANTED ISLE
“The Musical Romance”

Performances: 32
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Ida Hoyt Chamberlain
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: American Allied Arts, Inc.; Choreography: Jack Connors (other choreogra-
phy by Porta-Povitch); Scenery: Ida Hoyt Chamberlain; Costumes: St. Germaine; Lighting: Capitol Stage
Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Charles Berton
Cast: Madeline Grey (Mrs. Stewart Haverhill-Smith), George E. Mack (Count Romeo De Spagino), Basil
Ruysdael (Stewart Haverhill-Smith), Hansford Wilson (Bill Capps), Marga Waldron (Maria), Harry Herm-
sen (Enoch), Martin Wolfson (Yen Sing), Greek Evans (Bob Sherill), Kathryn Reece (Julianne Sanderleigh),
Thera Dawn (Angela), Lucile Reece (Bella), Philip Snyder (Captain Yacht), Paul Callan (John P. Stone);
Ensemble: Lucille Dreher, Florence Fontain, Harriet Carling, Helen Bradley, Estelle Dean, Vivian Patter-
son, Ellen Starr, Marie Dana, Florence Spink, Rhea Leddy, Lea Roy, Ione Miller, Gertrude Hartwick, Lucia
Lucine, Hope Bartel, Ruth Collins, Dorothy Bond, Maurine McNeil, Dorothy Moore, Mildred Kirk, Hugh
Sorenson, Tommy Tucker, Gordon Davis, William Kuehn, Ronald Bell, Jack Murray, Norman Murray,
Elia Bey, Raimond Jones, Stanley Howard, Mark J. Christie, John C. Panter, Philip Harvey, Lawis Downie,
Robert W. Davis, Eugene Sayer
The action takes place in Southern California, on Santa Catalina Island, and at sea aboard the yacht Pandora.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Hacienda Garden” (Ensemble); “Enchanted Castle” (Greek Evans, Kathryn Reece); “Jazz”
(Harry Hermsen, Martin Wolfson, Ensemble); “Business Is Business” (Basil Ruysdael, George E. Mack);
“Whoa Gal” (Hansford Wilson, Marga Waldron); “Julianne” (Ensemble); “Close in Your Arms” (Kathryn
Reece, Greek Evans, Ensemble); “Harmonica Dance” (Hansford Wilson); “California” (Marga Waldron,
Ensemble); Finale: “Dream Girl” (Greek Evans, Kathryn Reece)
Act Two: Opening: “Enchanted Isle” (Ensemble); “Abandon” (Kathryn Reece); “Cowboy Potentate” (Hansford
Wilson, Thera Dawn, Lucile Reece); “Love Thought Garden” (music by Macheu) (Kathryn Reece, Girls);
“Spanish Dance” (Marga Waldron); “What a Jamboree” (Kathryn Reece, Basil Ruysdael, George E. Mack,
Madeline Grey); Finale: “Voice of the High Sierras” (Greek Evans)
Act Three: Opening: “Dream Boat” (Ensemble); “Roulette” (Philip Snyder, Hugh Sorenson); “Roulette Ball
Dance” (Marga Waldron); “Down to the Sea” (Basil Ruysdael, Boys); “Could I Forget” (Kathryn Reece,
Greek Evans); Finale: “Melody Medley” (Ensemble)
Enchanted Isle gave audiences just four weeks to witness an eternal musical-comedy conundrum. Will
heroine Julianne Sanderleigh (Kathryn Reece) follow her aunt’s wishes and marry the effete Italian Count Ro-
meo de Spagino (George E. Mack)? Or will she follow the dictates of her heart and marry stalwart forest ranger
Bob Sherill (Greek Evans)? Those in the audience uncertain about the outcome weren’t allowed to leave the
theatre until they’d attended Musical Comedy Plots 101.
The New York Times reported that librettist, lyricist, composer, and set designer Ida Hoyt Chamberlain
was “not unknown in the more musical parlors of the Hotel Biltmore,” where she performed recitals of her
music, and that the producer of Enchanted Isle was American Allied Arts, Inc., an “ambitious” corporation
composed of Chamberlain’s “stanch” friends. The show was “naïve and harmless,” and its production was
“the result of the most beneficent intentions.” Thankfully, dancers Hansford Wilson and Marga Waldron
brought the evening “briefly to life” when they indulged in a bit of second-act “rough-house dancing” (for the
number “Whoa Gal”).
Time noted that Chamberlain’s friends produced the musical “under an incognito of towering pretension”
called American Allied Arts, Inc., but despite this, the show had its “moments”; Frank Lea Short in the Ari-
zona Republic decided the evening was “just a case of some musical comedy good intentions gone wrong”;
and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the overall production was “mild and unexciting” with “loose” direction
and a book that was “nothing much.”
Variety warned there was “nothing ‘enchanted’” about the “sophomoric” show, which was “so thin it
was cadaverous” and thus needed “no reducing.” The “stockholders and bagholders” were Chamberlain’s
relations and friends, and in fact “everything around is relations,” “half the cast are relations,” and “all the
audience except the second-string critics are relations.” And they all “better call a family conference” because
“they look to be out about fifty grand right now.”
MANHATTAN MARY
“The Greatest and Cleanest Musical Comedy Ever Produced” /
“A New Musical Comedy ‘Clean from Beginning to End’”

Performances: 264
Book: William K. Wells and George White
Direction and Choreography: George White; Producer: George White; Scenery: W. Oden-Waller; Costumes:
Max Weldy, from designs by Erté (aka Roman de Tirtoff); Schneider-Anderson Co.; Juliette; Leighton’s;
William Weaver; Lighting: Electrical effects by Duwico; Musical Direction: Maurice DePackh
Cast: Lou Holtz (Sam Platz), Jimmy Scott (Policeman), Paul Stanton (R. C., aka Arcy Black), Amy Revere
(Helen King), Susan, aka Suzanne, Fleming (A Society Bud, Tiny Forsythe, Ruth Beverly), Harry Oldridge
(Police Sergeant; and His Honor, The Mayor of New York City), Ona Munson (Mary Brennan), Dorothy
Walters (“Ma” Brennan), Paul Frawley (Jimmy Moore), Sam Ledner (Al), Harland Dixon (Bob Sterling),
Mary Farley (Diana Day), Doree Leslie (Fritzie DeVere), Mae Clark (Viola Fay), Adele Smith (Show Girl),
Vada Alexander (A Dramatic Actress), Messrs. Goff, Kerr, and Fred Barth (The Embassy Boys), The McCar-
thy Sisters (Dorothy and Margaret McCarthy as themselves), Ed Wynn (Crickets), Victor Munro (Micky),
James Scott (“Two-Gun” Terry), George White (as himself), Marcel Rousseau (M. Max Duval), The Scott
Sisters (as themselves), Ray Hunt (Newsboy); The George White Ballet (performers’ names not given in
1927–1928 Season 401
program); 24 Hudson Dusters (performers’ names not given in program); and 100 George White Beauties
(performers’ names not given in program)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Paris.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Pedestrian Song” (Ensemble); “Broadway” (Lou Holtz, The Embassy Boys); “Hudson Duster” (Ona
Munson, The Hudson Dusters); “Manhattan Mary” (Ona Munson, Paul Frawley); Scene: “Stage Manager’s
Office” (Harland Dixon, Company); “Five-Step” (The McCarthy Sisters); “Five-Step Dance” (Harland
Dixon, Ensemble); “Double Dance” (Harland Dixon, Mae Clark); “Buck Five-Step” (Doree Leslie); Scene:
“Mother Brennan’s Lunch Room” (Ed Wynn); “Nothing but Love” (Ona Munson, Paul Frawley); “Broad-
way” (reprise) (The Embassy Boys); “It Won’t Be Long Now” (The McCarthy Sisters); Dance (Mae Clark,
Susan Fleming, Harland Dixon); Dance (Harland Dixon); “Manhattan Mary” (reprise) (Paul Frawley);
Scene: “A Secluded Spot” (Ed Wynn); “Memories” (Fred Barth); “Ballet Dance” (The George White Ballet);
“Five-Step” (reprise) (George White)
Act Two: “Manhattan Mary” (reprise) (Ensemble); “My Blue Bird’s Home Again” (Ona Munson, The Mc-
Carthy Sisters, Susan Fleming, Mae Clarke, Harland Dixon, Ensemble); “Hudson Duster” (reprise)
(Ed Wynn, The Hudson Dusters); “Nothing but Love” (reprise) (Ona Munson); Scene: “A News Stand,
New York City” (unidentified performers); “Dawn” (The Embassy Boys); Dance (Ona Munson); “Bal-
let Dance” (The George White Ballet); Scene: “Huber’s Museum” (Ed Wynn); “It Won’t Be Long Now”
(reprise) (The McCarthy Sisters, Harland Dixon, Ensemble); “It Won’t Be Long Now” (second reprise)
(Ensemble); Dance (Doree Leslie); Song (title not given in program; sung by Lou Holtz); Dance (Ed Wynn,
Harland Dixon); “Manhattan Mary” (second reprise) (Ensemble); “Nothing but Love” (reprise) (Paul
Frawley); Finale (Company)
Producer George White’s Manhattan Mary was a combination revue and book musical, and it brought to
mind revue annuals of White’s Scandals variety and book musicals of the Sally ilk. In fact, like Sally and her
job at a Greenwich Village restaurant, our Mary’s mother runs a lunch room on Barrow Street in the Village;
like Sally she’s befriended by an avuncular worker at the restaurant (Connie/Leon Errol for Sally, and chef-
and-waiter Crickets/Ed Wynn for Manhattan Mary); and like Sally, who dreams of becoming a star in the
Follies, our current heroine hopes to headline the Scandals. In fact, she gets her big break when the star gets
sick and she’s asked to go on in her place, and later she makes a side trip to Old Paree and the Folies Bergère.
As she rises to the top she leaves behind her stalwart young sweetheart Jimmy Moore (Paul Frawley), who
then decides to go into politics. When Mary returns from Europe, Jimmy greets her with no less than Mayor
Walker (Harry Oldridge) on hand, and needless to say a happy ending is had by all.
The show ran through the season, chalked up 264 performances, and then Wynn starred in the post-
Broadway tour. Besides Wynn, the cast included comic Lou Holtz, dancer Harland Dixon, the singing
McCarthy Sisters, and in the title role Ona Munson (the future Belle Watling in the film version of Gone
with the Wind). For White’s 1926 (and eighth) edition of the Scandals, B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Lew Brown,
and Ray Henderson had written one of the greatest of all revue scores with five standards: the dance craze
“Black Bottom,” “The Birth of the Blues,” “The Girl Is You (and the Boy Is Me),” “Lucky Day,” and “It
All Depends on You” (the latter was added after the revue’s opening). Unfortunately, their contributions to
Manhattan Mary were disappointing and didn’t yield a standard, although there were hopes that the “Five-
Step” might emerge as the season’s dance craze. It was first sung by the McCarthy Sisters, then danced by
Dixon and the ensemble, was later a solo dance for Doree Leslie, and for the first-act finale was reprised by
none other than White himself in a cameo appearance (many had perhaps forgotten that he began his Broad-
way career as a hoofer, including dancing roles in the 1911 and 1915 Ziegfeld Follies). Note that for the mu-
sical’s first tryout performance, Elizabeth Hines played the title role (and was succeeded by Ona Munson).
The New York Times said the “abundant and entertaining” show was “good” but not “great,” and Wynn
was in “robustly hilarious form.” When White went into the “Five-Step” for the first-act finale, Wynn decided
to lead the pit orchestra, and as the curtain began to fall Wynn walked up the aisle of the theatre and asked
a patron or two, “Wasn’t I good?” Wynn would also occasionally interrupt the proceedings to talk about his
relatives or show off a new invention. Holtz was “highly amusing,” Munson brought an “easy and pleasant
charm” to her role, and the “Five-Step” and the title song seemed destined for popularity.
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the book was “terrible, a fact neatly concealed” by Wynn, whose
“mad, delightful comedy” pervaded the entire evening with “an air of tremendous jollity.” The score was
“fair,” the dances “superb,” the costumes “smartly bizarre” in Erté’s “improbable fashion,” and while Zieg-
feld offered “a purer and more classic beauty,” White could “be relied upon to knock your eye out.” Variety
said the musical had been given a “handsome production” and “fine cast,” but the songs were “so-so” and
the book “wandering.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show “exceedingly funny” and anointed Wynn as
“the funniest of all the revue and musical comedy comedians”; Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune hailed
Wynn as “the most perfect of all the perfect fools of musical comedy”; and Alexander Woollcott in the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch said Wynn was “the funniest clown in all the world.” Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore
Sun noted that the “gorgeous and expensive” show lacked song hits and a “cohesive” story, but it had Wynn,
who was perhaps “the best of the lot” of comedians and was “fully seventy-five percent of the show.” And
because of his monologues, “the aisles were almost loaded with people expiring from laughter.”
As Follow the Leader, the film version was released by Paramount in 1930; directed by Norman Taurog,
the cast included Wynn and Holtz in a reprise of their Broadway roles, and others in the film were Ginger
Rogers (Mary), Ethel Merman (Helen King), Stanley Smith (Jimmy Moore), Bobby Watson (George White), and
Preston Foster (“Two-Gun” Terry). The First Hollywood Musicals reports that the film contained just one
full-fledged song (Merman performed “Satan’s Holiday,” lyric by Irving Kahal and music by Sammy Fain), and
that “Broadway, the Heart of the World” (by DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson, which was titled “Broadway”
for the stage production) was sung by an off-screen chorus. The Hollywood Musical reports that the song
“Brother, Just Laugh It Off” (lyric and music by E. Y. Harburg, Arthur Schwartz, and Ralph Rainger) was also
heard in the film. But note that this song was featured in the film adaptation of Queen High; the film opened
a few months before Follow the Leader (and both films featured Ginger Rogers and Stanley Smith).
The first volume of DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Revisited (Painted Smiles CD # PSCD-144) includes
three songs from Manhattan Mary: “Broadway,” “My Blue Bird’s Home Again,” and “Nothing but Love.”
THE MERRY MALONES

“The Musical Craze”
Theatre: Erlanger’s Theatre

Opening Date: September 26, 1927; Closing Date: April 28, 1928
Performances: 216
“Book, Tunes and Verses”: George M. Cohan
Direction: Entire production staged by Edward Royce and book staged by Sam Forrest; Producer: George
M. Cohan; “Foot Work”: Jack Mason; Scenery; Joseph Wickes; Costumes: Cora MacGeachy and Mabel
Johnston of Schneider-Anderson Co.; E. J. Heuett; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Charles J.
Gebest
Cast: Jane Manners (Announceress), Leo Henning (Martin), David London (Carlysle), Ina Hayward (Mrs. Van
Buren), Marjorie Lane (Annabelle), Robinson Newbold (Mr. Westcott), Mary Jane (Gloria Westcott), Alan
Edwards (Joe Thompson, Joe Westcott), Polly Walker (Molly Malone), Frank Otto (Tony Howard), Frank
Masters (Kennedy), Mercer Templeton (Captain of Police), James Templeton (Another Captain of Police),
Dorothy Whitmore (Delia Malone), George M. Cohan (John Malone), Sarah Edwards (Helen Malone), Patsy
Ball (Anna), Charles Finan (Charlie Malone), Richard Barry (Tom), Harry Rose (Jenkins), Nat S. Jerome
(Mr. Rosinsky), Angela Jacobs (Mrs. Rosinsky), Feon Van Marr (Doris); Specialty Performers: Andre and
Rudac, Fay Adler and Ted Bradford, Burnoff and Josephine, and Cleo Pergain; Show Girls: Orchid Wess,
Ellen Gordon, Marie Baudoux, Alice Donahue, Theresa Donahue, Mildred Gethins, Katharine Bourne,
Jeanette Clyde, Crystal Moray, Margie Blanchard, Libby Pearl, Dolores Muray (possibly Murray), Florence
O’Brien, Anne Glass, Gloria Gray, Veatrice Verle; Ballet Dancers: Kitty O’Dare, Gwenn Bennett, Mildred
Hamilton, Dorothy Dion, Elinor Meeker, Ethelyn Allen, Catheryn Koehler, Lina Bells, Elinore Heineman,
Mary Elizabeth Kerr, Virla Buley, Hazel Vee, June Wall, Hazel McGuire, Marguerite Dunne, Madge Meryl;
Acrobatic Dancers: Ann Loomis, Terry Kent, Gladys Holt, Claire Blessington, Erna Kunzin, Grace Palma,
Betty Demattia, Betty Meryl; George Smith’s Violin Girls: Francis Flanigan, Zosia Spierer, Catherine Mer-
1927–1928 Season 403
rill, Rita Mario, Mary Toher, Miriam Carni, Lillian Fields, Lois Grant; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Ray
Dowley, Donald Joy, Larry Clark, Jimmy Babbits, Jack MacElroy, Ernest Petty, Harry DuBall, Lou Lesser;
The Dancers: Ande Faye, Ande Vacari, Gaby Estaire, Jack Bennett, Frank Lillis, Lester Dan, John Pierce,
Sam Sheppard; The Diplomats Vocal Quartette: Ande Hamilton (First Tenor), Hal Saliers (Lead), Johnny
Ferrara (First Baritone), and Leonard Nelson (Second Baritone); Mike Lake’s Doodle Band: Frank Carmen
(Drum Major), Charles Harris, Arthur Danner, Maurice Hamilton, Victor Welte, Al Kelty, Al Pinard,
James Brearton, Arthur Walker, Charlie Bassett, Fred Hillthaler, Louis Mehling
The action takes place during the present time in the Bronx.
Musical Numbers
Note: The programs for the Broadway tryout and for the Broadway production listed the musical numbers in
one continuous sequence and didn’t indicate the break between the first and second acts. It would seem
the break came between “We’ve Got Him” and “A Busy Little Center” (the latter appears to be a reprise
variation of the opening song “Talk about a Busy Little Household”).
Act One: Opening: “Talk About a Busy Little Household” (Ensemble); “Like a Wandering Minstrel” (Marjorie
Lane, David London); “Flirtation Waltz” (Violin Girls, Andre and Rudac); “The Plot” (Ina Hayward, Mary
Jane, Robinson Newbold, Leo Henning, Ensemble; danced by Mary Jane and Leo Henning); “Like a Wan-
dering Minstrel” (reprise) (Alan Edwards); “Son of a Billionaire” (Mercer Templeton, James Templeton,
Ensemble); “Molly Malone” (Dorothy Whitmore, Sarah Edwards, George M. Cohan); “Honor of the Fam-
ily” (Polly Walker, Dorothy Whitmore, Charles Finan); “A Feeling in Your Heart” (Polly Walker, George
M. Cohan); “The Bronx Express” (Polly Walker, Alan Edwards, Ensemble, The Diplomats Vocal Quar-
tette); “Trio Dance” (Feon Van Marr, Frank Masters, Leo Henning); “A Night of Masquerade” (Ensemble);
“Behind the Mask” (Ina Hayward); “We’ve Had a Grand Old Time” (Robinson Newbold); Eccentric Dance
(Mary Jane); Adagio (Fay Adler, Ted Bradford); “Charming” (Polly Walker, Male Ensemble); “We’ve Got
Him” (Company)
Act Two: “A Busy Little Center” (performers not identified in program); “Characteristic Dance” (Burnoff and
Josephine); “Our Own Way of Going Along” (Dorothy Whitmore, Patsy Ball, Frank Otto, Charles Finan);
“Easter Parade” (Polly Walker, Ensemble); “Danse Comique”: (a) Mercer Templeton, James Templeton;
and (b) Feon Van Marr; “Opera Bouffe Cohanesque” (Ina Hayward, Mary Jane, Marjorie Lane, Robinson
Newbold, Leo Henning, David London, Frank Masters, Ensemble); “Roses Understand” (Marjorie Lane,
David London, Ensemble); “Dance Cyclonic” (Cleo Pergain); “God’s Good to the Irish” (George M. Co-
han); “Blue Skies, Gray Skies” (Dorothy Whitmore); “Like a Little Ladylike Lady Like You” (Alan Ed-
wards); Reprise (unidentified song)
George M. Cohan’s The Merry Malones played seven months (which included a three-week break to-
ward the end of its run during which Harry Segal’s play The Behavior of Mrs. Crane was briefly presented
at Erlanger’s Theatre) for a total of 216 showings. Cohan didn’t intend to appear in the musical, but during
the tryout Arthur Deagon died and so Cohan succeeded him during the final Boston performances and then
played the role in New York. The show didn’t include any evergreens, but the Cohanesque trademarks were
all there, and so audiences enjoyed the fast-paced production, lively dances, and Cohan’s tongue-in-cheek look
at musical comedy conventions. This latter approach worked well for Mary, and did again for the new show.
The story centered on young billionaire Joe Westcott (Alan Edwards) who in order to be near Molly
Malone (Polly Walker) gets a job as a soda fountain clerk in a drug store she frequents. Joe makes asides to the
audience in which he complains about the predicament he’s in, thanks to the show’s author. Burns Mantle in
the Chicago Tribune reported that one character remarked “Isn’t this the darndest fool plot you ever heard?”
Mantle also noted that Molly doesn’t want to marry Joe because he’s rich, “but they manage to overcome
that handicap.”
The New York Times liked the “shamrock-studded harlequinade” in which bands blared, flags waved,
and characters gave thanks that “God is good to the Irish.” When Cohan stepped in for Deagon, he brought
to the role his familiar dance steps and comic shtick, and the audience gave him a “prolonged ovation” upon
his first-act entrance. Cohan “injected various satiric, spoofing touches” that assured the audience that the
proceedings weren’t “on the level,” and all the typical musical-comedy clichés were “tossed off laughingly
and with a sly wink.” The plot was “turned topsy-turvy at the slightest pretext and the Irish stew” was “never
quite kosher.”
Time said the show was “dipped in good jokes and not very good music” and that Cohan “shamelessly”
made fun of the plot. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker noted that despite just “one good song” in the score
and with dialogue that wasn’t all that “excruciatingly funny,” Cohan had “by some miracle of showmanship”
made The Merry Malones “good entertainment,” because the evening had been created by “one humorous and
definite personality” and wasn’t the “synthetic result of a series of conferences.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “nicely balanced and consistently entertaining” show with its
“tunesome” music, “clever” lyrics, and “lively if not exactly abandoned” dances. A.C. in Brooklyn Life and
Activities of Long Island Society reported that the cast “danced, clogged, buck and winged and black bot-
tomed,” and the audience’s “enthusiasm and unbounded enjoyment” was “almost riotous in comparison to
the reception accorded to many of New York’s other shows.” Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press enjoyed
the “extravagant, humorous and animated song-and-dance opera,” and Mantle said “the songs are the best
George has written in years.” Variety reported that the dances were “dizzy, peppy, whizzy, beautiful and
wholesome,” the costume changes were “intoxicatingly bewildering,” and the production was “magnificent
from any angle of any view.”
Variety also commented that when the plot was at its “thickest,” Cohan employed the chorus as page
boys who sang “important announcements in split-time rhythms” while new characters made their entrances
singing and dancing with “hot news” (Joe’s father laments that the author lacks “a sense of art” by creating
a song and dance that breaks “a father’s heart”). (This sequence was the early first-act number “The Plot.”)
During the run, “Gip-Gip” was added. As noted, during the tryout, Arthur Deagon created the role of John
Malone, and upon his death was succeeded by Cohan.
The Merry Malones was the first production to play at the new Erlanger Theatre (in 1932, the playhouse
was renamed the St. James, the name it still bears as of this writing). The Times reported that the theatre cost
$1.5 million and the overall effect for both the interior and exterior was “one of simplicity” with “a studied
attempt to create an intimate rather than a theatrical atmosphere.” Variety praised the “warm rose-and-gold
house” and its “generous capacity,” and noted that Governor Al Smith was in attendance for the opening.
SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK

“New Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Comedy Hit of the Hour”

Performances: 112
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Eddie Dowling and James (Jimmy) F. Hanley
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Earl Lindsay; Scenery: Sheldon K.
Viele; Costumes: Maybelle Manning; Robert Stevenson; Francillon, Inc.; Finchley; Eaves Costume Co.;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Arthur Lange
Cast: Frank Kingdon (August Brewster), Linda (performer known by one name) (Dorothy Brewster), Winifred
Harris (Mrs. Brewster), Carl Francis (Honorable Percival Short), T. F. Thomas (Perkins), Fiske O’Hara
(Sergeant Daley), Elizabeth Murray (Mrs. O’Brien), Dick Keene (Mickey O’Brien), Charles Gale (Whitey),
Alex Calm (Izzy), Lester Hope (later Bob Hope) (Monk), George Byrne (Fingers), Will Ahern (Goofy), Henry
Dowling (Muggsy), Carolyn Nolte (Miss Brown, Carrie), Woodey Lee Wilson (Miss Smith, Dolly), Ray
Dooley (Gertie), Cecil Owen (Parker), Harry Short (The Governor), Ruby Keeler (Mamie, Ruby), Gladys
Ahern (Gladys), William Ahern (Willie), Sam Morton (Buckley), Charles Dale (Abe Cohen), Joe Smith
(Moe Zimmermann), Emile Cote (A Policeman); Three Old-Timers: Jim Thornton, Josephine Sabel,
and Barney Fagan; Edward Maurelli (Organ Grinder); Dancing Girls: Gene West, Phyllis Reynolds, Elva
Pomfret, Adeline Foley, Peggy Timmons, Louise Stark, Wanda Woods, Sybil Bursk, Virginia Webb, Lor-
raine Webb, Jeanne Edwards, Helen MacDonald, Kathryn Hereford, Dolly Gilbert, Virginia Clark, Betty
Wright, Marjorie Gilbert, Pearl Bradley, Anna May Rex, Woodey Lee Wilson, Evelyn Farrell; Dancing
Boys: Bob Maxwell, George Murray, Billy O’Rorke, Jack Gargin, Ward Tallman, Georgie Rand, Dick Ben-
1927–1928 Season 405
nett, Hal Hennessey, Walter Carson, Francis X. Sinott, Melvin Halpern, George Rand, Don Lee; Charles
Davis’s Harlem Red-Hots: Charles Davis, Billy Shepperd, John Alexander, Pete Nugent, Irving Beaman,
Joe Wilson, Bobby Shields, Edward Shanault; New York Bluecoats Octette: Fred Wilson, Hall Clovis, Stan-
ley McClelland, Emile Cotie, Ross Wright, Paul A. Weber, Edward Marshall, and Vance Elliott
The action takes place during the present time in New York City over a period of two years.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Younger Set” (Chorus); Dance (dance reprise version of “The Younger Set”) (Dancers); Spe-
cialty (Linda); “Way Down Town” (Ruby Keeler, Charles Gale, Alex Calm); “Confirmation” (Orphans);
“Wherever You Are” (Dick Keene, Ray Dooley); “Nothing Can Ever Happen in New York” (Fiske O’Hara,
New York Bluecoats Octette); “Sidewalks of New York” (lyric by J. W. Blake, music by C. B. Lawlor)
(Orphan Boys and Girls); “Oh, for the Life of a Cowboy” (William Ahern, Orphans); “Sidewalks of New
York” (reprise) (Orphans); “Playhouse in the Sky” (Ray Dooley, Dick Keene, Orphans); “Wherever You
Are” (reprise) (Carl Francis, Linda); “Little Bum” (Fiske O’Hara, Boys); “Springtime of Long Ago” (se-
quence consisted of a medley of songs which were popular around the turn of the twentieth century) (Jim
Thornton, Josephine Sabel, Barney Fagan); “Headin’ for Harlem” (Elizabeth Murray, Ensemble); Dance
Specialty (Ruby Keeler); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “We’re the Girls You Can’t Forget” (Laundry Boys and Girls); “Way Down Town” (reprise) (Ruby
Keeler, William Ahern, Laundry Boys and Girls); “Headin’ for Harlem” (specialty reprise) (Charles Davis’s
Harlem Red-Hots); “Just a Little Smile” (Linda, Carl Francis); “Goldfish Glide” (Ruby Keeler, Chorus);
Specialty Dance (Ruby Keeler); Burlesque Dance (Ray Dooley, Dick Keene); Finale (Company)
Eddie Dowling and James F. Hanley had enjoyed a huge success with Honeymoon Lane, which had
played for almost a full year on Broadway and introduced the popular song “Little White House at the
End of Honeymoon Lane.” Sidewalks of New York was a vehicle for Dowling’s wife, the comedienne Ray
Dooley, but the difference between a lane and a sidewalk was a country mile, and the musical’s relatively
short run of three months was disappointing. And it didn’t help that the score failed to yield a hit song.
Soon after the closing, the show took to the road with Dooley and other members of the Broadway cast,
including Ruby Keeler.
Sidewalks of New York followed Manhattan Mary and The Merry Malones as the third musical in a row
to open with a New York setting, and most of the action occurred in either a Fifth Avenue mansion or an
East Side tenement (and like The 5 O’Clock Girl, which opened a week later and was also set in Manhattan,
a scene or two in Sidewalks took place in a New York City laundry establishment).
The flyer for Sidewalks noted that the show’s early scenes allowed Dooley to play “a shrill-voiced and
obstreperous urchin in an orphanage,” but later action “permitted her to grow up” with a story line that
focused on her romantic life. For these scenes she played “comedy of a different sort” and even became “a
little dramatic.” Dooley is the orphan Gertie, and she and another orphan, her romantic vis-à-vis Mickey
(Dick Keene), introduced the ballad “Wherever You Are,” which was praised by the critics. Mickey is later
conveniently adopted by a millionaire, and eventually he becomes an architect who designs tenements that
include playgrounds on the roof for the city children (hence his song “Playhouse in the Sky”). The evening
also included the obligatory romantic complications, and even resorted to the old saw about how the heroine
is mistakenly arrested for the theft of a dowager’s jewels at a society party.
The New York Times liked the “big, sprawling entertainment,” and noted the score included two or three
numbers that seemed “destined to be given widespread outside hearing.” And whenever the plot became a
“bit dull,” Dowling ensured that “a fast dance number or some equally effective stimulus” took over the
stage, including specialty dancer Ruby Keeler, comics Joe Smith and Charles Dale, and old-timers Jim Thorn-
ton, Josephine Sabel, and Barney Fagan, who sang a medley of nostalgic turn-of-the-century songs.
Time said the “sweet and swift” musical was “aimed at the simple public rather than the shrewd” with
its depiction of Manhattan life “in tinsel musical comedy caricature.” And Dooley was “hilariously amus-
ing.” Although Charles Brackett in the New Yorker had enjoyed Dooley in short “whirlwind” revue sketches,
her “long part” in the current production was that of “a wriggling, twisting, yowling, exploding brat” and you
wanted to yell, “‘Miss Dooley, will you relax or have I got to leave the theatre?’”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “great big, lively, snappy show” had “plenty of comedy, lots of
dancing, [and] a few tuneful songs.” Dooley was “nimble and gifted,” and Keeler’s “step-dancing took the
house by storm.” A.C. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the “swift-moving, high-
kicking, extremely sentimental potpourri of life” in New York included a slew of gangsters, an imperson-
ation of Governor Al Smith (by Harry Short as “The Governor”), and “apt” and “numerous” references to
Mayor Jimmy Walker. The score was “extremely catchy,” and three songs (“Wherever You Are,” “Headin’
for Harlem,” and “Goldfish Glide”) seemed destined for radio popularity. Dixie Hines in the Wilmington
Morning News liked the “tuneful” score and Dooley’s performance (she was “the most diminutive and
amusing comedienne on the stage”), a happy combination that allowed the musical to “loom high in the
firmament of successes.”
One or two critics noted that Dooley made a curtain speech thanking her “Eddie” and noting he couldn’t
be present on opening night (he was starring in the post-Broadway tour of Honeymoon Lane, which was play-
ing in Boston).
Note that the role of the gangster Monk was played by Lester Hope, previously known as Robert, and
soon to be known as Bob.
YES, YES, YVETTE

Theatre: Sam H. Harris Theatre

Performances: 40
Book: James Montgomery and William Cary Duncan
Music: Philip Charig and Ben Jerome
Based on the 1916 play Nothing but the Truth by James Montgomery (which in turn had been based on the
1914 novel of the same name by Frederick S. Isham).
Direction: H. H. Frazee; Producer: H. H. Frazee; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Costumes: Milgrim; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ben Jerome
Cast: Brenda Bond (Ethel Clark), Roland Woodruff (Dick Donnelly), Joseph Herbert (Mr. Van Dusen), Charles
Winninger (S. M. Ralston), Virginia Howell (Mrs. Ralston), Jeanette MacDonald (Yvette Ralston), Arnold
Lucy (Bishop Doran), Jack Whiting (Robert Bennett), Helene Lynd (Mabel Terry), Dorothy Waterman
(Sabel Terry), Frederick B. Manatt (J. P. Clark); Ladies of the Ensemble: Joey Benton, Edith Martin, Cleo
Cullen, Frances Stone, Mary Phillips, Florence Blue, Nesha Medwin, Irene Isham, Edith Humphrey, Rita
Marks, Dorothy Hackney, Ida Berry, Kathleen McLoughlin, Patricia Ferguson, Wilma Novak, Peggy Hart,
Patricia Campbell, Parthenia Mason, Charlotte Otis, Carola Taylor; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Alfred
Milano, Jerome Kirkland, Floyd English, Louis Elmer, Thomas McLoughlin, Jack Closson, Wallace Jack-
son, Don Gallagher, Bernard Hassert, William Bailey
The action takes place in Florida at the present time during the evening of George Washington’s birthday.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “What Kind of a Boy?” (Brenda Bond, Roland Woodruff, Ensemble);
“Pack Up Your Blues and Smile” (lyric by Jo Trent, music by Peter DeRose and Albert Von Tilzer) (Helene
Lynd, Dorothy Waterman, Ensemble); “You’re So Nice to Me” (Charles Winninger, Helene Lynd); “My
Lady” (lyric by Ben Jerome, music by Frank Crumit) (Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Whiting); Finale
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); Dance (Dorothy Waterman); “My Lady” (reprise) (Jeanette MacDonald, Jack
Whiting); “Yes, Yes, Yvette” (music by Phil Charig) (Jeanette MacDonald, Boys); “Maybe I Will” (music
by Stephen Jones) (Charles Winninger, Helene Lynd, Ensemble); Finale
Act Three: Opening (Ensemble); “How’d You Like To?” (music by Stephen Jones) (Jeanette MacDonald, Jack
Whiting, Ensemble); “Woe Is Me” (Charles Winninger); Finale (Company)
1927–1928 Season 407
Yes, Yes, Yvette was producer H. H. Frazee’s follow-up to his hit No, No, Nanette, which he had also
directed. He helmed Yvette as well, and in fact many of the participants in Nanette joined the new show,
including popular entertainer Charles Winninger, lyricist Irving Caesar, choreographer Sammy Lee, scenic
designer P. Dodd Ackerman, and costume designer Milgrim. Like Nanette, the new musical enjoyed a long
run in Chicago and received a number of favorable reviews from the New York critics, including a glowing
notice from the New York Times. But as far as Broadway audiences were concerned it was Nyet, Nyet, Yvette.
The story took place in Florida during the evening of the holiday for George Washington’s birthday. The
action centered on Robert Bennett (JackWhiting), a salesman who in order to win a bet with his boss S. M.
Ralston (Winninger) must tell the truth for five straight hours. This of course leads to multiple confusions and
misunderstanding in the young man’s business and romantic lives, particularly in the latter because Bennett
is in love with Ralston’s daughter Yvette (Jeanette MacDonald).
The Times liked the “uncommonly cheerful entertainment” with its “ingenious and resourceful” book,
Sammy Lee’s “well-drilled” dancers, and “picturesque” costumes, and noted that the audience “liked best”
the “turnip-tops” MacDonald and Whiting, with “first honors” going to the latter (Charles Brackett in the
New Yorker said Whiting was “certainly the most promising jeune premier in his department”). The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle noted that the librettists “managed to wring a good deal of harmless enjoyment” out of the story,
and the cast had “plenty of pep and go.” The “pleasing” Whiting “carried off the major honors,” and the show
was “built on such a sure foundation that it is hard to see why it should not meet with popular approval.”
A.C. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society praised the “gay, trivial, amusing and pleas-
ant” musical and said the score contained “many of the season’s best steppers.” Whiting was an “exceedingly
personable, blond, young matinee idol,” and MacDonald was a “spritely dancer with a good deal of personal
charm.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Yvette was one of the season’s “snap-
piest” musicals. And if the word “peach” had “not been overworked to describe a sweet, winsome, vivacious
and wholly sympathetic young woman,” one would be “well advised” to use it in order to describe MacDon-
ald, because she was “simply but emphatically a peach.” And one couldn’t overstate the “merits” of Whiting’s
“out of the ordinary” performance as he “squirms, twists and writhes” because of the wager.
Variety said the score was “generally tuneful” and “very nice indeed.” But Winninger had been given a
“banal” song, one that was “a frightful, senseless number which should be made to feel the cold blade of the
pruning knife” (the song was “Woe Is Me”).
At the beginning of the lengthy pre-Broadway tour, Jeanette MacDonald played the title role, Donald
Brian was Bennett, and Herbert Corthell was Ralston. As the run progressed, Dorothy Whitmore played
Yvette and Bernard Granville was Bennett, and for the New York opening MacDonald rejoined the produc-
tion, Jack Whiting was Robert, and Winninger played Ralston. Yvette was the first of two musicals during the
season in which Brian was replaced prior to the Broadway opening; later, he was succeeded by Guy Robertson
for Lovely Lady (Brian was Broadway’s first Danilo in the American premiere of The Merry Widow in 1907,
and his last musical was Jerome Kern’s Very Warm for May in 1939, whose cast also included Whiting, Brian’s
successor in Yvette).
Early in the tour, only James Montgomery was credited for the book, but eventually he and William Cary
Duncan shared the credit; and Philip Charig and Irving Caesar were listed as composers (for New York, Charig
and Ben Jerome were credited). Among the songs dropped prior to New York were: “A Certain Party,” “I’m a
Little Bit Fonder of You,” “Six O’Clock,” “For Days and Days,” “Nothing Left to Live For,” “You or Nobody,”
and “The Two of Us.” Note that “Woe Is Me,” the song that offended Variety, was cut during the Broadway
run. Two numbers had first been heard in other musicals: “My Lady” had been performed during the previous
season in Queen High, and “Maybe I Will” had been sung earlier in the current season in Talk about Girls.
Three months after Yvette closed, MacDonald and Whiting were back on Broadway, she in Sunny Days
and he in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s She’s My Baby. And ten days after the closing of Yvette on
November 5, Winninger was in Washington, D.C., on November 15 for the world premiere of Show Boat in
which he created his greatest role, Captain Andy.
The source material for Yes, Yes, Yvette later inspired another musical. Tell Her the Truth opened in
London on June 14, 1932, at the Saville Theatre for 234 performances with Bobby Howes, and during its West
End run an American version premiered on October 28, 1932, at the Cort Theatre for eleven performances.
The original novel had been adapted as a straight play and two musical versions, and so J.B. (John Byram) in
the Times was prompted to remark that “everything” had been done to the material except to “put it up in
tablet form and sell it at the chain drug stores.”
Incidentally, a variation of Yvette’s plot showed up in Warner Brothers’ 1950 musical Tea for Two (which
wasn’t a film version of No, No, Nanette but nonetheless included a few songs from that production) in which
the character “Nan” (Doris Day) makes a bet that in order to win $25,000 she must for a forty-eight-hour
period answer “no” to every question and must never utter the word “yes.”
MY PRINCESS
“A Modern Operetta”

Performances: 20
Based on the 1911 play Princess Zin-Zin (also known as The Proud Princess) by Edward Sheldon (some sources
attribute Dorothy Donnelly as coauthor). The play was never produced in New York; a Boston production
in 1911 starred Donnelly in the title role.
Direction: Directed by J. C. Huffman and dialogue staged by Sam Forrest; Producer: Alfred E. Aarons; Chore-
ography: Dave (David) Bennett (choreography for the Albertina Rasch Ballet Dancers by Albertina Rasch);
Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Schneider & Anderson; Earl Benham; Finchley;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Charles A. Prince
Cast: Leo Stark (Faxon), Marie Stoddard (Mrs. Johnson), Donald Meek (Darwin P. Johnson), Robert Woolsey
(Augustus Tonks), Hope Hampton (Minnie Johnson, aka Mimosa), Evelyn Darville (Maud Satterlee), Mir-
iam Wootton (Polly Carter), Leonard Ceeley (Guiseppe Ciccolini, aka Chick), Audrey Maple (Mrs. Cruger
Ten Eyck), Vernon Kelso (Lord Barchester), Robert F. Ford (Peter Loomis), Granville Bates (Mitchell),
Luis Alberni (The Ambassador), James Moore (Palchi), Phyllis Newkirk (Mamma Pompilia), John Emer-
son Haynes (Richotto), Frank Pandolphi (Street Singer), Amerique and Neville (Specialty Dancers); The
Albertina Rasch Ballet Dancers: Solo Dancers—Geraldine Spencer, Alvera Gomez, Frances Michele, Flor-
ence Wall, Marion Dickson, Eda Vitolo; Dancers—Dorothy Campbell, Jeanette Creagan, Martha Wilbert,
Regina Tushinska, Beatrice Squire, Florence Mahoney; Ensemble; Maids—Elizabeth Kelley, Nadja Dubin-
sky, Betty Garon, Madeleine Ward, Helen Johnston, Betty Chay; Footmen—Vladimir Dubinsky, George
Koenig, Gregory Frish, Eugene Demady, Boris Milliman, Jean Spiro, Clinton Corwin, Clifford Patterson;
Flunkeys—John Wainman, Edward Cobham, William Kurz; Society Girls—Patricia O’Connell, Lillian
White, Ruth Brady, Dorothy Biese, Helen Bourne, Wilma Miller, Dorothy Sutton, Olga Marye, Jane Alden;
Specialty Dancers—Betty Veronica, Anita Furman, Etna Ross, Peggy Gallimore, Anita Gordon, Paulette
Winston, Zayda Lord, Margaret Kelly; Society Boys—Charles Gomez, Jack Douglas, Henry Levoy, Mur-
ray Morrissey, Carl Deis, Robert Gray, William Douglas, Gordon Clark; Dancing Girls—Rita Carita, Lee
Byrne, Peggy Driscoll, Madeleine Eubanks, Gladys Redmond, Cris Bernsman, Mae Seiden; Male Singers:
Anton Teero, Buddy Carmin, George Fisher, Melvin Redden, Robert Millikin, Huey Mack, Theodore
Schoof, Frank Paudolfi, George Clidd, Richard Lynn, Jack Irwin, Henry Schween; Girl Singers: Fleurette
Andre, Olivia Martin, Elizabeth Wilson, Hela Brandes, Dulcie Bond, Virginia Bennett, Mary Landon
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: (a) “The Steppe Sisters” (Peggy Gallimore, Paulette Winston); (b) “The Moulin Rouge
Girls”; “The Glorious Chase” (Robert F. Ford, Boys) and “The Hunting Dance” (The Albertina Rasch
Girls); “Gigolo” (Robert Woolsey, Society Girls, Specialty Girls, Dancing Girls, The Albertina Rasch
Girls); “I Wonder Why?” (Hope Hampton); “Follow the Sun to the South” (Leonard Ceeley, Hope Hamp-
ton); Finale (Company); Opening Ensemble (for second scene) (Audrey Maple, Society Girls, Wedding
Ushers, Footmen); “When I Was a Girl Like You” (Audrey Maple, Society Girls, The Albertina Rasch
Girls); “Here’s How” and “Dear Girls, Good Bye” (Leonard Ceeley, Vernon Kelso, Robert F. Ford, Guests,
Footmen); “Wedding Ensemble”; Finale (Company)
1927–1928 Season 409
Act Two: Opening Ensemble; “Tympany Dance” (choreographed by Dave Bennett) (Ensemble, The Alber-
tina Rasch Girls); Finalette; “I Wonder Why?” (reprise) (Hope Hampton); “Eviva” (James Moore, Phyl-
lis Newkirk, Ensemble); “Our Bridal Night” (Hope Hampton, Leonard Ceeley); Finalette; “My Passion
Flower” (Evelyn Darville, Miriam Wootton, Robert F. Ford, Vernon Kelso, Ensemble); Tango (Amerique
and Neville); Specialty (The Albertina Rasch Ballet); Finale
My Princess was Sigmund Romberg’s second of four musicals that opened during the season, but unlike
the hit My Maryland his new show lasted for just twenty performances. The Love Call was also a disappoint-
ment, but his fourth show, Rosalie, was another hit, and so he batted .500 for the season. My Princess also
marked screen actress Hope Hampton’s first and only Broadway appearance; she’d been scheduled to star in
Madame Pompadour but had been replaced at the last minute, and so despite the new musical’s short run My
Princess was something of a victory for her and brought her a few good reviews.
The story was from the Operetta 101 play book. The nouveau riche Johnson family goes East to Long Island
after striking oil out West in Death Gutch, and their hope is to crash society, which isn’t interested in making
their acquaintance, particularly because Mr. and Mrs. Johnson (Donald Meek and Marie Stoddard) lack polish.
As a means to gain social acceptance, their daughter Minnie (Hampton) hits upon the idea of getting herself en-
gaged to a member of royalty, and to that end she enters into a business arrangement with street organ-grinder
Guiseppe Ciccolini (aka Chick) (Leonard Ceeley) wherein he’ll pose as her fiancé, the Prince of Romania.
Minnie’s brainstorm does the trick, and Long Island and New York City society are impressed with the
Johnson family’s sudden royal connection. But Chick insists that he and Minnie head to the altar, and soon he
devises a mock kidnapping to whisk her away to his tenement flat, which leads her to bring in the police to
“save” her. One can only imagine Minnie’s shock and surprise when she discovers that Guiseppe is no ordinary
Italian organ- grinder and is instead an authentic Italian prince who has been living incognito in New York!
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times liked Romberg’s “vigorous” score with lusty male choruses,
waltzes, serenades, a tango, and even a touch of jazz, and the music and dances removed the show “from the
dull company of merely routine musical productions.” Time reported that the score and the ensemble singing
measured up “to the most rigorous standard of recent large scale, light opera in the Shubert manner,” and as
for the jokes, there were “a few” (“a very few”). Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted there was
“not a joke worth laughing at” during the entire evening, but the score made for “easy listening” and the act-
ing was “virile.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer decided My Princess was “one of the most
beautiful operetta productions ever seen on Broadway.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press knocked the “specious, mirthless and occasionally ludicrous”
production, which was “ornately and pompously dead.” Variety said the show was “adorned with color
and good taste” and the score was “pretty enough but without a stand-out number” (the critic singled out
“Gigolo” and “Follow the Sun to the South” as ones with the potential for popularity), but otherwise the
production was a “worthy try, but amid present competition, doubtful of hitting.”
Atkinson reported that Hampton’s voice lacked the fullness for the “force and versatility” of Romberg’s
music, but even so she sang “earnestly.” Her acting struck “attitudes” more at home on the screen than stage,
and sometimes “in the more lurid scenes” her effect was occasionally “just a trifle ridiculous.” Time said she
had “a more than good enough voice” and “a fair acting talent,” and while Pollock mentioned she wasn’t a
“polished” actress, he noted she seldom made the mistake of being “insipid.” Schrader said she sang “like a
bird” with “real operatic quality” and used her “sweet, well-placed voice well and with artistic discretion.”
Dimond said she sang “with a purity and melodic line that are surprising in their austere accuracy,” and now
that she’d dived “into the dubious waters of operatic acclaim,” he trusted she hadn’t hit her head “on a rock”
or “suffered a case of coloratura cramps.”
As for Ceeley, Atkinson reported he had “muscular masculinity” and sang “until the roof fairly rattles,”
and Pollock liked his “refreshing and lively manner,” saying that My Princess was “decidedly his evening.”
THE 5 O’CLOCK GIRL

“A Fairy Tale in Modern Clothes” / “New Musical Comedy” / “The New Musical Comedy Sensation!”
Theatre: 44th Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre)
Opening Date: October 10, 1927; Closing Date: June 2, 1928
Performances: 280

Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Philip Goodman; Choreography: Jack Haskell (additional choreography
by Danny Dare and by Ivan Tarasoff); Scenery: Norman Bel-Geddes; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Brooks
Costume Co.; Clemons; Benham & Co.; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musi-
cal Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Vahrah Verba (Madame Irene [some programs, Madame Rosalie]), Vera Trett (Elsie), Brownie Walsh
(Jane), Biddy Wilkeison (Maisie), Danny Dare (Ronnie Webb), Lola deLille (Dorothy), Gloria Gilbert
(Ethel), Frances Thress (Marie), Al Shaw (Roy), Sam Lee (Oswald), Carl Judd (Policeman), Pert Kelton
(Susan, aka Sue Snow), Louis John Bartels (Hudgins), Mary Eaton (Patricia, aka Pat Brown), Jack Hughes
(Photographer), Oscar Shaw (Gerald, aka Gerry Brooks), Marian Bonnel (Mollie), Mary Phillips (Eugene),
Marjorie Phillips (Priscilla), Allys Dwyer (Cora Wainwright), Frank McNellis (Jasper Cobb), Michael Bar-
roy (Jules), Billy Walsh (Billy), Chester Bennett (Footman); Ladies of the Ensemble: Marian Booth, Doro-
thy Brown, Myrtle Cox, Mary Carlton, Daye Dawne, Helen Deane, Lola DeLillie, Dorothy Fitzgibbon,
Gloria Gilbert, Buddie Haines, Evelyn Hannons, Virginia Hassell, Elizabeth Janeway, Ethel Kelly, Myrtle
Lane, June Lauderdale, Jessie Madison, Helen Madigan, Pauline Maxwell, Verdi Milli, Virginia Moore,
Virginia Mortimer, Helen Mirtel, Alice O’Brien, Gwen Orlando, June Paget, Ruby Poe, Marjorie Phillips,
Mary Phillips, June Ray, Alice Raisen, Helen Sanderson, Rosemari Sill, Audrey Sturgis, Elizabeth Surran,
Frances Thress, Vera Trett, Elsa Varga, Brownie Walsh, Mary Williams, Biddie Wilkinson, Betty Waxton;
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Russell Ash, Albert Birk, Arthur Budd, Chester Bennett, Charles Conklin,
Ray Hall, Leo Howe, Jack Hughes, Arthur May, Fred May, Bobby Morris, Lowell Stray, Jack Ray, Ted
Schultz, Philip Tiltman, Billy Walsh, Ted White
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “I’m One Little Party” (Danny Dare, Girls); “We Want You” (Al Shaw, Sam Lee,
Pert Kelton); “Thinking of You” (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw); “Happy Go Lucky” (aka “Happy-Go-Lucky
Bird”) (Oscar Shaw, Girls); “Up in the Clouds” (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, Girls); “Any Little Thing” (Louis
John Bartels, Pert Kelton); “Following in Father’s Footsteps” (Al Shaw, Sam Lee); “Lonesome Romeos”
(Mary Eaton, Boys); Dance: “Tea Time Tap” (Mary Eaton, Pert Kelton, Danny Dare); “Thinking of You”
(reprise) (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Who Did? You Did!” (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw); “(Climbing the) Society
Ladder” (Pert Kelton, Al Shaw, Sam Lee); “Tell the World I’m Through” (Oscar Shaw, Boys); “Up in the
Clouds” (reprise) (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw); “Who Did? You Did!” (reprise) (Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw);
Finaletto (Company); Specialty (Al Shaw, Sam Lee); Dance (Danny Dare); Specialty (Pert Kelton); Dance
(Mary Eaton); Finale (Company)
The 5 O’Clock Girl was one of the season’s biggest hits and chalked up almost three-hundred perfor-
mances. Its score included “Thinking of You,” one of the era’s most popular ballads, and the show itself was
a Cinderella story advertised with the tagline “a fairy tale in modern clothes.” Burns Mantle in the Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle succinctly summed up the plot about the shop girl and the millionaire: “They meet
at 9, quarrel at 10, marry at 11.”
Pat Brown (Mary Eaton) works at the Snow Flake Cleaner’s, and every day at five she calls Gerry Brooks
(Oscar Shaw), a man she’s never met. The two chat with one another, and she learns that he’s a millionaire
and a bachelor, but perhaps doesn’t know he’s handsome as well. Pat has led Gerry to believe she’s a society
girl, and she devises a way to meet him. With the help of a fashionable outfit she borrows from the cleaning
shop, she masquerades as a wealthy young woman who must at all times be chaperoned (by her friend and
Snow Flake coworker Sue, played by Pert Kelton). And Pat is courted by Gerry’s valet Hudgins (Louis John
Bartels), who passes himself off as a society gent.
The New York Times liked the “tasteful, orderly and, for the most part, extremely well-behaved” show, a
“highly enjoyable” entertainment that was “endowed with sumptuous costuming and the scenic hippodrom-
ing of the more pretentious extravaganzas.” The book was “acceptable,” the score included at least three
“hummable” songs (“Happy Go Lucky” was singled out), the choreography was “expertly done,” and the dé-
1927–1928 Season 411
cor was “striking.” Mantle praised the “gorgeously” designed show, and A.C. in Brooklyn Life and Activities
of Long Island Society enjoyed the “absolutely perfect” dances and the “lavish in the extreme” costumes and
décor. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Eaton was “beautiful,” Shaw “jaunty,” and the musical itself
“handsome, smart, [and] full of good tunes and dancing.”
The critics were particularly struck by Eaton’s transformation into a full-fledged Broadway talent. She had
been the ingénue in Eddie Cantor’s hit vehicle Kid Boots, but when she was elevated to stardom in the title
role of Lucky the reviewers had been somewhat disappointed with her. But now she had blossomed into a
lovely performer and the Times reported she’d “lost a certain icy passivity and acquired a decidedly becoming
animation.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press said she was “as pictorial as a birthday cake” and had
now “acquired a quality of flame-like glow” she’d never before possessed, and Variety indicated she seemed
to be “almost a new personality,” with “much appeal” and “more ‘it’ than has been associated with her usual
past performances.” Despite these glowing personal notices in a big hit musical, Eaton never again appeared
in another Broadway production.
Kelton also scored with the critics. The Times hailed the “expert” comic, who “stopped the show com-
pletely,” and Dimond said the evening belonged to the “nimble” Kelton, “whose quiet antics” on opening
night “irrevocably snapped the thread of plot and reddened many a palm.” Thirty years later, Kelton created
her most famous role (and one she reprised for the 1962 film version) as Mrs. Paroo in Meredith Willson’s The
Music Man (1957). She also appeared in Frank Loesser’s 1960 musical Greenwillow, where she and Lee Cass
performed the memorable comic duet “Could’ve Been a Ring,” and she had a prominent role in Neil Simon’s
first comedy, Come Blow Your Horn (1961), which ran for 677 performances.
As for Shaw, Variety praised him as the “consummate leading man, manly, natural, unassuming and ingra-
tiating, from the handling of the one or two mildewed quips to the excellent dancing.” Shaw was in the original
productions of nineteen Broadway revues and musicals, and in solos, duets, and ensembles introduced songs
by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Vincent Youmans. His shows include Very Good Eddie
(1915; “Some Sort of Somebody”), Leave It to Jane (1917; “Just You Watch My Step,” “Sir Galahad,” “The Sun
Shines Brighter,” and the title song), Two Little Girls in Blue (1921; “Oh Me, Oh My, Oh You”), Good Morn-
ing Dearie (1921; “Ka-lu-A,” “Blue Danube Blues”), Music Box Revue (“All Alone,” which was added to the
production during the Broadway run and was sung by Shaw and Grace Moore), Oh, Kay! (1926; “Maybe,” “Do,
Do, Do,” “Dear Little Girl,” and “Heaven on Earth”), and Flying High (1930; “Thank Your Father”).
Shaw and Eaton appeared in the 1929 film version of Berlin’s The Cocoanuts and introduced “When My
Dreams Come True,” a song Berlin had written for the film. Shaw’s final Broadway appearance was in the
short-running 1941 Broadway comedy Pie in the Sky, which is remembered by devotees of Broadway flops
because its set was recycled for the notorious three-performance bomb Hairpin Harmony (1943).
During the tryout, “The New Trio” was cut. “We Want You” was later interpolated into the score of Top
Speed.
The musical opened at the London Hippodrome on March 21, 1929, and played a little more than three
months. The cast included Jean Colin (Pat), Ernest Truex (Gerry), Hermione Baddeley (Sue), George Gros-
smith (as Huggins instead of Hudgins), Ursula Jeans (Cora Wainwright), and Madeline Parker (Premiere Dan-
seuse). “Following in Father’s Footsteps,” “Tea Time Tap,” and “Tell the World I’m Through” were cut, and
“Why Am I So Wonderful?” and “The Window Cleaners” were added (the latter apparently a dance number).
Contemporary recordings from the score were released by Columbia Records, and these included fox trot ver-
sions of “Thinking of You,” “Up in the Clouds,” “Happy-Go-Lucky Bird,” and “Who Did? You Did!” The
collection Everyone Else Revisited (Painted Smiles CD # PSCD-146) includes “”Who Did? You Did!” and
“Up in the Clouds.”
In late December 1928, Cosmopolitan Productions/MGM began shooting the film version. Depending on
the source, the film was either completed and permanently shelved or was partially filmed and then shelved. It
starred Marion Davies, Charles King, and Joel McCrea and was directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The film report-
edly included three songs from the Broadway production (“Thinking of You,” “Up in the Clouds,” and “Who
Did? You Did!”). There doesn’t seem to be any definitive proof as to whether the film is extant or not; if extant,
the footage would make perfect bonus material for any future DVD rerelease of Bells Are Ringing (see below).
The musical was revived on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on January 28, 1981, for fourteen
performances, and was based on an earlier production that played at the Goodspeed Opera House (East Had-
dam, Connecticut) on June 19, 1979. The cast of the Broadway production included Lisby Larson (Pat), Roger
Rathburn (Gerry), Pat Stanley (Sue), and Ted Pugh (Hudgins); others in the company were Sheila Smith, Dee
Hoty, and Barry Preston. The revival retained five songs from the original (“Thinking of You,” “I’m One Little
Party,” “Up in the Clouds,” “Any Little Thing,” and “Who Did? You Did!”). Note that for both acts of the
original Broadway production there were numbers generically titled “Opening.” The revival’s first-act open-
ing song was “In the Old Neighborhood,” and this may have been the opening song in the original production.
Otherwise, the revival interpolated various numbers by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, written either together
or with others, and these included “All Alone Monday” and “The Long Island Low-Down” (Animal Crack-
ers), “Dancing the Devil Away” (Lucky), and “Manhattan Walk” (Good Boy).
Note that during its run, The 5 O’Clock Girl moved to the Shubert Theatre, which almost thirty years
later hosted another (Cinder)Ella musical. In this case, Bells Are Ringing (1956) centered on Ella and her
“sleeping prince” Jeff, both of whom have never met except on the telephone. The 5 O’Clock Girl also shares
a tenuous connection with Cabaret (1966) because both musicals included scenes that took place in a night-
spot called the Kit Kat Club.
JUST FANCY!
“An American Musical Romance” / “Merry Musical Comedy” / “The Season’s Knock-Out Hit!”

Performances: 79
Book: Joseph Santley and Gertrude Purcell
Lyrics: Leo Robin
Music: Joseph Meyer and Philip Charig
Based on the 1920 play Just Suppose by A. E. Thomas
Direction: Joseph Santley; Producer: Joseph Santley; Choreography: Johnny Ford (The dances for The Chester
Hale Girls arranged by Chester Hale); Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Emery J. Herrett of Eaves
Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Milton Schwarzwald
Cast: Now—George Harcourt (Griggs), Archie Thomson (Jimmy), Peggy O’Neill (Helen), Thelma Edwards
(Jill), Charles Baron (Bobby Vanderpoel), Jack Bauer (Harold), Frank Sills (Jonsey), Frances Nevins (Glo-
ria), Mrs. Thomas Whiffen, aka Blanche Galton (Aunt Linda Lee), Joseph Santley (His Royal Highness),
Harvey Kendall (Harvey Warren); Then—Peggy O’Neill (Flora), Berenice Ackerman (Jane Stafford),
Thelma Edwards (Kay), Kathryne Burnside (Geraldine de Peyster), Ivy Sawyer (Linda Lee Stafford),
Peggy Whiffen (Mrs. Kingley Stafford), Edward Cutler (Hannibal), Eric Blore (Sir Calverton Shipley),
John Hundley (Jack Warren), Joseph Santley (Edward Chester), George Harcourt (Honorable Philander
J. Wood), George Spelvin (First Alderman), Willard Charles Frey (Second Alderman, A Gentlemanly
Highwayman), Allan Greene (Third Alderman), Raymond Hitchcock (Charlie Van Bibber), Gertrude
Lemmon (Lola), Mlle. Marguerite (Chiquita), Frank Gill (Juan Hernandez), H. Reeves-Smith (The Mar-
quis of Karnaby); Musicians at Niblo’s Garden: The Sevilla Four (Carlo, Jose, Ramon, and Rafael); The
Chester Hale Girls: Pavla Pavlicek, Jean Kroll, Mary Hiscox, Agnes Hall, Clara Fay, Evelyn Chilla, Etta
Moore, Lenore Allan, Erma Chase, Gertrude Westling; Show Girls: Dorothy Durland, Doris Dodge,
Rachel Chester, Kaye deFranza, Fraun Koski, Helene LeSoir, Trude Marr, Clare Hooper; Medium Danc-
ers: Ruby Nevins, Ellen O’Brien, Alice Akers, Kathryn Lambly, Mildred Hiller, Val Lester, Melba Lee,
Lillie Short, Delores Nito, Jean Watson, Dorothy Martin; Boys: Archie Thomas, Jack Bauer, Ernest
Preach, Lester Niles, Charles LeValle, Frank Sills, George Ford, Ted Bradshaw, Robert Easton, William
O’Donnell
The action takes place during 1927 and 1860 on Long Island and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Ain’t Love Grand?” (Frances Nevins, Peggy O’Neill, Thelma Edwards, Charles Baron); “Shake,
Brother!” (Joseph Santley, Peggy O’Neill, Thelma Edwards, The Chester Hale Girls, Ensemble); “Memo-
ries” (Show Girls); “Sunday Beau” (Ivy Sawyer, Peggy O’Neill, Thelma Edwards, Girls); “Two Loving
Arms” (Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley); “Schottische” (The Chester Hale Girls); “Humpty-Dumpty” (Ber-
enice Ackerman, John Hundley, Ensemble); Ballet (Gertrude Lemmon, The Chester Hale Girls); “Naughty
Boy” (Raymond Hitchcock, Mlle. Marguerite); Finale
1927–1928 Season 413
Act Two: “Finale of Love Conquers All” (Niblo’s Garden Company); “Mi Chiquita” (Mlle. Marguerite, Frank
Gill); “Humpty-Dumpty” (reprise) (Berenice Ackerman, John Hundley, Ensemble); “You Came Along”
(Ivy Sawyer, Joseph Santley); Dance (The Chester Hale Girls); “You Came Along” (reprise) (Berenice Ack-
erman, John Hundley); “Two Loving Arms” (reprise)
Joseph Santley and his wife, Ida Sawyer, again teamed in a musical, this time in Just Fancy! (their most
recent appearance had been in Lucky, and Just Fancy! marked their final Broadway pairing). For the current pro-
duction, Santley wore a number of hats, and besides playing two roles, he also produced, directed, and cowrote
the show’s book. He perhaps overextended himself, because it appears the presentation was a somewhat uneasy
mix of old-fashioned operetta and modern musical comedy. In fact, a flyer from the show proclaimed it was “as
full of lafs [laffs] as a melon is full of seeds,” a rather misleading description of a work that more often than not
veered in the direction of bittersweet operetta.
Santley didn’t tighten the overly long evening, and despite rehearsals and a pre-Broadway tryout, the open-
ing night curtain didn’t fall until almost midnight. The critics complained that the show was far too long
and needed pruning, and Variety reported that two nights after the premiere the evening ended at 11:10. If
the cutting had occurred prior to the Broadway opening, the musical might have received better reviews and
settled in for a healthy run. As it was, the show lasted just ten weeks in New York, and then took to the road.
The work wasn’t a particularly subtle depiction of the Prince of Wales, who for the present-day scenes of
1927 was identified in the program as His Royal Highness and was played by Santley. In the 1860 scenes, the
character was known as Edward Chester, and was also played by Santley. The 1927 period was titled Now, and
here we meet both the young bachelor prince and the elderly Linda Lee (Mrs. Thomas Whiffen, aka Blanche
Galton), who reminisces about Then, way back in 1860 when as a young woman (now played by Sawyer), she
was courted by a British visitor named Edward Chester, who was the Prince of Wales incognito, and who later
became Edward VII and the grandfather of the later Prince of Wales from 1927. When royal duty calls, Edward
must renounce happiness with Linda Lee and return to England and wed another.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the story’s “dainty beauty” floundered “in a mass of ill-
assorted stage lumber” because the romance didn’t “mix well with the flat comedy bits” of Raymond Hitch-
cock and Eric Blore. Further, “a quarter or a third” of the “superfluous” material needed “ruthless cutting,”
and with “proper direction” the musical could “be an attractive musical romance instead of the mixed and
rather unwieldy affair” on display at the premiere. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “awfully nice—and
pure—love story,” but noted the evening was “a little long” and stated “some of the scenes” needed to “be
shaved off.” Variety suggested the show should “have been kept out of town for several weeks more, during
which time a more finished performance would have resulted.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press found the presentation “mild, melancholy, dainty, sometimes
genuinely quaint, but lacking any dorsal strength.” Unfortunately, the musical adaptation of the original
play (Just Suppose) expanded a “mild” story into “the balloon-like proportions of an operetta.” Frederick F.
Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “agreeable entertainment,” but said the book required “cut-
ting in a number of places” because it was “rather top-heavy.” The work had its “pleasing moments,” but
the score lacked “particularly new” and “striking” qualities. Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning News
said the “delightful” production had “tuneful” music, and the dances, costumes, staging, and “atmospheric
charm” made it a “delight.”
Note that Mrs. Thomas Whiffen (aka Blanche Galton) was then Broadway’s oldest living actress. She was
born in 1845, made her Broadway debut in 1868, and was eighty-two when she appeared in Just Fancy! Per-
haps her most memorable role was that of Buttercup in the original 1879 American premiere of Gilbert and
Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. For Just Fancy!, Time reported that she “danced spryly to an old-fashioned waltz.”
During the tryout, the following songs were cut: “Coo Coo,” “I’m a Highway Gentleman,” and “Just a
Poor Married Man.”
WHITE LIGHTS
“A Unique Musical Comedy of Broadway”
Theatre: Ritz Theatre

Performances: 31
Book: Paul Gerard Smith and Leo Donnelly

Lyrics: Al Dubin and Dolf Singer
Direction: Uncredited; Producer: James La Penna; Choreography: Walter Brooks; Ray Perez; Scenery: Ward
Harvey Studios; Costumes: Brooks Costume Co.; Mme. Anna Blank; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: T. L. Jones
Cast: Rosalie Claire (Flossie Finch), Sam Ash (Danny Miles), James Steiger (Jimmie), Marian Marschante
(Polly, aka Jean Paige), Leo Donnelly (Syd Burke), Florence Parker (Toodles), Tammany Young (Teddy
Harlow), Robert Lynn (Billy Winslow), James Barbour (Head Waiter), Dorothy Deeder (Mercedes), Molly
O’Doherty (Mazie), James S. Barrett (William Parsons), J. Harry Jenkins (Mr. Higgins), Edna Skodak (A
Maid), Frank Leslie (“The Villian” [“The Villain”]), Leonard Scott (Johnny), James Howkins (George),
Gordon & King (Themselves), Julio Alvarez (Specialty); Specialty Girls: Ada Winston, Edna Skodak, Bes-
sie Kademova, Doris Delanti, Florence Parker, Vera Clarke, Diana White, Mildred Morrow, Evelyn Shea,
Mildred Lorrain
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Romany Rover” (Girls of the Cabaret); “Some Other Day” (Sam Ash); “Tappin’ the Toe” (Molly
O’Doherty, Cabaret Girls); Specialty (Ada Winston); Specialty (Bessie Kademova); “Deceiving Blue Bird”
(Marian Marschante, Quartette); Specialty (Julio Alvarez); Specialty (Florence Parker); “Don’t Throw Me
Down” (Rosalie Claire); “White Lights” (Molly O’Doherty, Company); Specialty (Dorothy Deeder); Spe-
cialty (Gordon & King); “Dreaming of You” (Sam Ash)
Act Two: “Eyeful of You” (Molly O’Doherty, James Howkins, Girls); Specialty (Gordon & King, Molly
O’Doherty); “We Are the Girls in the Chorus” (Specialty Girls); “Sitting in the Sun” (Molly O’Doherty,
Gordon & King); “Dreaming of You” (reprise) (“Sylvia,” Girls; see Note below); “Better Times” (Company)
Note: The program indicated that a character named Sylvia (along with the chorus girls) performed the reprise
of “Dreaming of You,” but there wasn’t any character with that name listed in the program; it’s likely that
Sylvia is the name of the fictional character in the musical-within-the-musical, which is played by Polly, aka
Jean (Marian Marschante), and the reprise of “Dreaming of You” is the so-called sacred song first sung by Sam
Ash in the first act.
In theme and presentation (but not in quality), the critics compared White Lights (a self-described “unique
musical comedy of Broadway”) to such recent nonmusical hits as Broadway (1926) and Burlesque (1927), and
even to the recent flop Footlights. But not for an instant did anyone think White Lights was unique, and it
quickly joined the season’s parade of fast-folding failures.
The story looked at the world of nightclubs and Broadway, and the New York Times noted there wasn’t
any “novelty” in the show’s clichéd characters: the blonde singer Polly, aka Jean Paige (Marian Marschante,
who during the short run was succeeded by Gertrude Lang, who a month earlier had played the leading lady
Babette in the flop Half a Widow) is from a good family and doesn’t belong in “this kind” of work; the “noble-
hearted youth” Danny Miles (Sam Ash, who was succeeded by Sam Wren) is in love with Polly and is “God’s
gift to the songwriting business”; the nightclub hostess Flossie Finch (Rosalie Claire) has what is “technically
known as a heart of gold” about “two feet below her auburn tresses”; and a butter-and-egg man has lustful
designs on Polly and is all too willing to help her up the ladder of show-business glory.
So, the moneyman backs a big Broadway show that stars Polly, and during the premiere she collapses
when she realizes Danny is in the audience and has heard her perform a “sacred” number he had written for
her and her alone, one never intended for anyone’s ears but hers. But the Times reported that a brief coda “let
it be known that everything’s going to be all right.”
In many respects the evening was a series of presentational numbers rather than plot or character songs.
There were seven unnamed specialty acts, and the Times indicated that at one point in the first act the action
halted and gave way to a twenty-minute floor show at the nightclub The Monastery, which included dancers,
1927–1928 Season 415
contortionists, and “ballad and wah-wah singers.” And the second act depicted both rehearsal scenes for a
Broadway musical and scenes from that musical during its opening night performance.
H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society cautioned that “everything” in the produc-
tion “reminds one of something one has heard or seen before,” and the music was “undistinguishable from
the tunes associated with innumerable undistinguished musical shows.” But Marschante was “certainly very
pretty, even if her coyness is somewhat forced,” and Claire could “sling slang and swear like the army in Flan-
ders, and she does it very thoroughly.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that “you might want to see White
Lights,” and warned that if you did “you had better hurry before the moving van backs up.”
THE LOVE CALL

“A Musical Play of the Golden West” / “A Musical Romance of the Golden West”
Theatre: Majestic Theatre

Performances: 88
Book: Edward Locke and Harry B. Smith
Lyrics: Harry B. Smith
Based on the 1900 play Arizona by Augustus Thomas
Direction: Staged by J. C. Huffman and book staged by Lew Morton; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and
J. J.) and L. Lawrence Weber; Choreography: Earl Lindsay; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Charles Le-
Maire; Ernest Schrapps (aka Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, E. R. Schraps, and Ernest
Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Carlos Mejia (Sam Wong), Frank Erwin (Joe), John L. King (Tim), Bradley F. Lane (Mike), Shep Camp
(Slim Carter), Jane Egbert (Lena Keller), Joseph Macaulay (Tony Mustano), Roberta Beatty (Estrella
Canby-Bonham), William P. Carleton (Colonel Bonham), W. L. Thorne (Henry Canby), Barry Lupino
(Reginald Pargester), Charles Lawrence (Doctor Fenlon), Violet Carlson (Miss McCullagh), Alice Fischer
(Mrs. Canby), Berna Deane (Bonita Canby), William Balfour (White Horse), John Rutherford (Captain
Hodgman), Richard Lee (Sergeant Keller), John Barker (Lieutenant Denton), Frederick Kaufman (Red
Crow), Stanley Jessup (Black Hawk), Veloz and Yolanda (Fiesta Dancers), Frank King (Manuel); Singers:
Jeanette O’Connor, Katherine Richmond, Marion Dollbeare, Violet Code, Katherine Harvey, Claudia
Papineau, Florence Tynor, Vera Deane, Emily Wentz, Helen Detrich, Annette Taylor, Peggy Hansel,
Guinevere Sandy, Jean Haven, Clare Toy, Ann Gilbert, Kitty Coleman, Margaret Clark; Dancers: Marga-
ret Szabo, Ellen Sparks, Vivian McGill, Katherine Mausier, Ruby Udell, Peggy South, Dorothy DeLukas,
Princess Wynneman, Elina DuVal, Elsie Merer, Margaret Alexander, Nadine Prescott, Lucille Poirier,
Nina Romanos, Peggy O’Connor, Kathlyn Kerrigan, Gerry Dean, Carmen DeBois, Agatha Dowd; First
Tenors: Jack Ribaudo, Lee Roltman, John Muccio, Henry Corsell, Harry Erwin; Second Tenors: Louis
Rottman, Robert Kienast, William Magill, Lawrence Watts, Jack Jendrick, Isadore Gladstone, Frank
Quigley, John Weeple, John L. King; Baritones: Richard Ellis, Nick Krissuk, Eddy Green, Bart Shilling,
William Jennings, Ed Drake, Charles McGrath, Dick Doober, Emil Stetz, Frank Lane; Bassos and Al
Fontain’s Octette: Al Fontain, Leonard Berry, Emil Stetz, Bradley Lane, Evan Doctoroff, Frank Erwin,
John Weeple, John L. King
The action takes place in Aravaipa Valley, Arizona, during 1869.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Number (Leonard Berry, Ed Drake, Charles McGrath, Jack Ribaudo, Cowboys); “Tony,
Tony, Tony” (Jane Egbert, Joseph Macaulay, Guests); “’Tis Love” (Roberta Beatty, Male Chorus); “When
I Take You All to London” (Barry Lupino, Leonard Berry, Ed Drake, Charles McGrath, William Magill);
“Bonita” (Berna Deane, Ensemble); “Eyes That Love” (Berna Deane, John Barker); “If That’s What You
Want” (Barry Lupino, Violet Carlson); “The Rangers’ Song” (John Barker, Cowboys); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “’Tis Love” (reprise) (Company); “The Lark” (Berna Deane, Roberta Beatty, Ensemble);
“Good Pals” (John Barker, Company); “Poker Game” (Barry Lupino, William P. Carleton, John Rutherford,
W. L. Thorne, Charles Lawrence); “I Am Captured” (John Rutherford, John Barker, Berna Deane, Roberta
Beatty); “Hear the Trumpet Call” (John Rutherford, John Barker, Berna Deane, Roberta Beatty, Ensemble);
“I Live, I Die for You” (Joseph Macaulay, Jane Egbert); “You Appeal to Me” (Violet Carlson, Barry Lupino,
Charles Lawrence); Finale (John Barker, Roberta Beatty, William P. Carleton, John Rutherford, Berna Deane)
Act Three: Opening: “Fiesta” (John Rutherford, Ensemble); “Spanish Dance” (Veloz and Yolanda); “I Live,
I Die for You” (reprise) (Joseph Macaulay, Jane Egbert, Ensemble); “Spanish Love” (Barry Lupino, Violet
Carlson); Finaletto; Finale
The Love Call was Sigmund Romberg’s third of four musicals that opened during the season. My Mary-
land and Rosalie were hits, but My Princess and The Love Call were failures that lasted just a few weeks.
Based on Augustus Thomas’s successful 1900 drama Arizona, the musical seems to have concentrated
on the conflicts of settlers, Mexicans, cavalry, and Indians instead of the melodramatic relationships among
the principals, which included a would-be affair with the villainous Captain Hodgman (John Rutherford) and
the innocent Estrella (Roberta Beatty), who doesn’t know his true nature and is also the wife of his superior
Colonel Bonham (William P. Carleton). Hodgman also has designs on Estrella’s sister Bonita (Berna Deane),
who is pursued by stalwart hero Lieutenant Denton (John Barker).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “routine,” “average,” “florid,” and “tasteless” show
had an “able” score but was “built strictly according to formula, as dated as a Frederic Remington print.” But
the large production, the “sheer volume” of sound, and the “lurid pyrotechnics” of the story kept the musical
“just on the sunny side of boredom” while the mechanics of the writing proceeded from romance to comedy
to villainy. Time said the score was “fair” and the chorus girls “fairer,” but these could “scarcely compensate
for a deadly lack of laughter.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker stated he was “punch-drunk” from seeing
so many operettas, and all he could really say about The Love Call was “that it’s all right, I guess.” And Al-
exander Woollcott in the Indianapolis Star said that the songs were “sweet” and “forgettable,” and that the
ubiquitous Romberg “must be a syndicate.”
For John Anderson in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the production was “considerably below the level
of the other Shubert operettas” because the score was “not out of the top rack” and the story had so much
“book trouble” that it “nearly dies of it.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the “lavishly
staged” operetta offered a score that wasn’t “particularly new” but “always pleasing,” and Barry Lupino and
Violet Carson provided “plenty of comedy” with their “droll dialogue and eccentric dancing.” The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle decided the production was “so melodious, so well cast, so well staged and so splendidly orches-
trated that any critical mention of a defect is unkind” (but the critic noted the dialogue was a “trifle stiff”).
N.F. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society reported that despite “excellent auspices in every
department,” The Love Call was “unsatisfactory,” and Variety concluded its notice by saying “the producers
have a costly flop on their hands.”
During the tryout, the production was known as Bonita, and no doubt the producers preferred the new
title because it brought to mind Rose-Marie and “Indian Love Call.” For the tryout program, Edward Locke
is credited with the book, but for New York both Locke and Harry B. Smith receive credit. Ed Hutchison was
the original choreographer, but for New York was succeeded by Earl Lindsay. Lora Sanderson played the role
of Estrella Canby-Bonham, and was replaced by Roberta Beatty, who had appeared in Romberg’s The Student
Prince in Heidelberg as Princess Margaret and with John Coast had introduced the fetching waltz “Just We
Two.” Numbers dropped during the tryout were: “Styles,” “If I Dare Tell You,” and “Fortune Teller Song,”
the latter sung by Ruth Ann Watson as Senorita Diaz, a character written out of the production prior to Broad-
way. The operetta was scheduled to open at the Century Theatre, but instead premiered at the Majestic. The
post-Broadway tour featured the leading players from the New York production.
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE
“The Musical Comedy Classic!” / “The Musical Comedy That Will Live Forever”

Opening Date: November 3, 1927; Closing Date: October 27, 1928
1927–1928 Season 417
Performances: 418
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Based on the 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain.
Direction: Alfred Leftwich; Producers: Lew Fields and Lyle D. Andrews; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scen-
ery and Costumes: John F. Hawkins Jr. (Herbert Ward, Art Director); additional costumes by Milgrim; Ben
Rocke; Lighting: New York Calcium Light Co.; Musical Direction: Richard Rodgers (for opening night);
otherwise, the conductor was Roy Webb; Note: Robert Benchley designed the show curtain, which de-
picted a map of Camelot.
Cast: For the Prologue—Gordon Burby (Albert Kay), Jack Thompson (Gerald Lake), William Norris (Mer-
lin), William Gaxton (Martin), Paul Everton (Arthur Pendgragos), Nana Bryant (Fay Morgan), Constance
Carpenter (Alice Carter, aka Sandy),William Roselle (Lawrence Lake); For the Play—Gordon Burby (Sir
Kay), William Gaxton (The Yankee), Constance Carpenter (The Demoiselle Alisande le Carteloise),
Paul Everton (King Arthur of Britain), William Roselle (Sir Launcelot of the Lake), Jack Thompson (Sir
Galahad), William Norris (Merlin), Dorothy Roy (Maid Angela), June Cochrane (Mistress Evelyn La
Belle-Ans), Nana Bryant (Queen Morgan Le Fay), Celeste Deuth (Queen Guinevere), C. Douglas Evans
(Sir Bors), John Morton (Sir Sagramor), Chester Bree (Sir Tristan), Reginia Diamond (Mistress Phoebe
Sauce de Pommes); Slaves, Knights, Ladies of the Court, Factory Hands: Olive Bertram, Grace Connelly,
Ednor Fulling, Enes Early, Harriet Hamell, Leoda Knapp, Mareta Mackay, Margaret Miller, Dorothy Ru-
bino, Kaye Renard, Evelyn Ruh, Valma Valentine, G. Douglas Evans, Chester Bree, Martin Denis, John
Creighton, Don Donaldson, George Magis, Jack Morton, Ward Arnold, Vernon Downing, Frank Norton,
Jack Baker, Leslie Cooley, Richardson Brown, Frank Bocchetta, Philip Kobe, Lew Douglas
The action takes place during the present time of 1927 in Hartford, Connecticut, and in Camelot in the year 528.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Home Companion” (aka “A Lady’s Home Companion”) (Nana Bryant, Principals, Ensemble);
“My Heart Stood Still” (William Gaxton, Constance Carpenter, Ensemble); “Thou Swell” (William Gax-
ton, Constance Carpenter); “At the Round Table” (Paul Everton, William Norris, William Roselle, Jack
Thompson, Knights, Ladies); “On a Desert Island with Thee” (Jack Thompson, June Cochrane, Knights,
Ladies); “My Heart Stood Still” (reprise) (William Gaxton, Constance Carpenter); Finale (“Ibbidi Bibbidi
Sibbidi Sab”) (Company)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Nothing’s Wrong” (Constance Carpenter); “I Feel at Home with You” (Jack
Thompson, June Cochrane, Ensemble); Dance (Constance Carpenter, Jack Thompson); “The Sandwich
Men” (Knights); “Evelyn, What Do You Say?” (June Cochrane, Knights); Finale (Company)
A Connecticut Yankee was the first of three musicals by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart to open during
the season. It became their longest-running hit to date, with 418 performances (in the entire Rodgers and Hart
canon, the musical is their second-longest-running show, topped only by 1942’s By Jupiter, which played for
427 showings). Yankee was followed by the disappointing Beatrice Lillie vehicle She’s My Baby, which played
for two months, and then by Present Arms, a modest hit that lasted four months and yielded the evergreen
“You Took Advantage of Me.”
Based on Mark Twain’s 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the musical begins in
1927 at a hotel in Hartford, Connecticut, where Martin (William Gaxton) is celebrating his forthcoming mar-
riage to Fay Morgan (Nana Bryant).When Fay discovers him in the arms of Alice Carter, aka Sandy (Constance
Carpenter), she hits him on the head with a champagne bottle, and while knocked out he dreams he’s living
in Camelot during the time of King Arthur. Everyone he meets in the year 528 reminds him of someone he
knew in 1927, including Alisande (Carpenter) and the evil Morgan Le Fay (Bryant). When Martin awakens
from his dream, he realizes it’s Sandy and not Fay whom he really loves.
Much of the show’s humor was derived from the juxtaposition of the attitudes and outlooks of 1927 versus
528. But many critics felt the anachronistic humor was overdone and became somewhat tiresome. J. Brooks
Atkinson in the New York Times noted that the difference between “brisk” American slang and the King’s Eng-
lish became “rather transparent and labored,” but no one really complained because the “amusing” and “merry
satire” was a “capital entertainment” with “tuneful” and “fresh and lilting” songs and an “intelligent” book.
Among the jokes: Martin asks a knight in armor, “How long can you keep fresh in that can?” And for “The Sand-
wich Men,” the knights wear advertising placards around their necks which advertise such slogans as “I would
fain walk a furlong for a Camel” and “Yo Hiberian Rose of Abie.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker soon became weary of dialogue of the “Thou sap” variety, but said
the first act offered “high-spirited nonchalance.” Hart’s lyrics were “far above average,” and although “My
Heart Stood Still” had already gained popularity in Britain (see below) he noted there were “several numbers
which may well rival” it in popularity. Time reported that “current slang” mixed with “Arthurian bombast”
became wearisome (“Varlet, thou art full of the juice of the prune”), but otherwise the dances were “violently
good” and the score “immensely better” than “most music in most musical comedies.”
Burns Mantle in the New York Daily News found the music “characterful and original” and the lyrics
“good,” Alan Dale in the New York American liked the “lovely, quaint, deliciously droll and remarkably ce-
rebral music,” and Percy Hammond in the New York Herald Tribune said Rodgers had written “four or five
alluring songs” (but otherwise the book was “tedious” with its “constant reiteration of the burlesque lingo of
King Arthur”). Alexander Woollcott in the New York World stated Rodgers’s melodies had made the “most
valuable contribution” to the production. And Walter Winchell in the New York Graphic said the “blazing”
foxtrot “Thou Swell” will “probably rock the city.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Lincoln (NE) Star praised the “caressing and provocative” music and “brilliantly
humorous” décor and costumes. Dimond noted that “My Heart Stood Still” was “internationally known”
and had been transplanted into A Connecticut Yankee “at great cost.” “Thou Swell” was “impudent and
engaging,” and other highlights were “I Feel at Home with You,” “Evelyn, What Do You Say?,” and “The
Sandwich Men.” Carpenter played her role with “neat taste,” but Gaxton was “just a shade too Broadway and
decidedly too mature for his role” and must “have done a lot of practicing in front of his pier glass to achieve
that effect of galvanic smugness.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “fresh as well as lively and tuneful, romantic
and jazzy” music and “neatly done” lyrics, and also singled out the “expressionistic design” of the décor (Va-
riety said the sets were “futuristic in design and look good”). Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said
the evening was “now quick and spirited, now slow and heavy and self-indulgent.” He commented that the
producers had erred in bringing the work to Broadway before it had been “sufficiently cut” (the final curtain
was “well after 11:30 and wasn’t worth all the time it took to watch and listen to it”). But in a follow-up piece
two days later, Pollock predicted that Fields, Rodgers, and Hart would “cut the thicker, unfunnier and more
pretentious parts” of the musical and “without difficulty” would turn it into a “hit” because the piece had
“emotion” and “marrow in it.”
During rehearsals and the tryout, “You’re What I Need,” “I Blush,” “Morgan Le Fay,” “Britain’s Own
Ambassadors,” and “Someone Should Tell Them” were cut (as “There’s So Much More,” the latter was heard
in Rodgers and Hart’s 1931 musical America’s Sweetheart). “My Heart Stood Still” had first been introduced
a few months earlier in the 1927 London revue One Dam Thing after Another, where it was sung by Jessie
Matthews and Richard Dolman; “Evelyn, What Do You Say?” was a revised version of “Morgan Le Fay”; and
“You’re What I Need” was later heard in She’s My Baby. Note that the musical’s national tour played from
October 1928 to April 1930 in a total of forty-nine cities.
The musical was produced in London on October 10, 1929, as A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur at
Daly’s Theatre for forty-three performances. Constance Carpenter reprised her New York performance, and
others in the cast were Harry Fox (Martin) and Norah Robinson (Fay). Because “My Heart Stood Still” had
first been heard in the 1927 London revue One Dam Thing after Another, the song wasn’t included in the
West End production; instead, a new one was substituted (“I Don’t Know How,” lyric by Desmond Carter and
music by Vivian Ellis); Carter and Ellis also wrote a song for Merlin (“I Never Thought of That”).
The musical was revised and revived on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 17, 1943, for
135 performances with Dick Foran (Martin), Julie Warren (Sandy), Vivienne Segal (Fay), Vera-Ellen (Evelyn),
and Robert Chisholm (Arthur). The revival retained six songs from the original (“My Heart Stood Still,”
“Thou Swell,” “At the Round Table,” “On a Desert Island with Thee,” “I Feel at Home with You,” and
the first act finale), and Rodgers and Hart wrote six new ones (“This Is My Night to Howl,” “Ye Lunchtime
1927–1928 Season 419
Follies,” “Can’t You Do a Friend a Favor?,” “You Always Love the Same Girl,” “The Camelot Samba,” and
the insinuating musical gait and verbal pyrotechnics of the dazzling “To Keep My Love Alive,” one of the
grandest of all Broadway comedy songs with a wicked lyric wedded to stately and genteel music). “A Home
Companion,” “Nothing’s Wrong,” “The Sandwich Men,” and “Evelyn, What Do You Say?” weren’t included
in the revival.
The modern-day action was updated to 1943, and when Martin wakes up in Camelot he introduces jeeps,
walkie-talkies, and sambas to King Arthur’s court, not to mention swing shifts at defense factories and leisure
time at canteens. “Ye Lunchtime Follies” depicted a Sinatra-styled Sir Galahad (Chester Stratton), who croons
into a microphone while ladies of the court swoon like Forties’ bobbysoxers, and of course jive talk abounded
(“Thou hast put me on the beam”).
Decca recorded the 1943 cast album, which was later released by Decca Broadway (CD # 440-013-560-2);
the album includes the overture and finale as well as seven songs (four from 1927, “My Heart Stood Still,”
“Thou Swell,” “On a Desert Island with Thee,” and “I Feel at Home with You,” and three from 1943, “To
Keep My Love Alive,” “Can’t You Do a Friend a Favor?,” and “You Always Love the Same Girl”).
The television adaptation was presented by NBC on March 12, 1955, with Eddie Albert (Martin), Janet
Blair (Sandy), Gale Sherwood (Fay), Boris Karloff (Arthur), John Conte (Sir Kay), Leonard Elliott (Merlin), and
dancers Bambi Linn and Rod Alexander. The latter choreographed, the direction was by Max Liebman and
William Hobin, and the teleplay was by William Friedberg, Neil Simon, Al Schwartz, and Will Glickman. AEI
released the soundtrack, which includes songs from the original production (“My Heart Stood Still,” “Thou
Swell,” “At the Round Table,” “On a Desert Island with Thee,” “I Feel at Home with You,” and the first-act
finale) and the revival (“This Is My Night to Howl,” “To Keep My Love Alive,” “Can’t You Do a Friend a
Favor?,” “You Always Love the Same Girl,” and “The Camelot Samba”).
On February 8, 2001, Encores! presented a concert revival of the musical at City Center for five perfor-
mances; the cast included Steven Sutcliffe (Martin), Judith Blazer (Sandy), Christine Ebersole (Fay), and Henry
Gibson (Arthur). For this version, the prologue and epilogue remained in 1927, but all the songs from the
1943 revival were retained. Numbers from the original production that weren’t used in the concert were “A
Home Companion,” “Evelyn, What Do You Say?,” and “Nothing’s Wrong” (the lyric and music for the lat-
ter are presumed lost, along with “Britain’s Home Ambassadors,” which had been written for but not used
in the 1927 production). The song “I Blush” had been cut during the 1927 tryout, and was reinstated for the
concert along with “Here’s Martin the Groom,” which had been written for the 1943 production but seems
to have never been performed (it wasn’t listed in programs for the 1943 tryout, Broadway production, and
post-Broadway tour). “I Blush” is included in the first of the Rodgers and Hart Revisited collections (Painted
Smiles CD # PSCD-116).
The lyrics for all extant songs from the 1927 and 1943 productions are included in the collection The
Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart.
Note that two later film versions of Twain’s novel don’t include songs from the Rodgers and Hart adapta-
tion. A nonmusical version (as A Connecticut Yankee) was released in 1931 and starred Will Rogers, and in
1949 a musical version (as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court) was released by Paramount with
Bing Crosby (lyrics by Johnny Burke and music by Jimmy Van Heusen).
FUNNY FACE
Theatre: Alvin Theatre

Performances: 250
Book: Fred Thompson and Paul Gerard Smith
Direction: Edgar MacGregor (no director credited in opening night program); Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and
Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Bobby Connolly; Scenery: John Wenger; Costumes: Kiviette; Jenny of
Paris; Saks Fifth Avenue; Russell Uniform Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: Betty Compton (Dora), Gertrude McDonald (June), Adele Astaire (“Frankie”), Fred Astaire (Jimmy
Reeve), William Kent (“Dugsie” Gibbs), Earl Hampton (Chester), Victor Moore (Herbert), Allen Kearns
(Peter Thurston), Ted MacLean (Sergeant of Police), Edwin Hodge (Hotel Clerk), Walter Munroe (Porter),
Dorothy Jordan (Bell Hop); The Ritz Quartette; Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil Ohman; Ladies of the
Ensemble: Kay Annis, Mildred Bower, Marcia Bell, Vera Berg, Helen Clare, Jean Carroll, Peggy Daubert,
Dorothy Dawn, Ann Ecklund, Adelyn Endore, Elsie Frank, Sherry Gale, Gloria Glennon, Alma Hookey,
Ona Hamilton, Dorothy Jordan, Helen Leslie, Adrienne Lampel, Lillian Michell, Estelle Mercier, Maxine
Marshall, Ethel Maye, Frances Markey, Pauline Mason, Elsie Neal, Jo NaVarro, Marie Otto, Ruth Pen-
ery, Boo Phelps, Peggy Quinn, Rita Romero, Ruth Sato, Marjorie Seltzer, Bobby Shutta, Marion Tierney,
Billee Walker, Polly Williams,Winifred Beck; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Edwin Bidwell, Dowell Brown,
Austin Clark, William Cooper, Arthur Craig, Eugene Day, Norman Curtis, Jack Fraley, Bob Gebhardt,
Thomas Hodges, W. L. Mack, Gordon Merrick, Lionel Maclyn, Tom Martin, Richard Neely, Edwin Preble,
Fritz Reinhard, Walter Wandell, Paul Jensen, Richard Keith, Walter Munroe, Sam Simpson, Marshall
Scott, Ray Stilley
The action takes place during the present time in New York City, Lake Wapatog, New Jersey, and Atlantic
City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Birthday Party” (Betty Compton, Gertrude McDonald, Guests); “Once” (William Kent, Betty
Compton); “Funny Face” (Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire); “High Hat” (Fred Astaire, Boys); “He Loves and
She Loves” (Adele Astaire, Allen Kearns); “Let’s Kiss and Make Up” (Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire, En-
semble); Finale (aka “Good Heavens! They’re Gone!”) (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Pianists: Victor Arden and Phil Ohman); “In the Swim” (Girls); “’S Wonderful” (Adele
Astaire, Allen Kearns); “Tell the Doc” (William Kent, Girls); “What Am I Going to (Gonna) Do?” (best
known as “My One and Only”) (Fred Astaire, Gertrude McDonald, Betty Compton, Girls); “Sing a Little
Song” (Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, The Ritz Quartette, Boys); “Blue Hullabaloo” (Betty Compton,
Gertrude McDonald, Chorus); “The Babbitt and the Bromide” (Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire); Finale
George and Ira Gershwin’s long-running hit Funny Face was another of those quintessential 1920s mu-
sicals in which a happy combination of stars, story, dance, and music defined the era, and few would have
guessed that the smooth and polished production had gone through Tryout Hell.
For part of its Broadway tryout, the musical was known as Smarty, and the book was by Fred Thompson
and Robert Benchley; by the time of the New York opening, the new title was in and Benchley was out, and
Paul Gerard Smith had joined Thompson in fashioning a new book. Stanley Ridges played the aviator Peter,
and was succeeded by Allan Kearns; Victor Moore joined the company in the newly created character of
Herbert; and the tryout’s musical director William Daly was followed by future film composer Alfred New-
man. The part of Olive was played by Maxine Carson, who was replaced by Lillian Roth, who in turn left the
production when the character was written out of the show.
During the pre-Broadway engagements, the show lost at least nine numbers: “Aviator” (aka “Flying Fete”
and “We’re All A-Worry, All Agog”), “When You’re Single,” “Those Eyes” (aka “Your Eyes! Your Smile!”),
“The World Is Mine,” “Finest of the Finest,” “Dancing Hour,” “Dance Alone with You,” “Nut Dance,” and
“How Long Has This Been Going On?,” which soon became a Gershwin evergreen (it had been sung by Adele
Astaire and Stanley Ridges during the tryout, and a few weeks later found its way into Rosalie where it was
performed by Bobbe Arnst). As the revised “Ev’rybody Knows I Love Somebody,” “Dance Alone with You”
also found its way into Rosalie, and for Nine Fifteen Revue (aka Ruth Selwyn’s Nine Fifteen Revue) (1930)
“The World Is Mine” was rewritten as “Toddlin’ Along.” Dropped in preproduction were: “Come! Come!
Come Closer!,” “Acrobats,” “Bluebeard,” “Invalid Entrance,” and “When the Right One Comes Along.”
Note that The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin indicates that “Sing a Little Song” was a medley of re-
prises, and not a new song; and “Dancing Hour” (which as noted was dropped during the tryout) was a dance
sequence with a lyric. The lyric of “Once” had been used in Tell Me More with music by William Daly, and
for Funny Face was presented in a new musical setting by George Gershwin. Part of the lyric and music of
1927–1928 Season 421
“In the Swim” had been heard in “The Moon Is on the Sea,” which had been dropped from Oh, Kay! during
its tryout. “Blue Hullabaloo” was dropped during the Broadway run.
The book wasn’t much, but did its work well in fashioning a lighthearted story that provided star turns for
the Astaires, Moore, and William Kent, a lot of jokes (when asked how he feels, Kent replies that “symptoms
I’m happy, symptoms I’m blue,” and when someone wonders where his chivalry is, he says he traded it in for
a Cadillac), and plenty of excuses for songs and dances. The score yielded a crop of standards, including “’S
Wonderful,” “My One and Only,” “He Loves and She Loves,” and the title song; comic specialties like “Tell
the Doc” and “The Babbitt and the Bromide”; and in “High Hat” a chance for Astaire and the boys to dress
up in top hat and tails and go into their dance.
The story focused on Jimmy (Fred Astaire), who is the guardian of three wards, “Frankie” (Adele Astaire),
Dora (Betty Compton), and June (Gertrude McDonald). Both romantic complications and criminal capers keep
everyone on their toes, and by the finale Jimmy and June are an item, as are “Frankie” and Peter (Kearns).
Herbert (Moore) and “Dugsie” (Kent) were around for the fun as two hapless safecrackers after jewels and
secret diaries.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said “if there were not two or three good musical plays already
in town one might be reckless enough to dub Funny Face” as “the best of them all.” Here was an “uncom-
monly rollicking entertainment” that gave “full entertainment measure” with “several good” songs. He
noted the Astaires “have a niche in musical comedy all to themselves” and that twice during the performance
Fred Astaire “took the audience’s breath away with his rapid footing and his intelligibility in a brand of clog-
dance pantomime.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker noted that “My One and Only” caused the audience to make “rather
a point of going a little mad about” Astaire’s dancing, and the “amazingly male male chorus” could “dance
and sing and has one number, ‘High Hat,’ which is a knock-out.” Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press
said that “even so dire an institution as the male chorus justifies its existence in a smashing number called
‘High Hat,’ as effective a song and dance as I have listened to since ‘Hallelujah’ [from Hit the Deck!] first burst
upon the cosmic tympanum.”
Time said the show was “the smartest and best of the new musical comedies”; Burns Mantle in the Chi-
cago Times said the book didn’t “amount to much,” and the evening was “distinguished principally by its
music, written by that leader of the jazzists, George Gershwin.” And Bushnell Dimond in the Lincoln (NE)
Star said Fred Astaire trod “invisible egg shells to Gershwin’s feathery score,” Ira Gershwin’s lyrics were
“neat,” there were “farcical, bronchial barks” from Kent, and “mellow mock-pathos” from Moore.
The musical’s successful London production opened on November 8, 1928, at the Princes Theatre for 263
performances; the Astaires reprised their Broadway roles (and Bobby Connolly was again the choreographer),
and others in the company were Bernard Clifton (Peter), Leslie Henson (“Dugsie”), and Sydney Howard (Her-
bert).
Seven songs and one comic dialogue sequence were recorded by the London cast, “Funny Face” and “The
Babbitt and the Bromide” (both sung by the Astaires), “He Loves and She Loves” and “’S Wonderful” (Adele
Astaire and Clifton), “My One and Only” (Fred Astaire), “High Hat” (Fred Astaire and chorus), “Tell the Doc”
(Henson and quartet), and the comic dialogue of “A Few Drinks” (Henson and Howard), all released on the
recording Funny Face (World Record Club Ltd. LP # SH-144). The album also includes various contemporary
recordings from Funny Face and other Gershwin shows, including George Gershwin at the piano (among the
selections are three from Funny Face, “’S Wonderful,” “My One and Only,” and the title song).
Another Funny Face release (as part of the Smithsonian American Musical Series, and issued by RCA
Special Products LP # R-019) includes the above London recordings as well as the three by Gershwin, along
with two medleys of the score by pianists and original Broadway cast members Victor Arden and Phil Ohman
(one medley includes non-cast member and tenor soloist James Melton).
Lyrics for the used and unused songs are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin.
Note that Paramount’s 1957 film Funny Face is not an adaptation of the stage production. Directed by
Stanley Donen, choreographed by Eugene Loring, and scripted by Leonard Gershe, the film’s cast includes
Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Lee, and Suzy Parker. “He Loves and
She Loves,” “’S Wonderful,” “Let’s Kiss and Make Up,” and the title number from the 1927 production were
used as well as “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” which had been cut during the original’s tryout; also
included in the film were “Clap Yo’ Hands” from Oh, Kay! and four new songs with lyrics by Gershe and
music by Roger Edens.
The hit Broadway musical My One and Only was a loose adaptation of Funny Face which doesn’t quite
qualify as a revival and is more in the nature of a catalog musical (similarly, the later 1992 Crazy for You was
inspired by the Gershwins’ 1930 Girl Crazy and appropriated songs from Girl Crazy as well as various ones
from the Gershwin catalog). My One and Only opened on May 1, 1983, at the St. James Theatre and played
for 767 performances with Tommy Tune, Twiggy, Denny Dillon, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Charles “Honi”
Coles. Thommie Walsh and Tune codirected and co-choreographed (with a directorial assist from Phillip Os-
terman), and the book was by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Meyer. Six songs were retained from Funny Face as
well as “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” and the remainder of the score was culled from the Gershwin
catalog. The show was nominated for nine Tony Awards and won three, for Best Leading Actor in a Musical
(Tune), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Coles), and Best Choreographer (Walsh and Tune). The cast album
was released by Atlantic Records (both CD and LP # 80110). (For more information, including My One and
Only’s own version of Tryout Hell, see The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals.)
Funny Face was the first production to play at Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley’s new theatre the Al-
vin, a name taken from the first syllable of their first names. The playhouse hosted a number of hit musicals
over the years (Girl Crazy, Music in the Air, Anything Goes, I’d Rather Be Right, The Boys from Syracuse,
Lady in the Dark, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Annie, Hairspray) and some
legendary failures (The Firebrand of Florence, The Golden Apple, House of Flowers, Greenwillow, Merrily We
Roll Along). And it was at the Alvin where Porgy and Bess premiered. Sadly, this hallowed theatre lost its
venerable name in 1983 and is now known as the Neil Simon.
Atkinson said the Alvin had “all the best features of the modern playhouse,” including an old English
lounge and an auditorium “decorated in pastel shades of blue and grey, with ivory and old gold decorations.”
He decided if Funny Face “had been less engrossing the audience might have had more time to appreciate the
new theatre.”
TAKE THE AIR

“New Musical Comedy of Aviation” / “The Ace of Musical Comedies”
Theatre: Waldorf Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Earl Carroll Theatre)
Performances: 206
Book and Lyrics: Gene Buck and Anne Caldwell
Music (“Airs”): Dave Stamper
Direction: Alexander Leftwich; Producer: Gene Buck; Choreography: Ralph Reader; Scenery: Oden Waller;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Cora McGeachy; Evelyn McHorter; Eaves; Brooks Costume Co; Schneider-
Anderson Co.; Lighting: Electrical effects by Frank Detering; Musical Direction: Charles Drury
Cast: Al Ochs (“Mink”), Hugh Bennett (“Monte”), Geneva Mitchell (Gloria), Audrey Berry (Marguerite), Will
Mahoney (“Happy” Hokum), Rose King (“Goldie”), Bud Pearson (Lieutenant Sullivan), Jack Pearson (Lieu-
tenant Berg), Chick York (Sergeant Mooney), Kitty O’Connor (Broncho Liz), Walter Scott Kolk (Lieutenant
Dale), Greek Evans (Captain Halliday), William F. Donahue (“Red”), George Spelvin (The Mule), Dorothy
Dilley (Lillian “Baby” Bond), Maurice Lapue (Senor Jose), Trini (Senorita Carmela Cortez), Simeon Kara-
vaeff (Wing), Gladys Keck (Sing Song), Kikobi Murai (Nagasaki), Charlotte Ayers (Specialty), Max Fisher
and His California Orchestra; Show Girls: Frederica Finley, Helen Hermes, Nellie King, Muriel Man-
ners, Marcel Miller, Marie Muselle, Agnes White, Mabel Williams, Carol Kingsbury, Loretta McCarver;
Dancers: Bobby Bliss, Muriel Beck, Violet Casey, Edris Diamond, Diana Day, Helga Farringmore, Gene
Fontaine, Beryl Golden, Frances Guinan, Irene Griffith, Ethel Handler, Eleanor Hunt, Loretta Jefferson,
Rosabelle Kay, Gladys Keck, Florence Kinney, Carol Lynn, Lee Manners, Helen Murray, Adelaide Per-
min, Marjorie Spahn, Blanche Victoria, Dorothy Waller, Bobby Weeks; Boys: Andrew Burgoyne, Vincent
Curran, Edward Conant, Norman Donald, Joseph Gorrien, Paul Jones, Starr Jones, Julio Martel, Herman
Maier, Hazard Newbury, Herbert Pickett, Basil Rallis, Charles Rainsford, John Roach, Donald Wells, Leo
Williams
The action takes place during the present time in the general area of the Texas-Mexico border and on Long
Island.
1927–1928 Season 423
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Max Fisher and His California Orchestra); “All Aboard for Times Square” (Geneva Mitch-
ell, Audrey Berry, Girls); “Silver Wings” (Greek Evans, Aviators); “The Wild and Woolley West” (Dorothy
Dilley, Cowboys, Girls); “Carmela” (Trini, Ensemble); “Carmen Has Nothing on Me” (Rose King, Girls);
“Maybe” (Dorothy Dilley, Will Mahoney); “We’ll Have a New Home in the Morning” (lyric by Willard
Robison, music by Russell Robinson and Gene Buck) (Kitty O’Connor, Cowboys, Girls); “Take the Air”
(Trini, Aviators); Dance (Bud Pearson, Jack Pearson, Charlotte Ayers, Simeon Karavaeff)
Act Two: “Aviation Ballet” (Dorothy Dilley, Girls); “Tango Espagnol” (Trini, Maurice Lapue); “A Pony for
Two” (music by James Hanley) (Dorothy Dilley, Will Mahoney, Chick York, Rose King, Girls); Dance
(Bud Pearson, Jack Pearson); “Lullaby” (Kitty O’Connor); “We’d Rather Dance Than Eat” (The Gene
Buck Dancers); “Japanese Moon” (Dorothy Dilley, Guests); “Butterfly Dance” (Charlotte Ayers); “Ham
and Eggs” (lyric by Al Dubin, music by Con Conrad and Abner Silver) (Trini, Will Mahoney); Finale
(Company)
In case the show’s title and title song didn’t clue in the audience that the new musical (which opened
on the same night as George and Ira Gershwin’s Funny Face) was about aviation, there were also numbers
titled “Silver Wings” and “Aviation Ballet”; the show’s taglines were “New Musical Comedy of Aviation”
and “The Ace of Musical Comedies”; and Max Fisher and His California Orchestra was succeeded by Paul
Lannin’s Aviation Orchestra (and for the tour there was Gene Buck’s Breezy Aviation Orchestra).
Take the Air served as a vehicle for vaudeville performer Will Mahoney, here appearing in his first and
only book musical (see below). The show received mixed reviews, and while the story and humor weren’t
particularly memorable and the score failed to yield any evergreens, the musical managed a respectable run
of over two hundred performances and then embarked on a national tour. It didn’t hurt that the country was
fixated on aviation at the time of the show’s premiere, which occurred five months after Charles Lindbergh’s
historic solo flight to Europe.
Most of the plot took place in the environs of the Texas and Mexico border, but the final scene in the
second act managed to move the story to Long Island, one of the era’s favorite locales. The action was a smor-
gasbord of story lines, most of which converged in Southern Texas where American aviators are on the alert
to detect and arrest smugglers who use planes to carry their payloads. Spanish aviatrix Carmela Cortez (Trini)
literally flies into the action—and is it possible she’s the gang’s ringleader?
Meanwhile, “Happy” Hokum (Mahoney) is a hoofer who along with a bevy of chorus girls is stranded in
Texas when their show flops, and others in the story included Broncho Liz (Kitty O’Connor, known as the
lady baritone), dashing hero and aviator Captain Halliday (Greek Evans, who a few weeks earlier had appeared
in Enchanted Isle), heroine and heiress Lillian “Baby” Bond (Dorothy Dilley), and comic “Goldie” (Rose King).
Somehow all the characters end up at a luxurious estate on Long Island when the plane piloted by “Happy”
lands on the property owned by Lillian’s father, where a fashionable fete is in progress.
The New York Times liked the “vaudeville zany” Mahoney and his physical humor, but complained he
wasn’t given more to do. The show itself was “entertaining” in a “distinctly orthodox way” and the score
included a couple of unidentified but “rememberable” numbers. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the
book was bad, but the production was “beautiful,” the score “appealing,” and the cast “full of talent,” and
Time said the “gay and trivial” score included a song hit (“We’ll Have a New Home in the Morning”).
Frederick A. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that “in a vague sort of way” the plot dealt with
“mysterious smuggling by the aerial route,” but the highlights of the evening were the dances that followed
one another in “kaleidoscopic rapidity” and included solos, doubles, chorus groupings, Habaneras, jigs,
and “Spanish to American flings.” Mahoney was a “special funmaker” and Trini was “learning to speak
the English with some fluency but surpasses with her dancing.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wasn’t quite so
taken with Mahoney because he did “everything a little bit too much” and didn’t know “brevity” was “the
soul of wit.” Otherwise, the story “had something or other to do with aviation,” and most of the Texas
and Mexico border scenes provided an excuse for “stunning stage pictures.” There was “good” dancing and
“plenty of go and pep,” but “of real music, real singing, and real humor there was so little that they were
not noticed.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the show was of “average quality” in entertainment value
with “clever” dancing but not so much in the way of “clever” talk. Mahoney did “very well,” but the
“beauteous” Trini had “extremely limited talent as an actress.” Variety noted the production was “timely”
due to the national interest in aviation, and on opening night a number of “air mail flyers were prominent
in the stage boxes.” The score was “original” but “undistinguished” and there was “no plausible book
transition to tie up” the action, but there were some “lavish production effects.” And if one wasn’t “too
exacting,” the evening offered “many happy moments” even if the overall show was “too airy for any last-
ing impression.”
During the run, the second-act dance (for Bud Pearson and Jack Pearson) and the “Butterfly Dance”
(for Charlotte Ayers) were cut. Reportedly, “You’re the First Thing I Think of in the Morning (and the
Last Thing I Think of at Night)” (lyric by Billy Tracey and music by Jack Stanley) was added during the
run; however, in at least one program dated less than four weeks before the show’s closing the song wasn’t
listed.
Although Take the Air was Mahoney’s only original book musical, he appeared in the title role of a New
York City Center revival of Finian’s Rainbow, which opened for a limited two-week engagement in May
1955. Among the other cast members were Helen Gallagher, Merv Griffin, Anita Alvarez, Rosetta LeNoire,
Donn (aka Don) Driver, Terry Carter, Jay Riley, and Jonelle Allen.
GOLDEN DAWN
Theatre: Hammerstein’s Theatre

Performances: 184
Music: Emmerich Kalman and Herbert Stothart
Direction: Reginald Hammerstein; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Dave (David) Bennett;
Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: “costume research and design” by Mark Mooring; Eaves; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Archie Leach (later known as Cary Grant) (Anzac), Carlo Benetti (Dago), Len Mence (Pigeon), Mar-
guerita Sylva (Mooda), Kumar Ghoshal (Hasmali), Reginald Pasch (Captain Eric), Paula Ayers (Sister
Hedwig), Robert Chisholm (Shep Keyes), Paul Gregory (Steve Allen), Gil Squires (Blink Jones), Olin
Howland (Sir Alfred Hammersley), Louise Hunter (Dawn), Nydia d’Arnell (Johanna), W. Messenger Bel-
lis (Colonel Judson), Barbara Newberry (Ann Milford), Henry Pemberton (Doctor Milford), Robert Paton
Gibbs (An Old Man), Jacques Cartier (A Witch Dancer), Princess Kohana (A Dancing Girl), Hazel Drury
(Mombassa Moll); Ensemble (French, English, and Italian Prisoners, Askari Guards, German Soldiers,
Native Men and Women, Women of Mombassa, Nurses and Sisters): Ladies of the Ensemble—Wilma
Roeloef, Lucy Lawler, Irene Carroll, Peggy Messinger, Vivian Russell, Barbara Carrington, Hellene
Counihan, Norine Bogen, Mimi Jordan, Bunny Schumm, Sorena Mumma, Frances Denny, Frances
Dumas, Janet Hale, Leona Riggs, Jean Hitch, Leola Buelow, Grace LaRue, Mabel Olsen, LaVergne
Evans, Alice Busee, Maud Carlton, Alva McGill, Norma France, Karol Kayne, Ann Anderson, Louise
Baer, Marie Foster, Geraldine Gooding, Rosena Weston, Inez Clough, Geneva Grant, Julia F. Mitchell,
Alma Reynolds, Maud White, Christine David, Mary Mason, Beneveneta Washington, Ruth Matson,
Louise Turner, Elizabeth Holloway, Zina Ivanova, Klara Grosheva, Magda Trauberg, All Kisselava,
Saloma Barton, Dora Grebenetsky, Maria Grushko, Valia Valentinova, Lida Ordynsky, Ann Ouzoroff,
Helene Chaudaroff, Emilia Andrievska, Xenia Dalsky; Gentlemen of the Ensemble—Tom Chadwick,
Joseph Vitale, Milton Rae, Arnold Basil, Frank Dobert, Raymond Otto, Edward Watkins, Tom Rider,
Irving Andrievsky, Vladimir Danieloff, Mikl Dalsky, Joseph Davidenko, Konstantine Smith, Alexander
Ouzoroff, Leonard Gorlenko, Peter Ordunsky, Vsevolad Andrenoff, Peter Kosloff, Vladimir Chavdaroff,
George Brant, Toni Klimovitch, F. J. Accoll, James Earl, William Walker, Harold DesVerney, Adolph
Henderson, McKinley Reeves, William McFarland, H. Webster Elkins, W. Service Beel, Amos Guerrant,
Earl Wilson, James Grey, Robert Jackson, Henry Brown; The Russian Art Choir (directed by Alexander
U. Fine)
The action takes place in 1917 and 1919 in East Africa.
1927–1928 Season 425
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Play On, Piper” (Marguerita Sylva, Kumar Goshal, Natives); “The Whip” (aka “When I Crack My
Whip”) (Robert Chisholm); “Africa” (Reginald Pasch, Paul Gregory, Olin Howland, Gil Squires, Carlo
Benetti, Prisoners); “My Bwanna” (Louise Hunter, Ensemble); “Johanna’s Entrance” (Nurses, Soldiers,
Nydia d’Arnell, Louise Hunter); “It Is War” (Nurses, Soldiers, Nydia d’Arnell); “We Two” (Nydia d’Arnell,
Olin Howland); “Dawn” (music by Robert Stolz and Herbert Stothart) (Paul Gregory, Male Ensemble);
“When You’re Young” (Marguerita Sylva); “Lullaby” (Marguerita Sylva, Louise Hunter); “I Stand Before
the Moon” (Louise Hunter); “Here in the Dark” (Paul Gregory, Louise Hunter); Act One Finale and “Mu-
lunghu Thabu” (Kumar Goshal, Louise Hunter, Natives)
Act Two: Opening: “Chant Spiritual: Make It Black” (Natives); “It’s Always the Way” (Nydia d’Arnell); “Con-
solation” (Barbara Newberry, Gil Squires); “Rain Invocation” (Louise Hunter, Robert Chisholm, Natives,
Paul Gregory); “Just to Test My Love for You” (aka “By My Thabu”) (Barbara Newberry, Gil Squires,
Nydia d’Arnell, Olin Howard); “Belle of Mombassa” (probably sung by Hazel Drury); “Jungle Shadows”
(probably sung by Paul Gregory)
Arthur Hammerstein’s lavish production Golden Dawn was the premiere attraction for his new Ham-
merstein’s Theater, which was dedicated to his late father Oscar Hammerstein I and included a life-sized
statue of the impresario in the theatre lobby. Arthur’s nephew Oscar II co-wrote the lyrics and book with Otto
Harbach, and his nephew (and Oscar II’s brother) Reginald directed the work. Today the operetta is perhaps
best remembered for its jaw-droppingly tasteless 1930 film adaptation as well as for its racial stereotypes and
campy depiction of life in Africa (including the ballad “My Bwanna” and the notorious “Whip Song,” aka
“When I Crack My Whip,” a number probably more at home in an S&M club).
But for its time the musical was an earnest attempt at serious Broadway musical drama, and taken in the
context of the era it’s more ambitious in scope than might be imagined. The plot may be preposterous, but
there’s no avoiding the epic approach the creators took in fashioning the work. Note that the cast included
black and white performers (including at least one white principal in blackface), and that the company included
twenty speaking and singing roles, eighty-nine members in the ensemble, and the Russian Art Choir (the first
words spoken in the musical were by featured player Archie Leach, who later changed his name to Cary Grant).
The musical’s two-month tryout played in five cities, the New York run totaled almost two-hundred
performances, and the post-Broadway tour played over four months in seven cities. Despite the large cast and
expensive production values (which included sumptuous and colorful décor by Joseph Urban), the work man-
aged to recoup its investment and show a profit.
Like a few other musicals of the era, the program of Golden Dawn included a pretentious note that the
musical numbers were “an integral part of the story as it evolves, and therefore are not listed as indepen-
dent songs.” But the program kindly provided the titles of the work’s “principal themes” (“When I Crack
My Whip,” “We Two,” “Here in the Dark,” “My Bwanna,” “Consolation,” “Africa,” “Dawn,” and “Jungle
Shadows”). Note that the above list of musical numbers is taken from the collection The Complete Lyrics of
Oscar Hammerstein II.
The story begins during 1917 in East Africa where German, French, Italian, British, American, and Afri-
can cultures clash. The French, Italians, British, and Americans are held by the Germans as prisoners of war,
including English officer Steve Allen (Paul Gregory), who falls in love with the very white and very blonde
girl Dawn (Louise Hunter), who lives with a black tribe, including black canteen owner Mooda (Marguerita
Sylva), whom she believes is her mother. Dawn is fated to be the tribe’s virgin priestess, but the wicked black
Shep Keyes (Robert Chisholm in a blackface role), who works with the Germans in order to keep both the war
prisoners and the tribe members in line, has designs on her.
Steve breaks out of the prison camp and declares his love for Dawn, but their relationship seems to be
verboten. Two years later when the war is over and the tribal area is under British control, Steve returns in
search of Dawn. He discovers the land is suffering from a severe drought and that the natives blame Dawn for
the lack of rain. Meanwhile, Shep hasn’t given up his interest in Dawn, and in order to escape from both Shep
and the increasingly rebellious tribe, she takes refuge in a convent. There she’s accosted by Shep, Mooda stabs
him with a crucifix, and then Mooda informs Dawn that she’s actually of British parentage and isn’t black,
something which apparently has never occurred to our heroine. Steve then arrives to her save her and marry
her, and as the lovers unite, rain falls upon the parched earth.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the music “uncommonly substantial” with “stirring”
and “imaginative” themes sung by “Negro choruses,” and he noted that the voices of Metropolitan Opera
soprano Louise Hunter and Robert Chisholm had “a quality rarely heard in musical entertainments.” While
the “ponderous” and “mannered” story was both “prolonged,” “artificial,” and “obviously dull,” the evening
managed to convey the “deep, strange wonders of savage rites in several primeval scenes” that utilized “weird
masks, totem ceremonials, primitive costume designs and exotic voodoo worship” along with floods of “iri-
descent purple light” and performers dressed “in strange patterns and ceremonial masks.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the score was “excellent for this type of entertainment,” what
little there was in the way of dancing was “superb,” and Chisholm “surprises one by turning occasionally
into six feet six of lamp-blacked roguery.” Time said the “luxurious” operetta offered singers who were “emi-
nently vocal,” and the décor was “dressed in many glowing colors.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune
found the evening “pretentious” but “entertaining,” and at the end of the second act the “announcement”
that Dawn was “really of white blood” was “not altogether surprising, knowing heroines as we do.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the plot was “no sillier than most opera stories,” and
Golden Dawn was “as near to opera” as one might see on a Broadway stage. But it was “popularized” opera
that was “lumbering” and “pretentious” but also “sightly” and occasionally “quite sprightly.” Bushnell Di-
mond in the Muncie Star Press found the work a “solemn, pretentious and over-decorated specimen” that
was about “as mirthless as a nonagenarian’s birthday party” with “florid” solos and “leaden” lyrics. As for
Hunter, she sang “well” but was “stupefyingly arch.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said
the “ambitious” production was a “gorgeous affair” with a chorus of “well-trained” singers and dancers, and
the principals could “sing with the best of them.”
Walter Winchell in the New York Graphic said that even “a second-rate comedian would have been a wel-
come addition,” while Gilbert W. Gabriel in the New York Sun stated there was “precious little humor” dur-
ing the evening. George Jean Nathan in Judge said the work offered “some of the most pathetic comedy I have
seen in months,” and The New Republic noted the humor was “largely the accidental by-product of a dreadful
book.” Along with a “first night repeater,” Variety reviewed the third New York performance and reported that
because of the critical complaints regarding the lack of comedy, the show’s comic pace “had been accelerated”
and comedian and eccentric dancer Gil Squires (as an American prisoner-of-war) had been given more to do.
John Anderson in the New York Post said the performance went on too long and “some restless first night-
ers seemed to fear that the title might be altogether too literal.” And although Winchell stated the production
offered “fine” music and was “the most stupendous operetta ever attempted,” he nonetheless labeled it The
Golden Yawn.
A few days after the opening, Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun reported that orchestra seats cost $6.60
apiece, and this price along with the show’s failure to attract much attention had resulted “in plenty of empty
seats.” The production cost $250,000, and “to those who know how far money will go on the stage—and it
won’t go far, be assured of that—the show looks as if it cost every penny claimed.” He predicted that Arthur
Hammerstein’s past successes (such as Rose-Marie) would be “remembered” when “all that is left of Golden
Dawn will be its scenery.”
The 1930 film version by Warner Brothers was directed by Ray Enright and released in Technicolor. The
cast included Vivienne Segal (Dawn), Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King) (here Tom Allen instead of Steve
Allen), Noah Beery (in blackface as Shep Keyes), Alice Gentle (Mooda), Lupino Lane (Pigeon), Marion Bryon
(Johanna), and Lee Moran (Blink). Six songs were retained from the Broadway production (“My Bwanna,”
“When I Crack My Whip,” “We Two,” “Dawn,” “Here in the Dark,” and “Mulunghu Thabu”), and added
for the film were “Africa Smiles No More” and “In a Jungle Bungalow” (lyrics and music by Harry Akst and
Grant Clarke) and “You Know the Type—a Tiger” (lyric and music by Walter O’Keefe and Robert Emmett
Dolan). In his notes for a showing of Golden Dawn at the Museum of Modern Art in 1971, film and theatre
historian Miles Kreuger noted that “the imposition of white social values upon the native way of life” and
“simulated native talk” more in the nature of Amos ’n’ Andy helped make the film an “inadvertent parody
of staggering hilarity” and “possibly the funniest movie ever made.” Kreuger reported that Lucius Beebe had
reviewed the film for the New York Herald Tribune and said “hardly anything that could be dull or offensive
to normal human taste has been omitted.”
In his Classic Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gives the film a “BOMB” rating and writes that the film’s
“staggering racism overshadows amusing hokum of Broadway’s 1927 underdressed and overcooked operetta,”
and that the word camp seemed “to have been coined” for the songs “My Bwanna” and “When I Crack My
Whip.” In The First Hollywood Musicals, Edwin M. Bradley reports that the film was criticized for its “blurry
1927–1928 Season 427
Technicolor photography,” and the Times stated that “sometimes the natives are washed in pink.” Beery
spoke in “an incongruous Southern accent,” and, because Segal had blonde hair (“a rare trait among the Afri-
can natives”), Bradley asked the burning question, “Could it be that she’s white?”
The film was issued on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection with the notation that “The
Talkie musical takes a bold turn!” Note that all color prints of the film seem to be lost, and the DVD was
released in black and white.
As for the Hammerstein Theatre (which according to Mantle cost $3 million), Atkinson said it was a
“splendid” Gothic theatre that “breathes a cathedral air” with a special organ console, an orchestra pit that
was occasionally elevated (during the overture, for example), and stained-glass windows that featured “oper-
atic designs.” But Brackett said the playhouse was “far and away the most amazing structure for its purpose
I have ever seen” and it possessed an “ugliness” that was “so overpowering as to assault the senses” (he also
mentioned that the stained-glass windows were illuminated “at appropriate moments”). Time noted the the-
atre was “exceedingly Gothic,” and Dimond said it made you “recall the good old days when the Paramount
was the worst example of architectural taste in the city.”
The modest success of Golden Dawn proved to be an ill omen for the new playhouse (which soon became
known as the Manhattan Theatre when Hammerstein was forced to give up the venue because of bankruptcy)
and it was followed by such failures as Luana (1930), Free for All (1931), East Wind (1931), and Through the
Years (1932). Good Boy proved to be the theatre’s most successful musical, and it introduced “I Wanna Be
Loved by You,” one of the era’s biggest song hits. Sweet Adeline did great business, but eventually the stock
market crash affected the box office and the production closed at a loss.
Over the years the venue was a nightclub and a radio studio, and then was taken over by television. Today
it’s known as the Ed Sullivan Theatre and was home to The Ed Sullivan Show for the years 1953–1971. From
its stage Elvis Presley and later the Beatles made their first nationwide television appearances. The theatre
was later home to David Letterman’s and then Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk shows. Over the years, the
venue also hosted a number of television game shows.
HAPPY
Theatre: Earl Carroll Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Daly’s Theatre)
Performances: 80
Book: Vincent Lawrence and McElbert Moore
Lyrics: Earle Crooker and McElbert Moore
Music: Frank (H.) Grey
Direction and Choreography: Walter Brooks (additional choreography by Jack Heisler); Producer: Murray Phil-
lips; Scenery: Uncredited; Costumes: Mme. Josette; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Carleton
Kelsey
Cast: John Kane (Bill Wentworth), Gene Collins (Teddy), Bill Brown (Tommy), Virginia Smith (Marion
Brooker), Percy Helton (Siggy Sigler), Fred Santley (Jack Gaynor), Shirley Sherman (Edith Dale), Madeleine
Fairbanks (Lorelei Lynn), Lucille Reece (Grace), Rosa Lee (Milly), Joseph Clayton (President Dale), Donald
Campbell (Lewis Pollock), Bob Nelson (Harry), Willard Dashiell (Mr. Bennett), Alice Cochran (Marjorie),
Ann Cochran (Helen), Betty Rourke (Blanche), George Fredericks (Butler); Hadley College Students—
Girls: Lois Alexander, Harriett Dixon, Daisie Bay, Alice Cochran, Ann Cochran, Katherine Glading, Vasso
Pan, Rosa Lee, Clay Long, Mabel Martin, Anna Marie McKenney, Paula Sidman, Nanie Possiel, Lucille
Reece, Ruth Simmons, Hatty White, Edith Mae Wright; Boys: Don Cortez, Edwin Gaillard, Richard Sum-
ner, Donald Rand, Bob Nelson, Hugh Saunders, Hermes Pan, Bill Eckhardt
The action takes place during the present time in Hadley, Massachusetts, and on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Plastic Surgery” (Gene Collins, Bill Brown, Students); “Check Your Troubles” (Virginia Smith,
Students); “Through the Night” (Shirley Sherman, Fred Santley); “Sunnyside of You” (Virginia Smith,
Madeleine Fairbanks, Percy Helton, John Kane); “Lorelei” (Madeleine Fairbanks, Fred Santley, Students);
“If You’ll Put Up with Me” (Virginia Smith, Percy Helton); “The Serpentine” (Gene Collins, Bill Brown,
Madeleine Fairbanks, Students); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Lorelei” (reprise) (Fred Santley); “The Younger Generation” (Madeleine Fairbanks, Vir-
ginia Smith, Percy Helton, John Kane, Guests); “Here’s to You, Jack” (Guests); “Happy” (Fred Santley,
Madeleine Fairbanks, Guests); “Lorelei” (second reprise) (Fred Santley); “One Good Friend” (Shirley Sher-
man, Fred Santley); “Hitting on High” (Virginia Smith, Gene Collins, Bill Brown, Guests); “Blacksheep”
(Madeleine Fairbanks, John Kane, Ann Cochran, Alice Cochran, Guests); “Which Shall It Be?” (lyric and
music by Ethelberta Hasbrook and Frank Grey) (Shirley Sherman); “Through the Night” (reprise) (Shirley
Sherman, Boys); Finale (Company)
Act Three: Opening: “What a Lovely Night” (Shirley Sherman, Friends); Dance Specialty (Ann Cochran and
Alice Cochran); “Mad about You” (Madeleine Fairbanks, John Kane, Gene Collins, Bill Brown, Guests);
“If You’ll Put Up with Me” (reprise) (Madeleine Fairbanks, Percy Helton); Finale (Company)
At least they didn’t call it Happy News, and it took a certain amount of courage to bring in a new col-
lege musical so soon after the explosive Good News had taken over Broadway. Despite a slight revamping of
Happy during the run, nothing helped and the show was gone after ten weeks in New York.
At Dear Old Hadley College, our hero Siggy Sigler (Percy Helton) ignores football and instead pursues
poetry. His great ambition is to write lyrics for Broadway musicals, but he has a pressing financial problem.
In order to inherit the family fortune (one might describe Siggy as the scion of sausage-makers), he must
amass $100,000 through earned income, savings, or investments. But if Siggy becomes a lyricist for shows
like Happy, he’ll never make any money.
The New York Times decided the show would “find it difficult going” because there were so many more
“elaborate” musicals playing in New York. Happy adhered to the “clichés and formulas of routine” song-and-
dance presentations, and its book was weak. And with a certain reluctance to go overboard with praise, the
critic stated the score was “usually pleasing if reminiscent,” the dance routines were “often well devised,”
and the cast members “willingly” labored with “the tasks in hand.” Time noted that the evening didn’t
“eliminate the usual eccentricities that pass for campus atmosphere in musical comedies,” and although
there were “amiable performers and reasonably ripping songs,” these could “scarcely compensate for the
blank periods reserved for cracking jokes.”
The headline of G.H.’s review for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was “Unhappy!” The score for the “ama-
teurish” show was “insignificant and unoriginal,” and of the six principals only Madeleine Fairbanks (of the
Fairbanks Twins) stood out. The other five players would “remain nameless” because the men were “horribly
awkward and clumsy” and the women “dared aspire to histrionic honors.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie
Star Press decided the show’s writers “weren’t hitting on all forty-two keys of the typewriter” because the
book wasn’t funny. Although the songs “Through the Night” and “Lorelei” were “vocable,” and other num-
bers might “make good fox trots,” the score failed to yield “a resounding, smashing” hit song. And Variety
defined the show as “a freshman edition of Good News.”
Note that future and ubiquitous film choreographer Hermes Pan was in the dancing chorus. Happy also
marked the third and final musical composed by Frank (H.) Grey, who often stumbled on Broadway. Sue, Dear
had played for ninety-six performances, The Matinee Girl lasted for twenty-four showings, and now Happy
was gone in ten weeks.
THE WHITE EAGLE

“A New Musical Play” / “A New Musical Romance”

Performances: 48
Book and Lyrics: Brian Hooker and W. H. Post
Music: Rudolf Friml
Based on the 1905 play The Squaw Man by Edwin Milton Royle.
Direction: Richard Boleslavsky; Producer: Russell Janney; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery and Cos-
tumes: James Reynolds; Lighting: Ray Barnet; Musical Direction: Anton Heindl
1927–1928 Season 429
Cast: Ralph Moana (The Sun Watcher), John Mealey (The Medicine Man of the Utes), Charles E. Gallagher
(Tabywana), Marion Keeler (Silverwing), Aysa Kaz (The Indian Dancer); The English Dancers: Paula
Lind (Shepherd Boy) and Helen Grenelle (Goddess); Blanche Fleming (Lady Mabel), Roberta Curry (Lady
Mary), Carlton Neville (Lieutenant Henry George), Arthur Kellar (Lieutenant Alexander McGrath), Al-
lan Prior (Captain James Wyneegate, and later Jim Carson), Jock McGraw (Captain Leslie), Lawrence
D’Orsay (Sir John Applegate), Isabelle O’Madigan (The Dowager Lady Kerhill), Hazel Glen (Countess
of Kerhill), Fred Tiden (Earl of Kerhill), Ernest Ehler (Mr. Chiswick), Horace Pollock (Malcolm Petrie),
Walter Cross (Petrie’s Butler), Kay Hawley (Sadie), Paula Lind (Lily), George Shields (Nick), Charles
Henderson (Bud Hardy), Mark Smith (Big Bill), Jay Fassett (Happy), Earl Mayne (Gloomy), Royal Cutter
(Andy), Michael Evans (Thunder Face), Leon Cunningham (Pete), Marius Rogati (Punk), Forrest Huff
(Cash Hawkins), Master Albert Shaw (Little Hal); English Girls, Cow Punchers, Honky Tonk Girls,
Indians of Tabywana’s Tribe, Others: The Twelve Chiefs—Wallace Banfield, Nat Christensen, Jack
Rose, Paul Winnell, Thomas Mengert, Lamar Hessenberg, Alex Shishman, Armin Mueller, Earl Kardux,
Edward Sheldon, Michael Evans, Serge Vino; Indians: Randall Freyer, John Fredericks, Harry James,
William Hagen, Simeon Sabro, William Wally, Raymond Toben, Richard Rowley, Charles Trott, Barton
Hall; Squaws: Vida Hanna, Laura Novea, Beatrice Marsh, Alice Huntington, Rae Ring, Mabel Purdy,
Rene Berteau, Alice Harper, Ruth Bieber, Helena Koffler, Helen Berger, Harriet Standon, Mary Quinn,
Jewel Welter, Mae Robinson, Muriel Dawn, Elizabeth Kelley; Dancers: Lucille Constant, June Day,
Grace Cantrelle, Alice Olsen, Edna Kulker, Florence Gunther, Grace DeViney, Florence Turner, Mary
Norris, Helen Landis, Caroline Phillips, Theresa Miller, Peggy Horan, Billie Lanctot, Lucille Arden,
Virginia Nachant; Officers of the 16th Lancers—Charles Froom, Earl Kardux, Eldon Edwards, Richard
Rowley, Efin Vitis, Randall Freyer, John Fredericks, Harry James, Barton Hall, Arthur Young, Raymond
Toben, Simeon Sabro, Carlos Fessler, William Hagen, George Leach, William MacDargh, George Kings-
ley, Ross Ericson, Harold Currier, Edward Sheldon, Elmer Barlab; English Ladies: Joan Marren, Roberta
Curry, Olyvve Bakke, Ruth Norris, Constance Durand, Margaret Grove, Dorothy Forsyth, Edith Gwen,
Helen Ely, Dorothy Davis, Pauline Hall, Evelyn Stockton, Shirley Carlton, Elizabeth Kelley, Madeline
Clancy, Mildred Gordon, Catherine Van Brunt, Bessie Masters, Rowena Baker, Sue Lake; Butlers: Fred
Rogers, Charles Trott, William Venus
The action takes place “somewhere in Western America” and “somewhere in England” during the latter part
of the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Note: A notation in the program stated that “the music is so repeatedly interwoven with the action of the
play that a mere list of numbers can have but little meaning.” However, the program included a list of the
“outstanding melodies in the order of their hearing”:
“Alone” (per sheet music, “Alone [My Lover]”), “Thunder Dance,” “Regimental Song,” “Gather the
Rose,” “Smile, Darn You, Smile!,” “Give Me One Hour,” “Follow On,” “Silverwing” (aka “Silver Wing”),
and “Black Eagles.” Other songs in the production (titles taken from sheet music and other sources, and here
given alphabetically) were: “Bad Man Number,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “A Home for You,” “A Hymn to
the Sun,” “Indian Lullaby,” “Interlude,” “My Heaven with You,” and “Winona.”
Composer Rudolf Friml, librettists and lyricists Brian Hooker and W. H. Post, and producer Russell Janney
had enjoyed an enormous success with The Vagabond King, and they joined forces again with the sumptuous
production of The White Eagle. Unfortunately, the new operetta floundered at the box office and managed just
six weeks on Broadway. But Friml bounced back at the end of the season with his hit The Three Musketeers
with Vagabond star Dennis King.
The White Eagle was based on Edwin Milton Royle’s hit 1905 play The Squaw Man, a story that de-
picted the upright and honorable British James Wyneegate (Allan Prior) who in order to uphold his family’s
reputation accepts blame for the wrongdoing of another family member and thus voluntarily exiles himself
to the United States where he becomes known as Jim Carson. There he meets the Indian maiden Silverwing
(Marion Keeler), who has saved his life by killing an evil “bad man.” Jim sees in Silverwing a kindred spirit
who isn’t afraid to meet justice head on, and the two fall in love and marry. Years later, Jim discovers that
back in England he’s been cleared of the crime he falsely confessed to, and now has the title of Lord. In order
to allow Jim to follow his destiny in his homeland, Silverwing commits suicide.
The New York Times complained that the “lavish” production was “a little bit of everything and too
much of some things,” and with a score reminiscent of Puccini, Gilbert and Sullivan, and “conventional”
Broadway shows, the result was “a sort of musical cafeteria where one might take one’s choice.” James
Reynolds’s sets and costumes were “marvelously effective” and Busby Berkeley created “some bizarre and
original” dances, but each act suffered “from a misplaced musical climax” that didn’t “match the dramatic
climax.” However, each act provided one “good” song, the “Regimental Song” would “be heard of again and
again,” and Friml was at his “best and most original” with his Indian themes. Keeler was “simple and attrac-
tive,” but Prior indulged in “contortions,” delivered each of his numbers as if they were “Mammy” songs,
and reached his “greatest depths in a super-saccharine Paternity Song”(“Indian Lullaby”).
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker found the libretto “jerky and humorless,” but decided that Friml’s
score and Reynolds’s “glorious” sets and costumes would undoubtedly make the work “acceptable to those
strange folk” who were “lovers of music-dramas.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that for the first act’s
fifteen-minute opening sequence the work bordered “dangerously on grand opera” because Friml “let him-
self go” with “moving and colorful” music that was sung-through with “spirit and dash” as it depicted an
Indian ceremony just before dawn. Although this sequence was impressive, the music didn’t “sweep” one
along as did the score for The Vagabond King, and thus the work dropped “into the ranks of a mediocre
musical play.”
Time said the production moved “with dignified and ponderous gait like an upholstered elephant,” but
the “inspiriting” songs, “gay and gaudy” costumes, “clever” décor, and an “energetic and willing” chorus
made for a “satisfactory if somewhat grandiloquent entertainment”; Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune
liked Friml’s “impressive” score; and Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press praised the “lively” and
“expert and colorful” evening with its “stirring” score, which included a “bully” marching song.
A.C. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society noted that the “outstanding” songs, “pic-
turesque” sets, and “lavish” costumes were a plus, but otherwise the evening dragged “most horribly” and
it seemed that “with the material at hand something a good deal better could have been fashioned.” Variety
suggested the musical needed cutting, but was nonetheless “colorful and tuneful enough to make it a suc-
cess,” and thus the “good” but not “great” show was “apt to see the hot weather.”
SHOW BOAT
“A New American Musical Play” / “An All-American Musical Comedy” / “America’s Musical Romance”
Theatre: Ziegfeld Theatre

Performances: 572
Music: Jerome Kern
Based on the 1926 novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber.
Direction: Zeke Colvan (and an uncredited Oscar Hammerstein II); Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography:
Sammy Lee; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John Harkrider; Lighting: Electrical effects by Frank De-
tering; Choral Direction: William Vodery; Musical Direction: Victor Baravalle
Cast: Allan Campbell (Windy McLain), Charles Ellis (Steve Baker), Bert Chapman (Pete Gavin, Old Sport),
Tess Gardella (aka Aunt Jemima) (Queenie), Edna May Oliver (Parthy Ann Hawks), Charles Winninger
(Cap’n Andy Hawks), Eva Puck (Ellie May Chipley), Sammy White (Frank Schultz), Francis X. Mahoney
(Rubber Face), Helen Morgan (Julie), Howard Marsh (Gaylord Ravenal), Thomas Gunn (Sheriff Ike Val-
lon), Norma Terris (Magnolia Hawks Ravenal, Kim as a young woman), Jules Bledsoe (Joe), Jack Wynn
(Faro Dealer, Jeb), Phil Sheridan (Gambler), Jack Daley (Backwoodsman, Jim), Dorothy Denese (La Belle
Fatima), Annie Hart (Landlady), Estelle Floyd (Ethel), Annette Harding (Sister), Mildred Schwenke
(Mother Superior), Eleanor Shaw (Kim as a child), Robert Faricy (Jake), Ted Daniels (Man with Guitar),
L. Lewis Johnson (Charlie), Tana Kemp (Lottie), Dagmar Oakland (Dolly), Maurine Holmes (Hazel),
Laura Clairon (Old Lady on the Levee), The Sidell Sisters (Dancers); Jubilee Singers: George Nixon,
1927–1928 Season 431
James A. Lillard, J. Mardo Brown, Willis Bradley, John Warner, L. Pinard, William Waithe, J. Lewis
Johnson, E. D. Killingsworth, George Myrick, Richard Cooper, J. W. Moberly, H. George Iuano, Edgar
Hall, Llewellyn Ransom, Blanche Thompson, Henrietta Lovelace, Estelle Floyd, Bertha Wright, Ma-
mie Cartier, Josephine Gray, Lolo Waters, Maine Briggs, Gertrude Harris, Bertha Des Verney, Gladys
Greenwood, R. Jamison, Maude Simmons, Angeline Lawson, Charlotte Junius, Julienne Barbour;
Dahomey Dancers: Elida Webb, Jessie Crawford, Alma Smith, Billie Caine, Ethel Sheppard, Lulu Wil-
liams, Rose Gillard, Theresa Jentry, Catherine Pearce, Dorothy Bellis, Betty Allison, Selma Myrick;
Girls: Constance McKenzie, Mary Farrell, Sophie Howard, Nancy Kaye, Adrienne Armand, Lillian
Clark, Betty Collette, Betty Junod, Una Val, Pansy Maness, Nellie Mayer, Essie Moore, Clementine
Rigeau, Kathryn Ringquist, Rosalyn Smith, Eleanor Tierney, Frances Hope, Maurine Holmes, Dinorah
Castillo, Peggy Green, Peggy Udell, Ethel Allen, Rose Gallagher, Hazel Jennings, Helen Chandler,
Martha Marr, Tana Kemp, Ethel O’Dell, Annette Harding, Modette Hunt, Dorothy Foster, Mildred
Schwenke; Boys: John Daly, Ted Daniels, William Ehlers, Dell Fradenburg, William Galpen, Ed Hale,
Rees Jenkins, Ralph Knight, Ray Mace, Pat Mann, William Bailey, Joseph Minitello, Earl Sanborn, Phil
Sheridan, Jack Wynn, William Lawless
The action takes place from the 1880s to the present time of 1927 in Natchez, Mississippi, and in Chicago.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: (1) “Cotton Blossom” (Stevedores, Townspeople) and (2) “Parade” and “Ballyhoo” (aka
“Cap’n Andy’s Ballyhoo”) (Charles Winninger, Show Boat Troupe, Townspeople); “Where’s the Mate for
Me?” (aka “Who Cares If My Boat Goes Upstream?”) (Howard Marsh); “(Only) Make Believe” (Howard
Marsh, Norma Terris); “Ol’ Man River” (Jules Bledsoe, Jubilee Singers); “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”
(Helen Morgan, Tess Gardella, Norma Terris, Jules Bledsoe, Allan Campbell); “Life On (Upon) the Wicked
Stage” (Eva Puck, Girls); “Till Good Luck Comes My Way” (Howard Marsh, Men); “Misry’s Comin’
’Round” (short version only) (Jubilee Singers); “I Might Fall Back on You” (Eva Puck, Sammy White,
Girls); “C’mon, Folks” (aka “Queenie’s Ballyhoo”) (Tess Gardella, Jubilee Singers); “You Are Love” (How-
ard Marsh, Norma Terris); Finale (“Oh, tell me, did you ever . . .”) (Company)
Act Two: Opening: (1) “At the Fair” (Sightseers, Barkers, Dandies); (2) “Adagio Dance” (The Sidell Sisters);
and (3) “Dandies on Parade” (aka “Sports of Gay Chicago”) (Sightseers, Barkers, Dandies); “Why Do I
Love You?” (Norma Terris, Howard Marsh, Charles Winninger, Edna May Oliver, Chorus); “In Dahomey”
(Jubilee Singers, Dahomey Dancers); “Bill” (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein II) (Helen
Morgan); “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (reprise) (Norma Terris); Service and Scene Music for St. Agatha’s
Convent Scene (Orchestra); “Apache Dance” (The Sidell Sisters); “Goodbye, My Lady Love” (lyric and
music by Joseph E. Howard) (Sammy White, Eva Puck); Magnolia’s Debut at the Trocadero Music Hall:
“After the Ball” (lyric and music by Charles K. Harris) (Norma Terris); “Ol’ Man River” (reprise) (Jules
Bledsoe); “Hey, Feller (Fellah)” (Tess Gardella, Jubilee Singers); “You Are Love” (reprise) (Howard Marsh);
“Why Do I Love You?” (reprise) (Norma Terris, Flappers); “Eccentric Dance” (Constance McKenzie);
Kim’s Imitation of Her Mother and Stars of the 1920s (Norma Terris); “Tap Dance” (Una Val); Finale
(Company)
The musicals of the 1920s were in Cinderella-story overload, or otherwise focused on flappers, vamps,
sheiks, Prohibition, and the Florida land boom, or on royals and commoners respectively masquerading as
peasants and princes. The locales were mittel-European Ruritanian kingdoms, Monte Carlo, Manhattan (with
a special emphasis on Greenwich Village), Long Island, and Florida. The most serious issues raised in their
plots were: Will a poor dish-washer slavey in Village restaurant find a young, handsome, and eligible bachelor
millionaire with a palatial estate on Long Island? or Will Prince Incognito be loved for himself and not just
his title when he meets a wealthy New York heiress?
Serious stories and stark realism were hardly the norm for the era’s musicals, but with the Broadway
premiere of Show Boat on the night of December 27, 1927, musical theatre took a giant step forward and
would never again be the same. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s masterpiece was groundbreaking in
its unflinching look at racism, miscegenation, and unhappy marital relationships, and it included complex
characters with faults and weaknesses not found in the era’s typical musical comedy population. Gaylord
Ravenal (Howard Marsh) is an irresponsible gambler who deserts his wife, Magnolia (Norma Terris), and their
baby, Kim, and when the bounder takes off for parts unknown he leaves behind some money and a note sug-
gesting that Magnolia and Kim leave Chicago and move in with her parents Cap’n Andy (Charles Winninger)
and Parthy (Edna May Oliver).
The somewhat annoyingly naive Magnolia doesn’t learn from this unhappy experience, and decades later
she displays a monumental lack of backbone by meekly welcoming the down-and-out Gaylord back into the
family fold. But the musical ends on a crushingly ironic note when Gaylord and Magnolia are greeted by an
unnamed Old Lady on the Levee (Laura Clairon) who tells them she’d attended their wedding decades ago and
now is so thrilled to see them again and know that their marriage was such a success.
Julie (Helen Morgan) is another character who finds herself in situations undreamed of by Irene, Sally,
Sunny, Mary, Polly, Kay, and other title characters of the era. Julie is a mulatto who passes for white, and
because the law doesn’t allow mixed marriages, she and her white husband, Steve (Charles Ellis), have broken
the law. Julie and Steve eventually part, and she becomes an alcoholic.
The most dramatic scene in all musical theatre takes place early in the first act when Steve and Julie are
warned that a local sheriff is about to arrest them. Steve takes a knife, slices Julie’s finger, and drinks her
blood, and when the sheriff arrives, Steve can honestly tell the sheriff he has black blood in him. The law
considers one drop of black blood enough to make a white man black, and so technically Julie and Steve’s
marriage is considered legal. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear the marriage couldn’t stand the
strain and dissolved.
All the major relationships in the musical are in one way or another troubled. After Gaylord’s desertion,
he and Magnolia are separated for decades, and it seems the only reason he shows up at the end of the musi-
cal is because he’s old, penniless, and has nowhere to go (and because of both Magnolia and Kim’s successes
in show business, the inveterate gambler no doubt figures he can wheedle money out of them). As noted,
Julie and Steve eventually separate, and she becomes a hopeless alcoholic; Cap’n Andy and Parthy’s marriage
doesn’t seem all that blissful considering her endless carping, and one suspects the union holds together
only because the good-natured Cap’n Andy chooses to ignore her excessively sour personality; and Queenie
and Joe’s relationship has underlying tensions (in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” Queenie uses the song as a
subtext to criticize Joe’s drinking and lack of responsibility, and he clearly resents her comments). Even the
seemingly facile relationship of Frank and Ellie has a rather unpleasant underside when we meet them again
late in the second act and discover they’ve become boastful and snobbish because their son is now a success-
ful child movie star (and while their comical first-act number “I Might Fall Back on You” is presentational,
it nonetheless depicts an uneasy relationship peppered with put-downs).
Show Boat is also innovative in its depiction of the passing of time. The bittersweet, epic-like story surveys
forty years in the lives of generally unhappy people, and much of the action revolves around the Mississippi
show boat Cotton Blossom. Hammerstein’s book provides a somewhat impressionistic view of the characters:
after his early scenes in the first act, Steve is never seen again, and Julie vanishes after the middle of the second
act. Both drift away without neatly orchestrated explanations of their fates (one assumes the pressures inherent
in their mixed marriage were too difficult to deal with). “Ol’ Man River” functions as the musical’s theme song,
and is often misunderstood by some who narrowly interpret it as a comment about racism. First and foremost,
the song is an existential statement about the ravages of time. The river is eternal, and it relentlessly flows on,
untouched and unconcerned with the joys and sorrows of those who live and die on its waters and shores.
Besides “Ol’ Man River,” Kern and Hammerstein’s score provides three ballads for Magnolia and Gay-
lord that describe the arc of their relationship: “(Only) Make Believe” depicts young lovers in a rose-tinted
fairyland of make-believe; “You Are Love” is a direct and declarative assertion of their love, which nonethe-
less has a touch of hyperbole (one’s lover is the “wonder of all the world”); and “Why Do I Love You?” is a
mature and thoughtful look at the nature of love. The irresistible “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” jubilantly
asserts that logic is thrown to the winds when it comes to falling in love, and it also foreshadows Julie’s se-
cret when Queenie wonders why a white woman like Julie would know a black song. The brilliant opening
number “Cotton Blossom” provides disparate views of whites and blacks and their views of the words cotton
blossom. For the whites, the words denote the glamorous show boat and its promise of entertainment, but
the blacks view the words from the perspective of back-breaking bales of cotton that have to be loaded for
shipment.
1927–1928 Season 433
The score offers the ultimate Broadway torch song “Bill” (for Julie); Frank and Ellie are given lighthearted
numbers (“Life Upon the Wicked Stage” and “I Might Fall Back on You”); and Gaylord has the wistful and
melancholy “Where’s the Mate for Me?” (aka “Who Cares If My Boat Goes Upstream?”) and with the male
chorus the rousing “Till Good Luck Comes My Way.” “Dandies on Parade” (aka “Sports of Gay Chicago”)
provides a delectable second-act opening with the dandies and their girls at the Chicago World’s Fair.
Ziegfeld originally announced that the three leads in Show Boat were to be Elizabeth Hines (Magnolia),
Guy Robertson (Gaylord), and Paul Robeson (Joe), but due to delays in production the three were eventually
succeeded by Terris, Marsh, and Bledsoe.
From its very first tryout performance, Show Boat was recognized as an important musical event. The
world premiere took place at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 15, 1927, and
the Washington critics immediately knew that here was a distinctive musical with a great score. They noted
that the main task for the show’s creators was to trim the work to a manageable length during the course of
its three-city pre-Broadway tour (Washington, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland; at the last minute, a fourth city was
booked when the show played two weeks in Philadelphia).
Harold Phillips in the Washington Star reported that the first performance began at 8:30 p.m., and as he
left the National Theatre after the final curtain he noticed that down the street the clock at the Post Office
Building (now the Trump International Hotel) showed 12:50 a.m. He wrote that before the show began, Win-
ninger appeared on stage and asked the audience to withhold applause for those songs they didn’t like because
their reaction would help gauge what material needed cutting. Instead, the audience not only applauded Win-
ninger, they also applauded “everything else that followed,” and thus the “public enthusiasms were of little
help” to the creators (for the record, Phillips singled out three “hits in the making”: “Ol’ Man River,” “Make
Believe,” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”).
Leonard Hall in the Washington Daily News reported that for his pre-curtain speech Winninger told the
audience that for the first performance Ziegfeld was determined to present “every rehearsed scene.” Hall said
“Ol’ Man River” was “one of the thrills of the evening” and “a crasher of the first water,” and “Can’t Help
Lovin’ Dat Man” would probably become the score’s hit song. He concluded that “the monster is a pretty
show, with life, color and joy” and “all it needs is a lot of beating, cutting and caressing.”
John J. Daly in the Washington Post said Show Boat was “the last word in musical production” and
“comes near being the unfinished masterpiece of musical plays,” and he noted that when “properly finished,
as it will be, it should prove the high mark of showmanship.” He predicted that one song in the score was
“destined to become as popular as the Volga Boatman’s Song—a Negro river melody, ‘Ol’ Man River.’” He
also mentioned that the opening performance offered a somewhat “loose” story, but “experienced eyes saw
in this grand attempt to make a musical play of a novel one of the finest gestures ever made on the American
musical stage.”
Well, they worked fast in those days, and for the show’s second performance at the next day’s matinee,
eight songs heard the previous night were dropped: “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’,” “I Would Like to Play a Lover’s
Part,” “Cheer Up,” “My Girl,” “Coal Black Lady,” “Bully Song,” “Hello, Ma (Mah) Baby,” and “It’s Getting
Hotter in the North.” Also cut was a dance number for the Trocadero scene (titled “Ballet” in the Washington
program, the sequence featured ninth-billed Madeline Parker, the lead dancer who left the production after
the first tryout performance). Note that “Coal Black Lady” and “Bully Song” were traditional songs, and that
“Hello, Ma Baby” had been a popular 1890s song that Kern used for atmosphere (he later included this song
as part of the overture for Sweet Adeline).
Of the deleted songs, the brooding “Mis’ry’s Comin’ ’Round” and the jazzy “It’s Getting Hotter in the
North” were the greatest losses. The former is sung by Queenie, Joe, and the black ensemble and reflects their
uneasy feeling that trouble is just around the corner (and it is, because Julie and Steve, and to a lesser degree
Magnolia and Gaylord, are destined for unhappiness). A snippet of the song was briefly heard midway through
the first act of the Broadway production, and the musical’s overture began with a few bars of the melody, but
otherwise the song wasn’t heard again until the release of the seminal 1988 studio cast recording and wasn’t
used in another stage production until the 1994 Broadway revival was mounted (see below)
“It’s Getting Hotter in the North” was tantamount to a musical explosion when it was heard in the
1920s sequence. Heretofore, the plot had remained in the nineteenth century, and now decades have suddenly
passed, the characters are older, everyone sports typical twenties outfits (even Parthy and Queenie are dressed
in what might be termed modest flapper outfits), and we see the modern-day Cotton Blossom (which is now
outfitted with electric lights). “It’s Getting Hotter in the North” is a number from Kim’s current Broadway
musical, and she and her flapper chorus sing and dance to the hot rhythms of Kern’s insinuating shuffle. Dur-
ing its one tryout performance, the song was followed by a series of dance specialties for the reunion of the
show boat folk, including dance routines for Frank and Ellie and for Cap’n Andy (for the latter’s dance mo-
ment, Kern’s incorporated a few bars from the music of “Cap’n Andy’s Ballyhoo”).
As noted, the musical added a fourth tryout stop when it played at Philadelphia’s Erlanger Theatre. For
the second week in Philadelphia, the program dated December 12, 1927, included a note that the proposed
New York opening of December 19 had been postponed in order to give Philadelphia an extra week of perfor-
mances, and that the musical would open on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre on December 26. A New York
flyer confirmed that “Ziegfeld’s Christmas Present to New York” would open at the Lyric on the 26th, and
the same flyer also advertised Ziegfeld’s Rio Rita at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where it had opened the previous
February. At virtually the last minute, Ziegfeld switched Rio Rita to the Lyric and Show Boat to the Ziegfeld,
which resulted in a one-day delay for Show Boat’s premiere to December 27.
The New York Times noted that advance reports signaled that Show Boat was Ziegfeld’s “superlative
achievement,” and the work “came perilously near to realizing” this assertion. As a result, the new musical
(“with a few reservations in favor of some of the earlier Follies and possibly Sally”) was “just about” Ziegfeld’s
“best musical piece.” W. B. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, however, was less than impressed with the produc-
tion. It was “an old-fashioned musical comedy” with none of the “speed and dash and novelty for which we
look in 1928,” and he concluded by stating there was “little left to say” because Show Boat was “in no way
an unusual musical comedy.”
Time said the principal cast members were “superbly competent,” a comment that seems somewhat less
than complementary. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker found the show “thoroughly satisfactory” with
“beautiful” décor, a “triple A” score, and a “pretty good” cast, and he decided the musical would disappoint
only someone who “demands that a Ziegfeld show be a fashion parade” or one who is a “pathological wise-
crack addict.” However, Brackett was still a bit obsessed with Marsh’s hands. In his review of Cherry Blos-
soms, the critic complained that the singer’s hands were “positively garrulous,” though he was relieved to
report that now Marsh maintained “more control of his hands than he has in his recent appearances.”
Alison Smith in the New York World said the adaptation was fashioned “with a fidelity unrecognized
by most musical comedy bookmakers.” Alan Dale in the New York American said Show Boat would have a
“wonderful sail,” and the quality of the evening “struck one as something peculiarly different.” Robert Cole-
man in the New York Daily Mirror stated the musical was “daring in its originality and shows that managers
have not until now realized the tremendous possibilities of the musical comedy as an art form.” The New
Republic said that “for all-around distinction” Show Boat could “hardly be surpassed by any musical show
whatever.” And Stark Young in McCall’s noted that the production’s “best” numbers were “so successful in
their combination of the theatrical elements, music, acting, scene, as to suggest openings for the development
not of mere musical comedy, but of popular opera.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the work was “the most opulent and most effective” of
Ziegfeld’s recent productions. Alexander Woollcott in the Philadelphia Enquirer liked the “charming
and eventful” evening, which was “a fine and distinguished achievement” with “lovely” music, but he
criticized the final scene where everything went “gaudy and empty and routine.” Percy Hammond in the
Pittsburgh Press praised the “pretty and atmospheric” songs, and overall he found the production “tuneful,
dramatic, funny and picturesque.” Variety predicted the musical would play on Broadway for a year, but
noted that already just a few days after the New York premiere some were complaining that the produc-
tion was “muchly overrated,” there was “nothing phenomenal about it,” and that the critics had “spread
it on a bit too thick.”
The musical includes two songs not written by Kern and Hammerstein. The lyric and music of “Goodbye,
My Lady Love” were by Joseph E. Howard, and the lyric and music of “After the Ball” by Charles K. Harris
(the latter song had been interpolated into the national tour of the long-running 1891 hit A Trip to China-
town). The tryout of Show Boat also included three non-Kern and Hammerstein songs, all dropped prior to
the Broadway opening. “Hello, My Baby” was a popular 1890s song by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson
(and it made an amusing comeback as a vaudeville routine for an alien in Mel Brooks’s 1987 Star Wars spoof
Spaceballs), and “Coal Black Lady” and “Bully Song” seem to have been traditional songs used in the score
for verisimilitude. Kern had a somewhat annoying penchant for occasionally using music by other composers
in order to provide authentic atmosphere and nostalgia to the time periods of his musicals, and in his and
Hammerstein’s next collaboration Sweet Adeline Kern provided an overture that consisted of well-known
1927–1928 Season 435
turn-of-the-twentieth-century favorites. It would have been far more interesting if Kern had composed his
own version of nostalgic turn-of-the-century pastiche.
With a lyric by P. G. Wodehouse, “Bill” had originally been written for Kern’s Oh Lady! Lady!! (1918) but
was cut from the show during its pre-Broadway tryout. The song resurfaced the following year with a new
lyric by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva in Zip Goes a Million, which closed prior to Broadway (this time around, the
song’s title referred to paper currency). For Show Boat, Hammerstein slightly revised Wodehouse’s lyric, and
both Wodehouse and Hammerstein are officially cited as the lyricists for the song.
Incidentally, the latter part of Show Boat’s second act, which takes place in present-day 1927, has always
been problematic. Over a period of some four decades, the characters have aged, and the focus is now on Kim,
who carries on the family’s show-business tradition and has followed in the footsteps of her mother Magnolia
as a Broadway star. In the original production (and some later ones), Magnolia and Kim were played by the
same actress, in others by different actresses, and in at least one version the adult Kim was completely elimi-
nated. In fact, the 1951 film version compressed the story’s action into about ten years, and so by the finale
Kim is no more than eight or nine years old.
The jazzy low-down “It’s Getting Hotter in the North” and its spot in the 1920s sequence are emblematic
of the show’s second-act problems. For the first tryout performance in 1927, the number was performed by
Kim (Terris) and the chorus, and when it was cut Terris gave a series of impersonations of the era’s celebri-
ties (including Beatrice Lillie, Ted Lewis, and Ethel Barrymore). For the 1928 London production, the new
song “Dance Away the Night” was added for the 1920s sequence; for the 1936 film, another new song was
substituted (“Gallivantin’ Aroun’”); for the 1946 Broadway revival, yet another new song was written for
the spot (“Nobody Else but Me”); and for the 1994 Broadway revival Kim was given a dance number (“Kim’s
Charleston”).
Show Boat became the season’s longest-running book musical, and when it closed, it was the decade’s
second-longest-running book musical (after The Student Prince in Heidelberg). The work was first revived
in New York on May 19, 1932, at the Casino Theatre for 180 performances with most of the principals from
the original Broadway cast (with the exception of Howard Marsh, who was replaced by Dennis King). The
next revival opened on January 5, 1946, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the home of the original 1927 production. It
played 418 performances and spawned two national companies that toured for a total of sixteen months, and
the second company kicked off its tour with a limited engagement at City Center beginning on September 7,
1948, for 15 showings. As noted, the 1946 revival included the new song “Nobody Else but Me,” which was
the last Kern ever composed (he died a few weeks before the revival’s opening).
There were three interrelated productions (presented by the New York City Opera Company and the New
York City Center Light Opera Company) which were given during 1954 for a total of twenty performances
(two engagements in the spring and one in the fall), and the latter company also revived the work at City
Center on April 12, 1961, for fourteen showings.
The next New York engagement was produced by the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center at the New York
State Theatre on July 19, 1966, for 64 performances. There were also two Broadway revivals: on April 24, 1983,
at the Uris Theatre for 73 performances (during the run, the venue was renamed the Gershwin) and on Octo-
ber 2, 1994, at the Gershwin for 949 performances. The latter production was a lavish $8.5 million presenta-
tion directed by Harold Prince, and its luster was dimmed by some indifferent casting choices and the bizarre
decision to assign “Why Do I Love You?” as a lullaby sung by Parthy to the baby Kim. On the plus side, the
revival restored the complete version of the towering “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’,” which had previously been
heard just once, for the first tryout performance in Washington in 1927.
The first London production opened on May 28, 1928, at the Drury Lane for 350 performances and in-
cluded the new song “Dance Away the Night,” and among the cast members were Edith Day (Magnolia),
Howett Worster (Gaylord), Paul Robeson (Joe), Cedric Hardwicke (Cap’n Andy), and Alberta Hunter (Queenie).
The production interpolated Kern’s “How’d You Like to Spoon with Me?” for Frank and Ellie (with a lyric by
Edward Laska, the song had first been introduced in the 1905 musical The Earl and the Girl). A later London
revival opened on July 29, 1971, at the Adelphi Theatre for 910 showings and the cast included Cleo Laine
(Julie), Lorna Dallas (Magnolia), and Kenneth Nelson (Frank).
There have been three film versions of the musical. The first was a part-silent, part-talkie released by
Universal in 1929 (with a spoken and sung prologue that includes original Broadway cast members Helen
Morgan, Jules Bledsoe, and Tess Gardella, as well as Ziegfeld himself). The faithful and entertaining 1936
film version by Universal includes Irene Dunne (who had played Magnolia during the original production’s
post-Broadway tour), original cast members Helen Morgan, Charles Winninger, and Sammy White, and,
from the London production, Robeson. Other cast members included Allan Jones (Gaylord), Hattie McDan-
iel (Queenie), Helen Westley (Parthy), and Queenie Smith (Ellie). Kern and Hammerstein wrote three new
songs for the film, “I Have the Room above Her” (for Jones), “Ah Still Suits Me” (McDaniel and Robeson),
and “Gallivantin’ Aroun’” (Dunne). The misguided 1951 MGM adaptation compressed the action into an
approximate ten-year period and completely lost the epic sweep of the story. Both the 1936 and 1951 ver-
sions are available on DVD (the former by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection and the latter by Warner
Home Video # 30000032268).
In one sense there are really three-and-a-half film versions of Show Boat because MGM’s 1946 biography
of Kern, Till the Clouds Roll By, includes a mini-version of the musical that seems like a tryout for the even-
tual 1951 film. The sequence includes Kathryn Grayson (who played Magnolia in the 1951 film), Tony Martin
(Gaylord), Lena Horne (Julie), and Virginia O’Brien (Ellie). The film’s finale offers one of the most grandiose
and campy sequences of the era: dressed in a white tuxedo and standing atop a pedestal while flanked by the
MGM Orchestra and Chorus, Frank Sinatra sings . . . “Ol’ Man River.”
A revival by the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) was telecast on public television’s Great
Performances in October 1989, and the cast included Richard White (Ravenal), Shelly Burch (Julie), Eddie
Bracken (Cap’n Andy), Marsha Bagwell (Parthy), Lenora Nemetz (Ellie), and Lee Roy Reams (Frank).
Among the books about the musical are Miles Kreuger’s Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American
Musical (1977), Todd Decker’s Who Should Sing “Ol’ Man River”? The Lives of an American Song (2014),
and Decker’s Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical (2015), all published by Oxford Univer-
sity Press. The script of the London production was published in paperback in Great Britain by Chappell &
Co. Ltd. in 1932, and the Broadway script was published in a boxed-set hardback collection by the Library of
America in 2014 (which also includes the scripts of fifteen other musicals). The lyrics for all the Show Boat
songs are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.
The best and most complete recording of the score is the lavish 1988 three-CD set by EMI Records (# CDS-
7-49108-2); conducted by John McGlinn, the studio cast includes Frederica Von Stade (Magnolia), Jerry Hadley
(Gaylord), and Teresa Stratas (Julie). The set offers a number of songs deleted during the tryout of the original
production; songs cut during preproduction; “Dance Away the Night” from the 1928 London production;
“Nobody Else but Me” from the 1946 Broadway revival; and the three songs written for the 1936 film version.
There are a few recordings of various songs performed by members of the original Broadway and London
companies, and of the numerous recordings of the score, the 1962 studio cast album released by Columbia
Records (LP # OL-5820/OS-2220) and later by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy (CD # SK-61877) is a particu-
lar standout with Barbara Cook and John Raitt in the leading roles. The cast album of the 1946 revival was
recorded by Columbia (LP # ML-4058) and later issued on CD by Sony Broadway (# SK-53330).
LOVELY LADY
Theatre: Sam H. Harris Theatre

Performances: 164
Book: Gladys Unger and Cyrus Wood
Lyrics: Cyrus Wood
Music: Harold Levey and Dave Stamper
Based on the 1925 play Un dejeuner de soleil by Andre Birabeau.
Direction: J. C. Huffman; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Dave (David) Bennett
(choreography for dances by the Chester Hale Girls arranged by Chester Hale); Scenery: Watson Barratt;
Costumes: Charles LeMaire and Ernest R. Schrapps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp,
E. R. Schraps, and Ernest Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Harold Levey
Cast: Adrian Rosley (Jacques), Jules Epailly (Francois), Franklin A. Dix (A Decoy), Frank Greene (Maryan Lynn
the Lord Islington), Mary Dunckley (Toe Dancer), Guy Robertson (Paul DeMorlaix), Wesley Pierce (Max),
Aline Beaumont (Doris Patston), Dick Kennedy (Waiter), Jack Sheehan (Louis Farrell), William Holden
1927–1928 Season 437
(Monsieur Watteau), Edna Leedom (Folly Watteau), Eloise Bennett (Parthenia), Mae Russell (Page), Hazel
Harris (Lisette), Dorothy Jarrett (Yvonne), Margaret Liste (Yvette), Miriam Crosby (Claudette), Louise
Barrett (Desiree), Ruth Gordon (Celeste), Mary Dunckley (Marcelle), Anthony Sterling (Gendarme); Eddie
Ward’s Barbecue Band; Eddie Ward and Gene LePique (Pianists); Chester Hale Girls: Erma Chase, Ger-
trude Westling, Irene Isham, Etta Moore, Clara Fay, May Hiscox, Pavla Pavklicek, Agnes Hall, Lenore Al-
len, Evelyn Schiela, Jeanne Kroll, Alice Lorraine; Dave Bennett’s Dancing Girls: Pat Carroll, Helen Liste,
Nadya Miller, Eve Lynne, Mildred Tolle, Louise Hunt, Alice Monroe, Catherine Ryder, Mary Elizabeth
Ryder, Mae Russell, Mattie Kay, Margaret Bregaw, Ann Cluin, Grace Carroll, Peaches Tortoni, Evelyn
French, Dottie Jolson, Greta Granda, Marian Phillips, Mildred Kelly, Peggy Driscoll, Grace Grey, Dorothy
Keith, Cleo Brown; Show Girls: Maryan Lynn, Dorothy Maurice, Joanna Parker, Sydna Morgan, Elizabeth
Darling, Billie Perry, Ann Gilbert, Regina Daw; Boys: Stewart Steppler, Hal Bird, Franklin J. Dix, Fred
Reynolds, Dick Kennedy, Ralph Stark, Jack Coleman, John Wolf, Barton Smith, Ted Wrynn, Anthony
Sterling
The action takes place during the present time at the Royale Hotel on the island of Caprice, off the coast of
France.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Miriam Crosby, Mary Dunckley, Ruth Gordon, Louise Barrett, Hazel Harris,
Wesley Pierce); “Decoys” (Frank Greene, Jules Epailly, Mary Dunckley, Eight Show Girls); “Bad Luck,
I’ll Laugh at You” (Guy Robertson, Chester Hale Dancers, Boys); “The Lost Step” (Doris Patston, Jack
Sheehan, Miriam Crosby, Louise Barrett, Ruth Gordon, Mary Dunckley, Dave Bennett’s Dancers, Chester
Hale Girls); “Make Believe You’re Happy” (Dorothy Jarrett, Margaret Liste, Hazel Harris, Wesley Pierce,
Miriam Crosby, Louise Barrett, Ruth Gordon, Mary Dunckley, Dave Bennett’s Dancers, Chester Hale
Girls); “Lovely Lady” (lyric by Harry A. Steinberg and Eddie Ward) (Edna Leedom, Guy Robertson); Waltz
(Hazel Harris, Wesley Pierce); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Breakfast in Bed” (Edna Leedom, Guy Robertson); “Lingerie” (Dorothy Jarrett, Margaret Liste,
Dave Bennett’s Dancers, Chester Hale Girls); “Lovely Lady” (reprise) (Guy Robertson); Piano Specialty
(Eddie Ward, Gene LePique); Ballet (Chester Hale Girls, Hazel Harris, Wesley Pierce); “At the Barbecue”
(Miriam Crosby, Louise Barrett, Ruth Gordon, Mirian Dunckley, Dave Bennett’s Dancers); Finale (Com-
pany)
The musical took place at the Royale Hotel on the island of Caprice off the French coast where the
lovely lady of the title is vacationing. She’s the wealthy American Folly Watteau (Edna Leedom) who is pes-
tered by unwanted attentions from a stuffy English lord whom her uncle (and guardian) hopes she’ll marry.
In order to once and for all put the matter to rest, she announces that she’s already married, and that her
husband is no less than a prince. The hotel employs a number of “decoys” (men hired as guests and whose
job is to entertain the actual guests), and one is a real prince who is down on his luck and works incog-
nito as Paul BeMorlaix (Guy Robertson). Folly hires Paul to pretend to be both her husband and a prince,
and when the hotel manager believes the two are married he sends all of Paul’s clothes and belongings to
Folly’s suite. (Just imagine the naughty but innocent confusion when the two realize they must share the
same suite and the same bedroom!) But seasoned theatergoers knew (they always know). Yes, they knew
the practical business arrangement would blossom into true romance, and that Folly would indeed have
both a prince and a husband.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said that except for the dances, the production was “indifferent
musical entertainment” because the songs were generally “commonplace” and the humor perfunctory. But
the costumes were “fresh” and the scenery for the second act was particularly “original and colorful.” Leading
lady Leedom wasn’t “shy about her sense of humor” and played her role for “the complete enjoyment of her
friends.” As for the “personable” Robertson, he sang in “good voice” and one character in the musical made
the rather strange but interesting remark that had Elinor Glyn “set eyes upon this paragon she would have
multiplied her ‘It’ into ‘Those.’”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker liked the “very passable evening,” and Bushnell Dimond in the
Muncie Star Press noted that the presentation was given “fitting splendors” and that Robertson was “agree-
ably picturesque and warble[d] delectably.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer found the lyrics
“limp” and the music “blary and brassy,” but the dances were “exceptionally good,” the performances “right
up to the minute,” and Leedom was “seductive” with “infectious gaiety.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle said Robertson brought “sweetness and light” to his character but was very “animated.” He was
“all airs and sweet smiles and graces,” he had “a gesture for every inflection of his voice and a wonderful as-
sortment of postures,” and because he tried to be “entrancing” there was “no way of stopping him.”
During the tryout, the musical was known as Ain’t Love Grand?, and Donald Brian played the role of the
prince before he was replaced by Robertson. Note that featured player Ruth Gordon isn’t the later famous
Broadway and film performer. During the Broadway run, “Bad Luck, I’ll Laugh at You” and “At the Barbecue”
were dropped and “One Step to Heaven” was added (lyric by Raymond Klages and music by Jeese Greer). The
latter and “I Could Love a Girl Like You” were added for the tour, which starred Mitzi (aka Mitzi Hajos) and
the Albertina Rasch Ballet Girls (who replaced the Chester Hale Girls). The tour’s program didn’t include
the two numbers dropped during the New York run, but perhaps “At the Barbecue” was added at one point
because the show’s flyer advertised it and three other songs as the “hit tunes of the day,” tunes “you must
hear” because “you can’t resist them!”
SHE’S MY BABY
“A New Musical Farce Comedy”

Performances: 71
Book: Guy Bolton, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Direction: Edward Royce; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Edward Royce (The Tiller Girl dance
routines arranged by Mary Read); Scenery: Raymond Sovey; Costumes: Raymond Sovery; Francillon, Inc.;
Finchley; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gene Salzer
Cast: Pearl Eaton (Pearl), Phyllis Rae (Phyllis), Nick Long Jr. (The Dance Director), William McCarthy (The
Stage Manager), Joan Clement (Joan), William Frawley (Meadows); The Nightingale Quartette: Evelyn
Sayers, Loretta Sayers, Jessie Payne, and Doreen Glover; Ula Sharon (Josie), Irene Dunne (Polly), Jack
Whiting (Bob Martin), Beatrice Lillie (Tilly), Clifton Webb (Clyde Parker), Frank Doane (Mr. Hemingway);
John Tiller’s Lillie Cocktails: Peggy Snowden, Lily Reilly, Grace Holt, Teddy Denton, Evelyn Ellsmore,
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Violet Hanbury, Muriel Hayman, Catherine NiVarro, Blanche O’Donahue, Char-
lotte Otis, Anna Riley, Georgia Sewell, Pearl Sodders, Florence Ware, Hazel Webb, Vivian Wilson, Doro-
thy Wyatt, Peti Reed, Topsy Humphries, Mary Louise; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Robert Spencer, Paul
Banker, James H. Beattie, Bernie Dirkes, Malcolm Duffield, Alfred Hale, Glenn McComas, Alfred Milano,
William Sholar Jr., Jack Stevens, George Vigouroux, Robert Vreeland, Ward Tallmon
The action takes place during the present time in Greenwich, Connecticut, and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “This Goes Up” (Nick Long Jr., Pearl Eaton, Phyllis Rae, Ensemble); “My Lucky Star” (The Nightin-
gale Quartette, Ensemble); “You’re What I Need” (Irene Dunne, Jack Whiting, The Nightingale Quartette,
Ensemble); “Here She Comes” (Ensemble); “The Swallows” (Beatrice Lillie); “When I Go on the Stage”
(Beatrice Lillie, Ensemble); “Try Again Tomorrow” (Clifton Webb, Ula Sharon); “You’re What I Need”
(reprise) (Irene Dunne, Jack Whiting); Dance (John Tiller’s Lillie Cocktails); “You’re What I Need” (second
reprise) (Irene Dunne, Jack Whiting); “Camera Shoot” (Beatrice Lillie, Clifton Webb, Jack Whiting); Finale
(aka “When I Saw Him Last”) (Clifton Webb, Frank Doane, Ensemble)
1927–1928 Season 439
Act Two: “Where Can the Baby Be?” (Frank Doane, Pearl Eaton, Joan Clement, Phyllis Rae, Ensemble); “I
Need Some Cooling Off” (Nick Long Jr., Pearl Eaton, Phyllis Rae, Ensemble); “A Little House in Soho”
(Clifton Webb, Ula Sharon, Ensemble); “A Baby’s Best Friend” (Beatrice Lillie); “You’re What I Need”
(third reprise) (Irene Dunne, Jack Whiting, Phyllis Rae, The Nightingale Quartette); “Whoopsie” (Beatrice
Lillie, Clifton Webb, Ensemble); Dance (John Tiller’s Lillie Cocktails); “Trio” (Clifton Webb, Jack Whit-
ing, Nick Long Jr.); “Wasn’t It Great?” (Jack Whiting, Nick Long Jr., William McCarthy, Joan Clement,
Pearl Eaton, Phyllis Rae, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s She’s My Baby was their second of three musicals to open on Broad-
way during the 1927–1928 season. It followed the successful A Connecticut Yankee by two months, but
unfortunately didn’t make the grade and closed after seventy-one performances. But the team bounced back
later in the spring with the moderate hit Present Arms.
She’s My Baby seemed to have had everything going for it: a score by Rodgers and Hart, a book by Guy
Bolton, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby, dancers Nick Long Jr., and Pearl Eaton, dancer and comic Clifton Webb,
another comic in William Frawley, a hero and heroine played by Jack Whiting and Irene Dunne, and, best of
all, the incomparable duenna of clowns, Beatrice Lillie.
Lillie had faltered in Vincent Youmans’s Oh, Please!, mainly due to the constraints put upon her by the
show’s book. She was given both comic and romantic moments, and clearly the latter weren’t in sync with
her comic psyche. Everyone seemed to agree that the revue format was her best friend because revues pro-
vided comic opportunities for her unique brand of arch humor and didn’t tie her down to the restrictions of a
book show. Despite a comic role tailored especially for her, the loose-limbed She’s My Baby didn’t quite work
for the comedienne and it ran for almost the same number of performances as the Youmans show (seventy-
five for Oh, Please! and seventy-one for She’s My Baby). As a result, Lillie stayed within the revue format and
didn’t appear in another Broadway book musical until High Spirits in 1964.
The story dealt with young theatrical producer Bob Martin (Whiting), who plans to star his girlfriend
Polly (Dunne) in his new musical. But his trustee, Hemingway (Frank Doane), is reluctant to open the
purse strings until he sees evidence that Bob has settled down and become a family man. To that end, Bob
pretends to have a wife and child: his maid Tilly (Lillie) masquerades as his wife, and the janitor’s baby
serves as the child.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the show “wretched,” and because of the “uninspired”
book the musical’s “virtues” were “maddeningly hard to appreciate.” But Lillie’s “extraordinary comic
genius” endeared her to the audience, and “only Charlie Chaplin could make so much fun of the world
in general with such trivial material.” Lillie’s clowning stemmed from “the intellect” with her “spuri-
ous elegancies,” her “gleams of ironic humor,” her mockeries of mother songs and grand ladies, and her
“meaningless fury of mimicry and Malapropism.” Although Rodgers had composed many “ingratiating”
songs (including “You’re What I Need” and “My Lucky Star”), Atkinson jokingly stated “let nothing be said
in these dignified columns about” Hart’s “calumny against the New York dramatic critics.” The song in
question was “Wasn’t It Great?,” which managed to name names, from Atkinson to Mantle to Woollcott
to “Polly” Hammond, and the lyric cautioned that a show you have “faith in” will fail if condemned by
(George Jean) “Nathan.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said you’d be “grumpy” if you mooned over “What-Might-Have-Been
and What-Should-Be.” Otherwise, if Lillie wasn’t “nearly as funny” as in the past, she was nonetheless “a
great deal funnier” than any woman he could think of and she was at her “gorgeous best” in “A Baby’s Best
Friend.” Rodgers’s music was “all pleasing and punctuated frequently by one sure-fire hit” (“You’re What
I Need,” which was reprised no less than three times during the evening), Hart had “tossed off some of his
casual lyrics,” the décor and costumes were “very splendid,” and the dances left nothing to be desired. Time
said Lillie was like Buster Keaton “at his best,” but her “attempt” to star in a show “all her own” was “in-
complete,” because it was “everybody’s fault” except hers. And especially at fault were “the men who wrote
the jokes,” ones like “I’m not a menial, if you get what I menial.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the show’s creators hadn’t done “right” by Lillie, and without
her the evening was “nothing more than a libretto of cheap jokes and frayed plot, fitted to a few good tunes.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated Lillie had “no superior,” but needed better material be-
cause “she could be excruciatingly funny if given a bit of something to be funny with.” Bushnell Dimond in
the Muncie Star Press said that “as usual” Lillie was “magnificent,” and “as usual, her show is frightful.” And
Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun reported that the “handsome, extravagant opus” wasn’t “worth much
when Miss Lillie was off the stage,” but he chided her and said he wished she’d “quit talking to the front rows
to the exclusion of the other cash customers.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted that without Lillie the musical “would be just
another of those familiar plots” and mentioned that “people keep asking why is it that she should be so hard
to fit in musical comedy when so many less talented people can have their musical measurements made
to a nicety.” Variety said the “lukewarm” show was “book heavy” with “too much story detail and minus
sufficient comedy,” and Lillie needed “material, and badly.” The critic predicted that She’s My Baby “won’t
greet May 1 on 46th Street.”
“If I Were You,” “Morning Is Midnight,” “The Pipes of Pansy,” and “How Was I to Know?” were cut prior
to the Broadway opening, but the first song was reinstated after the Broadway premiere and gave Irene Dunne
and Jack Whiting something else to sing besides “You’re What I Need.” “If I Were You” had first been heard
in Betsy and then interpolated into the 1927 London musical Lady Luck; as for “The Pipes of Pansy,” it had
been considered for Dearest Enemy, Peggy-Ann, The Girl Friend, and now She’s My Baby, but it never found
its way to Broadway.
Also added were “Smart People” (danced by Webb and Rae, and sung by the ensemble), and cut during
the run were “Whoopsie” and “Wasn’t It Great?” Note that “How Was I to Know” was rewritten as “Why
Do You Suppose?” for Heads Up!; “You’re What I Need” had been dropped during the tryout of A Con-
necticut Yankee; and “Try Again Tomorrow” and “A Little House in Soho” had first been introduced in
the 1926 London musical Lido Lady (the latter as “A Tiny Flat Near Soho Square”). During the New York
run, a non-Rodgers and Hart song (“March with Me,” lyric and music by Ivor Novello and Douglas Furber)
was added for Lillie.
“How Was I to Know?”/“Why Do You Suppose?” and “Morning Is Midnight” are included in the first
volume of Rodgers and Hart Revisited (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-116), “A Baby’s Best Friend” is on
the second Revisited (# PSCD-139); and the third Revisited (# PSCD-140) includes “If I Were You,” “I Need
Some Cooling Off,” and “Try Again Tomorrow.” The Ultimate Rodgers & Hart Volume I (Pearl/Pavilion
Records CD # GEM-0110) includes “A Baby’s Best Friend” sung by Lillie; original Lido Lady London cast
performances of “A Tiny Flat Near Soho Square” (sung by Cicely Courtneidge and Harold French) and “Try
Again Tomorrow” (Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert); and “If I Were You” (sung by Lady Luck cast members
Phyllis Monkman and Leslie Henson). The collection Life’s a Funny Present (Rialto Records CD # SLRR-9306)
includes “When I Go on the Stage.”
The lyrics for She’s My Baby are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart.
ROSALIE
“The Musical Comedy” / “An American Musical Comedy with an International Background”

Opening Date: January 10, 1928; Closing Date: October 27, 1928
Performances: 335
Book: William Anthony McGuire and Guy Bolton
Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse and Ira Gershwin
Music: George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg
Direction: William Anthony McGuire; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: Seymour Felix; Michel Fo-
kine; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John W. Harkrider; Schneider-Anderson & Co.; Brooks Costume
Co.; Eaves Costume Co.; Henry Bendel; Peggy Hoyt, Inc.; Milgrim; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: Oscar Bradley
Cast: Halford Young (Captain Carl Rabisco), Clarence Oliver (Michael O’Brien), Bobbe Arnst (Mary O’Brien),
A. P. Kaye (Prince Rabisco), Frank Morgan (His Royal Highness King Cyril), Margaret Dale (Her Royal
Highness Queen); Ladies-in-Waiting: Claudia Dell (Rosita), Gladys Glad (Marcia), Jeanne Audree (Alla),
Hazel Forbes (Xenia), and Yvonne Grey (Maritza); Katherine Burke (Sister Angelica), Jack Donahue (Bill
Delroy), Oliver McLennan (Lieutenant Richard Fay, U.S.A. aka Dick), Marilyn Miller (Princess Rosalie),
Antonina Lalaew (Marinna), Charles Gotthold (Steward, Superintendent of West Point), Jack Bruns (Corps
Lieutenant), Clay Clement (Captain Banner), Charles Davis (The Ex-King of Portugal), Clarence De Silva
1927–1928 Season 441
(The Ex-King of Bulgaria), Henri Jackin (The Ex-King of Prussia), Mark Shull (The Ex-King of Bavaria),
Edgar Welch (The Ex-Sultan of Turkey); The Eight Estelle Liebling Singers; The Lyric Quartette: Benn
Carswell, Robert Duenweg, Cliff Whitcomb, and Jack Bruns; Ensemble: Ethel Raye, Gladys Redmond,
Addie Rolf, Rose Shaw, Beatrice Smith, Leslie Storey, Ruth Tara, Gladys Turner, Diana White, Paulette
Winston, Mabel Baade, Star Woodman, Marion Young, Joan Adaire, Colette Ayers, Elsie Behrens, Joey
Benton, Caryl Bergman, Marion Brinsley, Sydelle Bry, Dorothy Campbell, Jeanette Creagan, Anne Fal-
lon, Mary Gassman, Dolores Grant, Sylvia Howard, Ethel Kriston, Phyllis Loft, Martha Mackay, Virginia
Magee, Edith Martin, Doris Maye, Wilma Novak, Patsy O’Day, Lucille Osborne, Lillian Ostrom, Frank
Atwell, Jack Bauer, Jack Blair, Berkman Bauer, Gordon Clark, Lewis Dower, George Elsing, Walter Fair-
mont, Carlos Gomez, Bernard Hazzert, James Howkins, David Labris, Preston Lewis, Leon Leshay, Fred
May, Jack Mulder, Gene McVey, John McCahill, Howard Phillips, Fielden Reed, Mark Shull, Frank Su-
bers, Romulo Santos, Charles Davis
The action takes place during the present time in the kingdom of Romanza, at sea aboard the S.S. Ile de
France, and at West Point.
Musical Numbers
Note: (*) = music by George Gershwin; (**) = music by Sigmund Romberg; (***) = composer unknown
Act One: Opening Chorus: “Here They Are” (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Ensemble); “Show Me the Town”
(*) (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Bobbe Arnst, Ensemble); “Entrance of Hussars” (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse)
(Hussars, The Lyric Quartette, Ensemble); “The Hussars’ March” (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse and Ira
Gershwin) (Marilyn Miller, Hussars); “Say So!” (*) (lyric by Ira Gershwin and P. G. Wodehouse) (Marilyn
Miller, Oliver McLennan); Finalette (***) (Marilyn Miller, Oliver McLennan, Ensemble); “Let Me Be a
Friend to You” (aka “The Kind of Friend”) (*) (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Marilyn Miller, Jack Donahue);
“West Point Bugle” (aka “West Point Song”) (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Oliver McLennan, Boys);
“West Point March” (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Ensemble); “Oh Gee! Oh Joy!” (*) (lyric by Ira Gersh-
win and P. G. Wodehouse) (Marilyn Miller, Jack Donahue); “Say So!” (reprise) (Jack Donahue); “Kingdom
of Dreams” (aka “Why Must We Always Be Dreaming?”) (**) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Marilyn Miller);
Finale (**) (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Opening Valse” (***) (Ensemble); “New York Serenade” (*) (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Bobbe Arnst,
Ensemble; Dancers: Mabel Baade, Joey Benton, Colette Ayers, Joan Adaire, Gladys Turner, Patsy O’Day,
Phyllis Loft, Dolores Grant, Elsie Behrens, Caryl Bergman, Lillian Ostrom, Edith Martin, Wilma Novak,
Lucille Osborne, Ethel Raye, Star Woodman); “The King Can Do No Wrong” (**) (lyric by Ira Gershwin
and possibly P. G. Wodehouse) (Frank Morgan, Show Girls); “How Long Has This Been Going On?” (*)
(lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Bobbe Arnst); “Setting-Up Exercises” (*) (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse) (Marilyn
Miller, Jack Donahue); “Oh Gee! Oh Joy!” (reprise) (Singers); Dance (Jack Donahue); “The Ex-Kings”
(aka “At the Ex-Kings’ Club”) (*) (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (A. P. Kaye, Flunkeys; Frank Atwell, Jack Blair,
Gordon Clark, George Eising, Carlos Gomez, Romulo Santos, Bernard Hassert, James Howkins, Preston
Lewis, Leon Leshay, Fred May, Jack Mulder, Gene McVey, John McCahill, Howard Phillips, Frank Subers);
“The Goddesses of Crystal” (***) (The Goddess of Crystal: Katherine Burke; The Goddess of Crystal Flow-
ers: Claudia Dell; The Goddess of Crystal Jewels: Gladys Glad; The Goddess of Crystal Mirrors: Hazel
Forbes; The Goddess of Crystal Braid: Polly Nally; The Goddess of Stained Crystal: Yvonne Grey; The
Goddess of Crystal Fringe: Jeanne Audree; The Goddess of Crystal Wings: Freda Mierse; The Goddess of
Crystal Mosaics: Ada Landis); “The Ballet of Flowers” (***) (choreographed by Michel Fokine) (Marilyn
Miller, Ensemble); Finale: “Abdication” (**)
Sigmund Romberg’s Broadway “season” of four musicals concluded with the hit Rosalie, for which both
he and George Gershwin contributed songs (Gershwin’s numbers were in traditional musical comedy mode,
such as “Show Me the Town,” “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” “New York Serenade,” “Say So!,” and
“Oh Gee! Oh Joy!,” while Romberg’s were mostly in the operetta format, including “Entrance of Hussars” and
“Kingdom of Dreams”). Of Romberg’s other three shows, My Maryland was a success, but My Princess and
The Love Call were fast failures. Earlier in the season, Gershwin’s Funny Face was a major hit and yielded
some of his most delectable songs.
Rosalie marked Marilyn Miller’s return to Broadway after her long-running Sunny, and her costar was
Jack Donahue, who had appeared with her in the earlier show. The cast of Rosalie also included Frank Morgan
and Bobbe Arnst, and it had been the latter who introduced the show’s hit song, Gershwin’s “How Long Has
This Been Going On?” (As noted below, the ballad had first been heard a few weeks earlier during the tryout
of Funny Face where it had been introduced by Adele Astaire.)
William Anthony McGuire and Guy Bolton’s book straddled both sides of the operetta and musical com-
edy fence by using the old standby about a Ruritanian princess in disguise and by incorporating recent news
events. To that end, the story capitalized on the current mania for Lindbergh and aviation (as did Take the
Air, which had opened earlier in the season) and also on a recent and highly publicized visit by Romania’s
Queen Marie who visited the United States with her daughter Princess Ileana (according to Burns Mantle in
the Chicago Tribune, the princess had “indulged in a flirtation with a West Point boy”).
When the musical’s heroine Princess Rosalie (Miller) from Romanza visits Paris incognito as a peasant
girl, she meets West Point Army Lieutenant Dick Fay (Oliver McLennan) and they fall in love. Dick is an
aviator, and flies solo from the United States to Romanza in order to see Rosalie once again, but when he
discovers she’s a princess he feels betrayed by her and flies right back home. Meanwhile, his buddy and
fellow West Pointer Bill Delroy (Donahue) has set sail for home on the Ile de France (whose maiden voy-
age had occurred on June 22, 1927, a few months before Rosalie’s Broadway premiere), and on board are
Rosalie; her genial father, King Cyril (Morgan); and her haughty mother, the queen (Margaret Dale). Soon
everyone is on U.S. soil and at West Point in particular, and, according to Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, there is “misunderstanding, understanding again, and then misunderstanding,” including a
sequence when Rosalie escapes from under the queen’s watchful eye by disguising herself as a cadet. All
this leads to a romantic conclusion when Cyril abdicates, a happy technicality that allows Rosalie to marry
Dick, even if he is a commoner.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the book was from a “familiar pattern,” and both Gersh-
win and Romberg’s music served the “purpose agreeably without adding new lustre to two well-established
reputations.” Set designer Joseph Urban created a “West Point inside and out with his sweeping brush,”
costume designer John W. Harkrider provided “splendid” costumes, and the production was so “lavishly”
appointed that one spectator remarked the only thing lacking were costumes for the audience. But the two
“pleasures” of the musical were Miller and Donahue. She was still the “luminous, smiling beauty” who
danced “as poetically as ever” and perhaps even sang better than before, and he was “irrepressible” in his
comic routines. He’d once been “funny enough as an eccentric dancer,” and now he’d “become one of the
very best comedians.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Miller was the “best star” in musical comedy because “she
enjoys being in musical comedy more than any other girl,” and Donahue was “the pleasantest of the great
comics.” But Gershwin and Romberg’s songs were a disappointment. And with tongue-in-cheek, Brackett
described Miller’s first-act stage entrance. Usually she would first appear on a white horse or in an open cart
strewn with roses, and when the Rosalie chorus began watching the skies for an airplane, he assumed the star
would drift onto the stage as from a plane, or maybe “shot over the heads of the audience from a cannon.”
Instead, “for the first time in years,” Miller made her entrance on foot, and surely this was Mr. Ziegfeld’s
little joke. However, Miller didn’t just walk on stage: there were also fifty hussars “on bended knee making
an aisle for her.” But the “stern fact” remained that Miller had made her entrance on foot.
The Pittsburgh Press said Ziegfeld, Miller, and Donahue were “at their best,” and thus Rosalie was “a
good show and worth every cent” the box office charged. The critic noted that McLennan was “one of the
most melodious and improbable soldiers that ever attended West Point,” and because he was “a little dewy”
it wasn’t surprising that the queen disapproved of him. As for Donahue, he “growled the jokes” most “effec-
tively,” including one about a collector of antiques who kicks children because “they are new,” and another
about how his cat had seven kittens “litterly speaking.”
Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning News said the story didn’t “mean much,” but the show was “so
delightfully put together and with such beauty and good taste that it has become another Broadway triumph
for Mr. Ziegfeld.” Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star praised the “eye-filling spectacle,” and Variety reported
that Miller was still “the same eye-filling, willowy type of feminine star,” but without Donahue, “there
would be no Rosalie worthwhile.”
1927–1928 Season 443
The following songs were dropped during preproduction or the tryout: “I Forgot What I Started to Say”
(aka “What I Started to Say”), “Now That the Dance Is Over,” “Glad Tidings in the Air,” “Two Hearts Will
Blend as One,” “Enjoy Today,” “True to Them All,” “You Know How It Is,” “Under the Furlough Moon,”
“When Cadets Parade,” “Cadet Song,” and “Rosalie.” During the Broadway run, two songs by Gershwin were
added, “Everybody Knows (I Love Somebody)” (for Arnst and Donahue) and “Follow the Drum” (for Miller
and the ensemble), and both were included for the post-Broadway tour. As noted above, “How Long Has This
Been Going On?” had been introduced by Adele Astaire in the tryout of Funny Face, but was cut prior to New
York. “Show Me the Town” was cut during the tryout of Oh, Kay! (where it had been introduced by Oscar
Shaw, Marion Fairbanks, and Madeline Fairbanks).
The lyrics for Rosalie are included in the collections The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin and The Com-
plete Lyrics of P. G. Wodehouse.
The musical was adapted for the screen by McGuire, who had cowritten the libretto for the Broadway
production. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and choreographed by Albertina Rasch and David Gould, the film
was released by MGM in 1937. This version boasts songs by Cole Porter and includes the evergreen “In
the Still of the Night,” and the film’s lyrics are in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter. The
cast includes Eleanor Powell (Rosalie), Nelson Eddy (Dick), Frank Morgan (as the king, in a reprise of his
stage role), Edna May Oliver (the queen), Ray Bolger (Bill Delroy), Ilona Massey, William Demarest, Jerry
Colonna, and Billy Gilbert. MGM had originally bought the film rights a few years earlier as a vehicle for
Marion Davies, and according to The Hollywood Musical, the 1937 version “incorporated” footage from
the uncompleted 1930 film.
THE SUNSET TRAIL

“An Operatic Cantata”
Theatre: Gallo Theatre

Opening Date: January 24, 1928; Closing Date: (approximately) March 3, 1928
Libretto (“Poetic Text”): Gilbert Moyle (“dramatization” by Vladimir Rosing)
Music: Charles Wakefield Cadman
Direction: Michio Ito; Producer: The American Opera Company (Vladimir Rosing, Director); Choreography:
Uncredited; Scenery: Edgar Bohlman; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Frank St. Leger
Cast: Helen Oelheim (Wildflower), Clifford Newdall, aka Newdahl (Red Feather), Howard Laramy (Grey
Wolf), Raymond Koch (Chief), J. Frederic Roberts (Medicine Man), John Gilbert and Charles Stone (Tribe
Councillors); The American Opera Company Chorus and Dancers
The opera was presented in one act.
The action takes place at an Indian camp in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t include the titles of individual musical sequences.
Charles Wakefield Cadman’s one-act opera The Sunset Trail was given its New York premiere at the
Gallo Theatre by the American Opera Company. Presented on a double bill with Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pa-
gliacci, the opera gave seven performances during the company’s New York season. The work had first been
presented as a cantata in Denver, Colorado, in December 1924, as part of the city’s Music Week Association,
and it was directed by John C. Wilcox. The operatic premiere took place in Rochester, New York, in Decem-
ber 1927, and Vladimir Rosing, director of the American Opera Company, helmed the production.
The libretto at first depicted the American Indians’ resistance to the U.S. government’s dictate that the
tribes must live on reservations, and then showed their resignation to their fate.
The New York Times said the libretto provided “little opportunity for dramatic action” and charac-
terization, and perhaps the work should have remained in cantata format. The music (which consisted
of serenades, dirges, and ceremonial dances) was a “curious mixture” of “themes commonly accepted as
Indian,” of “Italianate melodies in sentimental vein,” and duets that were “frankly popular in style and
might well have been lifted from a musical comedy of the more pretentious type.” The choral music came
off best, and when the singers appeared as “the exotic Indians of popular legend” their “mellifluous music”
was sung “in true operatic style.”
Alfred Frankenstein in the Chicago Tribune summed up the story as thus: “Indians rise against the whites
and all the male principals are killed.” The score was “weak stuff” with “some nice tunes” that never rose
“above the level of a sentimental musical show,” and the staging “with its jazz war dances” was “often laugh-
able.” And except for baritone Raymond Koch, the singing was “mediocre.”
THE MADCAP
“A Comedy with Music in Three Acts” / “A New Musical Comedy” / “A Delightfully New Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Royale Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Opening Date: January 31, 1928; Closing Date: April 28, 1928
Performances: 103
Book: Gertrude Purcell and Gladys Unger
Music: Maurice Rubens
Based on the play Chibi (aka Le fruit vert) by Regis Gignoux and Jacques Thery.
Direction: Duane Nelson; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Harry Puck; Scen-
ery: Uncredited (for post-Broadway tour, sets credited to Watson Barratt); Costumes: Uncredited (for
post-Broadway tour, costumes credited to: Mme. Frances; Daisy Singleton; Sterngold Brothers; The Miss
America Dance Frock Corporation; Andre Gillier; Horwitz & Duberman; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Bernard Smith
Cast: Marie Dayne (Petunia), Lillian Lane (Helene), Ethel Intropidi (Claire Valmont), Sydney Greenstreet
(Lord Clarence Steeple), Ethel Morrison (Lady Mary Steeple), Harry Puck (Honorable Harry Steeple), Mitzi,
aka Mitzi Hajos (Chibi), Marcella Swanson (Emmeline Hawley), Charley Sylber (Cuthbert Custard), Pay
Clayton (James), Arthur Treacher (Sir Bertram Hawley), Clifford Smith (Footman); Deauville Girls: Made-
line Morley, Theresa Sadowska, Maria Paris, Sally Saunders, Peggy de la Plant, Virginia Sharon, Genevieve
Brown, Eleanor DeViane, Edna Paris, Helen Newton, Olga Grannis, Bert Winnek, Madeline Parker, Betty
Barclay, Constance Ford, Agnes Kiley, Marian Grozan, Gene McGee, Marie Price, Moravia (performer
known by single name); Deauville Boys: William Bartly, Thomas Graham, George Mason, Harry Phelps,
D. Edwards, Clifford Smith
The action takes place during the present time in and around Deauville.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Buy Your Way” (Sydney Greenstreet, The Little Collectors); “Old Enough to Marry” (Sydney
Greenstreet, Ethel Morrison, Harry Puck, Chorus); “I Want to Tell You a Story” (Mitzi, Harry Puck);
“What Has Made the Movies?” (Charley Sylber); Finale (Mitzi, Ethel Intropidi, Sydney Greenstreet, Ethel
Morrison, Harry Puck, Marcella Swanson, Marie Dayne, Chorus)
Act Two: “Honeymoon Blues” (Ethel Intropidi, Sydney Greenstreet, Harry Puck, Marcella Swanson, Chorus);
“Stop-Go” (music by Maurice Rubens and J. Fred Coots) (Mitzi, Arthur Treacher, The “Stop-Go” Danc-
ers); “Why Can’t It Happen to Me?” (Marie Dayne, Pat Clayton); “Odle De O Do ‘I Do’” (Mitzi, Harry
Puck); “Me, the Moonlight and Me” (Marcella Swanson, Charley Sylber); “Birdies” (Mitzi); “My Best Pal”
(Harry Puck, Boys)
Act Three: “Step to Paris Blues” (Mitzi, Chorus); Finale (Company)
Mitzi (aka Mitzi Hajos) was back on Broadway in the title role of The Madcap in which she played Chibi, a
twenty-year-old who pretends to be twelve (Mitzi herself was forty at the time). A critic or two suggested that
1927–1928 Season 445
Mitzi was perhaps miscast, but audiences flocked to the production. Prior to the Broadway opening, the musical
had played for almost a full year on the road, and Variety reported that the New York presentation was a limited
engagement that was part of the tour. During the Broadway run, the show transferred from the intimate Royale
to the larger Casino Theatre, which according to Burns Mantle in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle allowed
the producers to sell more tickets at reduced prices. From there, the show continued its nationwide tour.
Chibi’s widowed mother Claire Valmont (Ethel Intropidi) lives in a villa in Deauville and is about to
marry the millionaire Lord Clarence Steeple (Sydney Greenstreet). Claire has lied about her age, and claims to
be twenty-nine with a twelve-year-old daughter named Chibi who attends a convent school. Chibi is actually
an aspiring actress of twenty, and when she unexpectedly returns to Deauville from Paris she goes along with
her mother’s deception and pretends to be a twelve-year-old. By the finale, the plot’s deceptions, mix-ups, and
misunderstandings are cleared up: Claire and Steeple head for the altar and Chibi herself has found a potential
husband in Steeple’s nephew Harry (Harry Puck).
The New York Times said the “folderol” was “about passable” with a “tenuous and fairly routine” script
and “pleasantly inoffensive” songs. The Madcap was one of the “funniest” of Mitzi’s recent appearances, and
the role of an enfant terrible in short skirts and rompers was a “suitable vehicle for her talents.” But Robert F.
Sisk in the Baltimore Sun suggested she wasn’t “as young as she used to be” and it became “painful” to watch
her “carry on in what was once a kiddish fashion.” There was a certain “banality” about the “poor show,”
and it lacked “those ingredients” that make up “a New York show.” Mantle noted that Mitzi pretended “to
be 12 and acts 7,” and in one scene wore rompers, drank a highball, and, in reply to a young man who wants
to be her “big brother,” says “The hell you will!”
G.H. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said “Mitzi is the show,” and it’s “a good show, to be sure.” The produc-
tion was “handsomely mounted” and the “winning” and “charming” star proved she “could turn any show
into first-class entertainment” as well as be “a whole show, all in herself.” Dixie Hines in the Wilmington
Morning News said The Madcap was “nine-tenths” Mitzi and that was “the best part of it,” and Mary Ann
Miller in the Indianapolis Star noted that Mitzi had a “nice comedy sense” and the “light” show was “suited
to her needs.” Variety stated the evening was “all Mitzi” and without her “there’d be no show.” The critic
observed that Mitzi seemed “a bit heftier” with “some additional avoirdupois,” but “this may be only notice-
able to a Mitzi addict.” Otherwise, the book was “one of those impossible musical comedy plots” and the
score didn’t offer a song hit.
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker gave the musical a non-review with a “shameful confession.” He
was almost certain he’d seen it all before, and also had misgivings when advertisements hailed Mitzi as the
“merriest” of madcaps. As a result, when he reached the entrance to the Royale Theatre his “flesh” began “to
quiver all over like the hide of a high-mettled horse when he senses danger.”
SUNNY DAYS
“A New Musical Comedy” / “The Funniest and Peppiest of All Musical Comedies”

Performances: 101
Book and Lyrics: Clifford Grey and William Cary Duncan
Music: Jean Schwartz; additional music by Eleanor Dunsmuir
Based on the 1924 play Le Monsieur de cinq heures by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber and its 1925
English adaptation A Kiss in a Taxi by Clifford Grey.
Direction: Hassard Short; Producer: Hassard Short; Choreography: Ralph Reader; Scenery: Watson Barratt;
Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: John L. McManus
Cast: Victor Duval (Maurice Holland), Marjorie Finley (Nanine), Peggy Cornell (Babette), Evangeline Ra-
leigh (Georgette), Maxine Carson (Lulu), Rosalie Claire (Angele Larue), Jeanette MacDonald (Ginette
Bertin), Lynne Overman (Maurice Vane), Frank McIntyre (Leon Dorsay), Carl Randall (Paul Morel),
Harry Gordon (A Thief), Bob Lively (Bergeot), Claire Hooper (Countess D’Exmore), Charlotte Ayers
(Premier Dancer), Audrey Maple (Madame Dorsay), Billy B. Van (Rudolph Max); Flower Shop Girls: Aida
Conkey, Doris de Lanti, Lillian Dixon, Jacqueline Feeley, Sophia Grebow, Ruth Hartman, Irene Kelly,
Esther Lloyd, Liane Mamet, Vida Manuel, Ysobel Mason, Virginia Otis, Janet Patrick, Aili Raddigan,
Ada C. Winston, Virginia May; Guests: Claire Hooper, Verenetta Hoots, Charlotte Joyce, Louise Joyce,
Fraun Koski, Trude Marr, Helen Rich, Edna Stark; Customers: George Clidd, Sidney Kane, Robert Lee,
Reed McClelland, Fred Mayon, Leonard Reid, William Tasek, Jack Dayton
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and Fontainebleau.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Belle, a Beau and a Boutonniere” (Marjorie Finley, Peggy Cornell, Evangeline Raleigh, Maxine
Carson, Ensemble); “One Sunny Day” (Rosalie Claire, Maurice Holland, Marjorie Finley, Peggy Cornell,
Evangeline Raleigh, Maxine Carson, Ensemble); “Ginette” (Jeanette MacDonald, Boys); “I’ll Be Smiling”
(Carl Randall, Peggy Cornell, Ensemble); “Really and Truly” (Jeanette MacDonald, Lynne Overman); Fi-
nale (Jeanette MacDonald, Lynne Overman, Maurice Holland, Ensemble)
Act Two: Ballet (Charlotte Ayers, Carl Randall); “I’ve Got to Be Good” (Frank McIntyre, Guests); “Hang Your
Hat on the Moon” (Rosalie Claire, Billy B. Van, Carl Randall, Ensemble); “So Do I” (Jeanette MacDonald,
Lynne Overman); “Girls’ Brigade” (Carl Randall, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Three: “Orange Blossoms” (Maurice Holland, Ensemble); Solo Dance (Marjorie Finley); “Trample Your
Troubles” (Jeanette MacDonald, Carl Randall, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The musical farce Sunny Days seemed to have a lot going for it, including a money notice from the New
York Times, but it lasted just three months on Broadway and then took to the road with most of the original
leads. A return engagement played at the Globe Theatre for thirty-two performances beginning on October 1,
1928.
Ginette (Jeanette MacDonald) is a shop girl in a platonic relationship with the older and very married
banker Leon Dorsay (Frank McIntyre) who helps her financially. He even secretly owns the florist shop where
she works, and has passed off bank clerk Rudolph Max (Billy B. Van) as the owner. Meanwhile, Ginette’s in
love with aspiring writer Maurice Vane (Lynne Overman), and because she doesn’t want him to know about
her special understanding with Dorsay, she tells Maurice she’s Dorsay’s daughter from his first marriage.
When Mrs. Dorsay (Audrey Maple) hears about this, she insists that her husband’s long-lost daughter come to
live with them. After a series of misunderstandings, impersonations, and entanglements, the plot somewhat
straightens itself out, and Ginette and Maurice are free to pursue their romance. And because the world and
his Mrs. believe him to be Ginette’s father, Dorsay is compelled to give Ginette a generous amount of money
for her dowry.
The farce certainly had possibilities. It was based on the 1924 French comedy Le Monsieur de cinq heures
by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber, which for Broadway became A Kiss in a Taxi in a 1925 straight play
adaptation by Clifford Grey (who later cowrote the book and lyrics for Sunny Days) with Claudette Colbert
as Ginette. And those familiar with the play by its original French title may have wondered if perhaps The 5
O’Clock Girl was another lyric version of the source material.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the Times said the musical had “a good deal of spirit and bounce” that “managed
to retain all the delicious hurly-burly of the ingenious plot.” The score was “lively” and “eclectic” with
“breathless” music, and if it was “frequently reminiscent,” it also set “a rapid pace for musical comedy in
general” because it “beats the pace that invigorates before it kills” (Atkinson singled out “Hang Your Hat on
the Moon” and “Trample Your Troubles”). The dancers “buck and swing and cavort and stamp and clap their
hands in unison like nothing possible in what is facetiously termed this ‘temperate zone,’” and they bounced
“so energetically that one has merely a bewildered, enjoyable impression of arms, legs, frocks and mops of
short hair gamboling and skylarking in blurred perspective.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker praised dancer Carl Randall, who lifted the show from “mediocrity”
with his “gorgeous” dancing. Further, the sets and costumes had “florid smartness” and each act looked “like
the gigantic window of a Madison Avenue interior decorator.” Time remarked that musical comedy French-
men always had a mistress, and for Sunny Days the “inevitable domestic uproars come and go vividly”; comic
Van became “uncommonly intoxicated in one engrossing passage”; and there was “more than a smattering
of sound song.”
1927–1928 Season 447
MaryAnn Miller in the Indianapolis Star said the musical was “lavishly” supplied with comics, chorus
girls, dancers, and music in a production “a bit routine” but “spirited” and “constantly energetic” and that
allowed the plot to proceed “swiftly and gleefully through the absurd confusion of its farcical story.” Dixie
Hines in the Wilmington Morning News noted that the “good musical numbers” were “well and effectively
staged,” with a “delectable” story and a “fast-working and good-looking chorus.” And Frederick F. Schrader
in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the production was “tastefully staged” with “lovely” costumes and
that Randall’s “agile and difficult” dancing was a “hit.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show offered the “rousing” song “Hang Your Hat on
the Moon,” which was “sure” to become as “hotly popular” as “The Varsity Drag” from Good News. In fact,
Pollock said the song “is” “The Varsity Drag” from Good News, and thus “the most astonishing thing about
Sunny Days is the boldness of that piece of tune thievery.” The critic noted Jean Schwartz composed most
of the score with additional songs contributed by Eleanor Dunsmuir “and the composer of the Good News
score.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune singled out a few potential song hits, including “Hang Your Hat
on the Moon,” “Really and Truly,” and, in a playful moment, “The Varsity Drag.” Variety reported that one
(unidentified) song was “almost note for note on ‘Sweet and Low-Down’” (from George and Ira Gershwin’s
Tip-Toes), and “in reference to another [unidentified, but most likely “Hang Your Hat on the Moon”] tune”
the first-nighters exited the theater and “kiddingly” hummed “The Varsity Drag.”
RAIN OR SHINE
“The Latest, Greatest Musical of Mirth!” / “A Gay and Glittering Combination of All That Is
Great in the Amusement World”

Opening Date: February 9, 1928; Closing Date: December 15, 1928
Performances: 356
Book: James Gleason and Maurice Marks
Lyrics: Jack Yellen
Music: Milton Ager and Owen Murphy
Direction: Staged by Alexander Leftwich (entire production “created and directed” by A. L. Jones and Morris
Green); Producers: A. L. Jones and Morris Green; Choreography: dances directed by Russell E. Markert
and Tom Nip; and dance ensembles directed by Russell E. Markert; Scenery: Clark Robinson (Art Direc-
tor); Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Ben Rocke; Lighting: Electrical effects by New York Calcium Light Co.;
Musical Direction: Don Voorhees
Cast: Tom Howard (Amos K. Shrewsberry), Ethel Norris (Katie), Edgar Gardner (Harry), Helen Lynd (Frankie
Schultz), Rita Garcia (Zelda), Joe Lyons (Jesse Dalton, The Barker), Nancy Welford (Mary Wheeler), War-
ren Hull (Jack Wayne), Rosie Moran (Rosie), Joe Cook (Smiley Johnson), Walter Pharr (The Policeman),
Dimples Riede (The Mother), Marian Herson (The Child), James Gregory (The Ticket Seller), Dave
Chasen (Smiley’s Protégé, The Head Waiter), Vernon Jacobson (Grocko), William V. Powers (Folte), Paul
Brack (The Acrobat), Janet Velie (Mrs. Patricia Conway), Devah Worrell (Grace Forsythe), Ernest Lam-
bert (Lord Gwinnie Llandidrodd Wells); The Bachelor Quartette; The New Yorkers Quartette: Vance El-
liott, Ben Cutler, Alex McKee, and Walter Bremer; The Nip Girls; Don Voorhees and His Rain or Shine
Band; Members of the Junior League: Maxine Wells, Dimples Riede, Dolla Harkins, Olga Brounoff, Kae
Carroll, Helen Wilson, Helen Fowbie, Georgia English; Young Ladies from Higginstown, RI: Daphne
Windsor, Rita Stone, Nina Sorel, Beth Milton, May Page, Rita Garcia, Frances de Foe, Mary Philips;
Claire Stone, Amy Weber, Peggy Sickle, Marion Herson, Virginia Ray, Eleanor Martin, Ruth Marcus,
Doris Baker, Sarah Newton, Marion Lane, Gladys Englander, Dorothy Brown, Alice Dera, Lilian Field,
Marie Hensley, Nettie Pollinger; The Boys of Higginstown, RI: Sam Wiser, Steve LaMarr, Jack Lomas,
Joseph Cowan, William Moyer, Richard Givens, Dan Harrington, Fred Nay, Jules Schwartz, Paul Santo,
Lou Atlas, Bob Easton, William Hale, Bill Benton, Frank Sherlock; The Personnel of Russell E. Markert’s
Sixteen American Rockets (only first names provided in program): Alyse, Maxine, Kathleen, Marion,
Mildred, Pearl, Virginia, Audrey, Estelle, Rosalie, Irene, Dorothy, Irma, Anna, Irene, and Virginia (Amy
Frank, Dance Captain)

The action takes place during the present time in and around Higginstown, Rhode Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Circus Days” (Members of the Junior League, Young Ladies, School Girls, Boys, The
American Rockets); “Glad Tidings” (Nancy Welford, Warren Hull, The Bachelor Quartette, The New
Yorkers Quartette, Ensemble); “The Parade” (The John T. Wheeler Show); “Circus Days” (reprise) (Girls,
Boys); “So Would I” (Joe Cook, Village Kids); “Add a Little Wiggle” (Helen Lynd); Dances: (a) The Nip
Girls and (b) The American Rockets; “Rain or Shine” (Nancy Welford, Warren Hull, The Bachelor Quar-
tette, The New Yorkers Quartette, Ensemble); “Laugh, Clown, Laugh” (lyric by Sam M. Lewis and Joe
Young, music by Ted VioRito) (Vernon Jacobson); “Recitation” (Warren Hull) and “Ballet” (The Pierrots:
The Nip Girls; The Pierrettes: The American Rockets; The Clown: Rosie Moran); “Oh, Baby” (lyric and
music by Owen Murphy) (Ethel Norris, Edgar Gardner, Ensemble); “The Roustabout Song” (Warren Hull,
The New Yorkers Quartette, The Boys); “Hey, Rube” (Vernon Jacobson, Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Falling Star” (Janet Velie, The New Yorkers Quartette, Ensemble); “Feelin’ Good” (lyric
and music by Owen Murphy) (Helen Lynd, Ensemble); “Forever and Ever” (Warren Hull, Nancy Welford,
The New Yorkers Quartette, Ensemble); “Who’s Gonna Get You?” (Nancy Welford, Boys) and (a) “Acro-
batic Dance” (The Nip Girls); (b) “Stair Dance” (Rosie Moran, Boys); (c) Dance (Ethel Norris, The Bachelor
Quartette); and (d) “Hand Drill” (The American Rockets); “Elephant Trainers” (The American Rockets);
“The Clown Dance” (The Nip Girls); Finale (Company)
The night after Sunny Days it was Rain or Shine, and it certainly was sunshine for Joe Cook’s vehicle,
with a serviceable book cooked up by James Gleason and Maurice Marks that provided a viable framework
to allow the star free rein for his comedy shtick. The score didn’t excite anyone and failed to yield a hit song,
but Cook and his freewheeling shenanigans were enough to keep the customers happy for almost a full year.
The 1927–1928 season saw a remarkable parade of hits, a good solid dozen in all, and because of Cook’s per-
formance Rain or Shine was one of the season’s events.
There was a story, of course, but it was more of an excuse to provide a series of comic interludes for Cook
and his cohorts Tom Howard and Dave Chasen (the latter of restaurant fame). Cook manages a somewhat
down-and-out circus and for all purposes provides a Cook’s tour of big-top life with all the requisite circus
types (acrobats, exotic dancers, clowns, midgets, trapeze artists, tightrope walkers, bareback riders, Siamese
twins, and roustabouts, not to mention a ringmaster, a lion tamer, a three-legged girl, a bearded lady, and a
tattooed lady). At one point, the circus folk go on strike, and Cook himself becomes the whole show (which
he was anyway) and engages in acrobatics, wire-walking, knife-throwing, sharpshooting, and juggling clubs as
well as a routine where he walks on global spheres placed on raked platforms.
There was also a love story with circus performer Mary Wheeler (Nancy Welford) and roustabout Jack
Wayne (Warren Hull), a rich boy who works incognito. Here was a decidedly daring departure on the part of
the librettists, and so instead of being a prince going incognito, Jack was merely a wealthy boy masquerading
as a poor one (and just think: if the writers had gone in the direction of royalty, and if the title hadn’t already
been taken, Mary might have found herself no less than a circus princess). But no one really cared about the
lovers, who were just stage waits until Cook was back with more of his folderol.
Jack and Mary introduced the title number, and Jack and the male singers performed “The Roustabout
Song.” As for the latter, Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “resounding” song, Variety
reported that it “fetched a flock of encores,” and J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “ro-
mantic” and “energetic youths” who bellowed the number, and even quoted part of the lyric in his review.
Percy Hammond in the Des Moines Register noted that Cook was “mixed up with a kindergarten plot”
and “some hooey tunes,” and even if you were “irked” by the show’s “wormy romantics,” Cook’s satiric take
on circus life guaranteed a “good time” when he “enlivened” the production with his “velvet pranks and ac-
complishments.” Pollock said that except for Cook there was “a little too much of everything,” and although
the evening was “never quite graceful” and “never anything like smart,” it was “always young and sound of
wind and lusty” and the audience rewarded Cook “with roars of joy.”
1927–1928 Season 449
Mary Ann Miller in the Indianapolis Star said Cook took “complete charge,” and with his “lunacy” and
“constant tricks” he had the audience “shrieking with laughter,” including a sequence with his latest Rube
Goldberg-like contraption, a bit of “complicated nonsense” involving a buzz-saw, a water siphon, three men
with violins on a ferris wheel, all of which caused a performer to strike his hammer on an iron ring. Time
noted that Cook was worshipped not by his “public” but by his “disciples.” He was funny because there was
“sheer disconnection” in his dialogue and “no two sentences” had “the faintest rational relation,” and per-
haps he might be described as “Douglas Fairbanks gone incurably insane.” Rain or Shine might otherwise be
a “wretched” show, but for Cook’s followers it was a “heavenly ceremony.”
Variety said the show was a “winner” and Cook “a whale of an attraction,” and Atkinson exclaimed
that Cook and his routines confirmed that he was “the greatest man in the world,” and in a follow-up piece
said the comic had “the divine spark of madness.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker found the evening “a
blowzy, acrobatic” musical that followed “with horrid persistence” the romance between the circus girl and
her millionaire. But Cook was always there with “a burst of completely convincing nonsense,” and his stooge
Amos K. Shrewsberry (Tom Howard) was the “dullard” who was “blinded” by Cook’s “brilliance.” And when
these two got together on stage, “one couldn’t ask for more fun.”
During the run, “Recitation” was cut and replaced by “Pierrot and Pierrette,” and “Stair Dance” was
dropped. The post-Broadway tour starred Cook, and the flyer announced that “never before in the history of
the theatre has such enthusiastic and united praise been accorded any attraction” where “each individual [is] a
star” and “collectively a constellation.” Here was “A Crowning Exhibitional Triumph” which was “a marked
and signal advance in amusement-catering.”
The 1930 film version was released by Columbia Pictures; directed by Frank Capra, the movie starred Cook,
Howard, and Chasen who reprised their stage roles. The film was presented as a straight comedy with no songs
(the American Film Institute website indicates the stage production’s title song was used as background music),
and Mordaunt Hall in the Times said Cook kept the audience “in a constant state of merriment.” The film is part
of the DVD set Frank Capra: The Early Collection (issued by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).
KEEP SHUFFLIN’
“Jazz Riot”
Theatre: Daly’s Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Eltinge Theatre)
Performances: 104
Lyrics: Henry Creamer, Andy Razaf, and Gladys Rogers
Music: James P. Johnson, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Clarence Todd, Con Conrad, and Will Vodery
Direction: Con Conrad; Producer: Con Conrad, Inc.; Choreography: Clarence Robinson; Scenery: Karl O.
Amend; Costumes: H. Mahieu Costumes Inc.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: James P. Johnson
Cast: Jerry Mills (Boss), George Battles (Henry), John Gregg (Brother Jones), John Vigal (Mose), Clarence Rob-
inson (Walter), Byron Jones (Scrappy), Evelyn Keyes (Evelyn), Honey Brown (Honey), Jean Starr (Alice),
Margaret Lee (Mrs. Jenkins), Flournoy E. Miller (Steve Jenkins), Aubrey L. Lyles (Sam Peck), Josephine
Hall (Ruth), Maude Russell (Maude), Billie Yarbough (Yarbo), Hazel Sheppard (Hazel), Gretta Anderson
(Grit), Marie Dove (Marie), Gilbert Holland (Bill), Herbert Listerino (Joseph); Orchestra Members: Thomas
“Fats” Waller (on the white keys), Jimmy Johnson (on the black keys), Jabbo Smith (behind the bugle);
Ladies of the Ensemble: Gussie Williams, Hazel Sheppard, Ethel Moses, Marie Buschell, Marion L. Tyler,
Vivienne G. Brooks, Lila Brogdan, Evelyn Irving, Gladyce Bronson, Hazel Coles, Gertrude Gaines, Violet
Speedy, Marie Dove, Mineola Phillips, Shirley Abbey, Jean Kane, Edna Ellington, Peggy Burnett, Pauline
MacDowell, Billie Rickmon, Marion Ford, Madeline Odlum, Olive Harrison, Byrdie Wallace, Clarice
Egbert, Ruth Cherry, Ruth Lambert; Jubilee Singers and Dancers; Charles Lawrence, Herman Listerino,
Lloyd Mitchell, Howard Browne, George Battles, Joseph A. Willis, Burkie Jackson, Chris Gordon, Edwin
Alexander, Sandy Brown, Kenneth Harris
The action takes place during the present time in Jimtown, a small town in the South.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by Will Vodery) (Ensemble); “Cho’late Bar” (lyric
by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Evelyn Keyes, Byron Jones); “Labor Day Parade” (lyric by
Andy Razaf, music by Clarence Todd) (Clarence Robinson, Company); “Give Me the Sunshine” (lyric by
Henry Creamer, music by James P. Johnson and Con Conrad) (Jean Starr, John Vigal, Clarence Robinson);
“Pining” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by Clarence Todd) (Josephine Hall, Clarence Robinson); “Let It”
(lyric by Henry Creamer, music by Clarence Todd and Con Conrad) (Maude Russell, Company); “Wash-
board Ballet” (music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Honey Brown); “Exhortation” (lyric by Henry Creamer,
music by Con Conrad) (George Battles, The Jubilee Glee Club); “’Sippi” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music
by James P. Johnson and Con Conrad) (Maude Russell); “How Jazz Was Born” (lyric by Andy Razaf, music
by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Jean Starr, Company); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Keep Shufflin’” (lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (John Vigal, Company);
“Everybody’s Happy in Jimtown” (lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Male Octette);
“Give Me the Sunshine” (reprise) (Flournoy E. Miller, Aubrey L. Lyles); “Dusky Love” (lyric by Henry
Creamer, music by Will Vodery) (Josephine Hall, Clarence Robinson, Company); “Charlie, My Back Door
Man” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by Clarence Todd) (Jean Starr, Strut Men); “On the Levee” (lyric
by Henry Creamer, music by James P. Johnson) (Maude Russell, Girls); “Harlem Rose” (lyric by Gladys
Rogers, music by Con Conrad) (Maude Russell); Finale (Company)
Flournoy E. Miller and Aubrey L. Lyles returned in another of their Jimtown carnivals, Jimtown of course
being their favorite locale, a mythical small town in the South awhirl in political and romantic goings-on.
Jimtown was also the scene of Shuffle Along, Runnin’ Wild, Liza, and the 1927 revue Rang-Tang, and was no
doubt down the road or at least close in spirit to Bamville, the locale of The Chocolate Dandies.
Keep Shufflin’ was Miller and Lyles’s sequel of sorts to Shuffle Along, and they reprised their old roles of
Steve Jenkins and Sam Peck. For the new show, the twosome plan to rob the local bank and redistribute the
wealth so that everyone is equal (but one suspects Steve and Sam will ensure they’re more financially equal
than others).
The show played three months on Broadway, and then toured. During the New York run and for the na-
tional tour, the musical underwent drastic revisions with added and deleted songs, and for the tour the book
was credited only to Miller, who also succeeded co-composer Con Conrad as director.
The song titles alone for both the New York production and the tour quickly let us know we were in familiar
Jimtown territory, albeit a small-town Southern Never Land as seen through the prism of Broadway, Harlem,
and jazz. The Broadway songs included “Cho’late Bar,” “Labor Day Parade,” “Let It,” “Sippi,” “How Jazz Was
Born,” “Keep Shufflin’,” “Everybody’s Happy in Jimtown,” and others. Among the ones added for the tour were
“Holiday in Jimtown,” “Teasin’ Baby,” “Whoopem Up,” “Bugle Blues,” “My Old Banjo,” “Let’s Go to Town,”
and “You May Be a Whale in Georgia.” And, to be sure, there were scenes on the levee and in a graveyard (but
no courtroom).
The New York Times noted that while the opening performance “gave indications of late revisions and hur-
ried changes,” the show maintained a “break-neck pace which augured well for the show’s continuance.” The
evening may have been “dubbed a musical comedy,” but “such things” didn’t really matter because there was
a “languid” and “haphazard” air about the show that worked well with “the rest of the proceedings,” and there
were “pleasant” tunes and “fast and furious” dances. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker liked the “easy-going”
book, the “turbulent” singing, and the “tempestuous” dancing, and Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star said the
show moved at a “fast tempo” with “catchy” songs, and he singled out three numbers (“’Sippi,” “How Jazz Was
Born,” and “Give Me the Sunshine,” the latter perhaps the evening’s best-received song).
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer praised the show’s “breathless” tempo and its “highly
amusing” book, which included several “excruciatingly funny” scenes, and Margaret de Cordova Sanville
in the Muncie Star Press said the production was “a swift moving panorama of rhythm,” and “Give Me the
Sunshine” and “Pining” were the show’s “outstanding hits.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said
the show had “a number of amusing points” that were “spread out distressingly thin.” He mentioned a scene
in which Miller and Lyles bask in their newfound wealth and decide they no longer like “common” food,
clothes, and furniture, and then proceed to throw these items out the window. Pollock liked the “funny”
sequence but felt it went on too long because the stars didn’t know when to stop.
1927–1928 Season 451
Note that Keep Shufflin’ marked Thomas “Fats” Waller’s debut. He composed some of the songs and was
also one of the musical’s two pianists (the program identified him as the one “on the white keys”).
THE THREE MUSKETEERS

“Outstanding Musical Triumph” / “A Romantic Musical Play”

Performances: 318
Book: William Anthony McGuire
Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey
Music: Rudolf Friml
Based on the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Direction: William Anthony McGuire; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: Ballets and dances by
Albertina Rasch and ensembles by Richard Boleslavsky; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John W.
Harkrider; Henry Bendel; Eaves Costume Co.; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Robert D. Burns (Sergeant Jussac), Louis Hector (Comte de la Rochefort), Harrison Brockbank (Inn-
keeper), Naomi Johnson (Zoe), Vivienne Osborne (Lady De Winter), Detmar Poppen (Porthos), Douglass
R. Dumbrille (Athos), Joseph Macaulay (Aramis), Vivienne Segal (Constance Bonacieux), Lester Allen
(Planchet), Dennis King (D’Artagnan), John Clarke (The Duke of Buckingham), Yvonne D’Arle (Queen
Anne), John Kline (M. de Treville), Reginald Owen (Cardinal Richelieu), Clarence Derwent (Louis XIII),
William Kershaw (Brother Joseph), Harriet Hoctor (Premiere Danseuse of the Court), Catherine Hayes
(Aubergiste), Richard Thornton (The Bo’sun), Raymond O’Brien (Patrick); Cardinal’s Guards: Andy Jochim
and Randolph Leyman; Ladies in Waiting: Evelyn Groves, Lee Russell, Gertrude Williams, Mary McDon-
ald, Pirkko Ahlquist, Marion Dodge, and Edna Bunte; Gerald Moore (King’s Attendant) The Albertina
Rasch Dancers: Virginia Beardsley, Dona Desne Curry, Rose Gale, Eva Hellesnes, Marguerite Eisele, Nora
Puntin, Louise Raymond, Yvonne Beaupre, Regina Tushinsky, Nona Otero, Lydia Krushinsky, Lucille
O’Connor, Wilma Kaye, Helen Derby, Jeanette Bradley, Mildred Turner; Ladies of the Ensemble: Nancy
Corrigan, Lillian White, Pauline Hall, Vida Hanna, Eleanor Buffington, Marie Merrifield, Julia Lane, Es-
ther Peters, Sylvia Derby, Margaret Clarke, Byrdetta Evans, Eleanor Little, Emily Hadley, Libby Hanley,
Ivy Palmer, Marye Bern, Frances Kelley, Lotta Marcy, Ann Moss, Helen Withers, Elaine Lank, Kather-
ine Cavelli, Audrey Davis, Sally Hadley, Ellen Moray, Joan Marren, Hilda Steiner, Elsie Reign, Dorothy
Greenley, Miriam Stockton, Dorothy Sutton, Margaret Valient; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Martin
Sheppard, A. Muzzi, Glen McCauley, John Zak, Ernest Ehler, Harry James, William Dillon, Armand Van
Mueller, William Hagen, Robert Shields, Norman Ives, Stanley Howard, Charles Kirby, L. Dumbadse,
Ivan Ismailov, Serge Vino
The action takes place in France and England during 1626.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Summer Time” (Villagers); “All for One and One for All” (Joseph Macaulay, Douglass
R. Dumbrille, Detmar Poppen); “The ‘He’ for Me” (Vivienne Segal, Girls, Joseph Macaulay, Douglass R.
Dumbrille, Detmar Poppen); “Sabot Dance” (The Albertina Rasch Dancers); “My Sword (and I)” (Dennis
King, Company); “Heart of Mine” (Dennis King, Vivienne Segal); Finaletto: “My Sword (and I)” (reprise)
(Dennis King, Villagers); “Vesper Bell” (The Pensionaires); “(My) Dreams” (Yvonne D’Arle); “Te Deum”
(Dennis King, Nuns); “(March of the) Musketeers” (Dennis King, Douglass R. Dumbrille, Detmar Pop-
pen, Joseph Macaulay, Musketeers); “Colonel and the Major” (Lester Allen, Girls); “Ballet Romantique”
(Harriet Hoctor, The Albertina Rasch Dancers); “Love Is the Sun” (Yvonne D’Arle, Vivienne Segal, John
Clarke); “Heart of Mine” (reprise) (Vivienne Segal, Dennis King); “Welcome to the Queen” (Ladies and
Courtiers); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “With Red Wine” (Detmar Poppen, Company); “Danse Bohemian” (Harriet Hoctor); “Ma Belle” (Jo-
seph Macaulay); “(One Kiss) Before I Go” (Vivienne Segal, Dennis Price); Dance: “Pages” (The Albertina
Rasch Dancers); “Queen of My Heart” (John Clarke); “Gossips” (Lester Allen, Ladies); “Until We Say Good-
bye” (Vivienne Segal); “Ballet of the King” (Harriet Hoctor, The Albertina Rasch Dancers); Finale (Company)
As the season wound down, another musical joined the remarkable parade of hits. Rudolf Friml’s The
Three Musketeers was a follow-up of sorts to the romantic derring-do of his successful The Vagabond King,
and it starred Dennis King, who was formerly the vagabond king himself and also the leading man in Friml’s
Rose-Marie. The score didn’t yield any evergreens of the Vagabond variety, but it was good solid music in the
familiar operetta tradition (a marching song, a drinking song, and numerous ballads), and it marked Friml’s
final Broadway success. Earlier in the season, The White Eagle had played for just a few weeks, and his last
two musicals Luana (1930) and Music Hath Charms (1934) had short runs.
For producer Florenz Ziegfeld, the musical was his fifth hit in a row. During the previous season Rio Rita
had premiered, and earlier in the current one the 1927 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies (which starred Eddie Can-
tor, Cliff Edwards, and Ruth Etting and introduced Irving Berlin’s “Shaking the Blues Away”), Show Boat, and
Rosalie had opened (and the blockbuster Whoopee premiered later in the year). The Three Musketeers offered
lavish sets by Joseph Urban, the majority of costumes were by John W. Harkrider, and the leading lady was
Vivienne Segal, here continuing her remarkable track record of creating major roles in operettas and musical
comedies by important lyricists and composers.
Based on Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel, the musical took place in France and England during 1626
and centered on D’Artagnan (King) and his comradeship with the three musketeers Athos (Douglass R. Dum-
brille), Aramis (Joseph Macaulay), and Porthos (Detmar Poppen), all of whom are knee-deep in royal intrigues.
D’Artagnan is also romantically involved with Queen Anne’s lady-in-waiting Constance (Segal).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the operetta was “lavishly” mounted in Ziegfeld’s “boun-
teous style” and was “a matchless achievement in design and expression.” William Anthony McGuire’s “ex-
cellent libretto” created “bold” characters engaged in “drinking, loving and fighting in the service of royalty,”
and the story was complemented by Friml’s “rushing” and “captivating” score. Those who had read Dumas’s
novel would find the evening “vivid, ebullient and bubbling,” and already some were dubbing the new work a
“grand operetta.” As for King, he sang and acted in “the grand manner.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker
noted that King acquitted himself “with grace” but seemed “a trifle orchidaceous in comparison with the
Fairbanks interpretation of the character” (Douglas Fairbanks had starred in a 1921 silent film adaptation).
Otherwise, the décor was “lavish,” the Albertina Rasch dancers possessed “hypnotic grace,” and Friml had
composed a “good, thick, rambunctious score.”
Mary Ann Miller in the Indianapolis Star said the score was “rousing” and the libretto “worthy of Du-
mas’ swashbuckling novel.” The work was “a most skillfully artistic production, directed with a fine discern-
ment and acted as a spirited and humorous romance.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle singled
out “Ma Belle” and “(March of the) Musketeers” as the score’s best songs, and suggested the evening would
have been better served had it been shorter. Further, the book was somewhat austere and needed to be “a
little louder, more hilarious, gustier—something looser, more pungent, racier and red-eyed.” As a result, the
production “just misse[d] being good enough to go on until midnight.”
Time summed up the plot by noting that D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers spend their time “serving
the King of France” and “making love to ladies.” The chorus girls “capered” about the stage dressed in “wide
skirts and bonnets,” and if “equipped with dusters” they’d “look as if they had just jumped out of a can of
glorified Dutch Cleanser.” Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press praised the “melodious” score and said
King had “the voice of a nightingale, the shape of Apollo, the charm of Laurette Taylor, the valor of a U.S.
Marine, the punch of Eugene Tunney, and the impishness of Puck.”
During the run, four songs were cut, “My Sword (and I),” “Te Deum,” “Heart of Mine,” and “Until We
Say Goodbye,” and three were added, “Every Little While,” “Your Eyes,” and “Gascony” (aka “Gascony
Song” and “Gascony Bred”). Dropped during the tryout were “One Smile from You,” “Shipmates All,”
“Noah,” and “Near You.”
A revival of sorts opened in New York on November 11, 1984, at the Broadway Theatre for nine perfor-
mances, and was based on an earlier 1983 revival presented at the Hartman Theatre at the Stamford Center
for the Performing Arts in Stamford, Connecticut. The Broadway production was directed by Joe Layton
1927–1928 Season 453
and choreographed by Lester Wilson, the book was adapted by Mark Bramble, the music was adapted by
Kirk Nurock, and the cast included Michael Praed (D’Artagnan), Liz Callaway (Constance), Chuck Wagner
(Athos), Brent Spiner (Aramis), Ron Taylor (Porthos), Ed Dixon, Joseph Kolinsky, Marianne Tatum, and
Sal Vivano. The production retained seven songs from the original, “All for One and One for All,” “My
Sword (and I)” (which had been dropped during the original Broadway run), “(My) Dreams,” “(March of the)
Musketeers,” “Gossips,” “Ma Belle,” and “Gascony” (the latter added during the original Broadway run).
“Only a Rose” from The Vagabond King was interpolated and musical sources for other songs used in the
revival are unclear.
The original London production opened on March 28, 1930, at the Drury Lane for 240 performances and
was directed by Alfred Butt; the cast included King in a reprise of his Broadway role, Adrienne Brune (Con-
stance), Moya Nugent, and Ula Sharon. The London cast recording was issued by Monmouth-Evergreen Re-
cords (LP # MES-7050) and includes a total of eight songs heard during the run of the Broadway production:
“Gascony,” “Your Eyes,” “(March of the) Musketeers,” “Ma Belle,” “(One Kiss) Before I Go,” “My Sword (and
I),” and two orchestral sequences, one of which includes “Every Little While” and “Queen of My Heart.” The
album also offers songs from Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, including an original cast performance of
“Song of the Vagabonds” by King.
The script of the London production (which reflects changes made during the Broadway run) was pub-
lished in paperback by Chappell & Co. Ltd./Harms Inc. in 1937. The lyrics of “(March of the) Musketeers”
and “Your Eyes” are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of P. G. Wodehouse.
Friml’s operetta was the decade’s second lyric version of Dumas’s novel (see entry for Richard W. Tem-
ple’s 1921 adaptation).
PRESENT ARMS
“The New Musical Comedy” / “Smashing Musical Comedy Hit!”

Opening Date: April 26, 1928; Closing Date: September 1, 1928
Performances: 155
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Direction: Alexander Leftwich; Producer: Lew Fields; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: Ward and Har-
vey (Herbert Ward, Art Director); Costumes: Milgrim; Nesor-Booth-Willoughby, Inc.; Ridabock & Co.;
Lighting: Lighting effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Roy Webb
Cast: Jack McGraw (McKabe), Franker Woods (Frank Derryberry), Charles King (Chick Evans), Fuller Melish
Jr. (McKenna), Robert Spencer (Gadget), Busby Berkeley (Douglas Atwell), Richard Lane (Captain Wig-
gins), Joyce Barbour (Edna Stevens), Rachel Chester (Fay), Flora LeBreton (Lady Delphine Witherspoon),
Alma Ross (Luana, Moulika), Sydney Smith (Lord Oliver Witherspoon), Anthony Knilling (Herr Ludwig
Von Richter), Florence Hunter (Maria), Gaile Beverley (Hortense Mossback), Demaris Dore (Daisy), Aline
Green (Minerva), Alexander Lewis (Karl), Frances Hess (Elsa); Ladies of the Ensemble: Dorothy Brown,
Elva Adams, Wilda Barnum, Evelyn Crowell, Rachel Chester, Irene Evans, Aline Green, Sherry Gale, Kay
Hunt, Geneva Jensen, Rita Jarson, Louise Joyce, Henrietta Kay, Gladys Kelley, Charlotte LeRose, Beth
Meredith, Ann Mycue, Dorothy McKeon, Christine Nolan, Loraine Power, Polly Ray, Patricia Ross, Ruth
Stickney, Genevieve Street, Greta Swanson, Helen Shepard, Gertrude Sheffield, Marion Stuart, Jean Sutro,
Jessica Worth, Barbara Lee, Wanda Wood; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Thomas Arnold, Russell Bryant,
Milton Brodus, James Beattie, William Burdee, Norman Clifton, William Cullo, Jack Douglas, Louis
Delgado, Frank Gagen, Edward Gaillard, Albert Jordan, Frank Kimball, Frank Losee, Edwin Larkin, Dury
Lane, Henry Ladd, Jerome Maxwell, David North, Bernard Mitchell, Julio Martell, Glenn McComas, Joe
McCafferty, Ned McGurn, William Creston, Walter Pharr, Wilburn Riviere, Thomas Sternfield, Louis
Talbott, Joe Vitale
The action takes place during the present time in Hawaii.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Tell It to the Marines” (Charles King, Franker Woods, Fuller Melish Jr., Busby Berkeley, Marines);
“You Took Advantage of Me” (Joyce Barbour, Busby Berkeley, Ensemble); “Do I Hear You Saying ‘I Love
You’” (aka “Do I Hear You Saying?”) (Flora LeBreton, Charles King); “A Kiss for Cinderella” (Busby Berke-
ley, Fuller Melish Jr., Franker Woods, Charles King); “Is It the Uniform?” (Flora LeBreton, Ensemble); “Do
I Hear You Saying ‘I Love You’” (reprise) (Charles King, Flora LeBreton); “Crazy Elbows” (Demaris Dore,
Ensemble); Finale (aka “Nuts, He Travels with Us Nuts”) (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Down by the Sea” (aka “Whoopie”) (Charles King, Company); “I’m a Fool, Little One” (aka “I’m a
Fool for You”) (Joyce Barbour, Busby Berkeley, Franker Woods, Gaile Beverley); Reprise (song not identified
in program, but probably “I’m a Fool, Little One”) (Joyce Barbour, Busby Berkeley); Finaletto (aka “This
Rescue Is a Terrible Calamity”) (Ensemble); “Blue Ocean Blues” (Charles King, Marines); “Hawaii” (aka
“Coralline”) (Natives); “Kohala, Welcome” (Natives, Marines); Finale
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart saw three of their musicals open during the season. A Connecticut Yan-
kee became the second-longest-running show of their partnership, but She’s My Baby was a disappointment
that lasted only two months. However, they ended the season with the modest success Present Arms, and the
score included “You Took Advantage of Me,” one of their biggest hits, which was introduced by Joyce Barbour
and Busby Berkeley, who also choreographed the show.
Present Arms was compared to Vincent Youmans’s Hit the Deck!, which centered on sailors and featured
Charles King in one of the leading roles. For the current show, Marines took the stage, and King was back, this
time as Brooklyn boy Private Chick Evans, who pretends to be a Marine captain (and a Yale man) in order to
impress the titled Lady Delphine Witherspoon (Flora LeBreton), who is visiting Hawaii where Chick and his
Marine buddies are stationed at Pearl Harbor.
Delphine is impressed with Chick, and all is smooth sailing until she discovers the truth. She’s later
involved in a yacht-wreck and a raft takes her to a deserted island where she’s rescued by Chick, thus lead-
ing the way for the pair to reunite. (Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that on her yacht
Delphine is in a “rage” with Chick, on the raft she’s still “angry,” and on the deserted island she’s “mad,”
but “eventually—you know how it is.”)
Other major characters were Marine private Douglas (here played by choreographer Berkeley, who had
also created the dances for A Connecticut Yankee) and tourist and much-married Edna Stevens (Barbour), and
of course it was these two who liked being taken advantage of.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times decided if Hit the Deck! and Good News had been crossed,
Present Arms would have been the result. The “rough, loud, compact and feverish” show offered a “fresh,”
“beautiful,” and “excellent” score (including “Blue Ocean Blues,” “A Kiss for Cinderella,” “Tell It to the Ma-
rines,” a “jazzy arm-and-socket” number called “Crazy Elbows,” the “engaging” ballad “Do I Hear You Say-
ing?,” and the “interesting” song “You Took Advantage of Me”). Further, there was a “spectacular” sequence
when the yacht was wrecked “before the terror-stricken eyes of the audience,” and this was followed by a
scene depicting the survivors alone on a raft “in the midst of a choppy sea” which rushes them “pell-mell” to
a deserted island. Atkinson was also happy to note that in this and other recent musical comedies, the chorus
boys had “been returning to manhood with loud whacks.”
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press noted “the explosive and mechanical proficiency of the
chorus in its dancing—dancing, by the way, that is positively military in its technique, and in which the
traditional effeminacy of the chorus boy is routed as a theory.” He also praised Hart’s “neat and service-
able” lyrics, and noted that once you heard “You Took Advantage of Me” and then failed “to wake up
in the night whistling it, yours must be a case for a psychologist.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker
found the score “corking,” and Hart’s words for “A Kiss for Cinderella” was “his most amusing lyric so
far, which is saying a lot.” The show also offered “some startling scenic effects” and the dances had “verve
and imagination.”
N.F. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society liked the “very funny clowning,” singled out
the songs “Do I Hear You Saying?” and “You Took Advantage of Me,” and said the show was “one of the
best” of the “rollicking musical comedies of the fast and furious type.” N.F. noted that Gaile Beverley (as
“man-hunting Southern girl” Hortense Mossback) provided “low comedy,” and said he wasn’t sure if “‘she’
is a man or a woman, but in either case, what a physique!”
1927–1928 Season 455
Variety reported that choreographer Berkeley took the part of Douglas “at the last minute.” As for the
score, “You Took Advantage of Me” and “Do I Hear You Saying?” impressed as “noteworthy assets,” “Crazy
Elbows” was the show’s “hot item,” and lyrically “Tell It to the Marines,” “A Kiss for Cinderella,” and
“Down by the Sea” needed “no apologies from anyone.” Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun liked the “good
entertainment,” and Mary Ann Miller in the Indianapolis Star said the “delightful” musical “gallops along
with lively zest and takes you galloping with it because it is intimate enough for you to have a personal in-
terest.” The show offered a “furious” chorus that set the pace by “expertly thumping out the rhythm of the
inviting score,” and “You Took Advantage of Me” was “typical” Rodgers and Hart and thus “quite amusing.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer singled out five songs, “Do I Hear You Saying?,” “Blue
Ocean Blues,” “Tell It to the Marines,” “A Kiss for Cinderella,” and, of course, “You Took Advantage of Me.”
He commented that “the marines come well to the fore in lusty choruses, and do not have to take second
place when faced by any of the Shubert boys, who were the first to seize a generous portion of the plaudits
usually gathered almost exclusively by the pretty girls.”
“Blue Ocean Blues” was a reworked version of “Atlantic Blues” from the 1926 London musical Lido
Lady. The collection The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart notes that the lyrics for “Kohala, Welcome” and
the deleted ballad “What Price Love” are missing. The song “I Love You More Than Yesterday” was dropped
in preproduction and later used in Lady Fingers.
As Leathernecking, the film version (which included Technicolor sequences) was released by RKO Radio
Pictures in 1930; the director was Edward Cline, the musical director Victor Baravalle, the choreographer
Pearl Eaton, and the cast included Eddie Foy Jr. (Chick), Irene Dunne (Delphine), Ken Murray (Frank), Louise
Fazenda (Hortense), Ned Sparks (Ned), Lilyan Tashman (Edna), Benny Rubin (Stein), and Fred Santley (Doug-
las). “You Took Advantage of Me” and “A Kiss for Cinderella” were retained from the original production,
and Harry Akst and Benny Davis wrote three new songs for the film (“Careless Kisses,” “Evening Star,” and
“Nice and So Particular”) and Sidney Clare and Oscar Levant contributed two (“All My Life” and “Shake It
Off and Smile”). The film is presumed lost.
The musical’s hit song “You Took Advantage of Me” has been widely recorded, and was memorably sung
by Judy Garland in A Star Is Born (1954). As “Atlantic Blues,” “Blue Ocean Blues” is included in the collec-
tion The Ultimate Rodgers & Hart Volume I (Pearl/Pavilion Records CD # GEM-0110), and Rodgers and Hart
Revisited Volume III (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-106) includes “I’m a Fool, Little One.”
HERE’S HOWE!
“The New Spring Musical Comedy” / “Musical Comedy Hit”

Performances: 71
Book: Fred Thompson and Paul Gerard Smith
Music: Roger Wolfe Kahn and Joseph Meyer
Direction: Uncredited; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery:
John Wenger; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Paul J. Lannin
Cast: Peggy Chamberlain (Cora Bibby), Ross Himes (Mr. Petrie), Arthur Hartley (Edwin Treadwell), Helen
Carrington (Toni Treadwell), Eric Blore (Basil Carraway), Irene Delroy (Joyce Baxter), Allen Kearns (Billy
Howe), Ben Bernie (Dan Dabney), William Frawley (“Sweeny” Toplis), June O’Dea (Mary), “Fuzzy”
Knight (Pelham), Colette D’Arville (Claudette Pernier), Dillon Ober (Wilbur); Ladies of the Ensemble:
Florence Allan, Nitza Andre, Billie Blake, Marion Bonnell, Gene Brady, Betty Clark, Elsie Connor, Evelyn
Ellsmore, Peggy Hart, Edith Hayward, Madeline Janis, Evelyn Kirmin, Polly Luce, Nesha Medwin, Elsie
Neal, Adeline Ogilvie, Gladys Pender, Sylvia Shawn, Helen Sheldon, Kay Smythe, Cora Stephens, Lee
Stockton, Beryl Wallace, Florence Ward, Ingrid Aakesson; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Douglas Carter,
Ralph Chaterdon, Alan Crane, Alan Hale, Ray Hall, Jack Miller, Charles McClelland, Kendall Northrop,
Charles Scott, Al Siegel, Jack Stevens, Jacques Stone, Howard Stuart
The action takes place during the present time in and around Boston and in Havana.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Dismissal Whistle” (Peggy Chamberlain, Employees); “Beauty in the Movies” (Arthur Hartley,
June O’Dea, Girls); “Life as a Twosome” (Irene Delroy, Allen Kearns, Ensemble); “Crazy Rhythm” (Ben
Bernie, Peggy Chamberlain, June O’Dea, Ensemble); “Imagination” (Irene Delroy, Allen Kearns); Specialty
(Ben Bernie and His Orchestra); Dance (Peggy Chamberlain, Ross Himes); Specialty (Irene Delroy); Finale
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “I’d Rather Dance Here Than Hereafter” (Peggy Chamberlain, Ross Himes,
Ensemble); “Here’s Howe” (Allen Kearns, Girls); “A New Love” (Irene Delroy, Girls); Finaletto; Specialty
(“Fuzzy” Knight); “Boston Post Road” (Allen Kearns, Helpers); Finale (Company)
Here’s Howe! was the season’s final book musical and played for just nine weeks. But it yielded one of
those slam bang showstoppers that practically defines the sound of old-fashioned Broadway razzmatazz. The
song was “Crazy Rhythm,” and it was an infectious and irresistible musical statement that jazz rhythms will
drive every “high-hat” crazy with “low-down” melody.
The story centered on stenographer Joyce Baxter (Irene Delroy) and shipping clerk Billy Howe (Allan
Kearns), both of whom work for Edwin Treadwell (Arthur Hartley), the owner of Treadwell Motors Com-
pany. Their dream is to one day marry and run a side-by-side tea room and filling station on the Boston
Post Road, and Treadwell’s dream is to marry Joyce. He invites her to accompany him and his sister Toni
(Helen Carrington) on a two-year around-the-world tour, and because Billy doesn’t want to hurt her chances
he reluctantly steps out of the picture. He becomes a successful gambler known as “Lucky,” and ultimately
he and Treadwell gamble their respective fortunes on a game of cards. The winner will not only inherit the
other’s money but will also win Joyce’s hand in marriage. Billy loses, but eventually manages to buy his
own filling station. And then Joyce returns. It turns out she never had any intention of marrying Treadwell,
and so now the twosome can head for the altar and run their joint tea room and filling station.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the show had “literary shortcomings” but was otherwise
a lavish presentation in which Sammy Lee’s choreography excelled, John Wenger’s décor offered a “sweeping”
use of color, and Kiviette’s costumes were “fresh and original.” Further, Ben Bernie and His Orchestra were
“engaging and clever,” Eric Blore played a “silly ass” Englishman, Kearns was “delightfully unassuming,”
and Delroy “altogether charming.” But as gang-boss “Sweeny” Toplis, William Frawley was “still awaiting
his perfect part” (of course, that “perfect part” would come twenty-three years later when the actor portrayed
the gruff Fred Mertz on television’s I Love Lucy). Atkinson reported that Frawley’s gang was so tough that
when a member strangles an enemy, he’s “run out of town for becoming effeminate.” As for the score, it was
“somewhat lacking in originality” but provided “good” dance tunes and offered “one good song number” in
“Imagination,” which played “effective tricks on its orchestration.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker noted that the evening was “a standard, second-rate article, slightly
show-shopworn,” but Blore and Frawley brought “some explosive notes” to the proceedings and “Crazy
Rhythm” was “the best tune in the score”; Time decided the songs were “faintly derivative” but nonetheless
“gay and engaging,” and Bernie contributed to “an evening of excellent diversion”; and H.H. in Brooklyn Life
and Activities of Long Island Society liked the “tuneful and sprightly” if “reminiscent” music.
Despite its “thin” book, Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle enjoyed the “smooth and silken”
evening with its pleasing tunes, and Peggy Chamberlain’s apache dance was “one of the most successful
of these rough-and-tumble burlesques.” Burns Mantle in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle liked the
“rather good music,” and singled out “Imagination.” He noted that the show was “one of those modern fool-
eries,” and he provided a few samples of humor, including the one about a debutante who came out in 1924
and hasn’t come home since. Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press praised the “ingratiating” songs and
“tasteful” production, and mentioned that Blore, “lately released” from Just Fancy!, entertained with his
“awfully British antics.” Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star said “Imagination” was “especially catchy,”
and he liked the “tasteful” sets; and both Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun and Frederick F. Schrader in the
Cincinnati Enquirer singled out “Imagination,” “Life as a Twosome,” and “Crazy Rhythm.”
Variety said the musical was no “world-beater” but was “satisfying enough” despite its “tepid” book.
“Imagination” and “Crazy Rhythm” would “do much to ballyhoo Here’s Howe! on the dance floors and the
radio,” and the show “should enjoy some nice takings for a moderate run.” The production was “not strictly
a $5 attraction” but “would be deemed a bargain entertainment at $3.30 and all right at $4.40.”
1927–1928 Season 457
During at least part of its tryout, the musical was titled And Howe! During the Broadway run, Eric Blore
was succeeded by Walter Catlett. The show was composed by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn, the latter
the son of the banking magnate. The young composer gained fame as a nightclub owner and band leader, and
a few months before the opening of Here’s Howe! had appeared on the cover of Time. There was speculation
concerning which songs in the show had been composed by Kahn and which by Meyer, but officially the two
shared equal credit for the music and the published sheet music listed them both as joint composers. Vari-
ety reported rumors that “the real outstanding numbers” were “chiefly” by Kahn, but the trade paper noted
that Meyer was an “important youngster from the new school talent” and had “no small experience and
background” in Broadway theatre (including Just Fancy!, which had opened earlier in the season). Although
“Crazy Rhythm” became one of the best-known show songs of the era, a look at eight reviews reveals that
only four critics singled it out (seven mentioned “Imagination” and two “Life as a Twosome”). Later in the
year, “Life as a Twosome” was interpolated into the revue Americana.
1928–1929 Season
SAY WHEN
“An Intimate Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Morosco Theatre

Performances: 15
Book: Calvin Brown (pseudonym for Marc Connelly)
Lyrics: Frank E. Harling (aka W. Franke Harling), Paul James (aka James Paul Warburg), Max Lief, Nat (aka
Nathaniel) Lief, and James J. Walker
Music: Daisy deSegonzac, Jesse Greer, Frank E. Harling (aka W. Franke Harling), Raymond Klages, Ray Per-
kins, and Kay Warburg (aka Kay Swift)
Based on the 1926 play Love in a Mist by Amelie Rives and Gilbert Emery.
Direction: Bertram Harrison; Producers: Elisabeth Marbury and Carl Reed; Choreography: Max Scheck; Scen-
ery: Livingston Platt; Costumes: Lord & Taylor; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting
Cast: Raymond Guion (Michael Graham), Cora La Redd (Cora), Doris Vinton (Toody Hubbard), Jane Alden
(Sydney Farnham), Dorothy Fitzgibbons (Diana Wynne), Bartlett Simmons (Gregory Farnham), Alison
Skipworth (Comtessa Scaracchi), Duquesne Miller (Colin), Joseph Lertora (Count Scippio Varelli), Roger
Gray (Joe Turner), J. Gibbs Penrose (Assistant Radio Announcer); The Four Recorders: Donald Wells, Rob-
ert Moody, Alan Ray, and William J. Cleary; Henry Busse and His Orchestra; Mildred Quigley (Miss Jeffer-
son), Sally Anderson (Miss Lee), Ann Freshman (Miss Jackson), Patricia McGrath (Miss Thomas), Kathryn
Hamill (Miss Gordon), Ruth Fallows (Miss Brady), Peggy Fish (Miss Davis), Ruth Altman (Miss Randall),
Joyce Arling (Miss Carter), Josephine Adair (Miss Stuart), Dorothy Jones (Miss Stean), Helen Kaiser (Miss
Scott), Genevieve Kent (Miss Udall), Katherine Hereford (Miss Hewitt), Mabel Martin (Miss Custis), Anna
Rex (Miss Monroe), Beverly Maude (Miss Warrington), Archie Thompson (Mr. Grant), Warren Crosby (Mr.
Meade), Harold Williams (Mr. McClellan), Bradley Cass (Mr. Lincoln), Harry Kirk (Mr. Chase)
The action takes place during the present time in Wynnefield, Virginia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (lyric by Max and Nat, aka Nathaniel, Lief, music by Daisy deSegonzac) (Ensemble);
“Who’s the Boy?” (lyric by Max and Nat Lief, music by Ray Perkins) (Doris Vinton, Raymond Guion,
Girls and Boys); “Little White Lies” (lyric by Paul James, aka James Paul Warburg, music by Kay Warburg,
aka Kay Swift; at least one source credits the lyric to Helen Wallace and the music to Arthur Sheekman)
(Doris Vinton, Jane Alden, Dorothy Fitzgibbons, Girls; Specialty Dancer: Katherine Hereford); “My One
Girl” (lyric and music by Frank E. Harling, aka W. Franke Harling) (Bartlett Simmons, Dorothy Fitzgib-
bons); “How About It?” (lyric by Raymond Klages, music by Jesse Greer) (Doris Vinton, Raymond Guion,
459
Ensemble); “No Room in My Heart for You” (lyric by Max and Nat Lief, music by Ray Perkins) (Dorothy
Fitzgibbons, Boys); “Cheerio” (lyric by New York City Mayor James J. Walker, music by Jesse Greer)
(Joseph Lertora, Girls); “One Step to Heaven” (lyric by Raymond Klages, music by Jesse Greer) (Cora La
Redd, Henry Busse, Ensemble) and Specialty Dance (Cora La Redd, Duquesne Miller); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “In My Love Boat” (lyric by Nat and Max Lief, music by Ray Perkins; during tryout, music was cred-
ited to Daisy deSegonzac) (Josephine Adair, Ruth Altman, Girls); “Say When” (lyric by Raymond Klages,
music by Jesse Greer) (Doris Vinton, Ensemble); “Give Me a Night” (lyric and music by Frank E. Harling)
(Jane Alden, Joseph Lertora, The Four Recorders) and Specialty Dance (Jane Alden, Joseph Lertora); Finale
(Company)
The new season stumbled with its first book musical Say When, a summer show that disappeared after
two weeks. A few days after its closing, the New York Times reported it “might reopen after the hot spell,”
but that was wishful thinking on the part of the producers and Say When was never seen again. (The produc-
tion isn’t to be confused with the short-running 1934 musical of the same name about two vaudevillians
played by Bob Hope and Harry Richman who fall for two wealthy sisters from Southampton.)
The slight story centered on Southern belle Diana Wynne (Dorothy Fitzgibbons), a girl who can’t say no.
She’s engaged to Gregory Farnham (Bartlett Simmons), but has the habit of agreeing to marry every man she
feels sorry for. Because she mistakenly believes that the Italian Count Scippio Varelli (Joseph Lertora) is ter-
minally ill, she writes him and agrees to marriage. When the very healthy Count arrives unexpectedly at the
Wynne homestead in Wynnefield, Virginia, both he and Gregory become annoyed with Diana, but all ends
well when the former finds himself falling for Gregory’s cousin Sydney Farnham (Jane Alden).
Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press noted that in response to the show’s title, “Mr. Cain’s store-
house, the home of all the little plays that try and fail, is probably replying: ‘Any Day Now,’” and Dixie Hines
in the Wilmington Morning News referred to the show’s “somewhat tempestuous” tryout and said “if every-
body who was engaged and dismissed by this company could be assembled” their numbers would match the
crowds at the recent Democratic convention in Houston. Variety said there had been “rumbles of librettist
dissatisfaction with managerial interference,” and so book writer Marc Connelly used Calvin Brown as a nom
de plume because he “felt rather ashamed of the book.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said Connelly
“quarreled with somebody and withdrew the old family name from the program” and substituted the name
of Calvin Brown.
The Times decided that the “lax standards” for summer shows were in play for Say When, and mentioned
that the evening was a “fair specimen” of its kind “and not without moments when it is even a little better
than that.”
Unquestionably, the musical’s highlight was black nightclub singer and dancer Cora La Redd and her
number “One Step to Heaven.” The Times described her as a “sepia-tinted Zelma O’Neal who combined
limber-legged dancing with wah-wah singing” and “was held in high esteem” by the opening-night audience,
as was former Paul Whiteman trumpeter Henry Busse (who appeared in the show with his own orchestra),
both of whom were “warmly received.” Otherwise, the numbers were “banal” and the direction “routine”
and “uninspired.”
Lois Long in the New Yorker said La Redd was “a cute, colored minx” who “could cause Josephine Baker
acute pain,” and after she sang “One Step to Heaven” she went into a “clowning dance” where she was as-
sisted by Busse and his trumpet; and Hines said some of the score was of “a highly delectable quality,” the
dancing girls were “clever and attractive,” the costumes were “fresh,” and Busse offered “sparkling humor.”
Edward Cushing in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the production possessed all the “necessary swank,”
but “its voltage as entertainment proved considerably lower than we had been led to expect.” But La Redd
“nearly walked off with the show” with her “peppery” spiritual “One Step to Heaven,” and tap dancer
Duquesne Miller “caused a mild commotion.”
Mantle noted that La Redd “tap-danced, shuffled, twisted her hips, threatened to throw out a joint or
two, rolled her eyes, bared her teeth and otherwise gave such animalistic evidence of rhythmic joy that the
audience was momentarily electrified.” Dimond said La Redd’s “torrid tapping stopped the show for whole
minutes.” And Variety hailed La Redd as the evening’s “real wow”; she “gave ’em a load of the low-down
that panicked the premiere-hounds.”
Leonard Hall in the New York Telegram said the show’s book “staggered and reeled helplessly toward ten
o’clock,” and then “suddenly” La Redd “launched” into a dance as she was “urged on” by Busse’s “howling”
1928–1929 Season 461
cornet, they were followed by Miller (who “hurled himself into space”), La Redd “came back for more,” and
“the house went stark raving mad.”
During the tryout, Ruth Thomas and Guido Nadzo were respectively succeeded by Dorothy Fitzgibbons
and Joseph Lertora, and at least two songs were cut prior to New York, “When the Lights Turn Green” (lyric
by Paul James, aka James Paul Warburg, and music by Kay Warburg, aka Kay Swift) and “Paris” (lyric and
music by Irma Hopper). Note that as Paul James and Kay Swift, the Warburgs wrote the delightful score for
the 1930 hit Fine and Dandy; and that the lyric of “Cheerio” was by then mayor of New York City James J.
Walker.
GOOD BOY
Opening Date: September 5, 1928; Closing Date: April 13, 1929
Performances: 253
Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Henry Myers
Lyrics: Bert Kalmar
Music: Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby
Direction: Reginald Hammerstein (Leighton K. Brill, Technical Director); Producer: Arthur Hammerstein;
Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: John Wenger (mechanical and treadmill effects by Peter Clark,
Inc., and Edward Dolan); Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert
Stothart
Cast: Sam Hearn (Pa Meakin), Effie Shannon (Ma Meakin), Evelyn Bennett (Elvira, aka Elviry, Hobbs), Charles
Butterworth (Cicero Meakin), Eddie Buzzell (Walter, aka Wally, Meakin), Helen Kane (Pansy McManus),
Lester Bernard (A. A. Stone), Ariel Millars (“New York”), Milton Douglass (“Manhattan”), Barbara New-
berry (Betty Summers), Dan Healy (Bobby Darnell), Borrah Minevitch (Jimmie), Dick Neely (Policeman),
Stan Rock (Brakeman), Joseph Ames (Ticket Speculator, Justice of the Peace), Maurice Tepper (Pawn Bro-
ker), Neil Stone (Movie Theatre Doorman), Elsie Percival (Old Lady), Gus Quinlan (A Grafter), Virginia
Chase (Miss Badger), Jack O’Hare (Hotel Clerk), Tom Martin (Bellboy), Arthur Sullivan (Bellboy), Gordon
Merrit (Elevator Boy), Austin Clark (Trevor), Bob Abbott (License Clerk), Muriel Greel (Landlady), Neil
Stone (Theatre Doorman), Phil Daly (Theatregoer), William Meek (Theatre Treasurer), Louise Blakeley
(Girl), Howard Raymond (Street Cleaner), Henry Corsell (Gob), Jean Unger (A Frail), Will With (Dago);
Members of the Chorus: Louise Allen, Alice Akers, Mary Bay, Lillian Burke, Margaret Callan, Irene Car-
roll, Virginia Case, Georgette Caryl, Billie Cortez, Sylvia Collinson, Betty Croke, Ruth Cunliffe, Peggy
Driscoll, Alice Raisen, Helen McGlyn, Boo Phelps, Bunny Schumm, Betty Wright, Flo Whyte, Kay Wolf,
Dorothy Ward, Austin Clark, Arthur Craig, Edwin Gaillard, Jack Irwin, Ned Lynn, Gordon Merrick,
Tom Martin, Gus Quinlan, Madeleine Eubanks, Jeanne Fayal, Rosemary Farmer, Loretta Flushing, Beryl
Golden, Bobby Gorman, Muriel Griswold, Buddie Haynes, Dorothy Jocelyn, Aida Conkey, Olive Kenyon,
Grace LaRue, Mildred Lorain, Ruth Mason, Lucille Mercier, Delores Nito, Mabel Olsen
The action takes place during the present time in Butlersville, Arkansas, and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Down in Arkansas” (Sam Hearn, Girls); “What Makes You So Wonderful?” (Evelyn Ben-
nett, Charles Butterworth); “Good Boy” (Effie Shannon, Eddie Buzzell); Finaletto (Ensemble); “The Voice
of the City” (Ariel Millars, Milton Douglass, Gyps That Pass in the Night); “Manhattan Walk” (Dan
Healy, Barbara Newberry); “Some Sweet Someone” (Eddie Buzzell, Barbara Newberry); “I Have My Mo-
ments” (Sam Hearn, Evelyn Bennett, Charles Butterworth); “I Wanna Be Loved by You” (Helen Kane, Dan
Healy); “Some Sweet Someone” (reprise) (Eddie Buzzell, Barbara Newberry); “The Three Bears” (Helen
Kane, Borrah Minnevitch); “Oh, What a Man” (Dan Healy); Finale (Eddie Buzzell, Barbara Newberry)
Act Two: “The Voice of the City” (reprise) (Milton Douglass); “Good Boy Wedding March” (Ensemble);
“Nina” (Barbara Newberry, Girls); Specialty: “Jimmie and His Gang” (Borrah Minnevitch and His Gang);
“I Wanna Be Loved by You” (reprise) (Helen Kane and Dan Healy, Sam Hearn and Effie Shannon, Charles
Butterworth and Evelyn Bennett); “Fantasia” (Eddie Buzzell, Barbara Newberry, Ensemble)
The season’s first hit musical was Good Boy, which was a rare success for the luckless Hammerstein’s
Theatre. Today the show is best remembered for having introduced one of the most iconic songs of the 1920s,
“I Wanna Be Loved by You,” which was boop-boop-a-dooped into immortality by Helen Kane. But the produc-
tion is notable for its innovative use of new stage technology which streamlined the action and the movement
of décor via the use of twin treadmills.
The male Cinderella story begins in the backwater town of Butlersville, Arkansas, and from there the
bumpkin farmboy hero Wally Meakin (Eddie Buzzell) sets off for Manhattan. Before he leaves, his mother
implores him to be a “good boy” in the big city, and for a parting gift gives him a little doll as a good-luck
charm. Wally meets showgirl Betty Summers (Barbara Newberry), and they fall in love, get married, even-
tually argue and separate, and finally get back together before the final curtain. Meanwhile, Wally markets
a doll like the one his mother gave him, and when it becomes popular he finds himself rich (the critic for
Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society noted that replicas of the doll sold for ten dollars apiece
in the theatre’s lobby).
The New York Times said the book wasn’t one of the evening’s innovations, and while the tunes were
“snappy,” they weren’t “the most important part of the proceedings.” Instead, it was designer John Wenger’s
“scenic novelty” that distinguished the musical, an “invention so simple that the most startling thing about
it is that it has not been done before.” Wenger set two treadmills on the stage going in opposite directions,
and both of them carried cut-out scenery on and off stage and also moved the performers to and fro, and as
a result there were no stage waits and the action and décor moved along in one continuous flow. Further,
Wenger utilized film, cartoons, and “off-stage din” to simulate the look and the pulse of Manhattan. (Variety
reported that the treadmills cost approximately $22,000.)
Critics were particularly impressed with a spectacular effect at the end of the first act. Charles Brackett in
the New Yorker reported that Buzzell and Newberry are seen in the interior of their hotel room, and then they
“ascend some steps to a window, pass through it, and suddenly the picture slaps about and you see them enter
a balcony with the whole gorgeous city spread before them.” Brackett also noted that the twin treadmills al-
lowed “some extraordinarily effective dance routines” (which were choreographed by Busby Berkeley). Burns
Mantle in the Chicago Tribune noted that the silent treadmills were embedded and thus hidden in the stage
floor (at least from the perspective of those seated in the orchestra section; those in the balcony could see the
treadmills), and thus when the treadmills moved the audience (in the orchestra) was “as surprised and tickled
as 8 year old children at a magic show.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical’s story wasn’t “particularly original” or “wildly entertain-
ing,” but the mechanical effects were “unusual and astonishing,” and overall the show was “mighty good
entertainment” and “well worth” seeing. William O. Trapp in the New York Evening World noted that “I
Wanna Be Loved by You” was the show’s most popular number, but “The Voice of the City” was “probably
technically better.”
The critics were taken with featured player Charles Butterworth, whom Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore
Sun described “as glum-faced as Buster Keaton.” The actor played a dry and doleful seen-it-all farm boy who
periodically throws his hands to his head and moans, “Oh, the pity of it.” Borrah Minnevitch and his gang of
harmonica players (later known as his rascals) were also on hand, and the Times said “the first nighters were
loath to allow them to vacate the stage” (Brackett said the gang was “pleasing until the third encore,” and
then they became “pestilential”).
And what about those immortal scat sounds poutingly purred by Miss Kane during “I Wanna Be Loved by
You”? As handed down from Homer, she warbled “boop-boop-a-doop.” And he should know. But a few critics
heard it differently: “but-dut-de-dut” and “Vo-do-de-o” (Time); “do-de-do-do” (Mantle); “bub-bubbety-bub-
bub” (Brooklyn Life); “bub-bubbety-bub-bub-bub” (the Times); and “vo-do-deo-bub-bubbety-bub” (Seymour).
During the tryout, the following songs (with lyrics by Otto Harbach and music by Arthur Schwartz) were
dropped: “Papa Get Hot,” “When I Hit Broadway,” “Something to Call Our Own,” “Disappointed Suitors,”
“This Little Doll,” “Peacock Alley,” “Twinkle Little Stars,” and “You’re the One.” During the Broadway run,
“What Makes You So Wonderful?,” “The Three Bears,” and “Oh, What a Man” were cut (but “What Makes
You So Wonderful?” was later reinstated), and “Don’t Be Like That” (lyric and music by Archie Gottler, Ma-
ceo Pinkard, and Charles Tobias), “Let’s Give a Cheer,” and “Oh, Promise Me” were added.
1928–1929 Season 463
Helen Kane recorded “I Wanna Be Loved by You,” and in the 1950 MGM biographical musical of Bert
Kalmar and Harry Ruby (respectively played by Fred Astaire and Red Skelton), Debbie Reynolds portrayed
Kane (her singing voice for “I Wanna Be Loved by You” was dubbed by Kane herself). The iconic song was also
memorably sung by Marilyn Monroe in Billy Wilder’s classic 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot.
WHITE LILACS
“A Romance with Music”
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to Jolson’s Theatre)
Performances: 136
Book and Lyrics: Original German libretto and lyrics by Sigurd Johannsen; American book and lyrics by Harry
B. Smith
Music: Frederic Chopin; music adapted by Karl Hajos
Direction: George Marion; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Vaughn Godfrey;
Scenery: Rollo Wayne; Costumes: Barbier; Ernest Schrapps (aka Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R.
Schrapps, Ernest Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Pierre de Reeder
(who conducted the Maurice DePackh Symphony Ensemble)
Cast: Charlotte Woodruff (Countess D’Agoult), Frank Horn (Prince Obelenski), Grace Brinkley (Delphine Po-
tocka), Maurice Holland (Gaston de Flavigny), Ernest Lawford (Heinrich Heine), Charles Croker-King (Gi-
acomo Meyerbeer), DeWolf Hopper (Dubusson), Odette Myrtil (Mme. George Sand), Guy Robertson (Fred-
eric Chopin), Allan Rogers (Luselle), Franklin Van Horn (Balzac), Eva Mascagno (Mlle. Taglioni), Melba
Alter (Louison), Vernon Rudolph (Franz Liszt), Louise Beaudet (Catherine), Phyllis Newkirk (Marquise de
Mours), Juanita (Juanita), Paco (Paco); Trio: Charlotte Woodruff, Melba Alter, and Phyllis Newkirk; Ladies
of the Ensemble: Helen Page, Louise Randolph, Vivian Lynn, Dora Zommerowna, Edna Stark, Dorothy
Forsythe, Diana Doering, Helen Bishop, Mae Golding, Eliz Ferguson, Catherine Allen, Madeline Clancy;
Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Phil Reep, Douglas Vincent, John Campbell, Frank Weiner, Wallace Magill,
Steven McNulty, William Hall, Edwin Drake, William Demorest, Frank Horn, Vernon Rudolph
The action takes place during 1840 in Paris and Majorca.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “The Music Call” (Charlotte Woodruff, Guests); “Adorable You” (Grace Brinkley, Maurice
Holland); “Words, Music, Cash” (DeWolf Hopper, Ernest Lawford, Charles Croker-King); “I Love Love”
(Odette Myrtil, Ensemble); “White Lilacs” (Guy Robertson, Grace Brinkley); “Far Away and Long Ago”
(Odette Myrtil, Guy Robertson); Quartette: “Inspiration” (Guy Robertson, Trio); “Star in the Twilight”
(Allan Rogers, Quartette); Ballet (Mlle. Taglioni); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: (a) “Harvest Moon”; (b) “Dance of Majorca”; and (c) Tarantella (Juanita, Paco, Ensemble);
“Melodies within My Heart” (Odette Myrtil, Guy Robertson); “Know When to Smile” (Odette Myrtil,
Girls); “Castle of Love” (Grace Brinkley, Maurice Holland); “I Love You, I Adore You” (Allan Rogers,
Odette Myrtil); Finale
Act Three: “A-Flat Polonaise” (Vernon Rudolph, Ensemble); “White Lilacs” (reprise) (Guy Robertson); “Be
Happy in Your Dreams” (Guy Robertson, Grace Brinkley); “Nocturnes” (Odette Myrtil [who performed
a violin solo]); Finale
The Shuberts hit pay dirt with the composer-biography operetta Blossom Time, a sentimental contriv-
ance supposedly based on Franz Schubert’s unrequited love for one who prefers his best friend. It played for
516 showings, and seemed to tour forever, but the Shuberts’ later attempts at Great Composer Musicals were
disappointments. The Love Song (Jacques Offenbach) lasted 157 performances, and White Lilacs (a title that of
course suggested Blossom Time, if not the name of a perfume) was inspired by incidents in the life of Frederic
Chopin and lasted for 136 showings. But White Lilacs didn’t disappoint on at least one count: like all proper
biographical musicals, the script ensured there were celebrity walk-ons, and so we got to meet Liszt, Balzac,
Heine, and Meyerbeer.
And of course the operetta included the writer Mme. George Sand (Odette Myrtil), with whom Chopin
(Guy Robertson) lived with on and off before they drifted apart. The real Sand affected cigars (not to mention
trousers), and while she wore trousers in the musical the script avoided any mention of cigars and gave her
another trait. Instead of smoking, she occasionally fiddled away on the violin, an idea no doubt inspired by
Myrtil, who was a violinist (Charles Brackett in the New Yorker noted that Myrtil’s “dear” and “bubbling”
George Sand had “two violin seizures” during the evening).
Once Chopin and Sand split, the musical would have it that he reunited with his sweetheart of old (Del-
phine, played by Grace Brinkley), but they didn’t, or couldn’t, marry because of his delicate health (it would
seem the rigors of the marriage bed might prove fatal to his heart). Chopin died in 1849, but the musical
changed the year to 1840, and although history seems to agree that the composer and Sand had no communi-
cation during the last two years of his life, the musical brought her on for a deathbed reconciliation (Frederick
F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that she reappeared “after an estrangement,” and so “the
audience is comforted with the fact that their friendship is to endure to the finish”).
The New York Times generally approved of the operetta, and while comedy and dancing weren’t “its
chief selling points,” the music was the thing. The plot, of course, “took liberties” with Chopin and Sand’s
romance and was “somewhat at variance with history,” but once you accepted “that the whole thing is a
little out of focus,” the evening provided “pleasant going.” Brackett cringed at some of the dialogue because
the “Harry B. Smith banter” was “at its most Harry B. Smith,” and a few of the performers spoke their lines
“with what I diagnosed, sympathetically, as weary distaste.” But he was amused to find that the real-life and
often grim George Sand was here “depicted as a playful chit who advises the peasant girls at Majorca to Know
When to Smile, and who’s ready to throw down her pen at any moment for a good romp.”
G.C. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that “there is nothing new to be discovered in a pineapple frappe
or a chocolate éclair, but both, upon occasion, can be both satisfying and refreshing,” and White Lilacs had
“just those qualities.” It began slowly, but moved along “sweetly, sometimes tenderly, and never dully” and
thus surpassed Blossom Time “in that it is honest entertainment.” Dixie Hines in the Wilmington Morning
News said the musical had “real charm” and the Shuberts had “spared no expense and exercised the best of
taste in casting and settings,” the latter both “beautiful and appropriate.”
Schrader said the “good-looking” Robertson was “well equipped to sing” the character of Chopin, but
it was Myrtil who came “very near being the star of the operetta” with her “combination of acting, violin
playing and singing.” Variety said the two performers were “impressively effective throughout,” and Ralph
Wilk in the Minneapolis Star said Robertson displayed “dramatic ability” along with a “good voice” in his
interpretation of the composer, and Myrtil had “spirit and life.”
Chopin had another venture in musical theatre when in 1945 his music was used for the short-running
failure Polonaise (Chopin wasn’t a character in the production, which was about Polish patriot Kosciusko). In
the same year, Chopin made it to the big screen where he was played by Cornel Wilde in the successful film
biography A Song to Remember (Merle Oberon was George Sand).
Chopin’s greatest musical comedy moment occurred when his Waltz in A Minor and Fantasia Impromptu
was adapted by Henry Carroll into the hit song “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” for the 1918 musical Oh,
Look! (the lyric was by Joseph McCarthy). (The same music was adapted by Bronislaw Kaper, with a lyric by
John Latouche, for Polonaise where it was heard as “I Wonder as I Wander.”)
Myrtil was later in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s hit 1931 musical The Cat and the Fiddle and
the long-running 1945 revival of The Red Mill, and her career spanned into the cast album era. Her penul-
timate musical Maggie (1953) wasn’t recorded, but her final show was, and so for Harold Arlen and Johnny
Mercer’s lavish (if short-running) Saratoga (1959) she introduced the sly and sprightly “Gettin’ a Man” and
the delicate ballad “Love Held Lightly.”
LUCKEE GIRL
Theatre: Casino Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Harris Theatre)
Performances: 81
1928–1929 Season 465
Book: French libretto by Andre Bard; American book adaptation by Gertrude Purcell
Lyrics: French lyrics by Maurice Yvain; English lyrics by Max Lief and Nathaniel (aka Nat) Lief
Music: Maurice Yvain and Maurie (aka Maurice) Reubens
Based on the 1925 French operetta Un bon garçon (libretto by Andre Bard and lyrics and music by Maurice
Yvain).
Direction: Lew Morton; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Harry Puck (choreog-
raphy for the Kelley Dancers by Marie Kelley); Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Ernest Schrapps (aka
Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, Ernest Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Lighting: Un-
credited; Musical Direction: Earl Busby
Cast: Irene Dunne (Arlette), Flo Perry (Colette), Clifford Smith (Man, Jean), Irving Fisher (Lucien DeGravere),
Lou Powers (Tampon), Gertrude McGushion (Lulu), Dorothy McGushion (Lili), Dorothy Barber (Celina),
Frank Lalor (Pontaves), Billy House (Hercules), Doris Vinton (Camille Falloux), Josephine Drake (Mme.
Falloux), Harry Puck (Paul Pechard), Lorraine Weimer (Mme. Pontaves), Harold Vizard (DeGravere); The
Four Diplomats: Andy Hamilton, Lenny Nelson, Johnny Ferrara, and Hal Saliers; Specialty Performers:
Ayres, Malinoff, and Rasche; The Kelley Dancers: Dorothy Kirtley, Lucille Leverich, Georgia O’Brien,
Thelma Dye, Evelyn Carpenter, Elizabeth Whitehead, Albertina Rexroth, Carmen Morales, Helen Black-
barth, Frances Stevens, Mildred Lyons, Virginia Cartlich; Show Girls: Neva Lynn, Elena Meade, Viola
Paulson, Jinny Evans, Roberta Parnell, Betty Montgomery, Julia Barker, Kay Simmons, Malease Bisland;
Boys: Harry Phelps, Dan Berrigan, Ted Clarke, Larry Rockwell, Edward Brown, Billy Skinner, Don Cortez,
Charles Baker
The action takes place during the present time in Paris and in a house in the French provinces.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Flat in Montmartre” (Irene Dunne, Irving Fisher); “If You’d Be Happy, Don’t Fall in Love” (Lou
Powers, Flo Perry, The Four Diplomats, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls); “When I’m in Paree” (Frank
Lalor, Gertrude McGushion, Dorothy McGushion, The Four Diplomats, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and
Girls); “I Love You So” (Irene Dunne, Irving Fisher); “Hold Your Man” (Dorothy Barber, Gertrude Mc-
Gushion, Dorothy McGushion, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls); “A Good Old Egg” (Billy House,
The Four Diplomats, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls); “A Flat in Montmartre” (reprise) (Irene Dunne,
Irving Fisher); “I Love You So” (reprise) (Irene Dunne); Finale: “I’ll Take You to the Country” (Billy House,
Gertrude McGushion, Dorothy McGushion, Lou Powers, Irene Dunne, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and
Girls)
Act Two: Opening: “Facts of Life” (Doris Vinton, The Kelley Dancers, Girls); “Wild about Music” (Harry
Puck, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls); “Chiffon” (Irene Dunne, Doris Vinton); “I Hate You” (Irene
Dunne, Irving Fisher); “Come On, Let’s Make Whoopee” (Billy House, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and
Girls); “Magic Melody” (Irene Dunne, Harry Puck, The Four Diplomats, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and
Girls); Finale (Lou Powers, Irving Fisher, Billy House, Irene Dunne, Doris Vinton, Josephine Drake, Harry
Puck, Lorraine Weimer, Frank Lalor, Dorothy Barber, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls)
Act Three: Opening: Ballet (The Kelley Dancers); Specialty (Adagio Dancers: Ayres, Malinoff, and Rasche);
“Friends and Lovers” (Harry Puck, Irene Dunne, The Four Diplomats, The Kelley Dancers, Boys and Girls);
“A Bad Girl” (Doris Vinton); “Come On, Let’s Make Whoopee” (reprise) (Billy House); Finale (Company)
The Shuberts’ Luckee Girl was based on the French operetta Un bon Garçon, which had opened in Paris
in 1925 with a libretto by Andre Bard and lyrics and music by Maurice Yvain, the latter best known in the
United States for his classic torch song “My Man.” There was nothing in his score that matched the popular-
ity of the earlier song, and because Broadway was generally uninterested in the plot’s romantic shenanigans
the show lasted just ten weeks. (Note that the production supplemented Yvain’s score with interpolations by
Maurie, aka Maurice, Reubens.)
The musical’s leading lady was Irene Dunne, who here appeared in yet another musical that went no-
where, and in many respects her Broadway career mirrored that of Jeanette MacDonald’s, who also appeared in
a number of indifferent shows during the era (the exception was George and Ira Gershwin’s Tip-Toes). Dunne
created roles in four book musicals (The Clinging Vine, Yours Truly, She’s My Baby, and Luckee Girl) and
MacDonald in five (The Night Boat, The Magic Ring, Tip-Toes, Yes, Yes, Yvette, and Angela). Both perform-
ers also appeared in musicals that closed on the road, Dunne in The Dutch Girl (1925) and MacDonald in
Bubbling Over (1926) (see appendix G, “Pre-Broadway Closings”).
Broadway may not have made them stars, but their steady appearances helped pave the way for their film
careers (Dunne’s final stage role was in a national tour of Show Boat, and from there Hollywood did indeed
call, and she eventually went on to play the role of Magnolia in Universal’s memorable 1936 film version of
the Jerome Kern musical). Dunne could do it all, and she may well be the most underrated actress in Holly-
wood history. She excelled in musicals, dramas, and screwball comedies, including the screwiest of them all,
the sparkling The Awful Truth (1937).
MacDonald had essentially two film careers, sophisticated film musicals directed by the likes of Ernst Lu-
bitsch and Rouben Mamoulian (including Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s 1932 classic Love Me Tonight, a
modern-day Sleeping Beauty story for adults which is arguably the greatest of all film musicals), and then her
MGM years when she starred opposite Nelson Eddy in a series of popular sentimental operettas (the excep-
tion was 1942’s underrated and often surreal I Married an Angel, a modern-day musical comedy fantasy that
bombed at the box office and brought their eight screen collaborations to a halt).
As for the title Luckee Girl, one critic mentioned it didn’t seem to have much to do with the plot. But
a program note said “Luckee Girl” is “the new wonder garment as created by Mollie Mayer’s, Inc.” and is
“worn by all the women principals and girls of the ensemble.” (Was the garment created just for the musical,
or was it an early example of product placement?)
The story focused on Parisian shop girl Arlette (Dunne) and young law student Lucien (Irving Fisher),
whose romance is jeopardized when his father (Harold Vizard) threatens to disown him unless he marries
hometown girl Camille (Doris Vinton), a match much approved by her widowed mother Mme. Falloux (Jo-
sephine Drake). But Camille is more interested in bashful Paul Pechard (Harry Puck), who does all he can
to avoid her. When Arlette follows Lucien to his hometown, she’s accompanied by rotund waiter Hercules
(Billy House) who once had an understanding with Mme. Falloux in the long ago. Meanwhile, Lucien becomes
jealous when he mistakenly believes Arlette and Paul have fallen in love. Being a musical, all ends well with
three happy couples, Arlette and Lucien, Camille and Paul, and . . . Mme. Falloux and Hercules.
Robert Littell in the Minneapolis Star Tribune said the show’s book and humor were “so fatuous, so
coarse, so sordid, so raucous, so elephantine, and so fly-specked that I felt thoroughly ashamed of belonging
to the human race.” There’s “dirt—and dirt,” and “then there is just plain dirt” which is “squalid, fetid, un-
inspired, laborious, second-hand, unventilated dirt.” According to Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun, the
show was “tawdry and vulgar” with humor “something frightful and, being in a cheap vein, it was obviously
designed to whet the appetites of the cut-rate counter customers.” (Clearly, cut-rate counter customers were
always on the prowl for cheap thrills.)
The New York Times said that “despite dull spots” the show was “fairly creditable,” and the “obese
merry-andrew” Billy House had an “infectious” smile, walked like an “elephant on a tightrope,” and “on at
least one occasion he had the musicians in the pit laughing—and that is regarded as high tribute.” Arthur
Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the evening neither “ambitious” nor “pretentious,” but instead
described it as “modest.” It wasn’t “exquisite or charming” but there was no “harm in calling it energetic.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted there was “nothing startlingly new in its book,” but
with “peppy” music “things [kept] moving along at the expected Broadway tempo,” and Ruth Morris in the
Indianapolis Star liked the score, which had “a naivete and variety of tempo that was a refreshing relief from
the American jazz formula.”
During the tryout, “Take It” and “Get Hot” were dropped. Two months after the premiere of Luckee Girl,
an unrelated London musical titled Lucky Girl opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
CROSS MY HEART

Performances: 64
Book: Daniel Kusell
1928–1929 Season 467

Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Sammy Lee; Choreography: Sammy Lee; Scenery: P. Dodd Ackerman;
Costumes: Mabel E. Johnston; Morris W. Haft & Bros.; Cohen Bros.; Barrister; Wolfson and Scandiffio;
Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Louis Gress
Cast: Bobby Watson (Charles Graham), Lulu McConnell (Mrs. T. Montgomery Gobble), Doris Eaton (Elsie
Gobble), Mary Lawlor (Sally Blake), Eddy Conrad (The Maharajah of Mah-Ha), Harry Evans (Maxie
Squeeze), Clarence Nordstrom (Richard Todd), The Three Giersdorf Sisters (Irene, Elvira, and Rae),
Franklyn Ardell (Tommy Fitzgerald), Arvil Avery (Marie), Amy Atkinson (Beatrice Van Ness), Edith
Martin (Cigarette Girl), Charles Peters (A Guest Artiste), Martin LeRoy (Bennett), Dorothy Bow (Fin-
nie), Bob Gilbert and Arvil Avery (Specialty Dancers), Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger and Their
Brunswick Recording Orchestra; The Ten Little Tappers: Geneva Duker, Topsy Humphrey, Cora
Stephens, Ann Brown, Bobbe Campbell, Anna Rex, Frances Stone, Dorothy Patterson, Dorothy Bow,
Joey Benton; The Slave Girls: Marie Marceline, Ona Hamilton, Ruth Savoy Miller, Billie Drews, Gen-
evieve Kent, Gracie Fleming, Nesha Medwin, Beth Holt, Muriel Moore, Madeleine Janis; Those from
Park Avenue: Florence Murray, Peggy Udell, Antoinette Boots, Lillian Lamonte, Wynn Terry, Harriet
Ingersoll, Helene Gardner, Ann Ayres, Elsie Peddrick, Helen Hermes, Dan Sparks, Warren Crosby,
Jerry White, Charles McClelland, Bill Antonius, Dowell Brown, Hal Clyne, Wilburne Riviere, Bernard
Hassert, Stanley Lewis
The action takes place during an afternoon and evening in the present time in Mrs. Gobble’s New York City
home and at her nearby estate.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: (a) “Arrival of Guests” (Ensemble) and “Step Up and Pep Up the Party” (Bobby Watson,
Ensemble); “Sold” (Doris Eaton, Bobby Watson, Ensemble); “Dream Sweetheart” (Mary Lawlor and Her
Boy Friends); “Salaaming the Rajah” (Lulu McConnell, Bobby Watson, Ensemble); “Right out of Heaven
into My Arms” (Mary Lawlor, Clarence Nordstrom); “Reception” (Ensemble); Finaletto (Ensemble);
“Right out of Heaven into My Arms” (reprise) (Mary Lawlor, Clarence Nordstrom, The Three Giersdorf
Sisters); “Dream Sweetheart” (reprise) (Mary Lawlor, Doris Eaton); “Right out of Heaven into My Arms”
(second reprise) (Mary Lawlor); Opening: (a) “Step Up and Pep Up the Party” (reprise) (The Slave Girls); (b)
Specialty (The Three Giersdorf Sisters); (c) Specialty (The Ten Little Tappers); and (d) “Whirlwind Dance”
(Bob Gilbert and Avril Avery); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger and Their Brunswick Recording Orchestra); “Recep-
tion to the Maharajah”: (a) “Scheherazade Serenade” (Charles Peters); (b) “In the Gardens of Noor-Ed-
Deen” (Charles Peters, Ensemble); (c) At the Pianos: Edgar Fairchild and Ralph Rainger; and (d) “Ada-
gio” (Bob Gilbert and Avril Avery); “Right out of Heaven into My Arms” (third reprise) (Mary Lawlor);
“Come Along, Sunshine” (Mary Lawlor, Doris Eaton, Clarence Nordstrom, Bobby Watson, Harry Evans,
Ensemble); “Such Is Fame” (Lulu McConnell, Eddy Conrad, Bobby Watson, Franklyn Ardell, Harry Ev-
ans, Ensemble); “Lady Whippoorwill” (Clarence Nordstrom, Mary Lawlor, The Three Giersdorf Sisters,
Ensemble); “Good Days and Bad Days” (Lulu McConnell, Franklyn Ardell, Bob Gilbert, Doris Eaton,
Ensemble); “Right out of Heaven into My Arms” (fourth reprise) (Company); Finale: “Thanks for a Darn
Nice Time” (“Everybody”)
With Cross My Heart, choreographer Sammy Lee made his debut as a Broadway producer. As a performer,
he’d appeared in the original Broadway productions of such shows as The Firefly (1912), and then began creat-
ing the dances for the original productions of Lady, Be Good!, Tell Me More, No, No, Nanette, The Cocoa-
nuts, Tip-Toes, Oh, Kay!, Rio Rita, Show Boat, and others. But Cross My Heart was a disappointment that
played for just two months; he never again produced another show, and provided the choreography for just
two more Broadway productions (including Lady Fingers). Then in the early 1930s he began choreograph-
ing Hollywood musicals, including two for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Dance
Direction, King of Burlesque (1935, with a cast that included Alice Faye and Thomas “Fats” Waller) and the
underrated Eddie Cantor vehicle Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937).
The hero of Cross My Heart is young millionaire and scion of the Van Ness family who goes incognito
by the name of Richard Todd (Clarence Nordstrom) because he prefers music to big business and conducts
his own orchestra deep down in Greenwich Village’s The Slave Ship Café. He falls in love with Sally Blake
(Mary Eaton), a niece of a rich social climber and widow, the malapropic Mrs. T. Montgomery Gobble (Lulu
McConnell), who is determined her daughter Elsie (Doris Eaton) will marry a title. But Elsie’s in love with
her mother’s social secretary Charles Graham (Bobby Watson), who conspires with his friend (played by Eddie
Conrad) to pose as the Maharajah of Mah-ha (and ah what a merry trick to play on Mrs. Gobble!). Needless to
say, romantic and identity mix-ups are resolved by the final curtain.
The New York Times found the evening “generally pleasant” if not “sensational,” and it seemed as if
Lee had pulled together “odds and ends and stray bits” of business that he’d used in other productions. But
unfortunately these “elements” were “less than novel,” and although the whole idea of the maharajah imper-
sonation should have been promising, the ensuing “entanglements” were never as funny as they could have
been. But Lee’s choreography offered his “usual ingenuity,” the songs were “tuneful albeit standardized,”
and the décor was “elaborate” if “overdone,” all of which offered a musical “in the best Broadway formula.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker decided that despite a program credit for a book writer, the show
itself provided “no evidence of having been written.” It seemed to have “been assembled from a belt, the belt
of a somewhat morbid memory” which included many “excruciatingly unfunny things.” The evening wasn’t
“actively displeasing,” but it came across like a “blur,” and there was one “pleasant and much-plugged”
song, “Right out of Heaven into My Arms” (and “much-plugged” was the operative description: the song was
introduced by Lawlor and Nordstrom early in the first act, and then was reprised four times throughout the
evening).
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the musical had “more than enough material for a half dozen shows,”
and while the evening wasn’t “brilliantly original” or “unusually clever” it was the “sure-fire everyday sort
of stuff” that “seems always entertaining to theatergoers.” Part of the show’s problem was that it swung
back and forth between book scenes and extended vaudeville-like segments, but otherwise McConnell was
“funny in a rough and tumble way” and the overall production had “a snap and bang” and offered music with
“plenty of pep” if not “much” in the way of melody. Variety noted that despite a four-week tryout and good
out-of-town notices, the show was too long and the final curtain didn’t fall until 11:40. There was “so much
book that plenty can go out,” but otherwise the “old-fashioned” show had “good” dances, a “fair” score, and
“enough color and production for a $4.40 show” (the critic praised two numbers, “Right out of Heaven into
My Arms” and “Lady Whippoorwill”).
Burns Mantle in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle liked the “fine” dances and musical numbers,
but said the story was “bad” and served “to kill general interest in the entertainment.” Frederick F. Schrader
in the Cincinnati Enquirer commented that the musical followed an “accepted formula,” but otherwise of-
fered “clever” dancing, “lovely” costumes, and “pretty” girls. And Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun found
the book “tasteless” and noted the “elaborate” show “puts three pieces of lace where one would have done.”
THE NEW MOON

“A Musical Romance” / “A Musical Romance of the Spanish Main” / “Gorgeous Operetta”
Theatre: Imperial Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Performances: 509
Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab
Direction: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab; Producers: Laurence Schwab and
Frank Mandel; Choreography: Bobby Connelly; Scenery: Donald Oenslager; Costumes: Charles LeMaire;
Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Alfred (aka Al) Goodman
Cast: Marie Callahan (Julie), Pacie Ripple (Monsieur Beaunoir), Edward Nell Jr. (Captain Georges Duval), Max
Figman (Vicomte Ribaud), Robert Halliday (Robert Misson), Gus Shy (Alexander), Lyle Evans (Besac), Earle
Mitchell (Jacques), Evelyn Herbert (Marianne), William O’Neal (Phillippe), Esther Howard (Clotilde Lom-
baste), Daniel Barnes (Proprietor of the Tavern), Olga Albani (Flower Girl), Herman Belmonte (A Spaniard),
1928–1929 Season 469
Edith Sheldon (A Dancer), Thomas Dale (Fouchette), Rosita and Ramon (The Dancers), The Hernandez
Brothers Trio (The Musicians), Lester Dorr (Captain DeJean); Ensemble—Courtiers, Ladies, Servants,
Sailors, Pirates, Others; Ladies: Elizabeth Taylor, Sylvia La Mard, Marion Frances, Phyllis Marren, Dulcie
Bond, Elmira Lane, Dorothy Verlaine, Barbara Dare, Kay Burnell, Dorothy Christie, Dean Wheeler, Rita
Marks, Marjorie Sneller, Sylvia Roberts, Beulah Baker, Doddy Donnelly, Constance King, Frances Mil-
dren, Olga Grannis, Rosalie Brumm, Ida Berry, Ruth Grady, Rae Powell, Rosalie Trego, Novella Fromm,
Tina Jensen, Helen Casey, Dorothy Higgins, Carola Taylor, Gloria Lee, Dorothy Grady, Ruth Jennings,
Marnie Sawyer, Cecilia Caskey, Christine Morey, Dorice Covert, Gloria Glennon; Gentlemen: R. E. Gar-
cia, Edward Smythe, Frank Dowling, Herman Belmonte, Charles Muhs, Lazlo Aliga, Sol Leimas, David
DeGrave, Lean Sabater, A. Keller, Basil Prock, Cornell Pilcher, Irving Weinstein, Frank Dobert, Al Monty,
Zellig Norman, Bart Schilling, Arthur Verbowvans, Joe Rogers, Vance Campbell, John Cardini, James Da-
vis, Wallace McLeod, W. M. Rytter, John Gutcher, Ernest McChesney, Sigmund Glukoff, Tome Coppe,
William Prevost, Patrick Henry, Charles Maynard, Frank Grimmel, T. W. Kendall, Carl Linke, Sverre
Rasmussen, Ned Byers, Carl Streib, Frank Vaughn
The action takes place during 1788 and 1789 in New Orleans, aboard The New Moon, and on the Isle of Pines.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Dainty Wisp of Thistledown” (Ensemble); “Marianne” (Robert Halliday, Gus Shy,
Men); “The Girl on the Prow” (Evelyn Herbert, Lyle Evans, Ensemble); “Gorgeous Alexander” (Marie
Callahan, Gus Shy, Girls); “An Interrupted Love Song” (Edward Nell Jr., Evelyn Herbert, Robert Halli-
day); “Tavern Song” (aka “Red Wine”) (Olga Albani, Edith Sheldon, Ensemble); “Softly, as in a Morning
Sunrise” (William O’Neal, Ensemble); “Stout-Hearted Men” (aka “Liberty Song”) (Robert Halliday, Wil-
liam O’Neal, Men); “Fair Rosita” (aka “Tango”) (Girls; Dancers: Rosita and Ramon); “One Kiss” (Evelyn
Herbert, Ensemble); “The Trial” (“Ladies of the Jury”) (Gus Shy, Marie Callahan, Esther Howard, Girls);
Finale: (a) “Gentle Airs, Courtly Manners” (Girls and Men); (b) “Wanting You” (Evelyn Herbert, Robert
Halliday); (c) “Stout-Hearted Men” (reprise) (Men); and (d) “One Kiss” (reprise) (Evelyn Herbert, Girls
and Men)
Act Two: Opening: “A Chanty” (Lyle Evans, Men); “Funny Little Sailor Men” (Esther Howard, Lyle Evans,
Ensemble); “Lover, Come Back to Me” (Evelyn Herbert); Finaletto (Evelyn Herbert, Robert Halliday, Wil-
liam O’Neal, Men); “Love Is Quite a Simple Thing” (Esther Howard, Lyle Evans, Gus Shy, Marie Calla-
han); “Try Her Out at Dances” (aka “Marriage Number”) (Gus Shy, Marie Callahan, Girls); “Softly, as in
a Morning Sunrise” (reprise) (William O’Neal, Men); “Never for You” (Robert Halliday, Evelyn Herbert);
“Lover, Come Back to Me” (reprise) (Robert Halliday, Men); Finale: (a) Cabin Scene: “One Kiss” (reprise)
(Robert Halliday, Evelyn Herbert) and (b) Finale Ultimo (Company)
Sigmund Romberg’s The New Moon was the last of the classic operettas. Others in the genre were oc-
casionally produced on Broadway during the following years, but never again would operettas dominate the
musical stage as they had during the early decades of the century. In many respects, the O-word became
anathema for critics and audiences.
During the 1920s, Romberg composed a number of memorable operetta scores, and The New Moon
joined his hits The Student Prince in Heidelberg, The Desert Song, and My Maryland (he also adapted Franz
Schubert’s music for the hit operetta Blossom Time). These works, along with Rudolf Friml’s Rose-Marie
(co-composed with Herbert Stothart), The Vagabond King, and The Three Musketeers, Harry Tierney’s Rio
Rita, and Stothart and Vincent Youmans’s Wildflower constituted a final flowering of the genre, which had
been a theatrical staple for decades.
Romberg’s music and Oscar Hammerstein II’s lyrics for The New Moon yielded a crop of evergreens that
virtually define the word operetta: “Stouthearted Men,” “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” “Wanting You,”
“One Kiss,” and “Lover, Come Back to Me” (the latter a surprising blend of operetta and jazz, which Percy
Hammond in the New York Herald Tribune described as “a hot torch psalm”).
The New Moon takes place in the late 1780s, and focuses on Robert Misson (Robert Halliday), a French
nobleman who now lives incognito in New Orleans as an indentured servant to the wealthy Beaunoir (Pacie
Ripple). Robert has also fallen in love with Beaunoir’s daughter Marianne (Evelyn Herbert). In France, Robert
had been accused of killing a member of royalty in a revolutionary fracas, and when the French eventually
capture him in New Orleans they set sail on The New Moon to transport him back to France for trial and cer-
tain execution by guillotine. Robert discovers that Marianne is on board, and he, Marianne, and his followers
escape to the Isle of Pines where they establish a colony for all those who seek liberty.
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker wasn’t all that taken with the “grave, operatic doings,” but he liked
the comic antics of Gus Shy (as Robert’s servant Alexander, who is also indentured to Beaunoir) and the “su-
perior” dances (as for the sets and costumes, they were “big and gay” but had “all the stark authenticity of
a doll telephone cosy”). Romberg’s score was “musicianly,” but it sent an “ammonia-gas chill” through his
veins because it prompted singers to do “a great deal of gesturing, palms up and fingers brought to the clench
on certain notes,” all of which brought a look to their eyes that he diagnosed “as the vision of an onrushing
Metropolitan contract.” As for “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” he supposed it was in “contradistinction”
to “Brusquely, as in a Four P.M. Sunrise.”
Time noted that at evening’s end the characters establish a “communistic colony,” but the “long and
shiny fable” didn’t profess any “Marxian solemnity.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle remarked
that through the middle of the second act the evening “bubbles on with ease and bounce and spontaneity”
but then “wears out” with “incidents not too closely connected with what has gone before.” As a result, it
became a “story picaresque, which isn’t good for it,” and so the show lost its way.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times liked the “unusually pleasing” production with its “full-
bodied” score, “flowing and brocaded” costumes, “splendid” sets, and pleasurable singing and dancing. The
book was “good” but “almost too good,” and became a bit weighty with its “grim and fulsome” political
declarations by the “flaming revolutionists.” However, Romberg’s “strong and virtuoso” score was “deep,
rushing, [and] stirring,” and Atkinson singled out five songs: “Marianne” (“lyrically romantic”), “Gorgeous
Alexander” (“light and mischievous”), “Lover, Come Back to Me” (“sweetly tender”), “Softly, as in a Morn-
ing Sunrise” (“uncommonly beautiful”), and “Stouthearted Men” (“one of those protean male choruses that
every night assert manhood all through the theatrical district”).
Robert Littell in the New York Post said the “silky, leisurely” work offered “some of the handsomest
costumes ever seen.” But the songs were “pretty dull,” and although the score gave you nothing “to take
home,” the music “filled the air with something for which there is only one word—tuneful.” Burns Mantle
in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle praised the “elaborate musical romance” that was “richly wrapped
up in the costumes and background of French New Orleans,” and was impressed with the “charming” duets
and solos composed in Romberg’s “best style.”
H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the work was one of the most “charming”
productions he’d seen “in many a day,” and “compared with the irrelevant hodgepodge which nowadays passes
for musical comedy, it more nearly approximates light opera.” He enjoyed the “charmingly reactionary” evening,
which was “absolutely devoid of the horrible noise known as jazz.” And St. John Ervine in the Philadelphia
Inquirer noted that the music was “gratifying to ears that have long been assailed by jazz, that damnable noise
invented by organ-grinders to stun the sensibilities of those who are acquainted with, and fond of, music.”
The musical had been produced almost a year earlier in December 1927 as Marianne in what was a cha-
otic tryout that led to numerous cast replacements (including Jesse Royce Landis and then Desiree Tabor as
Marianne and William Wayne as Alexander), and the loss of many songs (including a five-part sequence that
included “Back at the Court of France,” “Carnival Ensemble,” “In a Little French Café,” “The Voice in the
Dark,” and “’Neath a New Moon” as well as “Paree,” “La-La-La-La,” “One Day,” “When I Close My Eyes,”
“Women, Women, Women,” “The Call of Home,” and “I Love You”). A revised version (with the new title,
new performers, and new songs) began a second tryout in August 1928 (and again a number of songs were cut,
including “Musical Pantomime,” “Awake, My Lad,” “Hot and Cold,” “The First Man I Kiss,” “A Love That
Lasts,” “Liar,” “I’m Just a Sentimental Fool,” “Marriage Hymn,” “Kiss Waltz,” and “One Kiss Is Waiting for
One Man,” the latter not to be confused with “One Kiss”). Note that a song titled “Marianne” (which was
apparently dropped in preproduction and not used in either of the tryouts) is not the same “Marianne” heard
in the Broadway production.
When The New Moon opened on Broadway, it quickly became one of the era’s biggest hits, and at 509
performances was the season’s longest-running musical and the ninth-longest-running book musical of the
decade. Its original title Marianne shouldn’t be confused with the 1929 film musical Marianne or the 1944
stage musical of the same name, which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout.
1928–1929 Season 471
Selections from the score by members of the Broadway and London companies as well as from other
sources are included in the CD collection The Ultimate Sigmund Romberg Volume II (Pearl/Pavilion Records
# GEM-0119). Herbert (from the New York production) sings “Lover, Come Back to Me,” “Wanting You,”
and “One Kiss,” and William O’Neal (also from the Broadway cast) sings “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”
and “Stouthearted Men”; the collection also includes “Gorgeous Alexander,” “Wedding Chorus,” and “Try
Her Out at Dances,” and Lawrence Tibbett (who appeared in the 1930 film adaptation) sings “Wanting You”
and “Lover, Come Back to Me.” The most complete recording of the score is from the 2003 Encores! concert
production (see below).
The London version of the script was published in paperback by Chappell & Co., and the lyrics are in-
cluded in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.
The operetta was first revived in New York on August 18, 1942, for twenty-four performances in a concert
version at Carnegie Hall with Wilbur Evans and Ruby Mercer; it was later given at City Center on May 17,
1944, for a limited run of fifty-three showings by the Belmont Operetta Company with Earl Wrightson and
Dorothy Kirsten; and Robert Johanson’s adaptation was presented twice by the New York City Opera Com-
pany at the New York State Theatre for sixteen performances beginning on August 26, 1986 (with alternating
singers Richard White and Davis Gaines and Leigh Munro and Maryanne Talese) and for seven performances
beginning on July 19, 1988 (Richard White/William Parcher and Leigh Munro/Jane Thorngren). Encores!
revived the work on March 27, 2003, for five performances in a concert version adapted by David Ives that
starred Rodney Gilfry and Christiane Noll. The cast album of this production by Ghostlight Records (CD #
4403-2) is the most complete recording of the score.
The London premiere took place at the Drury Lane on April 4, 1930, for 147 performances; Bobby Con-
nelly re-created his original choreography, Romberg conducted for the opening night, and the cast included
Evelyn Laye and Howett Worster (who was succeeded by Harry Welchman during the run).
MGM released two films, both titled New Moon. The 1930 film utilized at least four songs from the
stage production (“Stouthearted Men,” “One Kiss,” “Wanting You,” and “Lover, Come Back to Me,” and,
depending on the source, “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”), but created an entirely new story set in Russia.
Lawrence Tibbett and Grace Moore starred, and Gus Shy, who created the role of Alexander in the Broadway
production, here played a character named Potkin (when the film was released for television showings it was
retitled Parisian Belle). The 1940 adaptation with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy followed the general
outline of the original story and retained “Marianne,” “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” “Wanting You,”
“Lover, Come Back to Me,” and “Stouthearted Men.” Complete Lyrics notes that the film’s “Dance Your
Cares Away” and “Stranger in Paree” were respectively recycled from “Funny Little Sailor Men” and “Tavern
Song.” City Opera’s 1988 revival was telecast on public television’s Great Performances on April 8, 1989. The
1940 film version is available on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
CHEE-CHEE
“A Musical Narrative”

Performances: 31
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Based on the 1927 novel The Son of the Grand Eunuch by Charles Petit.
Direction: Alexander Leftwich; Producer: Lew Fields; Choreography: Jack Haskell; Scenery: John F. Hawkins
Jr.; Costumes: John Booth; James Reynolds; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Roy Webb
Cast: Ralph Glover (A Eunuch, Holy Emperor), Alan Lowe (Another Eunuch), Stark Patterson (Prince Tao-
Tee), Betty Starbuck (Li-Li-Wee), George Hassell (Li-Pi Siao), Dorothy Roye (Miss Smile of a Rose at the
Dawning of Spring), William Williams (Li-Pi Tchou), Helen Ford (Chee-Chee), George Ali (San Toy), Wil-
liam Griffith (A Very Narrowed-Minded Owl), Philip Loeb (Innkeeper, Profundity and Meditation), George
Houston (The Tartar Chief), Marshall Bradford (Leader of Khonghouses), William Griffith (Radiance and
Felicity), Masa Sanami and Violetta Aoki (Dancing Idols); Eunuchs, Concubines, Tartars, Khonghouses,
Peasants, Others: Girls of the Ensemble—Gloria Rymar, Biddy Boyd, Helen Mirtel, Jean Casewell, Catha-
rine Huth, Ann Mycue, Velma Valentine, Eugenia Reno, Betty Glass, Betty Shirley, Grace Shipp, Marie
Felday, Ruby Poe, Evelyn Hannons, Evelyn Kane, Bunny Moore, Urilda Smith, Pauline Hartman, Helen
Sheppard; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Gene Byrom, Charles Townsend, Frank White, Robert Davis, Al
Birk, Ted White, Jay Lindsey, Paul Jensen, James Dale, Bob Matthews, Buddy Penny, R. P. Hall, Richard-
son Brown, George Lehrian, Ted Shultz, Eddie Larkin
The action takes place in ancient China in Peking and sundry places.
Musical Numbers
Note: A program note advised that some of the musical numbers were short and “so interwoven with the
story that it would be confusing for the audience to peruse a complete list.” However, the program included
a short list of the “principal” songs: “I Must Love You,” “Dear, Oh Dear,” “Moon of My Delight,” “Better Be
Good to Me,” “The Tartar Song,” and “Singing a Love Song.”
The list below is taken from the collection The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart, and although the pro-
gram itself advised caution, the author trusts the following list isn’t “confusing” to the reader.
Act One: “Prelude” (Orchestra); “We’re Men of Brains” (aka “Eunuch’s Chorus”) (Eunuchs); “I Am a Prince”
(Stark Patterson); “In a Great Big Way” (Betty Starbuck); “The Most Majestic of Domestic Officials” (aka
“Entrance of the Grand Eunuch”) (Ensemble); “Holy of Holies” (aka “Prayer”) (George Hassell, Betty
Starbuck); “Her Hair Is Black as Licorice” (aka “Food Solo”) (George Hassell); “Dear, Oh Dear” (Helen
Ford, William Williams); “Await Your Love” (aka “Concubines’ Song”) (George Hassell, Dorothy Raye,
Ensemble); “I Wake at Morning” (William Williams); “I Grovel to the Earth” (aka “Chee-Chee’s First En-
trance”) (Helen Ford); “Just a Little Thing” (William Williams, Helen Ford); Finaletto, Scene One: “You
Are Both Agreed” (George Hassell, William Williams, Helen Ford); “I Must Love You” (Helen Ford, Wil-
liam Williams); “Owl Song” (William Griffith); “I Bow a Glad Good Day” (aka “Tavern Opening”) (Philip
Loeb, George Hassell, Ensemble); “I Must Love You” (reprise) (probably sung by Helen Ford and William
Williams); “Better Be Good to Me” (Betty Starbuck, Stark Patterson); “The Tartar Song” (George Houston,
Ensemble); “Chee-Chee’s Second Entrance” (Helen Ford); Finale
Act Two: “Khonghouse Song” (William Williams, Ensemble); “Sleep, Weary Head” (Helen Ford); “Singing a
Love Song” (George Houston, Ensemble); “Monastery Opening” (performers unknown); “Chinese Dance”
(Dancing Ensemble); “Living Buddha” (aka “Impassive Buddha”) (Philip Loeb); “Moon of My Delight”
(Betty Starbuck, Stark Patterson); “I Grovel to Your Cloth” (Helen Ford); “Bronze Entrance” (Orchestra);
“I Must Love You” (reprise) (probably sung by Helen Ford and William Williams); “We Are the Horrors
of Deadliest Woe” (aka “Chorus of Torments”) (Ensemble); “Oh, Gala Day, Red-Letter Day” (aka “Palace
Opening”) (Company); “I Wake at Morning” (reprise) (William Williams); Finale: “Farewell, O Life” (Wil-
liam Williams, Ensemble)
Of the twenty-three Broadway book musicals by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Chee-Chee had the
shortest run, and it wasn’t until 1976 when Rex closed after forty-nine performances that another Rodgers
musical had a similarly short life.
It was the subject matter that did Chee-Chee in. The critics danced around the details of Herbert Fields’s
book, perhaps because they personally felt squeamish about the story or maybe they just didn’t want to offend
the supposedly delicate sensibilities of their readers. But potential ticket-buyers figured it out, and decided the
plot didn’t sound particularly merry. The reviewers hemmed and hawed and couldn’t quite bring themselves
to cut to the chase and describe the story, which, to be frankly vernacular about it, dealt with bureaucrats of
Old Peking and their intention to cut off the hero’s balls. Yes, Chee-Chee went down in the books as Broad-
way’s first castration musical comedy.
When hero Li-Pi Tchou (William Williams) discovers that like his father (who eventually became the
Grand Eunuch) he’s got a date with the scalpel, he and his wife, Chee-Chee (Helen Ford in her third Rodgers
and Hart musical after Dearest Enemy and Peggy-Ann), flee the city and take to the road, to the woods, to any-
1928–1929 Season 473
where that will ensure Li-Pi Tchou can hold on to his manhood. The story morphed into a series of picaresque
episodes where our man is constantly in danger when he encounters Tartars, monks, and robbers, but he and
Chee-Chee always manage to escape. (In one surprising episode, Chee-Chee is kidnapped by Li-Pi Tchou’s
would-be captors, who agree to leave him intact if they can gang rape her; Li-Pi Tchou later rescues her, and
Variety reported that although she saves her husband’s life “at the expense of her ‘honor,’” she “thinks noth-
ing of it” because she states that “I have kept myself pure in heart.”)
Li-Pi Tchou is eventually captured and brought back to Peking to meet his destiny with the gonad guil-
lotine, but thanks to a ruse concocted by Chee-Chee’s friend Li-Li Wee (Betty Starbuck), the latter’s boyfriend
Prince Tao-Tee (Stark Patterson) impersonates the surgeon and thus allows Chee-Chee and the unneutered
Li-Pi Tchou to permanently flee Peking.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the musical was based on a “physiological joke” that “was
no particular joke at all.” The “tedious” book occasionally struck a “falsetto vocal note” and then moved
on “to other diversions of a less neutral nature,” all of which were “singularly humorless.” The production
itself was “opulent and luxurious” with “extravagant brocades, stunning trappings and curtains resplendent
with sheen,” but unfortunately the creators of such diversions as Dearest Enemy, A Connecticut Yankee, and
The Garrick Gaieties had lost their way with their “most pretentious” and “least entertaining” production.
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker complained that the one-joke show became “pretty tedious” ten minutes
after the curtain went up and was “practically intolerable” by the final curtain. Time reported that the eve-
ning was “sometimes cute and always dirty” in its “‘you’re mine and I love you’ attitude toward the slimy
joke of castration,” and while the critics were “shocked,” the “decent public,” which no doubt was “eager”
to see the “sumptuous settings, crawled, in surreptitious droves,” to the Mansfield Theatre.
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune stated that “two or three of the naughty little boys who might write
things on the curbstones of New York” had written Chee-Chee, which had a “rather monotonous” score and
a “stupid” book. But Mantle allowed that “occasionally a solo number flashes out that is attractive and prom-
ises to go well through the dance season.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Rodgers, Hart, and
Fields had managed for the first time in their collaborations to become “tiresome” with a “boring” and even
an “aggressively boring” show that followed the adventures of the Eunuch’s son and a “trollop” and their
“jackass.” Chee-Chee manages to compel would-be enemies to spare her husband by means of her “beauty
and allure,” and they reward her favors with gifts of expensive jewelry. (Well, as another heroine in another
musical once remarked, she might not be pure, but at least her jewels are.)
H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society noted there was “much to be said in favor
of the music,” but otherwise the evening was “devoid of sprightliness, originality and genuine humor and,
worse yet, is vulgar without being funny,” and while Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer found
the production “gorgeous” and “beautiful,” the score “tuneful,” and the dancing “good,” the show itself was
“tiresome” and lacked inspiration.
Because of the openings of Chee-Chee and Mae West’s current play Pleasure Man, Variety decided that
West 47th Street had become the “theatrical red light district.” The musical’s “unhappy theme” left the
viewer “uncomfortable, whether he is alone or in mixed company,” and it was a shame that Rodgers had
“wasted the best score he has ever turned out,” a “tuneful collection” of songs. The show’s fate was “prob-
lematical,” and although the evening was not “good entertainment,” the “morbid curiosity in the daring
theme may prove a financial life-saver.” (In Best Plays, Mantle reported that Pleasure Man, which played for
two performances before it was shut down by the police, dealt with a man who uses women. The brother
of one of the women “seeks to incapacitate him for further activities,” but the man “dies as a result of the
operation,” which occurs during a “party of theatrical people, largely attended by female impersonators.”)
Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh Press was interested in how his fellow aisle-sitters dealt with the musi-
cal’s theme. He reported that they wrote with “wariness and embarrassment,” and the very description of the
story “caused stammering and indirection” among them, and not one critic was “so bold as to include any
of the more audacious jokes.” In fact, Broun noted there was “a strained and leering quality” to the reviews
as if his each of his peers “was talking from behind his hand in whispers.” Everyone surely knew about the
ancient custom of protecting the harem, and yet “the Broadway boys lowered their voices and muffled their
typewriters.” Broun also mentioned that in his original review of the musical, he wasn’t allowed to use a pun
he’d come up with (“gelding the lily”). But if the “Broadway boys” were squeamish, it seems that one of the
headline writers for Mantle’s review had a sense of humor: the sub-headline for the Chee-Chee review read,
“Nothing Uplifting in This One.”
The show included a musical joke by Rodgers. During a sequence when Li-Pi Tchou is being led away to
be castrated, the orchestra played a few bars from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.
According to Complete Lyrics, “I’ll Never Share You” (aka “If You Were My Concubine”) was dropped
during the tryout, and “Joy Is Mine” may or may not have been heard in the New York production. The music
for “I Must Love You” and “Singing a Love Song” were recycled for the respective “Send for Me” and “I Still
Believe in You” for Simple Simon (1930).
The collection Remember These (Ava Records LP # A/AS-26) includes five songs from the production
(“Dear, Oh Dear,” “Moon of My Delight,” “Singing a Love Song,” “I Must Love You,” and “Better Be Good to
Me”), all sung by Betty Comden and arranged and played by Richard Lewine on the piano (the album, which
was optimistically advertised as volume one, also includes five songs from the Gershwins’ Treasure Girl.) My
Funny Valentine: Frederica Von Stade Sings Rodgers and Hart (EMI Records CD # CDC-7-54071-2) includes
“I Must Love You” and “Moon of My Delight.”
Leave it to Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart to come up with some good Broadway eunuch jokes. In A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), a eunuch is admonished by his master (“You’ll never
learn. You’ll be a eunuch all your life!”), and later an irate courtesan snaps at a eunuch (“Don’t you lower
your voice to me!”).
BILLIE
“The New American Musical Play” / “The Best of All American Musical Plays”
Theatre: Erlanger’s Theatre

Performances: 112
Book, Lyrics, and Music: George M. Cohan.
Based on the 1912 play Broadway Jones by George M. Cohan.
Direction: Edward Royce and Sam Forrest; Producer: George M. Cohan; Choreography: Uncredited (most
likely Edward Royce); Scenery: Joseph Wickes; Costumes: Don Frist; Babette DeGuary; Lighting: Uncred-
ited; Musical Direction: Charles J. Gebest
Cast: June O’Dea (Maid), Joe Ross (Rankin), Robinson Newbold (Bob Wallace), Joseph Wagstaff (Jackson
Jones), Marjorie Lane (Winnie Sheldon), Ina Hayward (Mrs. Ambrose Gerard), Carl Francis (Peter Pem-
broke), Polly Walker (Billie), Ernie Stanton (Wilbur Cheatington), Val Stanton (Sir Alfred Huntington),
David London (Harry Thompson), Richard Barry (Higgins), Joseph Kennedy (Judge Spotswood), Ethel Allen
(Page), Billy Bradford (Will), Marion Hamilton (Marion), Charles Sabin (Charles), Larry L. Wood (Sheriff),
Albert Froom (Grover Sheldon), E. Martin (Dancer); Ballet Specialty Dancers: Anita Avila, Gertrude Stan-
ton, Marie Grimaldi, Eddee Belmont, Elvira Gomez, Ruth Love, Mildred Glasson, Martha Galston; Ladies
of the Ensemble: Nancy Trevelyan, Rose Collins, Alice Everling, Juliette Jones, Aura Orleans, Dorothy
McKeon, Valerie Galantine, Margie Nugent, Sue Lake, Ilus de Pongo, Mildred Gethins, Helen E. Held,
Florence O’Brien, Martha Ann, Dorothy Dion, Geraldine Wells, Marguerite Dunn, Evelyn Laurie, Carolyn
James, Ann Loomis, Valerie Dolaro, Kathryn Koehler, Helen Kelly, Erna Kunzin, Bobby Heather, Mildred
Hamilton, Micky MacKillop, June Wall, Bernadette Fox, Hazel Maguire, Mae Burke, June Wells, Elmore
Heinemann, Dorothy Stratton; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Emmett O’Brien, Robert Vreeland, Leonardo
J. Reid, Jack Lazariff, Henry Simon, Murray Minehart, Ray Dowley, Harry DuBall, Terrence McIlwine,
Walter Blair, Jack Bedford, Basil Hambury, Donald Joy, Jack McElroy, Kendall Northrup, Roland Carpenter
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Havenford, Connecticut.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “New York” (Robinson Newbold, June O’Dea, Joe Ross, Ensemble); “Come to St. Thomas’s” (Ina
Hayward, Joseph Wagstaff, Marjorie Lane, Robinson Newbold, Ensemble); “Happy” (Joseph Wagstaff, En-
semble); “Billie” (Polly Walker); “Go Home Ev’ry Once in a While” (Polly Walker, Ensemble); “Friends”
(Val Stanton, Ernie Stanton); “The Cause of the Situation” (David London, Polly Walker, Ensemble);
“Ev’ry Boy in Town’s My Sweetheart” (Polly Walker, Male Ensemble); “They Fall in Love” (Marjorie
1928–1929 Season 475
Lane, David London, Ensemble); Finaletto (Polly Walker, Joseph Wagstaff, Robinson Newbold, Carl Fran-
cis, Ina Hayward, Marjorie Lane, David London, Ensemble); Dance (Billy Bradford, E. Martin); “Where
Were You—Where Was I?” (Joseph Wagstaff, Polly Walker, Ballet Specialty Dancers); Finale (Polly Walker,
Joseph Wagstaff, Robinson Newbold, David London, Val Stanton, Ernie Stanton, Carl Francis, Ina Hay-
ward, Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Jones’ Family Friends” (Ensemble); Dance (June O’Dea, Joe Ross); “One-Girl Man” (Joseph Wag-
staff, Marjorie Lane, Robinson Newbold, David London, Ensemble); “Personality” (Polly Walker, Ensemble);
Waltz (Polly Walker, Charles Sabin); Finaletto (Company); Dance (Joe Ross); Dance (Ballet Specialty Danc-
ers); Dance (Billy Bradford, Marion Hamilton); “Where Were You—Where Was I?” (reprise) (Polly Walker,
Joseph Wagstaff, Ensemble); “Bluff” (Robinson Newbold, Carl Francis, Val Stanton, Ernie Stanton, June
O’Dea, Joseph Wagstaff, David London, Marjorie Lane, Polly Walker, Ina Hayward, Joe Ross, Albert Froom);
“The Two of Us” (Marjorie Lane, David London, Polly Walker, Joseph Wagstaff); Finale (Company)
Like most of George M. Cohan’s musicals, Billie was a dancing show that barely took a moment to catch
its breath. Cohan utilized choreography to speed a show along, and as a result Billie received good notices,
played over three months on Broadway, and then went on the road. The source material was Cohan’s 1912
comedy success Broadway Jones in which Cohan starred. For Billie, he produced as well as wrote the book,
lyrics, and music, and Edward Royce and Sam Forrest were the directors of record with no choreographer
specifically cited. One suspects Cohan had a hand in the staging and choreography, and of course the show’s
seamless flow of dances was a Cohan trademark. For the musical adaptation, Joseph Wagstaff played Cohan’s
old role.
High-living New Yorker Jackson Jones (Wagstaff) has gone through his fortune, and in order to become
solvent and pay off his debts, he has an understanding with a wealthy widow, a union that would clearly be a
loveless one. But in the nick of time he discovers he’s inherited a chewing-gum factory in a small Connecticut
town, and immediately goes there in order to sell it to a chewing-gum syndicate and use the profits to pay off
his bills and resume his old lifestyle. He meets the factory’s secretary Billie (Polly Walker), who encourages
him to keep the factory and not sell it to the syndicate, which wants to buy it only to shut it down, a circum-
stance that would put many of the townsfolk out of work. As a result, Jones decides to keep the factory and
run it himself, and in Billie he’s met his sweetheart and future wife.
Wagstaff received rave notices, and his number “Happy” stopped the show. He had previously appeared on
Broadway in the 1923 Passing Show revue and Billie was his second show and first book musical. The New
York Times said his “Happy” “came near [to] halting [the] proceedings,” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker
found him “engaging,” and Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said he “stopped the show at least
twice” with “Happy,” and noted there was “only a little of” the song and thus the audience “couldn’t get
enough—either of the song or Mr. Wagstaff.” R.G.D. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society
said “Happy” was “so very catchy that one wants much more of it than is given,” and Variety said the “hand-
some” performer was a “model juvenile,” the audience “went for him hard,” and his performance showed
that “he belongs to Broadway.” Yet for all the critical and audience acclaim, Wagstaff never again appeared
on the Broadway stage.
The Times praised the “high-spirited” evening, which was “principally an exhibition of dancing,” and
said that “with hardly an exception everybody dances,” including the villain (of the chewing-gum syndicate),
with his “eccentric steps.” Cohan’s score was “uniformly agreeable,” and the show was produced with “taste
and skill.” Brackett said if you were looking for a “smart” and “sophisticated” musical, then avoid Billie,
which had the “old-fashioned virtues” of “lilting tunes, dialogue which is not an insult to the ear, and a plot
thoroughly conscious of its own musical-show ridiculousness.” Further, Cohan’s score moved a bit “nearer
to Erin” and thus “now and then puts its hands to its hips and does a jig or sighs for Killarney.”
Pollock said that “jazz babies” would find Billie “slow,” but he enjoyed the “jolly and gentlemanly and
romantic” story with its “lively” and “larky” characters. And Brooklyn Life praised the “gem” of a title song,
noted that all the other numbers were “charming,” and like many of the critics singled out Billie and Jones’s
ballad “Where Were You—Where Was I?,” an “unusual and engaging” number that was accompanied by eight
ballet specialty dancers who moved “gracefully” about in a “dim light.” Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star
said the “good” and “delightfully wholesome” show offered “melodious and catchy” songs, an “exceedingly
attractive” chorus, and a “tastefully and cleverly staged” production that moved along at a “pleasing pace.”
Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun liked the “mildly pleasant” and “purposely innocuous” entertain-
ment, and because the tickets were priced at $3.85 (instead of the standard $5.50 for most other shows), the
musical was “likely to be a success, for it is by no means a bad show; it is simply an old-fashioned and there-
fore surprising piece for this era of the stage.”
During the run, the second-act dance number for Billy Bradford and Marion Hamilton was dropped, and
the song “I’m a Millionaire” was added for the show’s villain (played by Carl Francis). For the national tour,
the dance number was retained, as was “I’m a Millionaire.”
The title song surfaced in the 1968 musical George M! where it was charmingly sung by Jill O’Hara,
whose performance is captured on that show’s cast album (Columbia Records CD # CK-3200).
JUST A MINUTE
“A Timely Musical Play” / “An Invigorating Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Century Theatre)
Performances: 80
Book: H. C. Greene
Lyrics: Walter O’Keefe
Music: Harry Archer
Direction: H. C. Greene; Producers: Phil Morris and H. C. Greene; Choreography: Russell Markert; Scenery:
P. Dodd Ackerman; Costumes: Mahieu; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: “Count Berni Vici,
Maestro”
Cast: “Count Berni Vici and His Symphonic Girls (In the Orchestra Pit)”; Billie Yarbo (Mandy), Madeline
Grey (Mrs. Callahan); Gypsy Byrne (Helen), Harry Holbrook (Carlson), Helen Patterson (Patricia, aka Pat,
Callahan), Tommy Havel (Mr. O’Brien), Helen Lockhart (Miss Reynolds), Sam Sidman (Louis Schultz),
Arthur Havel (Joe Winston, Kid Williams), Morton Havel (Charlie Winston); The Three Recorders and
The Nifty Three: Dale Jones (Tom), Helen Lockhart (May), and Harold Madsen (Dick); John Hundley
(Jerry Conklin), Dave Bender (Policeman, Announcer), Virginia Smith (Bev Johnson), Brenda Bond (Kay
Bolton), George Leonard (Spike); Boxers at Madison Square Garden: Frankie Stevens (Kid Gans), Al Mario
(Battling Brown), and Eddie Frisco (as himself); Flavio Theodore (Referee), Burt Harger (Stage Director),
Pickings Club Orchestra (Peek-a-Boo Jimmie and His Colored Jazz Band), Maude Russell (Soubrette),
Walter Brogsdale (Waiter), Walker and Thompson (Specialty Dancers), Helen Howell with Burt Harger
and Flavio Theodore (Specialty Dancers); The 16 Russell Markert Dancers: Hanna Dunner, Emily Ryan,
Amanda Daisy, Dorothy Martin, Mickey Le Roy, Lottie Hentschel, Pauline Nesson, Irene Griffith, He-
lene Bradley, Diana Anitra, Myra Burton, Blanche Granby, Gene Doughty, Florence Sorel, Bert Haines,
Jean Hassemer, Lily Smart (Dance Captain); Count Berni Vici’s Symphonic Girls: Pianists—Peggy Riat
and Digna Ebbley; Violins—Grace Fisher, Helen Patten, Helen Tracey, and Lillian Wood; Saxophones and
Flutes—Marie Carpentier, Sylvia McFarland, Ethel Seidel, and Ruth Volmer; Cello and Bass—Marvelle
Armand and Margaret Rivers; Banjo: Peggy Oneal; Trumpets and Trombone—Darby Brown, Jean Miller,
Mabelle Harvey, and Irene Hartel; Drums—Ruth Rams; The Ebony Steppers: The Misses Billie Yarbo,
Mae Fanning, Mae Fortune, Millie Cooke, Tillie Meadows, Lucille Smith, Dorothy Young, Margaret Ch-
erat, and Jennie Salmons
Musical Numbers
Act One: “You’ll Kill ’Em!” (Gypsy Byrne, Girls); “Doggone” (Dale Jones, Helen Lockhart, Harold Madsen);
“We’ll Just Be Two Commuters” (Arthur Havel, Morton Havel, Virginia Smith, Brenda Bond); “You’ll Kill
’Em!” (reprise) (Gypsy Byrne, Girls); “Anything Your Heart Desires” (John Hundley, Helen Patterson);
Specialty (The 16 Russell Markert Dancers); “Coming Out of the Garden” (Helen Lockhart, Girls); “Any-
thing Your Heart Desires” (reprise) (John Hundley, Arthur Havel, Morton Havel)
Act Two: Specialty Dance (The 16 Russell Markert Dancers); “I Got a Cookie Jar but No Cookies” (Maude
Russell, The Ebony Steppers); Specialty Dance (Walker and Thompson);“The Break-Me-Down” (Maude
1928–1929 Season 477
Russell, The Ebony Steppers); “Pretty, Petite and Sweet” (John Hundley); “I’m Ninety-Eight Pounds of
Sweetness” (Helen Patterson, Girls); “Heigh-ho Cheerio” (Gypsy Byrne, Dale Jones, Helen Lockhart,
Harold Madsen); Specialty (Helen Howell, Burt Harger, and Flavio Theodore); Specialty (The 16 Russell
Markert Dancers); “Just a Minute” (Company)
Just a Minute (also Just-A-Minute, according to the pre-Broadway flyer) was the third of four Broadway
productions that opened within a six-week period that dealt with boxing and included scenes that took place
at Madison Square Garden. The drama Ringside opened on August 29, 1928, and lasted for thirty-seven per-
formances; the drama The Big Fight premiered on September 18 with Jack Dempsey in the cast and managed
thirty-one rounds; Just a Minute played for ten weeks; and Hold Everything! was a knockout that ran a full
year for a total of 409 showings.
The flyer for Just a Minute promised “delirious dancing, haunting melodies, furious fun, a genuine story”
. . . and “A Real Boxing Match Between Professional Fighters.” One wonders if the fight was as rugged as the
one depicted in Plain Jane, when cast members Jay Gould and Allie Nack slugged it out with a fierceness that
startled the critics with its brutal realism.
Best Plays summed up Just a Minute as a series of “vaudeville specialties strung on a thread of story.” Yes,
there were scenes that took place at Madison Square Garden, but for the most part the story centered on aspiring
songwriters and brothers Joe and Charlie Winston (played by real-life brothers Arthur and Morton Havel). Two
of their songs are introduced in a Broadway show starring their landlady’s daughter Patricia (aka Pat) Callahan
(Helen Patterson), who eventually marries music publisher Jerry Conklin (John Hundley), who has faith in the
brothers’ musical talents. The plot also followed the brothers and their pursuit of two wealthy young women.
The New York Times said Just a Minute was “not a good show,” but “in spite of certain lamentable
features, particularly an appallingly weak book, it is not quite a bad one.” The music was “tuneful in a thor-
oughly conventional way” and the evening offered “some excellent dancing” as well as a Madison Square
Garden sequence that was “really effective and quite funny” with “a ludicrous fistic encounter with a con-
vincing-looking bruiser.” Of the songs, “You’ll Kill ’Em” was “a snappy effort in the jazz vein” and “We’ll Just
Be Two Commuters” and “Anything Your Heart Desires” were “rather more melodious than the average.”
And the humor? Well, the critic gave an example: One character asserts that John L. Sullivan was “the great-
est fighter of all time,” and another disagrees and says “Come meet my wife.”
Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh Press found the show “lively,” and Chappy Gardner in the Pittsburgh
Courier liked the “attractive” entertainment and its “nifty” dances, noted that the all-girl orchestra in the
pit was a “new thrill,” and overall the evening was “appealing, interesting and novel.” The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said the evening began as a “musical play,” but as it progressed it took on “the formlessness of a typi-
cally varied Broadway musical revue.” This wasn’t actually a bad thing because the work got “better” as it
morphed into a revue and would have been “much more successful” had it shaken off “more of the original
conception.” The critic was particularly taken with Helen Howell, Burt Harger, and Flavio Theodore, who
were a “hit” in “an amazing girl-tossing act.”
Variety reported that the musical got a “brutal opening night break” when a “backstage nightmare” oc-
curred because of a “scenic mishap” that shut down the production for twenty minutes (Broun described the
breakdown as “an adagio set of scenery and scene shifters”). The Times said that during the delay Arthur and
Morton Havel performed an impromptu song to keep the audience in “good humor,” and they were followed
by audience member Belle Baker, who came on stage and sang a number (the Daily Eagle said she scored “the
biggest success of the evening”), and then by composer Walter O’Keefe, who sang a new song he’d written.
During the run, the second-act specialty by Walker and Thompson and the final second-act specialty by
the 16 Russell Markert Dancers were dropped.
John Hundley’s solo “Pretty, Petite and Sweet” and his duet (with Helen Patterson) “Anything Your Heart
Desires” didn’t go anywhere, but later in the season he got lucky with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s
Spring Is Here, when, with Lillian Taiz, he introduced the evergreen “With a Song in My Heart.” In between
Just a Minute and Spring Is Here, he also appeared in Polly. For the tryout of Rodgers and Hart’s Heads Up!
(during the time when the musical was known as Me for You), Hundley and Madeline Gibson introduced
Rodgers and Hart’s endearingly nonchalant “As Though You Were There,” but the knockout number was
inexplicably cut prior to New York.
Just a Minute, Paris, and Ups-A-Daisy all premiered on the same night of October 8. An earlier musical
titled Just a Minute opened in 1919 and played forty performances. The music was by the generally unlucky
Harold Orlob, perhaps best remembered for his notorious flop Hairpin Harmony (1943), which marked the
composer’s swan song to the musical stage.
PARIS
“A Musicomedy”
Theatre: Music Box Theatre

Opening Date: October 8, 1928; Closing Date: March 23, 1929
Performances: 195
Book: Martin Brown
Lyrics and Music: Cole Porter; additional lyrics by E. Ray Goetz; additional music by Louis Alter and by
Walter Kollo
Direction: William H. Gilmore; Producers: Gilbert Miller in association with E. Ray Goetz; Choreography:
“Red” Stanley; Scenery: William Castle; Costumes: Jeanne Lanvin; Martial and Armand; Cyber; Max
Weldy, Lenief, Louise Boulanger; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Irving Aaronson
Cast: Eric Kalkhurst (Andrew Sabot), Florence Edney (Harriet), Reed Hamilton (Valet), Elizabeth Chester
(Brenda Kaley), Louise Closser Hale (Cora Sabot), Arthur Margetson (Guy Pennel), Irene Bordoni (Vivienne
Rolland), Theodore St. John (Marcel Prince); Irving Aaronson and His Commanders, featuring Phil Saxe
and “Red” Stanley
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Land of Going to Be” (lyric by E. Ray Goetz, music by Walter Kollo) (Irene Bordoni, Arthur
Margetson)
Act Two: Medley: (a) “Paris” (lyric by E. Ray Goetz, music by Louis Alter) (Irene Bordoni); (b) “Two Little
Babes in the Wood” (lyric and music by Cole Porter) (Irene Bordoni); and (c) “Don’t Look at Me That Way”
(lyric and music by Cole Porter) (Irene Bordoni); “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” (lyric and music by Cole
Porter) (Irene Bordoni, Arthur Margetson); “The Land of Going to Be” (reprise) (Irene Bordoni) with ac-
companiment and specialties by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders, including “Vivienne” and “The
Heaven Hop,” both with lyrics and music by Cole Porter and with the choreography for “The Heaven
Hop” created and performed by “Red” Stanley, the Commanders’ trombonist (this sequence also included
unspecified non-Porter songs)
Act Three: Note that between the second and third acts there were vocal and instrumental specialties by
Irving Aaronson and His Commanders; “The Land of Going to Be” (reprise) (Irene Bordoni)
Cole Porter’s Paris had enjoyed a healthy tour prior to Broadway, and after the long New York run of al-
most 200 performances, the show eventually toured again, and because Paris was first and foremost a vehicle
for Irene Bordoni she starred in all the productions. The exotic singer and actress fractured the English lan-
guage, and Charles Brackett in the New Yorker reported she loves a young American man from “Mus’ I choose
it” and refers to the character Mr. Pennel as “Mr. Pencil.” She also purred naughty Porter songs and wore a
parade of chic dresses (Brackett said she was “the ostrich’s worst enemy”), and critics and audiences ate it up.
The intimate musical featured eight performers and a ten-member band (Irving Aaronson and His Com-
manders), and all the action took place in Paris at the hotel suite where French actress Vivienne Rolland
(Bordoni) is staying. The first and third acts served as epilogue and prologue, and the second one offered most
of the musical numbers. Aaronson and his band were onstage the whole time, and no one seemed to worry
much that a hotel suite included a ten-piece band. Of Porter’s five contributions, four were new (“Don’t Look
at Me That Way,” “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love,” “The Heaven Hop,” and “Vivienne”) and one (“Two Little
Babes in the Wood”) was an interpolation from the 1924 revue Greenwich Village Follies (sixth edition).
Vivienne is enamored of young, handsome, and wealthy Andrew Sabot (Eric Kalkhurst), and when his
puritanical mother Cora Sabot (Louise Closser Hale) finds out, she barrels into Paris to quash the romance.
But once in Paris, Mrs. Sabot learns to enjoy the taste of the bubbly and pretty soon doesn’t much mind that
1928–1929 Season 479
Vivienne and Andrew are an item (but Andrew isn’t happy that Mama is now kicking up her heels in Old Pa-
ree). Ultimately, Vivienne gives up the boy and seems to come to an understanding with Guy Pennel (Arthur
Margetson), a man nearer her in age and temperament.
Brackett stated that Porter’s songs left him “ecstatic” and were the lyricist and composer’s “best” (“and
there is no better”). No other songwriter knew “so exactly the delicate balance between sense, rhyme, and
tune,” and his “rare” talent made other lyricists “sound as though they’d written their words for a steam
whistle.” Time said Bordoni was “so pleasing” that any lapse in “dramatic continuity” was “easily forgotten,”
and the best of all the songs was “Don’t Look at Me That Way.”
The New York Times said Paris was a “supreme entertainment” when Bordoni sang, and the best songs
of the evening were by Porter, each and every one of them “grand.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said audiences
were less likely to “go and see Paris” than they were to “go and see Bordoni,” and the best of her numbers was
“Two Little Babes in the Wood.” And perhaps the surprise of the evening was “Red” Stanley, the Command-
ers’ trombonist, who was also “a pleasing young dancer” who put “considerable pep” into the proceedings
when he sang and (to his own choreography) danced “The Heaven Hop,” the suave salute to the “celestial
center,” where “debonair immortals” step to the latest dance craze.
Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star praised the “vivacious and charming” Bordoni, who “delightfully”
sang Porter’s “clever” songs, acted in her usual “spirited manner,” and wore “chic and dazzling” gowns.
G. D. Seymour in the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger noted that Bordoni wore a “dazzling array of gowns”
and the Commanders “beguiled the audience with tunes and specialties”; and Variety said the “sheer silk,
trim, [and] lustrous” evening offered “show-stopping specialties,” “urbane” performers, and an overall am-
bience that was “oozing with swank” (the critic noted that the cast members were “faultlessly tailored”
except for Kalkhurst’s second-act blue serge suit which “looked a bit mail order”).
During the tryout, Bordoni also sang a medley of various American songs in French. “Let’s Misbehave”
was dropped during the tryout and replaced by “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love,” which was later introduced
in the 1929 London revue Wake Up and Dream, but wasn’t included in the revue’s New York edition; also
cut prior to Broadway were “Quelque-chose” and probably “Which?” (The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter
indicates the song may not have been performed during the tryout and might have been dropped in preproduc-
tion; a revised version of the song known as “Which Is the Right Life?” was heard in both the 1929 London
and New York productions of Wake Up and Dream); “Dizzy Baby” was dropped during rehearsals, “When I
Found You” was cut in preproduction, and “Blue Hours” was intended for Paris but was instead introduced
in the 1928 Paris revue La Revue des Ambassadeurs. Note that Porter later revised “Don’t Look at Me That
Way” as “Let’s Not Talk about Love” for Let’s Face It! (1941).
“Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” was interpolated into the 1960 film version of Porter’s Can-Can, where
it was sung by Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra. “The Heaven Hop” and “Let’s Misbehave” were used in
the revised 1962 Off-Broadway adaptation of Anything Goes (1934), where the former was memorably sung by
Margery Gray and the Girls in all their chorine glory, and the latter was a mischievous and lowdown invita-
tion sung by Eileen Rodgers and Kenneth Mars (Epic Records LP # FLM-13100). “Quelque-chose” is included
in the collection Cole Porter Revisited Volume IV (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-117), and the fifth
Revisited offers “Blue Hours” (CD # PSCD-122).
The blasé and very naughty “Two Little Babes in Wood” exults in the happy state attained by two in-
nocents in the wood who are transported by a “rich old man” to “New York town” where they drink gin
and vermouth from the fountain of youth and soon become known as “the last thing in speed.” The song
was delightfully rendered in a smooth and swinging version by the 1960s pop group Harpers Bizarre on their
album Anything Goes (the original LP was released by Warner Brothers Records and the CD was issued by
New Sounds Records). “Two Little Babes in the Wood” makes an interesting companion piece to Jerry Bock
and Sheldon Harnick’s “The Picture of Happiness” from Tenderloin (1960), another look at an innocent virgin
who discovers the joys of forbidden fruit when she learns to master a “trade.” The number was performed
by Ron Hussman with chorine Margery Gray as the “shame” girl, and as noted above Gray also sang “The
Heaven Hop” in the 1962 revival of Anything Goes (and she later became Mrs. Sheldon Harnick).
Complete Lyrics reports that “Two Little Babes in the Wood” was recorded by Bordoni in 1928 and by
Porter in 1934, but neither recording was released.
The film version of Paris was released by First National Pictures in 1929 with Broadway cast members
Bordoni and Hale, and with Jack Buchanan as Guy Pennel; directed by Clarence Badger, the film was re-
leased in both sound and silent versions and included Technicolor sequences. Virtually all of Porter’s songs
were dropped for the film and new ones were written by other lyricists and composers. However, The First
Hollywood Musicals reports that the soundtrack from the French release (which was silent except for the
musical sequences) includes both French and English performances of “Don’t Look at Me That Way” (sung
twice by Bordoni) and “The Land of Going to Be” (sung by Bordoni and Buchanan, and then reprised by
Bordoni). The film is considered lost.
Paris was one of Porter’s many musicals to take place in the French capital, and the following season
Paris was followed by his hit Fifty Million Frenchmen. You Never Know (1938) was also set in Paris, as were
his final two Broadway musicals Can-Can (1953) and Silk Stockings (1955) and his last original film musical,
MGM’s Les Girls (1957). And of course for Can-Can Porter wrote “I Love Paris,” his classic ode to the city.
For more information about Porter and Paris, see Fifty Million Frenchmen.
Note that some twenty years later Margetson starred as Phileas Fogg in Porter’s Around the World in
Eighty Days (1946), a huge failure that nonetheless left behind some insinuating numbers, including “Look
What I Found,” “Should I Tell You I Love You?,” and “Pipe Dreaming.” Complete Lyrics reports that Irving
Aaronson and His Commanders had appeared at the Ambassadeurs Café in Paris during the summer of 1927,
and at that time introduced “Let’s Misbehave.” Offstage, star Irene Bordoni and the coproducer (and sometime
lyricist) E. Ray Goetz were man and wife.
Paris, Just a Minute, and Ups-A-Daisy all premiered on the same night of October 8.
UPS-A-DAISY

Performances: 64
Book and Lyrics: Clifford Grey and Robert A. Simon
Music: Lewis E. Gensler
Based on the play Der Hochtourist by Curt (aka Kurt) Kraatz, which was produced on Broadway as The Moun-
tain Climber in 1906 in an adaptation by M. Neal.
Direction: Edgar J. MacGregor; Producer: Lewis E. Gensler; Choreography: Earl Lindsay; Scenery: John
Wenger; Costumes: Kiviette; Milgrim; Sonia Rosenberg; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Gene Salzer
Cast: Marie Saxon (Polly Mallory), Luella Gear (Ethel Billings), Roy Royston (Roy Lindbrooke), Russ Brown
(Jimmy Ridgeway), Joan Carter Waddell (Madge Mallory), Nell Kelly (Lurline), Buster West (“Pinky”
Parks), William Kent (Montmorency, aka Monty, Billings), John West (Fletcher), Joseph Caits (Oskar),
Louis Caits (Sepp), George Paunceforte (Ambrose Wattle), Bob Hope (Screeves), Alan Fox (Scrams), Georgia
Moore (Marigold), Mildred Tolle (Irene), Jocelyn Lyle (Mary), Rita Crane (Gertrude), Fred Maye (Freddie),
Billy Neely (Walter), Alan Crane (A Page), Muriel Pollock and Constance Mering (Pianists); Guests, Peas-
ants, Members of the Alpine Society, Others: Sybil Bursk, Teddy Cameron, Rita Crane, Virginia Crowe,
May Delaney, Margaret Dybfest, Adeline Foley, Ruth Gaudens, Carlyn Gerken, Ruth Hartman, Mitzi
Hayes, Florence Healy, Muriel Hoey, Lebanon Hoffa, Amalia Ideal, Irene Kelly, Myrtle Lambert, Lorry
LeNoie, Marilyn Mack, Jocelyn Lyle, Dolly Martinez, Virginia Maye, Marjorie Miller, Georgia Moore,
Lucille Moore, Odessa Morgan, Petra Olsen, Charlotte Otis, Patricia Pitcher, Mildred Pitcher, Blanche
Reeves, Ruth Timmons, Wanda Wood, Betty Wright, Grace Wright, Dorothy Wyatt, Al Berl, Harry Blake,
Sam Bradley, John Coughlin, Alan Crane, Alan Fox, Bob Hope, Sydney Kane, Arthur LaFrack, Walter Low-
ery, Herbert Lund, Fred Maye, John McCahill, Billy Neely, George Smith, Francis X. Sinnott
The action takes place during the present time in Surrey and in the Alps.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Ensemble); “Ups-A-Daisy” (Joan Carter Waddell, Russ Brown, Ensemble); “Great
Little Guy” (William Kent, Luella Gear, Nell Kelly, Russ Brown, Ensemble); “Oh, How Happy We’ll Be”
(Marie Saxon, Roy Royston, Ensemble); “I’ve Got a Baby” (Buster West, Ensemble); “Tell Me Who You
Are” (Nell Kelly, Russ Brown); “Will You Remember?” (Marie Saxon, Roy Royston, Ensemble)
1928–1929 Season 481
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Desire under the Alps” (Joseph Caits, Louis Caits); Specialty (Joseph Caits,
Louis Caits); “Oh, How Happy We’ll Be” (reprise) (Luella Gear, William Kent); “Sweet One” (Marie Saxon,
Roy Royston, Ensemble); “Sweetest of the Roses” (Marie Saxon, Boys); “Oh, How I Miss You Blues” (Lu-
ella Gear, Boys); Finaletto; Specialty (Buster West, John West); “Will You Remember?” (reprise) (Marie
Saxon, Roy Royston); “Ups-A-Daisy” (reprise) (Ensemble); “Hot” (Nell Kelly, Ensemble); Finale
Ups-A-Daisy was one of three musicals to open on October 8, and like Just a Minute it played for only a
few weeks. But Paris was a hit that ran for almost two-hundred performances and enjoyed national tours both
before and after the Broadway run.
Some of the scenes in Ups-A-Daisy took place in the Swiss Alps, and the score included “Desire under the
Alps,” which somehow never became a hit song. Otherwise, the musical looked at Britisher Montmorency
Billings (William Kent), who leads a double life, and so while his wife, Ethel (Luella Gear), is left alone in
Surrey he’s playing the field in Paris. (The story was similar in theme to the later 1958 musical Oh Captain!,
in which the hero lives a double life in England and Paris. He’s a stuffy proper gent in suburban London with
his wife, and a gay blade with his mistress in Wicked Old Paree.)
In order to deceive Ethel, Monty pretends he’s a mountain climber in the Alps, and to bring veracity
to his deception he writes Ethel letters about his exploits, stories he’s lifted from a book written by actual
mountain climber Roy Lindbrooke (Roy Royston). Ethel is so impressed by Monty’s adventures that she
has his letters published, and of course the book leads to complications when Roy reads it. But all ends
well when Roy goes along with Monty’s masquerade because Roy is attracted to Ethel’s sister Polly (Marie
Saxon).
The critic for the New York Times said if the “relatively mild” show were a freshman theme he’d give
it a “B.” Composer Lewis B. Gensler (who also produced the musical) had written a “pleasant” but not par-
ticularly “striking” score that was “below the standard of several” of his previous ones, including Queen
High, and the book wouldn’t cause William Anthony McGuire, Herbert Fields, Harry B. Smith, and Oscar
Hammerstein II to become “envious.” But the cast helped make the show “pleasant, if not exciting,” and
Kent and Gear were particular stand-outs. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the “superb hoofing”
and Gear’s “cool” and “charming” presence “probably raised” the show “to the ‘average’ class,” but oth-
erwise Ups-A-Daisy was “just the sort of thing that would be called Ups-A-Daisy.” The dances might “be
enough to keep you awake,” and while they “didn’t have that effect on me,” they “did wake me up from
time to time.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer found the musical sometimes “peppy” and occasionally
“not so speedy,” but the score contained two potential hits (“Will You Remember?” and “Oh, How Happy
We’ll Be”). Gilbert Swan in the Muncie Star Press praised dancer Nell Kelly, who was “to this season what
Zelma O’Neal was to last,” and she introduced “Hot,” a dance “which is just what it is and also the way
Nell does it.” Variety said the “ragged” show was brought to Broadway too soon and “still needed doctoring,”
noted that Kelly was a “knockout,” and mentioned that despite some Alpine scenes there was “no yodeling,
thank the stars.” W. B. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the “conventional but extraordinarily ingratiating
amount of musical nonsense,” singled out the songs “Will You Remember?” and “Tell Me Who You Are,”
and found John Wenger’s décor “good-looking,” with some it of leaning “heavily towards the modernistic
trend.” Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune wasn’t impressed with Ups-A-Daisy but said the cast saved it
“from being stupid.”
During the tryout, “I Can’t Believe It’s True” and “The Mountain Slide” were cut, Bobbie Perkins
(as Madge Mallory) was succeeded by Joan Carter Waddell (soon after the Broadway opening, the role was
eliminated), and shortly after the Broadway opening William Kent left the show and was replaced by Franker
Woods. Note that future comic legend Bob Hope here played the role of a butler named Screeves. During the
Broadway run, the reprise of “Will You Remember?” was dropped and replaced by a specialty by the Ups-A-
Daisy Quartet (Oscar Ellinger, Jack Lawrence, Carrick Douglas, and W. G. Critzer).
HOLD EVERYTHING!
“The Musical Comedy That Has Everything” / “A New Musical Comedy”

Performances: 409
Book: B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and John McGowan
Lyrics: Lew Brown and B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva
Direction: Uncredited; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Jack Haskell; Sam
Rose; Scenery: Henry Dreyfuss; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Natacha Rambova; Lighting: Un-
credited; Musical Direction: Oscar Radin
Cast: Buddy Harak (Marty), Harry Locke (Mack), Harry Shannon (“Murf” Levy), Edmund Elton (“Pop”
O’Keefe), Betty Compton (Norine Lloyd), Alice Boulden (Betty Dunn), Bert Lahr (Gink Schiner), Ona
Munson (Sue Burke), Nina Olivette (“Toots” Breen), Jack Whiting (“Sonny Jim” Brooks), Frank All-
worth (Dan Larkin), Victor Moore (“Nosey” Bartlett), Robert O’Brien (Bob Morgan), Phil Sheridan (“The
Kicker”), Anna Locke (Gladys Martin); Ladies of the Ensemble: Edna Burford, Katheryn Black, Gene
Brady, Mildred Clark, Rose Doll, Helen Doyle, Dorothy Deane, Adele Fitzgerald, May Rena Grady, Doro-
thy Graham, Emily Losen, Dian Le Shay, Melba Lee, Betty Morton, Jolo Marino, Georgianna Orr, Sugar
O’Neill, Lylian Ojala, Pollie Rose, Ruth Sato, Gene Scott, Clair Scott, Betty Wheeler, Elinor Wheeler,
Francis Woodward; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Jimmy Babbitts, Raymond Gray, Wallie Gardner, Ray-
mond Hunt, Harry King, Joe Mann, Andrew Marinko, Sol Perla, Gus Schilling, Robert Silva, Jack Ray-
mond, Jerry Rogers, Herbert Sampson
Note: At some point after the opening, Jack Donahue and John Boyle’s Dancing Girls joined the cast; the
dancers were: Betty Borden, Mary Gibson, Clara Larinova, Isabelle Marsh, Eleanor Moffett, Evelyn Monte,
Vivian Morgan, Frances Nevins, Ruth Parker, Irene Peck, Emily Sherman, and Lucille Osborne (Dance
Captain).
The action takes place during the present time in Long Island and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We’re Calling on Mr. Brooks” (Buddy Harak, Harry Locke, Visitors); “An Outdoor Man for My
Indoor Sports” (Betty Compton, Boys); “Footwork” (Jack Whiting, Ensemble); “You’re the Cream in My
Coffee” (Ona Munson, Jack Whiting); “When I Love, I Love” (Bert Lahr, Nina Olivette); “Too Good to
Be True” (Jack Whiting, Ensemble); “To Know You Is to Love You” (Jack Whiting, Ona Munson, Girls);
“Don’t Hold Everything” (Alice Boulden, Buddy Harak, Harry Locke, Anna Locke, Ensemble); Finale
(Company)
Act Two: “For Sweet Charity’s Sake” (Betty Compton, Girls and Boys); “Genealogy” (Victor Moore, Buddy
Harak, Harry Locke); “Oh, Gosh” (Nina Olivette, Bert Lahr); “It’s All Over but the Shoutin’” (Ona Mun-
son, Nina Olivette, Betty Compton, Ensemble); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Alice Boulden,
Girls); Finale (Company)
The team of lyricists B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson enjoyed a string
of hit book musicals that capitalized on various aspects of sports, fads, and popular culture in general: Good
News looked at college life and football; Hold Everything! focused on prizefighting; Follow Thru (which fol-
lowed Hold Everything! by a few months and became the team’s second hit show of the season) dealt with
golf; and Flying High joined the bandwagon of aviation-themed shows and movies. Three weeks after Good
News opened, the team’s successful Ed Wynn vehicle Manhattan Mary premiered, and all five hits opened
within a three-year period. The team also wrote the score for the 1928 edition of George White’s Scandals and
found time to write two original film musicals, the 1929 hit Sunnyside Up, a Cinderella story that yielded a
delightful score, many of them hits (“If I Had a Talking Picture of You,” “Turn on the Heat,” “I’m a Dreamer,
Aren’t We All?,” and the title song), and the bizarre 1930 science fiction failure Just Imagine, which looked at
life in 1980 and offered the irresistible “Never Swat a Fly.” The team also contributed a few songs to Three
Cheers, which premiered between the openings of Hold Everything! and Follow Thru.
Hold Everything! gave Broadway a new star in Bert Lahr. He’d appeared in vaudeville, burlesque, and in
one Broadway revue, and now his first book musical put him on the map. He played the often tipsy Gink
Shiner, and with all those years in vaudeville and burlesque behind him he’d perfected a shtick unique to
1928–1929 Season 483
him, which included grimaces, contortions, snorts, and strange sounds (repetitions of a word that sounded
like “gnong”).
The score yielded an evergreen, the infectious and tasty observation that “You’re the Cream in My
Coffee,” which was introduced by Jack Whiting (as prizefighter “Sonny Jim” Brooks) and his girlfriend Sue
(Ona Munson). Along for the merry ride were the eternally blundering and apologetic “Nosey” Bartlett (Vic-
tor Moore), Gink’s brassy girlfriend “Toots” Breen (Nina Olivette), and society vamp Norine Lloyd (Betty
Compton).
When Sue insists that “Sonny Jim” fight a round of boxing for a society benefit, his refusal causes a mo-
mentary estrangement. And when it comes to the Big Fight, Sue eggs him on by proclaiming that his opponent
insulted her, and so “Sonny Jim” gets revved up and knocks him out. Another plot line followed the efforts of
mobsters to induce “Sonny Jim” to throw the Big Fight, and when all else fails they attempt to use knockout
drops to ensure he loses. But of course the hero wins the day.
The story’s slight framework provided comic opportunities for clowns Lahr, Moore, and Olivette to dish
up their various brands of humor (but the critics felt Moore was somewhat short-changed), ensured romantic
moments for Whiting and Munson, and gave Alice Boulden a chance to tear up the stage in the almost-title
song (“Don’t Hold Everything”).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “droll” musical with its “motley crew of comedi-
ans,” and especially Lahr, who supplied “most of the uproarious comedy in this carnival.” Lahr often sparred
with Olivette (she tells him that “For two cents I’d knock you out,” and he replies, “You’re mercenary, you’re
mercenary”), and when he shows off his boxing acumen he manages to give himself a knockout punch.
Atkinson felt the book was sometimes “threadbare” and too often used connective-tissue phrases (such as
“Oh, there is something I wanted to tell you”), and Moore was treated “badly” with a lack of comic lines (but
he managed to “squeeze out” some “pleasant humors” from the “innocuous” song “Genealogy”). Charles
Brackett in the New Yorker said that because the show was not “average” and “straight,” he could therefore
“burst into full-throated praise.” The “swell” show may not have been “quite up to” Good News and Funny
Face, but it crowded them “close.”
St. John Ervine in the Indianapolis Star noted that for “sheer virtuosity” Lahr’s performance could “not
easily be surpassed,” and Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune found Lahr “broadly funny.” Ralph Wilk in the
Minneapolis Star said the “richly comic” Lahr garnered “laughs whenever he appears on the scene, and no
matter what he does.” The musical itself was “enjoyable and highly delightful,” provided a “decidedly gener-
ous amount” of humor, and moved along “at a spirited pace.”
The New York production didn’t credit a director, but for the tryout Frank McCormack was listed
as such on both the program and flyer; Sam Rose was the choreographer of record, but for New York he
shared billing with Jack Haskell; and Marjorie White created the role of Betty Dunn, and was succeeded by
Alice Boulden for Broadway (but White enjoyed featured roles in DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson’s above-
mentioned film musicals Sunnyside Up and Just Imagine, and for the latter she introduced “Never Swat
a Fly”). Dropped during the tryout were the songs “Here’s One Who Wouldn’t,” “Heel Beat,” and “We’re
Waiting for the Weather.” During the New York run, Betty Compton was given a late second-act number
identified as “Specialty.”
“Don’t Hold Everything” and the deleted “Heel Beat” are included in DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Re-
visited (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-144), and the second Revisited (# PSCD-145) includes “To Know
You Is to Love You.” “You’re the Cream in My Coffee” has been recorded numerous times, and is part of the
collection Good News: The Music & Songs of DeSylva, Brown & Henderson (Conifer Records Unlimited CD
# CDHD-182), where it’s played in a 1929 recording by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra with vocals by Sam
Browne.
The London production opened on June 12, 1929, at the Palace Theatre for 173 performances, and the cast
included Owen Nares (“Sonny Jim”) and Mamie Watson (Sue).
The 1930 film version is presumed lost. Directed by Roy Del Ruth and released by Warner Brothers, it
stars Joe E. Brown (Gink), Winnie Lightner (“Toots”), Sally O’Neil (Sue), Bert Roach (“Nosey”), Dorothy Re-
vier (Norine), and Georges La Verne (as “Sonny Jim” Brooks and called Georges Carpentier in the film). (Note
that Harriette Lake, aka Ann Sothern, also appeared in the movie.) Photographed in Technicolor, the film was
released in both sound and silent versions, and three songs from the Broadway production were retained (“To
Know You Is to Love You,” “You’re the Cream in My Coffee,” and “Don’t Hold Everything”). The film added
new songs by lyricist Al Dubin and composer Joe Burke.
THREE CHEERS
“A New Musical Entertainment” / “A Rousing Musical Extravaganza”

Performances: 210
Book: Anne Caldwell and R. H. Burnside
Lyrics: Anne Caldwell; additional lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown
Music: Raymond Hubbell; additional music by Ray Henderson and by Leslie Sarony
Direction: R. H. Burnside; Producer: Charles Dillingham; Choreography: Dave (David) Bennett (Pearl Eaton,
Assistant Choreographer) (choreography for the Tiller Sunshine Girls by Mary Read with additional
choreography by Gamby-Hale); Scenery: Sheldon K. Viele; Raymond Sovey; Costumes: Charles LeMaire;
Brooks Costume Company; Francillon; Eaves Costume Company; Schneider-Anderson Company; Light-
ing: Uncredited; Musical Direction: George Hirst
Cast: Andrew Tombes (George Mullins), Alan Edwards (Barry Vance), Edward Allan (Spike), William Valen-
tine (Prince Josef), Oscar Ragland (The Duke), John Lambert (Malotte), William Torpey (The Mayor), Janet
Velie (Daphne De Lorne), Maude Eburne (Queen Ysobel), Patsy Kelly (Bobbie Bird), Evangeline Raleigh
(Audrey Nugent), Thea Dore (Floria Farleigh), Cynthia Foley (Ermyntrude), Florine Phelps (Letty), Irene
Phelps (Betty), Phyllis Rae (Zazia), Kathryn Hereford (Mike), Ralph Thomson (Wellington Westland),
Joseph Shrode (Cameraman), William Kerschell (Inn Keeper), James Murray (Captain Meurice), Dorothy
Stone (Princess Sylvia), Will Rogers (King Pompanola); Ladies in Waiting to Princess Sylvia: Sally An-
derson, Anna May Dennehy, Tanya Dumova, Evelyn Nelson, Dorothy Phillips, Florence Rice, Frances
Thress, Winthrop Wayne, Mimi Jordan; Dancers: Jean Castleton, Ruth Farrar, Helen Kaiser, Maxine
Lorenz, Nickie Pitell, Jane Stafford, Phyllis Reynolds, Blanche O’Donohoe, Regina Burke, Peggy Cun-
ningham, Jeanne Edwards, Helene Franz, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ottile George, Evelyn Greer, Geraldine
Markham, Helen MacDonald, Leona Pennington, Gladys Pender, Anna Riley, Mozelle Ransome, Jet
Stanley, Peggy Timmins, Vera O’Brien, Emily Marth; Guardsmen: Bub Baldwin, Charles Conkling, Floyd
English, Richard Ellis, Irving Jackson, Dick Kennedy, Tom McLaughlin, Wilbur Reviere; The Tiller Sun-
shine Girls: Doris Carter, Noreen Callow, Clara Gillette, Louise Gillette, Marjorie Griffiths, Mabel Hall,
Sadie Hudson, Queenie James, Cora Meary, Muriel Marlowe, Dolly Mosely, Bella Pilling, Dorothy Sabin,
Florence Stack, Alice Wright, Doris Yates
The action takes place during the present time in the mythical kingdom of Itza and in Hollywood.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “The Americans Are Here” (Janet Velie, Patsy Kelly, Evangeline Raleigh, Thea Dore, An-
drew Tombes, John Lambert, Ralph Thomson, Ensemble); “My Orange Blossom Home” (Andrew Tombes,
The Phelps Twins); “Lady Luck” (Dorothy Stone, Ensemble); Dance Specialty (The Tiller Sunshine Girls);
“Maybe This Is Love” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson) (Dorothy Stone,
Alan Edwards); “It’s an Old Spanish Custom” (Will Rogers); “Pompanola” (lyric by B. G. DeSylva and Lew
Brown, music by Ray Henderson) (Dorothy Stone, Alan Edwards, The Phelps Twins, Phyllis Rae, Cyn-
thia Foley, Ensemble); Dance Specialty (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); “Because You’re Beautiful” (Andrew
Tombes, Patsy Kelly, Cynthia Foley, Thea Dore, Kathryn Hereford, Ensemble); “Bobby and Me” (Dorothy
Stone, The Tiller Sunshine Girls); Dance Specialty (The Tiller Sunshine Girls); Finale
Act Two: “The (My) Silver Tree” (Janet Velie, Evangeline Raleigh, Thea Dore, Phyllis Rae, Ensemble); “Gee,
It’s Great to Be Alive” (Dorothy Stone, Alan Edwards); “Look Pleasant” (Andrew Tombes, Patsy Kelly,
Edward Allan); “Two Boys” (Dorothy Stone, Alan Edwards, William Valentine, Ensemble); “Let’s All Sing
the Lard Song” (lyric by Anne Caldwell, music by Leslie Sarony) (Will Rogers, Andrew Tombes); “Put-
ting on the Ritz” (Dorothy Stone, Edward Allan, The Tiller Sunshine Girls, Ensemble); “Happy Hoboes”
(Dorothy Stone, Will Rogers); Dance Specialty (choreographed by Gamby-Hale) (The Tiller Sunshine
Girls); “Bride Bells” (Janet Velie, Oscar Ragland, John Lambert); Finale
1928–1929 Season 485
Three Cheers had been intended as a vehicle for Fred Stone, but prior to production he was severely in-
jured in an airplane accident and was unable to perform. As a favor to his friend, Will Rogers agreed to appear
in the show, and the program and flyers noted that Rogers was “pinch-hitting” for Stone. Rogers played the
role for the entire six-month New York run as well as the post-Broadway tour, and it wasn’t until 1930 that
Stone returned to Broadway (in Ripples).
Once Rogers signed for the musical it was rewritten to give him various opportunities to interpolate what
he was best known for, monologues about the passing scene, and particularly his thoughts on politics. And
because the national election was just around the corner when the show premiered, Rogers had a lot to say
about the candidates (Catholic Al Smith was running, and Rogers noted that if Smith became president, the
Pope wouldn’t take over the United States. And why not? Because Rogers had once visited the Vatican, and
there’s so much stuff there it would take the Pope four years to pack up his things).
Ironically, it was also Rogers’s fate to be in an airplane accident. But Rogers wasn’t as fortunate as Stone,
and in 1935 both Rogers and his pilot and friend Wiley Post were killed in a crash in Alaska. The premiere of
Three Cheers included an aviation legend in the opening night audience with no less than Charles Lindbergh
in attendance (Lindbergh had made his historic solo flight across the Atlantic in May of the previous year).
Three Cheers took place during the present time in two mythical locales, the kingdom of Itza and the
town called Hollywood. The kingdom is invaded by Hollywood types who travel there to shoot generic foot-
age for an upcoming movie. Film director Barry Vance (Alan Edwards) falls in love with Itza’s Princess Sylvia
(Dorothy Stone, Fred’s daughter), and soon she, her father King Pompanola (Rogers), and others in the royal
circle go to Hollywood to make movies, and with their earnings they’re able to fill their country’s empty
coffers.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said “homespun” philosopher Rogers “paid as little attention
to the book as decency permitted,” and the star told the audience, “I don’t know one thing Fred does that I can
do.” And after Rogers “had finished bludgeoning the Democrats and the Republicans,” he noted that govern-
ment “farm relief” meant “relieving the farmers of all that they possess.” Atkinson noted that the score was
“unpretentiously melodious” and singled out five “capital” songs including “Because You’re Beautiful” (with
“saucy” Patsy Kelly) and “Let’s All Sing the Lard Song” (for the latter, Rogers and Andrew Tombes brought
down the house “completely”). Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said having Rogers pinch-hit “for any ac-
tor is like having the Atlantic Ocean substitute for one of the Great Lakes,” and Burns Mantle in the Chicago
Tribune said Rogers’s success with the audience was immediate when he told them that Stone was an expert
at back flips and acrobatic dances, but because these routines had for some reason now been cut out of the
show, he wouldn’t be doing them.
St. John Ervine in the Indianapolis Star said Three Cheers was “ramshackle,” but Rogers took “entire
charge of an audience,” and when he walked on stage, “nobody else is visible on it.” Ralph Wilk in the Min-
neapolis Star said that Rogers’s “informality, the unexpectedness of his interpolated remarks not in the book,
and the fun he himself seems to get out of his part,” made “the whole performance all the more enjoyable.”
Robert Littell in the Minneapolis Star noted that Rogers “at his funniest is funnier than anybody else,” and
here he “was never funnier.” Further, one of the evening’s “many high spots” was an “irresistibly silly duet
[“Let’s All Sing the Lard Song”] magnificently rendered” by Rogers and Tombes; throughout the number
they’d “suddenly stop and interpolate the kind of crack that makes you rock and roar for several minutes.”
Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press said the show was a “beautifully dressed extravaganza” with
“hearable” music, including “Lady Luck” and “Maybe This Is Love,” the latter offering “as graceful a chorus
movement as you will see in the Times Square dancing universities.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle praised Patsy Kelly’s “toughly slouching movie flapper” who “amuses from time to time,” and of the
supporting players Littell also singled out Kelly, who “did one of those regular musical comedy tomboys far
more attractively and casually than I’ve ever seen the job done before.”
As for Dorothy Stone, Mantle said that “without Rogers” neither she nor the other principals could have
carried the show. Pollock found her “graceful” and “charming,” but noted she was “too young and inexpe-
rienced as yet to stand alone” and she seemed to shine “brightest” when Fred was around “to kindle her.”
Hammond said she had a “joyous personality”; and Wilk mentioned she made a “charming” princess.
During the run, “My Orange Blossom Home” and “Look Pleasant” were dropped, no doubt as part of the
effort to reduce the show to a more manageable length (Pollock noted that the opening night’s final curtain
didn’t fall until nearly midnight).
ANIMAL CRACKERS

Performances: 191
Book: George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producer: Sam H. Harris; Choreography: Russell E. Markert; Scenery: Raymond
Sovey; Costumes: Mabel Johnston; Eaves Costume Co.; Finchley; Lighting: Electrical effects by Otto F.
Diehl of Duwico; Musical Direction: Anton Heindl
Cast: Robert Grieg (Hives), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Rittenhouse), Arthur Lipson (M. Doucet), Alice Wood
(Arabella Rittenhouse), Margaret Irving (Mrs. Whitehead), Bobby Perkins (Grace Carpenter), Bert Mathews
(Wally Winston), Milton Watson (John Parker), Louis Sorin (Roscoe W. Chandler), Bernice Ackerman
(Mary Stewart), Zeppo Marx (Jamison), Groucho Marx (Captain Spaulding [sometimes given as Spalding]),
Chico Marx (Emanuel Ravelli), Harpo Marx (The Professor), The Carsons (Specialty Dancers); Ensemble:
The Show Girls—Helen Fowble, Patricia Pursley, Aileen Shaw, Virginia Stone, Annette Davies, Jessica
Worth, Jewell La Kota, Marie Muselle, Marcelle Miller; The Dancing Girls—Helen Cambridge, Virginia
Meyers, Lucille Milam, Clepo Brown, Genevieve Kent, Helene Sheldon, Maxine Marshall, Gypsy Hol-
lis, Kay Donegan, Gerry Hoffman, Billie Blake, Dorothy Knowlton, Gertrude Cole, Patsy O’Keefe, Hazel
Bofinger, Muriel Buck, Mary O’Rourke; The Sixteen Markert Dancers—Florence Wall (Dance Captain),
Janice Glenn, Erma (Irma) Nicholas, Audrey Volmer, Thelma Witzig, Mildred Burkhardt, Ivena Baker, Flo-
rine Meyers, Serrita Lorraine, Louise Mills, Alpha Wellenkotter, Eleanore (Eleanor) McCabe, Mildred Hat-
field, Frances Wise, Irma (Erma) Shy, Dorothy Marmon, Alyse Green; Gentlemen—Edward Young, Jack
Bauer, Preston Lewis, John Elliott, Walton Ford, Harry Pederson, Allan Blair, William Bradley, Hermes
Pan, Albert D’Amato, George K. Wallace, Marty Rhiel
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: (a) (“You must do your best tonight”) (Robert Grieg, Butlers); (b) (“When guests
remain . . .”) (The Maids [The Sixteen Markert Dancers]); and (c) (“We are dying for a drink”) (The Guests
(Ensemble]); “News” (Bert Mathews, The Sixteen Markert Dancers); “Hooray for Captain Spalding (aka
Spaulding)” (which includes the sequence “Hello, I Must Be Going”) (Robert Grieg, Zeppo Marx, Margaret
Dumont, Groucho Marx, Ensemble); “Who’s Been Listening to My Heart?” (Bernice Ackerman, Milton
Watson); “The Long Island Low-Down” (Bert Mathews, Bobby Perkins); “Go Places and Do Things” (En-
semble); Dance (The Carsons); “Watching the Clouds Roll By” (Bernice Ackerman, Milton Watson); Piano
Specialty (Chico Marx); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening Chorus (“We are mystified . . .”) (Robert Grieg, Guests); “When Things Are (Look) Bright
and Rosy” (Bert Mathews, Alice Wood); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Bernice Ackerman, Mil-
ton Watson); “Cool Off” (Bobby Perkins, Ensemble); The Royal Filipino Band; Ballet: “The Court of Louis
the 57th”; Harp Specialty (Harpo Marx); “Musketeers” (aka “We’re Four of the Three Musketeers”) (The
Four Marx Brothers); Finale (Company)
The Marx Brothers were back on Broadway in Animal Crackers, and madness reigned on West 44th
Street. The oh-so grand Long Island socialite Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) is hosting a weekend house
party at her estate, and one of the guests is no less than the celebrated African explorer Captain Spaulding
(Groucho Marx). But plans are afoot to steal one of her valuable paintings, and whether or not Emanuel Ravelli
(Chico Marx) and a silent someone known as The Professor (Harpo Marx) are part of the heist we couldn’t say.
There was also a romantic subplot or two, but no one really cared because the show was only alive
when the boys were on stage with their surreal wordplay and comic capers. George S. Kaufman and Morrie
Ryskind’s perfectly tailored script gave the brothers plenty of leeway for their comic genius and included op-
1928–1929 Season 487
portunities for them to inject ad libs and all sorts of stage business, and Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby’s score
offered the classic “Hooray for Captain Spaulding,” which became Groucho’s signature song. Their score also
included the obligatory dance-craze number (“The Long Island Low-Down”) and a requisite ballad or two
(“Watching the Clouds Roll By”).
Spaulding tells Emanuel Ravelli (Chico) that he used to know someone named Emanuel Ravelli; Chico
replies that he is Emanuel Ravelli; and Spaulding responds that it’s no wonder Emanuel Ravelli looks like
Emanuel Ravelli, but “I still insist there’s a resemblance.” Spaulding notes that his middle initial T stands
for Edgar; in a reference to a Rodgers and Hart song, he says “you took a bandage off me”; and tells someone
going to South America that “You go Uruguay and I’ll go mine.” When he says he’ll marry two women, one
of them replies that’s bigamy, and he agrees that “of course it’s big of me,” and also states there’s just one
thing he’d like to do before he quits work, and that’s to retire.
At one point, Spaulding somehow becomes Louis the 57th, and because the queen is in Pittsburgh he
decides to seduce Madame DuBarry. And he and his brothers sing (and The Professor Harpo honks) that they
are four of the three musketeers, and are “all for one, and three for five”; Spaulding indulges in interior mono-
logues when he spoofs O’Neill’s Strange Interlude; Emanuel pretends to be Italian; Harpo picks pockets, and
rather than offering his hand in greeting, instead proffers his leg; and at one point everyone indulges in what
is the maddest card game this side of Alice in Wonderland.
When the valuable painting is stolen, Spaulding and Emanuel wonder where it could be, and decide that
perhaps it’s in the bedroom of the house next door, except there’s no house next door. As a result, they work
out the blueprints for the house, even down to such fine details as the color of paint on the walls and where
the bedrooms should be (Emanuel wants his next to the maid’s room). And of course Margaret Dumont was
put on earth to be insulted, and so Spaulding doesn’t fail to disappoint (she’s the most beautiful woman he’s
ever seen, and that’s not saying much).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times hailed the “uproarious slapstick” with its “new fury of puns
and gibes,” and reported that on opening night the crowds “squeezed into the bulging theatre,” where many
had paid $100 for a pair of tickets (at the box office, an opening night ticket had cost $11, but these were long
gone and the only way to get in was to visit a scalper). Part of the show was typical musical comedy “fiddle-
faddle,” which cluttered the stage, but then the boys “hilariously” took over and all was well, including the
“astonishing” piece of “nonsense” when the talk “somehow” progressed from a discussion about a stolen
painting to the erection and furnishing of the nonexistent house next door. The boys were “nihilists” whose
“vulgar mountebankery” threw “stinging thrusts at everything in general, including themselves.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker reported that from Philadelphia where the show played its pre-
Broadway engagement had come the comment that the word Wow had been coined especially for the comic
“extravaganza,” and the word of mouth had now been proven true. Animal Crackers was “just the right rub-
ber ladder for them to storm up and tumble down,” and the best way to enjoy the experience was to “relax
and let the Marx Brothers thump and trample you.” Bushnell Dimond in the Muncie Star Press noted that the
show was “pretty dull” without the brothers, and he decided their occasional stage absences gave the audi-
ence “fortunate breathing spaces in which to gain strength for more rib-aching laughter.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said the evening was “a riot of color and animation, mu-
sic and vaudeville stunts,” but thought “one or two incidents are plainly vulgar and could profitably be left
out.” Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press said he “liked the show and its performers as a funny, uncouth,
what-the-hell defiance of good taste, to say nothing of etiquette in the theatre.” And Arthur Pollock in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided a statistician could easily prove there were “at least” an average of “two good
laughs per minute.”
The British critic St. John Ervine was a guest reviewer for the New York World, and he said the Marx
Brothers’ brand of humor didn’t impress him; in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he noted that Groucho was “fun-
damentally mirthless” and seemed “entirely calculated and mechanical.” Variety raved about the musical,
and referred to St. John Ervine seven times during the course of the review (usually with the phrase “St. John
Ervine excepted”), and said “St. John Ervine or no, Animal Crackers will run till unconscious.” Variety also
reported that at the third New York performance Groucho found time to wisecrack about the British critic.
The script (with lyrics) is included in the hardback collection Kaufman & Co.: Broadway Comedies (pub-
lished in hardback in 2004 by The Library of America with notes by Laurence Maslon).
The film version was released by Paramount in 1930; directed by Victor Heerman, the cast included the
Marx Brothers along with other members from the Broadway company, including Margaret Dumont, Robert
Greig, and Margaret Irving (the film also featured Lillian Roth in the role of Arabella). One song (“Hooray for
Captain Spaulding”) was retained from the Broadway production, and Kalmar and Ruby contributed a new
one (“Why Am I So Romantic?”). The film was released on DVD by Universal (# 61116513).
BLACK SCANDALS
“A Musical Novelty”
Theatre: Edyth Totten Theatre

Performances: 3
Book: George Smithfield
Lyrics and Music: See below
Direction: George Smithfield; other credits unknown
Cast: Bee Wells (Pirika, Slave Girl), Waldine Williams (Princess Malachrino), Stewart Hampton (Rastus), Clar-
ence Nance (Henry), Frank Lloyd (King Bobo), Robert Johnson (Lieutenant), Henry Richardson (Arab), Eva
Wingo (Slave Girl); other cast members unknown
The action takes place in the Land of Azuwere.
Musical Numbers
Note: No information is available concerning which songs were heard in the production. The New York
Times reported that “the songs were mostly popular numbers, interpolated for no particular reason.”
Both Black Scandals and Pansy played for three performances apiece and went down in the record books
as the two shortest-running Broadway book musicals of the decade.
As noted above, the songs in Black Scandals were mostly interpolations of popular songs. Despite its
title, the show was a book musical and not a revue. The story dealt with two black comedians who, thanks
to Aladdin’s lamp, are transported to the Land of Azuwere.
The Times noted that the production was “so naively and disarmingly amateurish” that it forestalled “any
sort of professional criticism” and was “no more a Broadway entertainment than a rather pretentious Harlem
church or fraternal social would be.” The evening contained “long and mirthless stretches of dialogue” that
were “pointless,” and the result was a “steadily diminishing audience” that “laughed often, though it laughed
at Black Scandals rather than with it.” For all that, the show offered some “isolated bits” of “good hoofing”
and a jazz orchestra that was “a shade above the rest of the proceedings.”
HELLO YOURSELF!!!!
“A Rah! Rah! Musical Comedy”

Performances: 87
Book: Walter DeLeon
Lyrics: Leo Robin
Music: Richard Myers
Direction: Clarke Silvernail; Producer: George Choos; Choreography: Dave Gould; Scenery: P. Dodd Acker-
man; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Jack L. Lipshutz; Brooks Costume Co.; Mahieu Costume Co.; Orange
Costume Co.; Mme. Berthe Costume Co.; Cyber of Paris; Bradley Knitting Mills; Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Paul Yartin
Cast: Blaine Cordner (“Speed” Warren), Evelyn Nair (Polly), Betty Reddick (Nell), “Scotty” Bates (“Scotty”),
Dorothy Lee (Sue Swift), Peggy Hoover (Isabel Manning), William Robertson (Professor Sutton), Joseph
1928–1929 Season 489
Fay (Chet), Al Sexton (Bobby Short), Lucy Monroe (Mrs. MacLauren), Edythe Maye (Kate Stevens), Helen
Goodhue (“Big” Bertha), George Haggerty (Cicero), Al Nord (“Tub” Washburn), Fred Waring (Fred),
Ruth Sennott (Dale Hartley), Walter Reddick (Duke); Nimble Westleyans: Jimmy Ray and The Reddicks
(Betty and Walter); Fred Waring’s Fraternity Brothers: “Poley” McClintock, “Freddie” Buck, “Art” Horn,
“Jimmy” Gilliland, “Nelse” Keller, “Curley” Cockerell, “Bill” Townsend, “Eddie” Radel, “Georgie” Cul-
ley, “Willie” Morgan, “Fred” Campbell, “Fred” Culley, “Francy” Foster, “Scotty” Bates, “Poll” Mertz,
“Wade” Schlegel, “Éclair” Hanlon “Frankie” Hower; Sorority Members: Patsy O’Day, Lolly Taschetta,
Alice Hutchinson, Iris Wayne, Lillian Sullivan, Flora Sahagin, Vera Berg, Henrietta Jean Adams, Evelyn
Dehkes, Louisa Wilson, Dulcy Dowd, Eleanor LaFleur, Sue Hardy, Margaret Knight, Willa De Brauw, Es-
ther Wright, Doris St. Clare, Ruth Collins, Sunny Young, Norma Daly, Marion Obert, Nita Rosso, Estelle
Jensen, Bonney Winslow; Fraternity Members: Jack Fraley, Ernest Petty, Fred Mayon, Charles Raymond,
Barton Smith, Jack Coleman, Laurence Smith, Bill Eckhard, Jack Starr, George LeLand, Wallace Royce,
Burdett Soule
The action takes place during the present time at Westley University.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We Might Play Tiddle De Winks” (Dorothy Lee, Co-eds, Students); “Hello Yourself” (Al Sexton,
Evelyn Nair, Betty Reddick, Co-eds, Students); “You’ve Got a Way with You” (Peggy Hoover, Fred War-
ing, Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians); “He Man” (Helen Goodhue, Co-eds, Students, Walter Reddick, Jimmy
Ray); “Say That You Love Me” (Ruth Sennott, Al Sexton, Lucy Monroe, Co-eds, Students); “True Blue”
(Fred Waring, Students, Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians); “Daily Dozen” (Helen Goodhue, Co-eds, Walter
Reddick); Finale (“The Whole University”)
Act Two: “Tired of It All” (George Haggerty, Co-eds); “I Want the World to Know” (Dorothy Lee, Co-eds,
Students); Reprise (song not identified in program; probably “I Want the World to Know”) (Dorothy
Lee, Evelyn Nair, Betty Reddick, Walter Reddick, Jimmy Ray); “Bobby’s Nightmare” (Peggy Hoover,
Doris St. Clare, Evelyn Dehkes, Nita Rosso, Lillian Sullivan); Reprise (song not identified in program)
(Dorothy Lee, Walter Reddick, Students, Co-eds); “The Concert” (Fred Waring and His Pennsylva-
nians); Finale
The multi-exclamation-pointed Hello Yourself!!!! was a self-described “rah! rah!” college musical, but
there was no Good News here and the show lasted just two-and-a-half months on Broadway before flunking
out. And many of the cast members who appeared in the pre-Broadway engagement didn’t make it to the sec-
ond semester and were replaced before the New York opening (see below). The musical is best remembered
for featuring Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, an all-male orchestra who not only played instruments
but also sang and occasionally bandied about with the requisite megaphone. Waring and the Pennsylvanians
were back on Broadway in Cole Porter’s The New Yorkers (1930), and then didn’t return until 1955 with the
concert production Hear! Hear!, another show in love with exclamation points.
Set in a musical comedy college named Westley, the story dealt with hero Bobby Short (Al Sexton), who
through a misunderstanding is thought to have gambled and therefore is set to be expelled by school president
Professor Sutton (William Robertson). But the professor’s niece Dale (Ruth Sennott) intervenes and saves the
day, and it also turns out her father is a theatrical producer and that Bobby has written a play, no doubt the
kind of play that is just what Broadway is looking for. All ends well for everybody.
The New York Times noted that the show had a book, but “like many another text book, it was thrown
away in the second half, much to the improvement of the piece.” But “shreds” of the book cropped up from
time to time. The songs were “superior” to the dialogue, and one number (“Say That You Love Me”) was
“strikingly” pretty, but the dances were “scarcely up to Broadway standards” (although an “original” one
midway through the second act “merited the applause it received” [probably “Bobby’s Nightmare”]). The
Brooklyn Daily Eagle knew there was “a plot hidden away somewhere,” and occasionally between songs and
dances “somebody says something to remind you there is a story.” Otherwise, the production provided “a
lively evening’s entertainment,” and Waring and the Pennsylvanians were “a fine looking set of boys” who
brought “merit” and “whoopees” to the show.
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the plot was “almost submerged,” but
asked, “Who cares about that?” The evening offered “much dancing of the tap variety,” the music was “good
without being too original to startle anybody,” the chorus was full of “pep and hurrahs,” and the production
was “tastefully staged.” However, Variety criticized the “uninspired” music and “weak” cast, and said the
show was “shy on book.” But it was a “speedy dance show” and boasted Waring and his band, and that was
“about all it has.” As a result, its future was “uncertain” because there was “too much sturdier competition
on the street to survive as a success.”
Helen Goodhue (as “Big” Bertha, the physical education instructor) and the diminutive George Haggerty
(Cicero) made a good contrast with what Variety described as their “small-time hokum.” But nonetheless
they served up the major portion of the evening’s comedy with the depiction of the Amazonian “molesting”
the hapless Cicero, and the Times said Cicero was her “prey” and her “osteopathic handling” of him contrib-
uted to the evening’s “hilarity.”
It was little Dorothy Lee who walked away with the reviews. The Times said the “scintillating little
person” was “skilled in Ann Pennington gyrations and gesticulations”; the Eagle said she was “cute,” was
“built much on the order of a John Held flapper,” and she turned the song “I Want the World to Know” into
a “hit”; Mary Ann Miller in the Indianapolis Star said Lee was “a saucy little person” with “big eyes and
turned-up nose”; and Variety singled her out as a “flip” co-ed “who looks, acts and dresses like a John Held
cartoon.” Lee soon found her way to Hollywood where she was featured in a series of comedies that starred
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey.
During the tryout, Stasia Ledova (as Isabel) was replaced by Peggy Hoover; Walter Plimmer Jr. (Bobby)
was followed by Al Sexton; Thomas Britton (“Tub”) by Al Nord; Jane Fooshee (Dale) by Ruth Sennott (early
in the tryout Sennott had played the role of Polly; when she assumed the role of Dale, Evelyn Nair, who had
played the character Nell, took the role of Polly; and Betty Reddick assumed the role of Nell—got that?). Ivan
Luttman (as Ivan, Ledova’s dance partner) left the show when she was let go, and Cecil Cone (as Betty) and
Willard Fry (as “Frenchy”) left the production when their roles were eliminated. For the post-Broadway tour,
“To the Dance” was added to the score.
TREASURE GIRL
“A New Spectacular Musical Play” / “A New Musical Comedy”

Performances: 68
Book: Fred Thompson and Vincent Lawrence
Direction: Bertram Harrison; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Bobby Con-
nolly; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: Dorothy Jordan (Betty), Virginia Franck (Madge), Peggy O’Neill (Kitty), Victor Garland (Arthur), Clifton
Webb (“Nat” McNally), Gertrude McDonald (Mary Bird), Mary Hay (Polly Tees), Charles Barron (Jack
Wrigley), Stephen Francis (Footman), Walter Catlett (Larry Hopkins), Gertrude Lawrence (Ann Wain-
wright), Paul Frawley (Neil Forrester), Ferris Hartman (Mortimer Grimes), Norman Curtis (Bunce), Frank
G. Bond (“Slug” Bullard), John Dunsmuir (First Mate), Edwin Preble (Postman); At the Pianos: Victor
Arden and Phil Ohman; Ladies of the Ensemble: Florence Allen, Nitza Andre, Marcia Bell, Claire Carroll,
Jean Carroll, Betty Clark, Peggy Conklin, Cleo Cullen, Constance Cummings, Dottie DeSylva, Kathleen
Edwardes, Evelyn Farrell, Sherry Gale, Alma Hookey, Joy Johnson, Adrienne Lampel, Anabel McMann,
Maureen McNeil, Helen Mann, Vida Manuel, Frances Markey, Mabel Martin, Pauline Mason, Ysobel
Mason, Ethel Maye, Lillian Michel, Elsie Neal, Wilma Novak, Tony Otto, Ruth Penery, Peggy Quinn,
Aili Radigan, Marvyne Ray, Wilma Roelof, Helen Sills, Kay Smythe, Flo Spink, Betty Vane, Gwendolyn
Vernon, Beryl Wallace, Betty Wright; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Sidney Ayres, Edwin Bidwell, Norman
Curtis, Eugene Day, E. M. Gall, Regis Geary, Bob Gebhardt, Thomas Hodges, Edward Humbert, Richard
1928–1929 Season 491
Keith, John McAvoy, Billy McCarver, William L. Mack, Lionel Maclyn, Jack Morton, Alfonso Mullarkey,
Daniel O’Brien, Edwin Preble, Fritz Reinhardt, W. Kenneth Shepard, Sam Simpson, Jack Stevens, Jacques
Stone, Sims Walker, Walter Wandell
The action takes place during the present time on a Long Island estate and on a nearby deserted island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Skull and Bones” (Ensemble); “I’ve Got a Crush on You” (May Hay, Clifton Webb, Ensemble); “Oh,
So Nice” (Gertrude Lawrence, Paul Frawley); “According to Mr. Grimes” (Ferris Hartman, Ensemble);
“A-Hunting We Will Go” (aka “Tally Ho”) (Ensemble); “Place in the Country” (Paul Frawley, Norman
Curtis, Girls); “K-ra-zy for You” (Clifton Webb, Mary Hay, Girls); “I Don’t Think I’ll Fall in Love Today”
(Gertrude Lawrence, Paul Frawley); “(I’ve) Got a Rainbow” (Walter Catlett, Charles Baron, Gertrude Mc-
Donald, Dorothy Jordan, Virginia Franck, Peggy O’Neill, Girls); “Feeling I’m Falling” (Gertrude Lawrence,
Paul Frawley); Finale (“We’re looking for the treasure . . .” (Walter Catlett, Gertrude Lawrence, Clifton
Webb, Paul Frawley, Ensemble)
Act Two: Opening: “Treasure Island” (Ensemble); “What Causes That?” (Mary Hay, Clifton Webb, Girls);
“What Are We Here For?” (Gertrude Lawrence, Clifton Webb, Girls); “(I’ve) Got a Rainbow” (reprise)
(Girls); “Where’s the Boy? Here’s the Girl!” (Gertrude Lawrence, Boys); Piano Specialty (Victor Arden, Phil
Ohman); “Oh, So Nice!” (Gertrude Lawrence, Paul Frawley); Finale (Company)
Treasure Girl was the season’s can’t-miss musical that did. The songs were by George and Ira Gershwin,
the star was Gertrude Lawrence, the choreography was by Bobby Connolly, and the producers Alex. A. Aarons
and Vinton Freedley gave it a lavish production with décor by Joseph Urban and costumes by Kiviette. Alfred
Newman conducted the orchestra, pianists Victor Arden and Phil Ohman were around for a specialty, and the
featured players were a who’s-who gallery of stalwart Broadway dependables, including Clifton Webb, Mary
Hay, Walter Catlett, and Paul Frawley. The songs included one bona fide Gershwin classic, “I’ve Got a Crush
on You,” and the score was generous with other memorable numbers, including “Oh, So Nice!,” “I Don’t
Think I’ll Fall in Love Today,” “K-ra-zy for You,” “Where’s the Boy? Here’s the Girl!,” “Feeling I’m Falling,”
“What Are We Here For?,” and “What Causes That?”
Yet the show lasted just two months on Broadway. So what happened? As you may have suspected by now,
it was the book by Fred Thompson and Vincent Lawrence. Their story was promising enough: at a pirate cos-
tume party on Long Island, the flappers and guests are treated to the ultimate party game when they discover
their host has hidden a treasure of $100,000 in cash on a nearby deserted island. Among the guests are Ann
Wainwright (Lawrence), and as written her character was an avaricious and unpleasant conniver who cares
only for money. Critics and audiences alike were disappointed to find Broadway’s darling Lawrence in such
a sour role, and apparently little was done to soften the character during the three-week Philadelphia tryout.
In his review of the New York premiere, J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times noted that Trea-
sure Girl had “everything desirable” except “a pleasant book.” Instead, the book was an “evil thing” which
placed Lawrence in a “disagreeable light” as a “malicious liar and a spoiled child,” and one simply could not
“forgive” the book “for trifling with Miss Lawrence’s talents and leaving the entertainment so barren.” Oth-
erwise, the show offered “some of the liveliest madcap dancing of the season,” Webb and Hay (who had so
successfully teamed together in Sunny) were the “brightest” in the production, and a few of the songs were
“among the best light comedy music” Gershwin had yet composed, including “Feeling I’m Falling” and “I
Don’t Think I’ll Fall in Love Today.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Lawrence had “the most dryad-like grace imaginable,” but her
efforts to make her role “funny were painful.” He noted that the sets and costumes were “stunning” and the
dancing “admirable,” but the lines of dialogue were “hopelessly, remorselessly dull.” Time said Lawrence
was “the most consistently beautiful of all modern song and dance actresses,” but Treasure Girl wasn’t “fair”
to her, and Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press found the book “dreary” and although the opening night
audience was “plainly disappointed,” he assumed Lawrence’s popularity and Gershwin’s score might “hold it
up for a while,” and “that it is the best that can be hoped for.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that the musical failed “to take best advantage” of
Lawrence’s “gifts,” but “despite noticeable periods of something very like dullness,” there were Urban’s “de-
lectable” sets, Kiviette’s often “entrancing” costumes, and the overall “clear color of first-rate taste.” Pollock
mentioned that as Gershwin grew older, his music became “a little less witty, a little more abstruse,” but “I
Don’t Think I’ll Fall in Love Today” and “What Are We Here For?” were “effective,” “(I’ve) Got a Rainbow”
would become the show’s most popular song, and Webb and Hay had “fun” with “What Causes That?” Al-
though N.F. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society said the musical wasn’t “the fastest, fun-
niest show in town,” he found it a “very pleasing, rhythmic entertainment” and singled out the score’s two
“best” songs, “I Don’t Think I’ll Fall in Love Today” and “(I’ve) Got a Rainbow.”
Gilbert W. Gabriel in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call reported there were “some rather rude first-night
remarks about the plot and dialogue and general unfunniness,” and he couldn’t understand why Aarons and
Freedley “were so eager to haul it into New York while it was still half-baked,” because they’d kept Funny
Face “on the road eight weeks until they had cooked it crisp.” But the songs were “among the best which the
Brothers Gershwin have produced,” and “one song after another bestows new grace and wit on the proceed-
ings.” Ruth Morris in the Muncie Star Press noted that Treasure Girl “promised a rich evening,” and that
promise “failed of fulfillment.” The book was “as dreary and humorless as the season has seen,” but there
were “good” dances and “tuneful” melodies, not to mention Webb and Hay. As for the star, “if you don’t like
Gertrude Lawrence you are off our list.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer found the dialogue “pronouncedly tiresome,” and
while Gershwin’s music was “tuneful” it wasn’t a “departure from that type of composition which Broad-
way has liked for some seasons but with which it has become too familiar.” Variety said the evening was
“not only disappointing on the whole but hopelessly flat in spots,” and the jokes ran to the “Do you mind
if I smoke?” / “I don’t care if you burn” variety. Gershwin’s score was “a bit too pretentious and a trifle too
thoroughly musicianly,” and thus was “distinguished but not contagious” and nothing seemed “spontane-
ously whistleable.” But the critic singled out “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “K-ra-zy for You,” “(I’ve) Got a
Rainbow,” and “Feeling I’m Falling,” all of which were “outstanding in the spotting if not in their audience
impression.”
During the tryout, “Good-Bye to the Old Love,” “I Want to Marry a Marionette,” and “Dead Men Tell
No Tales” were dropped, and “This Particular Party” was cut during rehearsals. Shortly after the Broadway
opening, “Oh, So Nice!” was dropped. In a slower tempo, “I’ve Got a Crush on You” was later added to the
1930 (Broadway) version of Strike Up the Band.
The plot of the hit 1992 Broadway musical Crazy for You was inspired by the Gershwins’ 1930 musical
Girl Crazy, and the new show’s title took its inspiration from Treasure Girl’s “K-ra-zy for You,” which had
been introduced by Webb and Hay. Besides “K-ra-zy for You,” Crazy for You also included one other song
from Treasure Girl, the delightful duet “What Causes That?” (also introduced by Webb and Hay), which was
memorably sung by Harry Groener and Bruce Adler and is included on the Crazy for You cast album, along
with “K-ra-zy for You.”
The lyrics for all the songs are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. The col-
lection Remember These? (Ava Records LP # A-26) includes five songs from Treasure Girl (“I Don’t Think
I’ll Fall in Love Today,” “What Are We Here For?,” “Feeling I’m Falling,” “Oh, So Nice!,” and “Where’s the
Boy? Here’s the Girl!”), all sung by Betty Comden, who is accompanied by a trio that includes pianist Richard
Lewine, who also arranged the songs. The album also includes five songs from Richard Rodgers and Lorenz
Hart’s Chee-Chee.
RAINBOW
“A New Romantic Musical Play of California in the Days of ’49”
Theatre: Gallo Theatre

Performances: 29
Book: Laurence Stallings and Oscar Hammerstein II
1928–1929 Season 493
Direction: Oscar Hammerstein II; Producer: Philip Goodman; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: Gates
and Morange; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.;
Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Rupert Lucas (Major Davolo), Libby Holman (Lotta), Ned McGurn (Mess Sergeant), Harland Dixon (Ser-
geant Major), Helen Lynd (Penny), Henry Pemberton (Colonel Brown), Charles Ruggles (“Nasty” Howell),
Brian Donlevy (Captain Robert Singleton), Louise Brown (Virginia Brown), Fanny (as herself; Fanny was a
performer of the donkey persuasion), Allan Prior (Harry Stanton), Leo Mack (Corporal), Stewart Edwards
(First Private), Leo Dugan (Second Private), Ward Arnold (Third Private), Randall Fryer (Rookie), Frank King
(Bartender), Mary Carney (Senora Mendoza), Leo Nash (Peon), Charles Ralph (Servant), Valla Valentinova
(Spanish Girl), May (aka Mae) Barnes (Snow Ball), George Magis (Frenchie), Chester Bree (Mr. Jackson),
Edward Nemo (Egg), Ralph Walker (Tough), Kitty Coleman (Kitty); Show Girls: Ann Austin, Harriette
Brinton, Mary Carney, Kitty Coleman, Ann Constance, Christine Gallagher, Margaret Grove, Dorothy
Pensel, Rowena Scott, Valla Valentinova, Emily Wentz, Elinor Witmar; Girl Dancers: Margaret Alexan-
der, Phyllis Buck, Virla Buley, Lee Byrne, Bobbe Campbell, Christine Crane, Dorothy Dodd, Irene Evans,
LaVergne Evans, Gracea Fleming, Evelyn Kermin, Helen Madigan, Edith Martin, Ruth Martin, Pauline
Maxwell, Betty McNulty, Mildred Morgan, Beth Meredith, Ruby Nevins, Margaret Pidgin, Helen Rauth,
Betty Sherman, Margaret Todd, Jean Watson, Betty Waxston, Claire White; Boy Dancers: Ward Arnold,
Milton Brodus, Frank Gagen, Frank Kimball, Harry Lake, Larry Larkin, Glenn McComas, Clinton McLeer,
Ned McGurn, Lewis Parker, John Perkins, Thomas Sternfeld, Paul Taft; Men Singers: James Beattie, Ches-
ter Bree, Vladimir Chavdaroff, Vincent Curran, Thomas Dendy, Vincent Funaro, Christopher Gerard, Don
Heebner, Ludovic Huot, Cyril Joyce, Charles Mack, George Magis, Leo Nash, Raymond Otto, Efin Vitis,
Victor Young, Randall Fryer, Lu Talbot, Ralph Walker
The action takes place during the years 1849–1851 in Fort Independence, Missouri; on the Western plains
and mountains; in Red Dog, California; Sacramento, California; and at the Presidio in San Francisco,
California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus: “On the Golden Trail” (Ensemble); “My Mother Told Me Not to Trust a Soldier”
(Harland Dixon, Helen Lynd); “Virginia” (Louise Brown, Brian Donlevy, Boys); “I Want a Man” (Libby
Holman); “Soliloquy” (aka “Star Soliloquy”) (“Star, you’re the last one left in the sky . . .”) (Allan Prior);
“I Like You as You Are” (Allan Prior, Louise Brown); Finaletto (Libby Holman); Dance (Louise Brown);
“The One Girl” (Allan Prior, Men); Finaletto: Hymn—“Let Me Give All My Love to Thee” (Louise Brown,
Libby Holman, Allan Prior, Ensemble); “Diamond in the Rough” (Charles Ruggles, Helen Lynd); “Who
Wants to Love Spanish Ladies?” (Ensemble); “Dance Flirtation” (Harland Dixon); “I Like You as You Are”
(reprise) (Allan Prior, Louise Brown); Finale
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble); “Hay, Straw!” (Louise Brown, Harland Dixon); “I Want a Man” (reprise) (Libby
Holman); Finaletto (Allan Prior, Louise Brown, Libby Holman, Brian Donlevy, Men); “The Bride Was
Dressed in White” (Charles Ruggles, Helen Lynd); “On the Golden Trail” (reprise); Finale
Vincent Youmans’s ambitious Rainbow was a failure that lasted one month and began the decline of his
Broadway career. He would never again enjoy such national and international theatrical successes as No, No,
Nanette and Hit the Deck! Following Rainbow he had a string of disappointments: Great Day! (36 perfor-
mances), Smiles (1930; 63 performances), and Through the Years (1932; 20 performances). However, he did
contribute a handful of songs for Take a Chance (1932), a hit that played for 243 showings. He also composed
the hit-filled score for the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, which marked the first teaming of Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers. He next surfaced in 1944 when he produced the disastrous Vincent Youmans’ Ballet Revue
(aka Vincent Youmans’ “Fiesta,” among other titles), which closed on the road (the dance revue didn’t include
any of his music). He died in 1946.
Rainbow marked the beginning of a mostly dry period for lyricist and book cowriter Oscar Hammer-
stein II, who underwent a series of failures: The Gang’s All Here, 1931 (23 performances); Free for All,
1931 (15 performances); East Wind, 1931 (23 performances); Three Sisters, 1934 (London; 45 performances);
Gentlemen Unafraid, 1938 (closed prior to Broadway); Very Warm for May, 1939 (59 performances); and
Sunny River, 1941 (36 performances). There were a few exceptions to the drought, including the hit Music
in the Air (1932), which played for 342 showings, and May Wine (1935), which enjoyed a moderate run of
213 performances.
Rainbow also began a jinx that seemed to doom musicals set during gold or land rushes, in such rushable
locales as California, Colorado, Alaska, and Florida. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon
(1951) was rich in memorable songs, but closed at a loss; Foxy (1964) lasted just two months (but at least
garnered a Tony Award for Bert Lahr); the 1979 musical Gold Dust (book by Jon Jory and lyrics and music by
Jim Wann) never got out of regional theatre; and Stephen Sondheim’s Wise Guy, (aka Gold!, aka Bounce, aka
Road Show) played out its limited Off-Broadway run in 2009 without ever risking Broadway.
The story of Rainbow centered on soldier Harry Stanton (Allan Prior), who kills the troublemaker Major
Davolo (Rupert Lucas) in self-defense and is sentenced to prison. He eventually escapes and heads to Califor-
nia during the Gold Rush days, and along the way marries Virginia (Louise Brown), the daughter of his former
commanding officer. He establishes a gambling den in a Sacramento saloon, and soon sees his marriage to
Virginia fall apart. Ultimately, his Army record is cleared, he and Virginia reunite, and he’s reinstated into
the military.
The story included mule drivers, camp followers, gamblers, soldiers, and bartenders, all of whom ac-
cording to Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star lent “vivid atmosphere” to the work. Youmans’s biographer
Gerald Bordman notes similarities between Rainbow and the earlier Show Boat: both were expansive looks at
America’s past; Harry is a gambler; Harry and Virginia undergo a separation; the troubled Lotta echoes Julie;
and “Nasty” was reminiscent of Cap’n Andy.
Bordman notes that the New York premiere was “little short of catastrophic,” and the first act ended
at about eleven o’clock. There were long stage waits, and one in particular seemed like a regular intermis-
sion. One or two critics thought the show should have added another tryout stop or two in order to cut out
extraneous material and speed up the action, but it was too little, too late, and despite enthusiastic critical
comments the average ticket-buyer must have decided the show was too long and not worth a $6.60 top-price
ticket. As a result, Rainbow closed after twenty-nine performances, and at best Youmans, Hammerstein, and
Laurence Stallings could take comfort in knowing that many critics realized Rainbow wasn’t the ordinary
run-of-the-mill musical and was instead a serious, epic-like saga with a strong plot, realistic dialogue, sturdy
characters, and tuneful songs.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times admitted Rainbow was “long, to the point of tedium.” But it
was also a “robust entertainment” that was “lively fun.” It never became “general musical comedy folderol,”
and no other of the season’s musicals could boast such a “roistering” book that “opened a rich vein for mu-
sical play metal.” Youmans had composed in a “harmonious key” with “mining camp ditties and romantic
serenades, and lively tunes for flounced and billowing dances.” The “scowling” and “menacing” Libby Hol-
man “splendidly” sang “I Want a Man”; “The One Girl” was a “stirring” ballad; and there was “amusing
insolence” in “I Like You as You Are.” David P. Sentner in the Tampa Tribune said “I Want a Man” was
“reminiscent of Helen Morgan of Show Boat fame” but was “none the less effective,” and the “glittering”
production “vividly depicted” the days of the California gold rush with a “genuine” plot and “lilting” music.
He also noted that “most of the fun” was provided by Charles Ruggles, whose “lines are as raw as a manicured
onion in spots.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the story’s “strength and virility” were “very welcome after
the diluted insipidity of most musical comedies,” but he “regretted strenuously” that Holman’s “velvet-
contralto” voice was given just one song in the show (note that she had just one solo, “I Want a Man”).
Time said there was an “epic air” about the musical, and if its colors “were a little too bright” it was
nonetheless “a pleasant thing to see and, because of its rowdy theme, a good omen for future minstrelsies.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the book offered “rich and racy stuff” with “real flavor”
that was unfortunately “diluted.” If the “sturdy humor had had more point and appeared oftener to season
the stage doings,” then Rainbow “might have been the bright, light, lovely and airily romantic thing it at
first promised to be.”
Wilk said the musical had “freshness and originality” with a “well-connected and plausible story” that
made a “refreshing difference from the ordinary musical comedy.” Ruth Morris in the Muncie Star Press
noted that the book “turned out to be a good deal above the level of most musical comedy stories and had
dialogue that was at times real and moving.” Howard Barnes in the New York Herald-Tribune stated that the
1928–1929 Season 495
evening “boasts not so much a nosegay of song hits as a coordinated score,” and “the conventional musical
comedy pattern was ever in peril of being rudely shattered.” And Gilbert W. Gabriel in the New York Ameri-
can found the work “too hearty for quibbling” and “too big to be trifled with” because it was “modeled pretty
flatteringly after Show Boat,” and that meant a story “pell-mell with incident and action” and “all varieties
of . . . song and dance threaded firmly into the main excitement.”
Richard Lockridge in the New York Sun said the dialogue had “lines the actors can speak without hiding
their heads and lyrics which actually make sense,” and so it was “almost exciting to find a musical with some
faint notion that there is a palpable difference between romance and lugged-in sentimentality.” George Jean
Nathan in Judge said that here was a “good” musical that “was ruined by careless production,” and “with
competent showmanship it might have been a first-rate thing of its kind.” During the past “several years,”
and with the exceptions of Show Boat and The Three Musketeers, Rainbow had “the best book” and also
offered “extremely agreeable” melodies. Robert Littell in the New York Post exclaimed that Rainbow was
“one of the most refreshingly original musicals on record” and was “so gorgeously different in its high spots
that the weaker spots didn’t matter very much.”
During the chaotic tryout, a number of songs were cut, including “Get a Horse, Get a Mule,” “I Look for
Love,” “How to Win a Man” (aka “Primping Number”), “Coming through the Rye,” “Forty-Niner and His
Clementine,” “A Faded Rose,” “Sunrise,” and “Who Am I? (That You Should Care for Me),” the latter with
a lyric by Gus Kahn, who (like Edward Eliscu) had contributed lyrics for the show during its preproduction
phase and before Hammerstein became the show’s sole lyricist.
Note that the song “Virginia” utilized the music of “If I Told You,” which had been cut from Wildflower;
that the music for “My Mother Told Me Not to Trust a Soldier” had been heard as “Draw Your Own Conclu-
sion” in Oh, Please!; that the music for “I Want a Man” had originally been intended for an eventually unused
(and unidentified) song in Oh, Please!; and that “The One Girl” used the music from the cut song “Sunrise.”
“The One Girl” was later interpolated into the 1929 revue A Night in Venice.
Francetta Malloy was deemed inadequate as the rough prostitute Lotta and was succeeded by Libby Hol-
man, who joined the production during its second tryout stop in Baltimore. During the Philadelphia run, a
program insert noted that “Miss Molloy [sic]” would be “unable to sing this performance” due “to a severe
case of laryngitis,” a statement that could have been taken two ways (she spoke her lines but didn’t sing, or
she didn’t perform at all and an understudy took over the role).
The lyrics are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. The collection
Through the Years with Vincent Youmans (Evergreen Records LP # 6401/2) includes “The One Girl” and the
deleted “Who Am I? (That You Should Care for Me)”; Vincent Youmans Revisited (Painted Smiles CD # PSCD-
142) includes “I Want a Man,” “The One Girl,” and “Who Am I? (That You Should Care for Me)”; and The
Carioca: Songs of Vincent Youmans Volume II (Arabesque Records CD # Z-6692) includes “I Want a Man.”
Rainbow was filmed by Warner Brothers in 1930 as Song of the West; filmed in Technicolor, the movie
was directed by Ray Enright with a cast that included John Boles (Stanton), Vivienne Segal (Virginia), Marie
Wells (Lotta), Joe E. Brown (“Nasty,” and here renamed “Hasty”), Sam Hardy (Davolo), and Marion Byron
(Penny).The film retained five songs from the stage production (“The One Girl,” “I Like You as You Are,”
“Hay! Straw!,” “Let Me Give All My Love to Thee,” and “The Bride Was Dressed in White”) and Youmans
contributed a new one (“West Wind,” lyric by J. Russel Robinson). The film, which is presumed lost, offered
one memorable highlight when Brown sang the comedy number “The Bride Was Dressed in White,” a parody
of Victorian parlor songs in which ultimately the bride, the groom, and the groom’s mother all end up dead.
The First Hollywood Musicals reports that the movie was filmed as Rainbow during Spring 1929 but went
unreleased for almost a full year.
The opening night of Rainbow included an ad-libbed moment from Fanny, a performer of the donkey
persuasion whose professional name was also Fanny. Perhaps due to opening night jitters, or maybe because
she’d had a little too much to drink prior to the performance, Fanny forgot herself . . . all over the stage floor.
ANGELA
“A New Musical Comedy” / “A Comedy with Music” / “The Royal Musical Hit”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre (during the run, the musical transferred to the Century Theatre)
Performances: 40
Book: Fanny Todd Mitchell
Lyrics: Mann Holiner
Music: Alberta Nichols
Based on the 1900 play A Royal Family by Captain Robert Marshall.
Direction: George Marion; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: Chester Hale; Scen-
ery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Barbier of Paris; Ernest Schrapps (aka Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp,
Ernest R. Schrapps, Ernest Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Joseph
Benavente
Cast: Gattison Jones (Duke of Berascon), Eric Blore (Louis VII), Audrey Maple (Margaret), Alison Skipworth
(Queen Ferdnande), Meeka Aldrich (Countess Carini), Oscar Figman (Baron Von Holdenson), Florenz
Ames (Grand Duke Hubert), Jeanette MacDonald (Princess Alestine Victorine Angela), Peggy Cornell
(Bijou), James Ray (Servant), Roy Hoyer (Count Bernadine), Gus Alexander (Phileon Button), Arthur Cole
(Mr. Sneckkenberger), Jane Manners (The Girl from London), Reed McClelland (Specialty Dancer): At
the Pianos: Ralph Rainger and Adam Carroll; Ladies-in-Waiting: Meeka Aldrich, June Cavendish, Billie
Fanning, Ann Glass, Claire Hooper, Charlotte Joyce, Louise Joyce, Jane Manners; Ladies of the Court:
Nina Bennett, Blanche Bryer, Eleanor Ross, Hildreth Judkins, Ursula Mack, Beth Mann, May Meredith, Jo
Moor, Helen Newton, Kathleen Odette, Marion Sayres, Beatrice Walters; Aide-de-Camps: Del Holleran,
Ernest Seldon, Segurd Larsen, Milton Jefferies, Bob Morton, Marin Henniffy, James Roy, Rex Boyd; Ches-
ter Hale Girls: Pavla Pavlicek, Mary Hiscox, Adeline Bornheim, Jeanne Kroll, Gertrude Westling, Dorothy
Pierce, Lillian Bennett, Karen Taft, Agnes Hickey, Gladys Glorita, Evelyn Ford, Jane Tennant
The action takes place during the present time in the mythical kingdom of Arcacia.
Musical Numbers
Note: Between the second and third acts, pianists Ralph Rainger and Adam Carroll played a medley of songs
from the score.
Act One: Opening (Ensemble); “The Weaker Sex” (Florenz Ames, Girls, Chester Hale Girls); “Love Is Like
That” (Jeanette MacDonald, Chester Hale Girls); “Don’t Forget Your Etiquette” (Gattison Jones, Peggy
Cornell, Boys and Girls); “The Baron, the Duchess and the Count” (Jeanette MacDonald, Roy Hoyer,
Chester Hale Girls, Girls); “The Regal Romp” (Florenz Ames, Peggy Cornell, Gattison Jones, Company)
Act Two: Opening (Reed McClelland, Chester Hale Girls, Boys and Girls); “Tally-Ho” (Gattison Jones, Peggy
Cornell, Chester Hale Girls, Girls and Boys); “I Can’t Believe It’s True” (Jeanette MacDonald, Roy Hoyer);
“Bundle of Love” (Peggy Cornell, Gattison Jones, Chester Hale Girls, Girls); “Maybe So” (Jeanette Mac-
Donald); “You’ve Got Me Up a Tree” (Jeanette MacDonald, Roy Hoyer, Chester Hale Girls, Girls); Finale
(Company)
Act Three: “Bearing Silver Platters” (Boys); “Oui, Oui!” (Peggy Cornell, Gattison Jones); Reprise (song not
identified in program) (Florenz Ames, Girls); “Scene Dansant” (Chester Hale Girls); Finale (Company)
Jeanette MacDonald played the title role in Angela, a tried-and-true and truly tired would-be romp re-
volving around romantic goings-on in the mythical kingdom of Arcacia. What kind of kingdom is Arcacia?
Well, Eric Blore was cast as King Louis VII, and perhaps that says it all. The operetta meandered along for five
weeks, and during its short Broadway life played in two theatres, the Ambassador and the Century. Three
weeks after Angela closed, MacDonald was back on Broadway in Boom-Boom, which did marginally better
than Angela and lasted nine weeks. She never again appeared on Broadway, and later in the year made her
Hollywood debut in what was the beginning of a legendary film career that began with sophisticated musicals
opposite the likes of Maurice Chevalier and Jack Buchanan and then continued in a series of mostly senti-
mental operettas with Nelson Eddy. She also found time to star in the 1936 disaster epic San Francisco with
Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, and there she introduced the famous title song (which was a highlight of Judy
Garland’s legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, especially when she began the number with a special lyric
that began with the deadpan declaration, “I never will forget Jeanette MacDonald”).
1928–1929 Season 497
In order to save Arcacia from political and financial ruin, our heroine Princess Alestine Victorine Angela
is pressured by her father, King Louis VII, to marry a man she’s never met, a prince from the kingdom next
door. Although her heart belongs to Count Bernadine (Roy Hoyer), she decides that for the sake of her coun-
try she must agree to marry the unknown prince. As Burns Mantle in Best Plays reported, “to the surprise of
practically no one except the cast, Bernadine turns out to be the prince.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times decided that “seldom had a musical piece seemed so dull and
archaic,” and the “musty fustian” was just a “pot-boiler” with jokes on the order of “marriages are like eat-
ing mushrooms” because “you never know whether they are good or not until after you have eaten them.”
The evening also included a comic with a “weakness for the erratic, enigmatic sex,” a chorus of “flunkies in
heavy ornate livery,” and a “crowded” stage of furniture, garden trees, and sculpture. The dancers had “scant
space” for their routines, and MacDonald and Hoyer “had to keep one eye on the palace steps” when they
went into a waltz.
Ruth Morris in the Muncie Star Press stated she “had no scruples in leaving after the second act” of the
“so-called amusement,” and Variety said the often “lethargic” performances and the none too “sprightly”
book with its “strung out” story ensured that at a $4.40 top Angela didn’t “impress as measuring up to the
standard necessary for current musical show competition,” and only “cut rates may keep it going for a limited
period” (but the critic noted that the “lovely” MacDonald was “graceful, pretty, [and] lithe” and was “a stage
thoroughbred”).
R.J. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said he was “beginning to get a little bit weary” of the “overdose of re-
gality behind the footlights these days” and all the requisite clichés of the genre were “becoming somewhat
tiresome” and “driving [him] to Ovaltine, which puts you to sleep in the event that the plot hasn’t.” For all
the production’s “elaborate” trappings, it didn’t “differ greatly from the thousand and one other operas” con-
cerning “imperiled” kingdoms and princesses. But the “winsome” MacDonald “every now and then floats in
with a song, a fetching shrug and a good deal of ‘it’” and there were some “perfectly delightful” dance routines
by the Chester Hale Girls.
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer admitted the story was “now as old as the original
[source material, the 1900 play A Royal Family], which wasn’t exactly young in its day.” But there were “a lot
of laughs,” an “excellent” cast, and “tuneful” if “reminiscent” music, including “Maybe So,” “I Can’t Believe
It’s True,” “Love Is Like That,” and “You’ve Got Me Up a Tree,” a “charming” number for MacDonald and
Hoyer in which she was “really up a tree” with the “handsome” hero “standing just below.”
The musical was originally known as To the Queen’s Taste and then as The Right Girl, and in preproduc-
tion Carl Randall, William Danforth, and H. Cooper Cliffe were announced for major roles but were succeeded
by other performers. Ralph Riggs was originally set to create the dances, but was replaced by Chester Hale.
WHOOPEE

Opening Date: December 4, 1928; Closing Date: November 23, 1929
Performances: 412
Lyrics: Gus Kahn
Music: Walter Donaldson
Based on the 1923 play The Nervous Wreck by Owen Davis (which in turn was based on the short story “The
Wreck” by E. J. Rath, Robert Hobart Davis, and possibly G. Howard Watt).
Direction: William Anthony McGuire; Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: Seymour Felix (additional
choreography by Tamara Geva); Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John W. Harkrider; Schneider-Anderson
Company; Eaves Costume Co.; Orange, Inc.; Gerald G. Freeman; Charles LeMaire; Nardi; Alfred Nelson;
Stetson; Knox; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Ruth Etting (Leslie Daw), Olive Brady (Pearl, Eleanor), Gladys Glad (Betty), Josephine Adaire (Mable),
Jean Ackerman (Estelle), Adele Smith (Alice), Katherine Burke (Irene), Myrna Darby (Virginia), Muriel
Finley (Lucille), Freda Mierse (Vivian), Louis Morrell (Judge Morgan), Frank Coletti (The Padre), Tom
Hughes (Pete), Jack Lewis (Joe), Gil White (Jack), Ethel Shutta (Mary Custer), John Rutherford (Sheriff
Bob Wells), Frances Upton (Sally Morgan), James P. Houston (“Brand Iron” Matthews, Comulo), Eddie
Cantor (Henry Williams), Paul Gregory (Wanenis), Chief Caupolican (Black Eagle), Spencer Charters
(Jerome Underwood), Albert Hackett (Chester Underwood), Jack Shaw (Timothy Sloane, Tejou), Mary
Jane (Harriet Underwood), Will H. Philbrick (Andy Nab), Charles Mayon (Morton), Sylvia Adam (Ma-
Ta-Pe), Tamara Geva (Yolandi); George Olsen and His Orchestra; Stetson Boy Dancers: Harold Ettos,
Bill Erickson, Charles Mayon, Gil White, Tom Hughes, Joe Minitello, Buddy Ebson (later, Ebsen), Jack
Lewis; Modernistic Ballet in Black: Madeline Dunbar, Dorothy Flood, Eleanor Hunt, Olga Loft, Agnes
O’Laughlin, Marion Roberts, Lillian Ostrum, Dorothy Brown; Gypsy Joe Dancers: Agnes Ayres, Mabel
Baade, Elsie Behrens, Dorothy Brown, Mary Coyle, Madeline Dunbar, Dorothy Flood, Muriel Gray,
Eleanor Hunt, Louise Joyce, Olga Loft, Wynne Lark, Gwendolyn Milne, Elaine Mann, Patsy O’Day,
Connie Owens, Agnes O’Laughlin, Dorothy Patterson, Rita Riecker, Marion Roberts, Bobby Weeks,
Marie Conway, Lillian Ostrum, Ann Brown; Ziegfeld Glorified Girls: Gladys Glad, Jean Ackerman,
Myrna Darby, Hazel Forbes, Muriel Finley, Catherine Moylan, Adele Smith, Josephine Adaire, Peggy
Bancroft, Betty Dumbris, Meredith Howard, Yvonne Hughes, Frieda Mierse, Valerie Raemier, Betty
Gray, Jerry Rogers, Helen Walsh, Ruth Downey, Lillian Knight, Colette Ayers, Mabel Baade, Elsie
Behrens, Dorothy Brown, Mary Coyle, Madeline Dunbar, Dorothy Flood, Muriel Gray, Eleanor Hunt,
Louise Joyce, Olga Loft, Wynne Larke, Gwendolyn Milne, Elaine Mann, Patsy O’Day, Connie Owens,
Agnes O’Laughlin, Dorothy Patterson, Vera Rieckler, Marion Roberts, Bobbie Wellsley, Marie Con-
way, Vivian Hall, Frances Guinan, Helen Lehigh, Pauline Ray, Lillian Ostrum, Ann Brown; Gentlemen
of the Ensemble: Harold Ettus, Frank Ericson, Charles Mayon, Gil White, Tom Hughes, Joe Minitello,
Buddy Ebson (Ebsen), Jack Lewis, Bob Forte, Edward Nadeau, George Huntington, Jack James, Irving
Ross, Tom Leventhal, David Labris, Matt Webster, Don Hudson, Sam Bunin, Charles Pettinger, Waldo
Roberts
The action takes place during the present time in California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It’s a Beautiful Day Today” (Ensemble; Dancer: Olive Brady); “Here’s to the Girl of My Heart” (Paul
Gregory, Cowboys); “I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose” (Frances Upton, Paul Gregory); “Gypsy Joe” (Ruth
Etting, Gypsy Joe Dancers); “Makin’ Whoopee” (Eddie Cantor, Muriel Finley, Gladys Glad, Jean Acker-
man, Adele Smith, Hazel Forbes, Madeline Dunbar); Finaletto: “Go Get ’Im” (John Rutherford, Ensemble);
“Until You Get Somebody Else” (Eddie Cantor, Frances Upton); “Taps” (dance) (Mary Jane); “Come West,
Little Girl, Come West” (Ethel Shutta, Four Cowboys); “The Movietone of the Gypsy Song”: (a) “Where
Sunset Meets the Sea” (Ruth Etting, Marie Conway, Violinist, Gypsies) and (b) “Gypsy Dance” (Tamara
Geva, Ensemble); “Stetson” (Ethel Shutta); Dance (Cowboys, Girl Dancers); “The Singing Waiter” (med-
ley) (Eddie Cantor); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “The Song of the Setting Sun” (Chief Caupolican, Tribe); “Love Is the Mountain” (described in the
program as “Paraphrase of ‘The Song of the Setting Sun’”) (Chief Caupolican, Paul Gregory, Sylvia Adam);
“Red Mama” (Mary Jane); “We’ll Keep on Caring” (Frances Upton, Paul Gregory); “Mohave War Dance”;
“Invocation to the Mountain God” (Chief Caupolican, Tribe): (a) “The Prayer”; (b) “The Dance”; and (c)
“The Offering of Beauty”; “Hallowe’en Tonight” (George Olsen and His Orchestra); “Love Me or Leave
Me” (Ruth Etting); “Modernistic Ballet in Black” (choreographed by Tamara Geva) (Tamara Geva, Danc-
ers); “Hallowe’en Whoopee Ball” (Ethel Shutta, Boys, Olive Brady, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Ziegfeld’s Whoopee was one of the era’s happiest carnivals, a lavish production that boasted a tuneful and
hit-filled score by lyricist Gus Kahn and composer Walter Donaldson (“Love Me or Leave Me,” “I’m Bringing
a Red, Red Rose,” and the almost title song “Makin’ Whoopee”) and a definitive Eddie Cantor performance
as the slightly sissified and nervous hypochondriac Henry Williams. After playing for 255 performances, the
musical took a hot-weather break for a few weeks, and then resumed for another 157 showings, for a total of
412 performances.
Henry goes to California for rest cure at a dude ranch and has to deal with cowboys, Indians, gangsters,
and his man-hungry, battle-axe nurse Mary Custer (Ethel Shutta). Local girl Sally Morgan (Frances Upton)
1928–1929 Season 499
is pursued by two men, Sheriff Bob (John Rutherford) and the Indian Wanenis (Paul Gregory), and although
she’s engaged to Bob she really loves the latter. She gives Henry the impression she wants to meet Bob in
a nearby town and persuades him to drive her there, but she secretly plans to meet Wanenis. When Bob
discovers Sally and Henry have disappeared, he assumes they’re an item and goes off in hot pursuit. But all
ends well, except for Bob, who loses the girl; otherwise, Sally and Wanenis pair up, as do Henry and Mary.
(Incidentally, the subplot about interracial romance between Sally and Wanenis turns out to be less daring
than it seems: we discover that Wanenis is really all-Caucasian, and as a baby he was found and adopted
by an Indian tribe.)
The story played fast and loose in order to give Cantor ample room for his shtick: at one point, he’s
required to be a chef (he cracks open eggs with a nutcracker); in another, he’s a waiter (which sets up his
blackface routine); he becomes involved with gangsters, meets his match when one of them is also a hypo-
chondriac, and soon they’re into a game of one-upmanship when they compare scar sizes from past opera-
tions; and of course Cantor had a chance for naughty impishness with “Makin’ Whoopee,” a saucy saga
of married life that makes an interesting triptych with two later similar numbers, Cole Porter’s “It’s De-
Lovely” (Anything Goes, 1934) and Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman’s “Baby, Dream Your Dream” (Sweet
Charity, 1966).
Cantor received valentines from the critics: “A versatile and completely entertaining comic” who in the
past has been “funny, clever and ludicrous,” and now has “never been so enjoyable” (J. Brooks Atkinson in
the New York Times); “I defy anyone not to like small, dynamic Eddie Cantor, or to remain unmoved by his
superb technique of drollery” (Charles Brackett in the New Yorker); Cantor is “immensely funny” (Burns
Mantle in the Chicago Tribune); The “inimitable” Cantor is “consistently and gloriously funny” with his
“rolling eyes, his expressive hands, his subtle slyness, his priceless nonsense, and his spirit of having so much
fun” (Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star); Cantor “is better than I’ve seen him” and “displays the selfsame
spark that makes Charlie Chaplin an artist and Beatrice Lillie a comedienne in a thousand” (Robert Garland
in the New York Telegram); “This time he surpasses anything he has done before” (Frederick F. Schrader in
the Cincinnati Enquirer); and “Cantor outdoes himself” (Variety).
Walter Winchell in the Akron (OH) Beacon found the musical “funny, wild and woolly and spectacu-
lar.” David P. Sentner in the Harrisburg (PA) Evening News said Whoopee was “the best doodle-tee-dum on
Broadway since the Florodora Sextet first showed their ankles” and was “liable to run as long as the Missis-
sippi.” Brackett said the show was “Lavish! Lavish! Lavish!” with both Joseph Urban’s “completely realistic”
sets (which included a mountain trail, layered rocks, and a pueblo dwelling) and colorful costumes (mostly
designed by John W. Harkrider), including ones for the chorus girls that were “rhapsodic variations on the
Indian costume.” And Atkinson said the “gorgeous spectacle” took place “beneath the illimitable spaces of
Mr. Urban’s grand designs, splashed with the rich colors of Western and Indian costumes.”
Atkinson didn’t mention “Love Me or Leave Me” and “Makin’ Whoopee,” but singled out “Come West,
Little Girl, Come West,” “Here’s to the Girl of My Heart,” and “Love Is the Mountain,” which he said was
the score’s “finest” song (he noted that “I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose” was “somewhat hackneyed”). At-
kinson indicated that the score “delights more particularly in jazzy and high-caloried serenades,” and “what
they lack in distinction they provide in leaping spirit.” Schrader praised four songs: “Love Is the Mountain,”
“Here’s to the Girl of My Heart,” “Come West, Little Girl, Come West,” and “I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose.”
Variety remarked that Donaldson had created a “consistently tuneful and surprisingly musicianly” score
“that will improve with age and which can stand repetition.”
One brief sequence in the musical raised eyebrows and generated a touch of controversy. The scene in
question depicted chorus girls astride milk-white ponies who file down a mountain side, and the girls wore
nothing but fancy headdresses (which seem to have provided enough covering to keep the police away). Sent-
ner said the “gorgeous” scene provided “a Niagara of flesh” that lasted a minute but was “bound to linger
in the retina of the eye.” Brackett noted the “lovely blondes” wore “nothing but the ponies under them and
huge headdresses,” and their “caravan ambles triumphantly down the trail to the accompaniment of wild ap-
plause.” He concluded by asking, “Pleasurable? Yes. But good taste? I wonder.”
During the run, “We’ll Keep on Caring” and “Hallowe’en Tonight” were dropped, and once George Olsen
and His Orchestra left the production they were succeeded by Paul Whiteman and His Band (which included
the Ritz Quartet). During the tryout, the songs “The Hollywood Way” (for Etting and female chorus), “Sun-
Kissed Girl” (Bernice Manners, whose role was apparently eliminated during the pre-Broadway run), and
“When I Get Over the Rockies” (Cantor) were dropped. Pietro Gentile created the role of Wanenis during the
tryout, but was replaced by Paul Gregory. The tryout also included a specialty announced as “Pinch Hitting
for Will Rogers—Eight Little Rogers,” and this may have been performed by the eight-member Stetson Boy
Dancers. Ruby Keeler left the show during the tryout and was succeeded by Patsy O’Day and then by Mary
Jane. Keeler later starred in Ziegfeld’s Show Girl, left that show during its short run, and was succeeded by
Dorothy Stone. Forty-two years later, Keeler returned to the Broadway stage in the long-running hit revival
of No, No, Nanette.
An archival recording of the score was released as part of the Smithsonian American Musical Theatre
Series (RCA Special Products LP # DPM1-0349/R-012). It includes original cast performances by Cantor (“Ma-
kin’ Whoopee”) and Etting (“Love Me or Leave Me,” which of course became her signature song and served as
the title of her film biography, which was released in 1955 by MGM and starred Doris Day), and Etting also
sings “I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose,” which she didn’t sing in the show. The album also offers three other
songs from the score (“Until You Get Somebody Else,” “Come West, Little Girl, Come West,” and “Gypsy
Song,” aka “Where the Sunset Meets the Sea”), as well as various vocal and instrumental versions of these
numbers.
During the original production, Cantor appeared in a “Singing Waiter” sequence, and sang a number of
specialties not listed in the program and not written by Kahn and Donaldson, and three of these are included
on the album, “Hungry Women” (lyric by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager), “Automobile Horn Song” (lyric
and music by Gaskill, Tobias, Bennett, and Carlton), and “I Faw Down an’ Go Boom!” (lyric and music by
James Brockman, Leonard Stevens, and B. B. Berman). In this sequence Cantor also sang “My Blackbirds Are
Bluebirds Now” (lyric by Irving Caesar, music by Cliff Friend), and for the recording the song is performed
by Etting. Both George Olsen and Paul Whiteman’s bands are represented on the album as well as the Ritz
Quartet, a group of four male singers who were part of Whiteman’s troupe.
The entertaining Technicolor film version was released in 1930 by Samuel Goldwyn and United Artists,
and is a rare opportunity to see a reasonably faithful film version of one of the era’s hit Broadway musicals.
It’s also a chance to see Cantor in his most famous role, and the cast includes three other members from the
Broadway production (Shutta, Gregory, and Rutherford). The film’s chorus includes Betty Grable, and Eleanor
Hunt (who had been a dancer in the stage version) here played Sally. The film retained three songs (“Makin’
Whoopee,” “Stetson,” and “The Song of the Setting Sun”), and Kahn and Donaldson wrote four new ones,
“Cowboys,” “A Girl Friend of a Boy Friend of Mine,” “Today’s the Day,” and “My Baby Just Cares for Me”
(the latter became another hit song from the score). A fifth new song (“I’ll Still Belong to You”) was written
by lyricist Edward Eliscu and composer Nacio Herb Brown.
The musical was revived by the Goodspeed Opera House (East Haddam, Connecticut) for the period June
20–August 26, 1978, with Charles Repole (Henry), Catherine Cox (Harriet), J. Kevin Scannell (Bob), Virginia
Seidel (Sally), Bonnie Leaders (Mary), and Franc Luz (Wanenis). It eventually transferred to Broadway, where
it opened on February 14, 1979, at the ANTA Theatre for 204 performances.
The Broadway revival was directed by Frank Corsaro and choreographed by Dan Siretta, and the cast
included Goodspeed performers Repole, Cox, Scannell, and Luz. Beth Austin and Carl Swarbrick joined the
company as Sally and Mary, and among the chorus members was future choreographer Susan Stroman. The
revised production took place in Arizona instead of California, and while “Out of the Dawn” (perhaps a re-
vised and retitled song from the original production) was heard at Goodspeed, it was dropped for Broadway,
and “Indian War Dance” became “The Tapahoe Tap.” The revival’s score included five songs from the origi-
nal production (“Makin’ Whoopee,” “I’m Bringing a Red, Red Rose,” “Go Get ’Im,” “Until You Get Some-
body Else,” and “Love Me or Leave Me”); one song from the film (“My Baby Just Cares for Me”); and three
interpolations, “You” (lyric by Harold Adamson, music by Donaldson),”Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby” (by Kahn
and Donaldson), and “Reaching for Someone” (source unknown). “Let’s All Make Whoopee Tonight” was
probably a new title and lyric based on a song from the original production. In the Cantor role, Repole was a
joy to watch; Swarbrick was a memorable Mary; and Cox knocked out the audience when she belted “You”
with shimmy-like movements. Unfortunately, there was no cast album of the revival.
The revival briefly toured as Makin’ Whoopee!, and added one song from the original 1928 production
(“Come West, Little Girl, Come West”) and one (“My Heart Is Just a Gypsy”) of unknown origin (but pos-
sibly a rewritten “Gypsy Joe”). The cast included Ted Pritchard, Mamie Van Doren, Imogene Coca, and King
Donovan.
Ethel Shutta (who at the time of Whoopee was married to band leader George Olsen) attracted attention
as Cantor’s nurse, and she made an impression with her two big numbers “Stetson” and “Come West, Little
1928–1929 Season 501
Girl, Come West.” Forty-three years later she stopped another show with “Broadway Baby” in Stephen Sond-
heim’s Follies (1971). The song is drenched in wistful yet forceful ambition, and the lyric was particularly
apt for Shutta when she sang about her dream of working with “a Ziegfeld.” Also note that one of the chorus
dancers in Whoopee was Buddy Ebsen (here, Ebson) as one of the Stetson boys.
THE HOUSEBOAT ON THE STYX

“A Smart Musical” / “Hilarious Musical Joy Ride”

Performances: 103
Book: Kenneth Webb and John E. (aka Jack) Hazzard
Lyrics and Music: Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders
Based on the 1895 novel A House-Boat on the Styx and the 1897 novel The Pursuit of the House-Boat, both
by John Kendrick Bangs.
Direction: Oscar Eagle; Producers: The Houseboat on the Styx, Inc., and Ned Jakobs; Choreography: dances
and ensembles “arranged” by Ray Perez and “supervised” by Chester Hale; Scenery: Willie Pogany; Cos-
tumes: John Booth; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Hilding Anderson
Cast: Bertram Peacock (Charon), Sam Ash (Ponce de Leon), Blanche Ring (Queen Elizabeth), Virginia Watts
(Salome), Jessie Graham (Mrs. Noah), Millicent Bancroft (Sappho [here, Sapho]), Mary McDonald (Lucretia
Borgia), Pauline Dee (Queen of Sheba), Helene Arden (Delilah), Georgia Gwynne (Helen of Troy), Marion
Stuart (Josephine), Dorothy Acker (Madame DuBarry), Hal Forde (Sir Walter Raleigh); The Wives of Henry
VII: Dorothy Humphreys (Catherine of Aragon), Edith Britton (Anne Boleyn), Grace Cantrelle (Jane Sey-
mour), Gloria Clare (Anne of Cleves), Myrtle Arnette (Katherine Howard), and Katharine Porter (Kather-
ine Parr); William Danforth (Henry VIII), Richard MacAleese (A Servant, Morgan), John E. (Jack) Hazzard
(Captain William Kidd), Alice MacKenzie (Cleopatra), Cliff Heckinger (George Washington, Noah), Johnny
Fields (Napoleon, Columbus), Harry Bates (P. T. Barnum), Harry Hermsen (Nero), John Osborne Clemson
(Shakespeare), Maurine and Norva (Pirate and Slave), Dorothy Humphreys (Captain of Police), Charles Gib-
ney (Sherlock Holmes); Famous Ladies of History: Rita Jason, Kay Apgar, Vera Villon, Joan Collier, Peggy
Wilson, and Joanna Allen; Club Members and Pirates: Robert Spencer, A. William Packer, Alfred Parrot,
Herman Amend, Tom Maynard, N. Clifton, Victor Esker, Tom Denton, Raleigh Orbit, Warren Pittinger,
Richard Lynn, Maurice Warner, Jules Oshim, John Coraldo; The Little Hellions: Mildred Rye, Marjorie Rich,
Ethel Guerard, Vera Clarke, Margaret Randolph, Gene Fontaine, Myrna Dale, Nadja Gary, Dorothy Waller,
Vasso Pan, Renee Crandall, Petra Olsen, Florence Madison, Sydney Reynolds, Sydna Morgan, Bobby Bliss
The action takes place in Hades.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Ode to the Styx” (Bertram Peacock); “Arrival of the Guests” (Ensemble) and “Queen Elizabeth’s
Tea” (Blanche Ring, Ensemble); “The Houseboat on the Styx” (Hal Forde, Blanche Ring, Ensemble); “The
Roll Call in the Morning” (William Danforth, Dorothy Humphries, Edith Britton, Grace Cantrelle, Gloria
Clare, Myrtle Arnette, Katharine Porter); “Cleopatra, We’re Fond of You” (Alice MacKenzie, Boys); “The
Fountain of Youth” (Alice MacKenzie, Sam Ash, Blanche Ring, Hal Forde); “My Heaven” (Sam Ash, Alice
MacKenzie, Ensemble); “Club Song” (Club Members) and “Back in the Days of Long Ago” (Bertram Pea-
cock, Club Members); “An Irate Pirate Am I” (John E. Hazzard, Pirates); Finale (John E. Hazzard, Bertram
Peacock, Sam Ash, Alice MacKenzie, Blanche Ring, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Pirate Dance” (Maurice and Norva); “Red River” (Pauline Dee, Ensemble); “Soul Mates” (Sam Ash,
Alice MacKenzie); Finaletto (John E. Hazzard, Alice MacKenzie, Sam Ash, Bertram Peacock, Ensemble);
“Hell’s Finest” (Dorothy Humphreys, Police Imps); “Men of Hades” (Hal Forde, Bertram Peacock, William
Danforth, Sam Ash, Club Members); “You’ve Got to Know How to Make Love” (Blanche Ring); “Someone
Like You” (Hal Forde, Mary McDonald, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The flyer of The Houseboat on the Styx asked if you’d “ever stopped to wonder what you would see were
it possible to get a glimpse of the lower regions and sort of look in, as it were, on the inhabitants of Hades.” It
also asked if you’d “ever stopped to wonder how the men and women glorified in history would be behaving
on the other side of the river Styx.”
Well, stop and wonder no more, because the new musical by the generally unlucky songwriting team of
Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders answered our burning questions about the afterlives of such luminaries as
Cleopatra, Sappho, Helen of Troy, Lucretia Borgia, Noah, Nero, Sir Walter Raleigh, Henry VIII and his six
wives, Napoleon, Barnum, and sundry celebrities who walked the red carpet in days gone by.
It turns out the guys in Hades hang out on a houseboat and enjoy stag parties, and when they go to a prize
fight, Queen Elizabeth (Blanche Ring) leads the women in a surreptitious visit to the houseboat in order to
satisfy their curiosity. Once curiosity has been satisfied, they head back home. Charon (Bertram Peacock) is
of course the ferryman on the Styx, and as far as the musical was concerned it was his job to keep the inhabit-
ants in line and everybody happy. Meanwhile, romance blooms in the underworld and Captain Kidd (John E.
Hazzard) has fallen for Cleopatra (Alice MacKenzie) who in turn has fallen for, and is pursued by, Ponce De
Leon (Sam Ash), who has come down from Heaven and hopes (in the words of Variety) “to make her.”
Prior to Houseboat, Carlo and Sanders’s Oh! Oh! Nurse had played just four weeks, and their first show
after Houseboat was Mystery Moon (1930), which ran for one performance. Their final musical Louisiana
Lady (1947) lasted four showings and was memorably described by Robert Garland in the New York Journal
American as “a mild mixture of muck, music and magnolias.”
But with The Houseboat on the Styx they seem to have come up with an interesting score, and they
received positive notices from the critics. In fact, the headline of the review for the New York Times stated
“Music Is Excellent in New Operetta,” and the critic noted the score was a “sincere effort to get back to Gil-
bert and Sullivan in its operatic aspects.” The “gorgeously mounted” show may have fumbled with its book,
but “those who like a fully developed, full-throated” musical would find the work a “more than satisfactory
evening,” and the critic predicted the score would yield “more than one hit that will be heard this winter
wherever people dance.” Ash and MacKenzie sang “more than one really beautiful duet” (“My Heaven” and
“Soul Mates”), and “Red River” was “reminiscent of the motif of the negro spiritual.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the score offered “operatic airs” and “popular ballads,” the “plain, un-
adorned humor” was “jazzed up with wisecracks almost forgivable,” and all the historical figures were found
“disporting themselves down below in a manner far more entertaining than they were wont to be when on
this earth.” But Charles Brackett in the New Yorker walked out before the final curtain, and noted the eve-
ning was a “dreary gathering” of past notables. Time described the lyrics as “somewhat Gilbertian” and the
dialogue “utter up-to-the-hour Times Squarese,” said the show had its moments of “hilarity,” and mentioned
the “not entirely novel” songs were nonetheless “cheering.” C.G.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long
Island Society said the music was “very good” (“The Fountain of Youth” was “very gay and bright, as are a
number of the others”), and Walter Winchell in the Munster (IN) Times praised a “robust enough melody or
two” but otherwise found the show “only intermittently diverting.”
Variety stated the show was “a good idea gone wrong,” but mentioned there were “several good numbers”
along with some “reminiscent” ones. The title song and “My Heaven” were standouts, but “Red River” didn’t
“seem as good as touted.” The critic also mentioned that this song as well as the show’s title were similar to
“Ol’ Man River” and Show Boat.
THE RED ROBE

“A Romantic Play with Music” / “An Operatic Musical Comedy” / “The Season’s Greatest Musical Show” / “The
Thrilling Musical Success”
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Casino Theatre)
Performances: 167
Book: Harry B. Smith and Edward Delaney Dunn; book revisions by José Ruben
Lyrics: Harry B. Smith
Music: Jean Gilbert
Based on the 1894 novel Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman.
1928–1929 Season 503
Direction: Stanley Logan (production restaged by José Ruben); Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.);
Choreography: Raymond Midgley (choreography for the Chester Hale Girls by Chester Hale); Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Costumes: Barbier of Paris and E. R. Schrapps (aka E. R. Schraps, Ernest Schrapps, Ernest
Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, and Ernest Schrappro); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: John L. McManus
Cast: Marjorie Peterson (Nanette), George Dobbs (Lieutenant Roland De Brissac), Walter Brennan (Servant),
Barnett Parker (Captain La Rolle), Barry Lupino (Hercule), Ivan Arbuckle (Jacques, The King’s Chamber-
lain), Peggy Dolan (A Lady), Roy Gordon (Marquis De Pombal), Gerald Gehlert (De Fargis), Walter Woolf
(aka Walter Woolf King) (Gil De Berault), Violet Carlson (Marie), Helen Gilliland (Renee De Cocheforet),
John H. Goldsworthy (Sir John Blunt), Edward Marshall (A Conspirator, Louis XIII), José Ruben (Cardi-
nal Richelieu), Lee Beggs (Friar Joseph), Edward Orchard (Sergeant Corbeau); Maids in Café Zaton: Alice
Harper, Alice Kennedy, Nell Moran, and Grace Driggs; Manila Powers (Elaine, the Countess De Coche-
foret), S. Herbert Braggiotti (Henri, the Count De Cocheforet), Charles Carver (Lieutenant Manet), Hugh
Chilvers (Francois), Fred Von Golisch (Sergeant Malpas), Charles Froom (An Abbe), Ernest Goodhart (A
Courtier); Chester Hale Girls: Charlotte Beverly, Theo Van Tassel, Martha Eaton, Paula Bassaner, Jose-
phine Roberts, Beatrice Rupp, Jean Devlyn, Veva Burns, Winona Sweet, Nina DaLenge. Evelyn Grant,
Gohanna Fredhoven, Mara Rosoff, Catheryn Laughlin, Margaret Stone, Georgene Stokes; Ladies of the
Ensemble: Dorothy Cartier, Ruth Elaine, Alice Kennedy, Grace Driggs, Mary Clifford, Mabel McCarthy,
Berta Gitel, Alice Harper, Kathryn Richmond, Peggy Dolan, Alfreda Oakes, Betty Murrow, Nell Moran,
Edith Artley, Laura Novea, Sally Coakley, Adeline Bradley, Lillian Lane, Esther Oyen, Helene Gardner,
Helen Hermes, Elaine Arden, Peggy Udell, Sara Granzor, Aini Hendricks, Nancy Corrigan, Elaine Reign,
Rowena Scott, Madge McAnally, Frances Spencer, Roberta Kent, Genevieve Semashko, Julia Barker,
Gladys Granzor; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Jack Lister, Charles Froom, Alphonse Iglesias, Alexander
Creighton, Alfred Deste, Harrison Fuller, Bernard Mills, Clarence Wheeler, Ernest Goodhart, J. L. Mc-
Carthy, John Mangum, Donald Catlin, Fred Von Golisch, Nino Nonomo, John Cameran, Theodore Bayer,
Edward Marshall, Earl Vincent, George Rolland, Parker Colby, Walter Cross, Richard Scharff, John Walsh,
Waldemar Asmus, Gregory Pavlovsky, Peter Prihodsky, W. J. Brennan, Paul Moran, Evon Alexis, Frank
Ryan, Thomas Glover, Efin Vitis, Glenn McAully, Jack Bauer, John Early, Marc Christie
The action takes place during 1630 in Paris and Provence.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Marjorie Peterson, Ensemble); “Roll of the Drum” (George Dobbs, Marjorie Peterson,
Ensemble); “I’ll Love Them All to Death” (Marjorie Peterson, George Dobbs, Chester Hale Girls, Boys);
“King of the Sword” (lyric by J. Keirn Brennan, music by Robert Stolz and Maurice Rubens) (Walter Woolf,
Ensemble); “Only a Smile” (Walter Woolf, Helen Gilliland); “Whatever It Is, I’ve It” (“Whatever It Is, I’ve
Got It”) (lyric by Mann Holiner, music by Alberta Nichols) (Barry Lupino, Violet Carlson); “Joy or Strife”
(Walter Woolf, Boys); “Only a Smile” (reprise) (Walter Woolf, Helen Gilliland); Finale (Helen Gilliland, Wal-
ter Woolf, Marjorie Peterson, George Dobbs, Roy Gordon, Gerald Gehlert, Ensemble, Chester Hale Girls)
Act Two: “A Plaintive” (Manila Powers); “Home o’ Mine” (Helen Gilliland, Manila Powers, Girls); “Where
Love Grows” (Helen Gilliland, Walter Woolf); “Soldiers Like You and Me” (Marjorie Peterson, George
Dobbs, Chester Hale Girls); “The Thrill of a Kiss” (Violet Carlson, Barry Lupino); “Cavalier” (lyric and
music by Harden Church) (Walter Woolf, Boys); Ballet (Chester Hale Girls); “How the Girls Adore Me”
(Barnett Parker, Barry Lupino, Ladies); “The Gallop” (Chester Hale Girls); Finale (Walter Woolf, Helen
Gilliland, Manila Powers, Ensemble)
Act Three: Opening (Chester Hale Girls, Ensemble); “Whatever It Is, I’ve It” (reprise) (Violet Carlson, Barry
Lupino); “I Plead, Dear Heart” (Helen Gilliland); Finale (Walter Woolf, Helen Gilliland, Ensemble)
The Shuberts’ The Red Robe was another swashbuckler on the order of The Vagabond King and The
Three Musketeers, and although it didn’t match the successes of the earlier operettas, it juggled daring es-
capades, romantic serenades, and stalwart male choruses into a reasonably popular package that ran for 167
performances. And it didn’t hurt that the hero was played by Walter Woolf (aka Walter Woolf King), who
excelled in over-the-top roles (perhaps his most famous performance is that of the temperamental opera star
Rodolfo Lassparri in the Marx Brothers’ 1935 opus A Night at the Opera).
Set in the France of 1630, the operetta dealt with intrigues among the high and the mighty, specifically
Cardinal Richelieu (José Ruben), who pardons soldier of fortune Gil de Berault (Woolf) for a dueling offense if
Berault will agree to capture Richelieu’s political enemy Count Henri de Cocheforet (S. Herbert Braggiotti).
Berault takes de Cocheforet prisoner but later frees him when he realizes Cocheforet is the father of his be-
loved Renee (Helen Gilliland). In true operetta fashion, everything is soon set aright and the curtain falls on
a happy note for everyone.
The New York Times said the “very tolerable entertainment of its kind” offered “a lot of sword-
swishing and noble attitudes” as well as scenes where Woolf was “full of martial gestures with his blade.”
The décor gave “a pleasing illusion of splendor and rich reckless antiquity, and the costumes are generally
conceived in the same spirit.” Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the comic portions of the evening
were “quite awful,” and the operetta was no “bargain entertainment.” But there was “much of the flash-
ing sword and romantic ballad type of excitement” and Woolf could “truthfully be described as a dashing
baritone and a good swordsman.” Perhaps the show’s chandelier moment occurred when Woolf picked up
Gilliland and braced himself “on the far end of a drawbridge” that was “lifted high in the air out of reach
of his pursuing enemies.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle hailed Woolf as “the John Gilbert of the current legitimate season” and noted
that the Shuberts had “tried to out-Shubert themselves in the beauty and lavishiness” of the production.
However, the score wasn’t “particularly noteworthy” except for “Cavalier,” a “rousing” interpolation with
lyric and music by Harden Church (during the run, the song was inexplicably cut from the score). Time de-
scribed the evening as a “gay and gaudy minstrel show,” and H.H. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long
Island Society said it was “one of the most colorful, sprightly and amusing entertainments of the season,”
one “to which a debutante may safely take her grandmother.”
Although Gilbert M. Gabriel in the Indianapolis Star said that “forgetting the music” was “an easy—all
too easy—business” (but he liked the “martial ring of all those reprises of the ‘Cavalier’ song”), he praised
the “latest and largest of the romantic musical shows as a gallant treat, lively, lusty, often truly glowing and
splendid.” In fact, it was “the best of a line of such spectacles which the Shuberts have given us in several
years” and those who had found “bliss” in Countess Maritza and The Student Prince in Heidelberg would
have “another opportunity” for enjoyment “when Walter Woolf and his fellow swashbucklers unsheath their
blades and unfoil their voices.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker had reservations about the production, but nonetheless “enjoyed it
rather better” than “the slower and infinitely handsomer The Three Musketeers” because The Red Robe had
“just a touch of that romantic ridiculous quality” that made him “feel friendly” toward it. As a result, by
taking it “seriously, you’ll have a grand time of it,” and even “if you laugh at it quite a good deal” it “still
isn’t a bore.”
Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press praised the “gorgeous oratorio,” which was a “dignified proces-
sion through the purple mists of old Frahnce, when a sword was more important than a franc.” Ruth Morris
in the Muncie Star Press noted that the adaptation was “pretty atrocious” but nevertheless had “grand fire
and romantic swashbuckle,” and Woolf was “magnificently handsome—and little else.” But Ralph Wilk in
the Minneapolis Star said Woolf was “a dashing and spirited figure” who gave “a highly creditable singing as
well as acting performance,” and while Variety’s review noted that Woolf’s performance would “suffer neces-
sary comparison to Dennis King” (who had starred in The Vagabond King and The Three Musketeers), the
critic said he threw “his vote with Woolf” because the actor was “more swashbuckling genuine” than King.
During the run, “Soldiers Like You and Me” and “Cavalier” were dropped. The musical had undergone an
arduous tryout that had begun the previous spring when the cast included Woolf, Evelyn Herbert, Gloria Foy,
George Hassell, Alexander Callam, Jerome Lawlor, Joe Wagstaff, and Zella Russell. By the time of the New
York opening on Christmas night, only Woolf was still in the production. The book was originally credited
solely to Harry B. Smith, but by the time of the Broadway premiere Edward Delaney Dunn shared coauthor-
ship credit while José Ruben (who now played Richelieu) received program credit for book revisions. J. C.
Huffman was the director of record during the tryout, but was replaced by Stanley Logan (and Ruben received
“restaging” credit). For the tryout, Ralph Reader was the choreographer, and for New York he was succeeded
by Raymond Midgley. Variety later reported that the musical had played a full four months on the road prior
1928–1929 Season 505
to the Broadway premiere, and so there were periods when the show had temporarily shuttered in order to
undergo recasting and rewriting as well as new direction and choreography.
Seven productions opened on Broadway on Christmas night, including two musicals, The Red Robe and
The Houseboat on the Styx.
HELLO, DADDY!
Theatre: Mansfield Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the George M. Cohan and Erlanger’s The-
atres)
Performances: 198
Lyrics: Dorothy Fields
Music: Jimmy McHugh
Based on the 1914 play The High Cost of Loving by Frank Mandel (which in turn was based on an unidenti-
fied German farce).
Direction: Alexander Leftwich (production under the “supervision” of John Murray Anderson); Producer: Lew
Fields; Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: Herman Rosse; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; F. R. Tripler
& Co.; Lighting: New York Calcium Light Co.; Musical Direction: William Moore
Cast: Florence Earle (Miss Prichard), Betty Starbuck (Betty Hauser), Marjorie-May Martyn (Grace), Dorothy
Roy (Dot), Ethel Allen (Eloise), Elizabeth Crandall (Ellen), Dorothy Croyle (Edna), Wilfred Clark (Anthony
Bennett), Allen Kearns (Lawrence Tucker), Mary Lawlor (Connie Block), Lew Fields (Henry Block), Alice
Fischer (Emma Block), Wanda Goll (Helen), Billy Taylor (Noel Burnham), George Hassell (Edward Hauser),
Madeline Grey (Mathilde Burnham), Carroll Glucas (Godfrey Burnham), Helene, Gertrude, and Marguerite
(The Giersdorf Sisters [Irene, Elvira, and Rae]), Ben Bernie and His Central Park Hotel Orchestra; Girls of
the Chorus: Annette Atherton, Bobby Brodsley, Harriet Carling, Jean Egan, Helen Fried, Doris Jay, Hen-
rietta Kay, Betty Lockwood, Frances Norton, Valerie Petri, Emmy Lou Petri, Paula Sands, Inez Tremble,
Peggy Tebbs, Jae Voll, Jane Sherman; Boys of the Chorus: David Morton, Jerome Maxwell, James Bradleigh,
Donald Brown, Larry Regan, Jack Waldron, Charles Scott, Edward Hackett; Singers: Mae Muth, Shirley
Buford, Elizabeth Crandall, Patricia Ross, Bob Burk, Albert Hewitt, George C. Lehrian, Donn Carney
The action takes place during the present time in a small town.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Three Little Maids from School” (Betty Starbuck, Dorothy Roy, Marjorie-May Martyn, Ensemble);
“I Want Plenty of You” (Mary Lawlor, Allen Kearns); “Futuristic Rhythm” (Wanda Goll, Ensemble);
“Let’s Sit and Talk about You” (Allen Kearns, Mary Lawlor); Reprise (song not identified in program but
probably “Let’s Sit and Talk about You”) (The Giersdorf Sisters); “My Lady’s Fan” (Ensemble); “Your
Disposition Is Mine” (Mary Lawlor, Allen Kearns, Ensemble); “In a Great Big Way” (Betty Starbuck, Billy
Taylor, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Maybe Means Yes” (Wanda Goll, Chorus); “As Long as We’re in Love” (Mary Lawlor, Allen Kearns,
The Giersdorf Sisters); “Out Where the Blues Begin” (Billy Taylor, Chorus); “Maybe Means Yes” (reprise)
(Mary Lawlor, Allen Kearns, Betty Starbuck, Billy Taylor); Finale (Company)
Hello, Daddy! was a family affair that starred comedian and producer Lew Fields, whose son Herbert
wrote the book and daughter Dorothy the lyrics. Jimmy McHugh composed the music, and J. Brooks Atkinson
in the New York Times noted that because McHugh had collaborated with Dorothy for the score of the hit
revue Blackbirds of 1928, “he appears to be admitted to honorary membership in the clan.” The farce was a
modest hit that ran for six months and almost 200 performances, and the highlights were the performances
of Betty Starbuck and newcomer Billy Taylor, who portrayed two zanies with ten IQ points between them.
Starbuck and Taylor stopped the show with their put-down duet and dance “In a Great Big Way.”
The basic plot of Hello, Daddy! will be somewhat familiar to those who’ve seen the movie Buona Sera,
Mrs. Campbell (1969) and the musicals Carmelina (1979) and Mamma Mia! (London, 1999; New York,
2001).
The story turns on the problems faced by Henry Block (Lew Fields), Anthony Bennett (Wilfred Clark), and
Edward Hauser (George Hassell), all respectable middle-aged married men who suddenly discover that for the
past twenty years each one of them has been sending generous payments to a dancer named Lightning Bug for
the support of her son, who was born twenty Christmases ago. Each man had enjoyed a brief dalliance with
her, and each one assumes he’s the father of the boy.
To complicate matters, their wives are members of the Purity League, a bluenose group that investigates
the background and the morals of whomever they choose, and right now Henry Block is their current victim,
with Bennett and Hauser no doubt future candidates for the investigatory chopping block.
It gets worse when a young man of about twenty arrives in town with the suspicious name of Noel (Tay-
lor) and the unnerving habit of using the phrase “Hello, Daddy!” to Block, Bennett, and Hauser. Noel hopes
to win the hand of Henry’s daughter Connie (Mary Lawlor), but local lawyer Lawrence Tucker (Allen Kearns)
is in love with Connie, and soon Noel finds himself drawn to Hauser’s daughter Betty (Starbuck). By the final
curtain, each businessman is relieved to discover Noel is not his son, but who knows what future dirt the
Purity League may dig up.
Atkinson said the show was “full of plot,” the music was “both tuneful and reminiscent,” the scenery
was “smart,” and the costumes attractive. But it was the purposely “lugubrious” Taylor and Starbuck who
stopped the show with their “ridiculously apathetic” song about “hot youth,” “excitable pleasures,” and
“violent passion.” Taylor looked like a “wet dish rag” and Starbuck was “first vexed and then resigned and
finally conquered by default.” At first, the song seemed “only moderately original” and Taylor came across as
“dull rather than comic,” but as the number built both he and Starbuck became more and more “languorous
and funereal” and “soon found the show thrust into their hands.”
Ruth Morris in the Muncie Star Press said the entertainment “honors” went to Taylor and Starbuck for
their showstopper; Variety said the number was the evening’s “high spot” with Taylor a standout as “a well-
dressed but dumb and timid youth”; Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked Taylor’s “flashing
feet” and comic gifts, and noted he “stopped the show on several occasions”; and Frederick F. Schrader in the
Cincinnati Enquirer said Taylor and Starbuck were “the hit of the show.”
Robert Littell in the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Taylor and Starbuck brought “down the
house” with their “highly original and amusing morsel,” which was “one of the most neatly performed little
acts in any musical show on Broadway.” Their comic variations throughout the song seemed “spontaneous,”
and Taylor in particular understood “the great comic secret” because he kept everything “straight” and would
only “occasionally” change his facial expression or stretch a gesture. As a result, his “unexpected” humorous
bits made it seem that even he was “surprised” by them. He was “a shark at this sort of shorthand,” and was
funny because he didn’t “stop to spell everything out.” Otherwise, the book was “as heavy as a New York
telephone directory” and the songs and dances had a “hard time crawling out from under it.”
Time said the plot was “preposterous,” but praised the score’s “merry anthems” (“In a Great Big Way,”
“Let’s Sit and Talk about You,” and “I Want Plenty of You” were singled out) and noted the best quip (“He’s
a wolf in cheap clothing”) had been previously heard in Manhattan Mary. Charles Brackett in the New Yorker
noted the “farcical situations” were “amusing enough” with occasional “tedium” in this “definitely second-
rate show,” but if “Cousin Henry from Schaghticoke” was in town and you couldn’t get tickets for Animal
Crackers, Whoopee, Hold Everything!, Three Cheers, and other hits, then Hello, Daddy! “might do.”
During the tryout, Mary Lawlor succeeded Constance Carpenter, who later stepped into the role when
Lawlor left the show during the course of the Broadway run. Busby Berkeley was the choreographer; for the
tryout, a program note also indicated “principal dance routines” were created by Buddy Bradley; and late in
the New York run all dance routines were credited to Russell Markert. During the tryout, William Moore
was the musical director, and he conducted Ben Pollack and His Central Park Hotel Orchestra. For Broad-
way, Moore led Ben Bernie and His Central Park Hotel Orchestra, and late in the run, future film composer
Max Steiner conducted Pollack and His Central Park Hotel Orchestra, who had returned to the show (Pol-
lack also conducted the entr’acte). During the Broadway run, “My Lady’s Fan” was cut and replaced with
“Party Line.”
1928–1929 Season 507
DEEP HARLEM
Theatre: Biltmore Theatre
Performances: 8
Book: Salem Whitney and Homer Tutt
Lyrics: J. Homer Tutt and Henry Creamer
Music: Joe Jordan
Direction: Henry Creamer; Producer: Samuel Grisman; Choreography: Probably by Henry Creamer; Scenery:
Mallard H. Frane’s Sons; Costumes: Brooks Costume Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Joe Jordan
Cast: Andrew Bishop (An Author, Auctioneer), Salem Whitney (King, Elder Toots, The Orator), Rosa White
(Queen, That), J. Homer Tutt (Crown Prince, Jelly Bean, The Creeper), Juanita Stinnette (Princess Lulu, Mi-
randa), Mabel Ridley (Princess Ola, High Yaller, Ticket Girl, Pianist), Chappie Chappelle (Prince of Bataboula),
Neeka Shaw (Temptress, Africana, Dancer), Jimmy Baskett (Prophet, Officer), John Mason (Jethro, The Real
Boss), Columbus Jackson (Nebo, Boss), Andrew Bishop and Sterling Grant (Slave Traders), William Edmonson
and Billy Andrews (Belgian Slave Traders), August Golden (African Native), Rookie Davis (Congo-Lulu), Har-
riet Williams (Crow Jane), William Edmonson (Officer, Detective), The Birmingham Four (Keys, Gaytzera,
Ausbrook, and Bridges) (Quartette), Sterling Grant (Red, Haly’s Boy Friend), Pearl McCormack (Pearl, Jen),
Billy Andrews (Citizen, Billy, The Dancer’s Friend), Howard Elmore (It, Dancing Dan), Lena Wilson (Enter-
tainer, Mrs. Jenkins), Gertrude Gardeen (Haly, Glory); The Creole Four (Helen Wallace, Jean Wallace, Win-
ifred Walker, and Dorothy Walker) (Bridesmaids, The Salvation Girls): Colored Picnickers: Marietta Warren
and Lucy Yarborough; Ivy Black (Dancing Ivy), Gertrude Gardeen and Virginia Branum (Soft-Steppers), Alice
Sampson (Hally), Virginia Branum (Lulia), Alice Gorgas (The Creeper’s Gal), The Creole Four (Helen Wallace,
Jean Wallace, Winifred Walker, and Dorothy Walker) (The Salvation Girls), Charles Ridley (Officer), George
Whittington (The Porter), Cutout and Leonard (Two Sailors); Female Singers: Marietta Warren, Inez Glover,
Carrie Huff, Lucy Yarborough, Harriet Williams; Male Singers: August Golden, Thomas R. Hall, A. G. Ed-
wards; The Northern Brothers (Joe, Felix, Ralph, and Robert), Joe Robinson, Cherokee Thornton; Dancing
Misses: Louise Williams, Rose Anderson, Alice Sampson, Gertrude Gardeen, Virginia Branum, Bobby Johns,
Anita Wharton, Elmira Britt, Mary Welch, Ivy Black, Emily Malloy, Thula Oryiz, Rebecca Braxton, Mary
King, Claudia Heyward, Palm Roberts, Marie Fraine, May King, Ruby Meyers, Frances Johnson; Specialty
Dancers: Cutout and Leonard, Ivy Black, Virginia Branum, Marietta Warren, Mary Welch, Louise Williams,
Mary King, Charles Ridley, Alice Gorgas, Thomas R. Hall, George Whittington
The action takes place over the centuries in Africa, at sea, in the American South (including Savannah, Geor-
gia), and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Cushite Dance” (Ensemble); “I Shall Love You” (Chappie Chappelle, Juanita Stinnette); “Dance of
the Temptress” (Neeka Shaw); “Comic Dance” (John Mason, Columbus Jackson); “I Shall Love You” (re-
prise) (Chappie Chappelle, Juanita Stinnette); “Deliver” (Slave Ensemble); “Slave Ship” (Slave Ensemble);
“Africana” (Rookie Davis, Neeka Shaw, Africanas); “Tappin’ to the Picnic” (Howard Elmore, Dancing
Girls, Ivy Black, Gertrude Gardeen, Virginia Branum, Cutout and Leonard); “Kentucky Blues” and “Mexi-
can Blues” (Chappie Chappelle, Juanita Stinnette); “Old Plantation” (Lena Wilson, Company); “Virginia
Reel” (Company); “I’m Loving” (Billy Andrews, Gertrude Gardeen, Company)
Act Two: “Possum Trot” (Rookie Davis, Girls, Lena Wilson, Gertrude Gardeen, Virginia Branum, Alice Samp-
son, Cutout and Leonard, Neeka Shaw); “Real High Yaller and Sealskin Brown” (John Mason, Columbus
Jackson); “Deep Harlem” (Jimmy Baskett); “Rags and Tatters” (George Whittington); “Deep Harlem”
(reprise) (Jimmy Baskett); “Floor Dance” (Company); “Sailors’ Dance” (Cutout and Leonard); Song (song
not identified in program) (Ivy Wilson); “Y como le va” (Neeka Shaw); “Floor Dance” (second version)
(Company); “Why?” (Chappie Chappelle, Juanita Stinnette); “I Shall Love You” (reprise) (Chappie Chap-
pelle, Juanita Stinnette): “Deep Harlem” (reprise) (Company)
The revue-like black musical Deep Harlem, which played for just one week, was in many respects a
forerunner of black musicals of the 1960s and later decades that looked at the black experience in America
through the prism of early life in Africa, slavery, civil rights struggles, and self-identity. And occasionally
these shows also celebrated black show business of the Harlem nightclub variety. Deep Harlem covered these
themes, including a sequence at the Black Puppy Cabaret in Harlem. Later Off-Broadway musicals (some of
which transferred to Broadway) that explored topics depicted in Deep Harlem include Jerico-Jim Crow (1964),
The Believers (1968), Walk Together Children (1968 and 1972), Safari 300 (1972), Bubbling Brown Sugar
(1975; Broadway, 1976), Haarlem Nocturne (1984), Faith Journey (1994), Bring in ’da Noise Bring in ’da Funk
(1995; Broadway, 1996), and Harlem Song (2002).
The New York Times said the “formless entertainment” was an “unusually inexpert attempt to blend”
both “the entertainment tastes of Broadway and also of 135th Street.” The show “shuffled and stomped its
artless way” across the stage with both naive and dull moments in its depiction of black life “from the ban-
quet halls of ancient Ethiopia to the jazz caverns of Harlem,” with occasional “stopovers along the way in
both the pre-war and post-war South.” The early scenes were “pretentious” and the show’s framework was
“juvenile and undisciplined,” but there was “good hoofing,” a couple of “singable tunes,” and “the easy comic
manner of John Mason.”
G.H. in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the evening “noisy, very loud, very naïve and considerably bor-
ing,” and the early sequence in ancient Africa was a “fantastic medley of cheap vaudeville, second-rate musi-
cal comedy, grand opera and what-not” which led some “baffled” audience members to think the show was a
satire. The cast was “no better than the show itself,” but “one thing that can be said in their favor is that they
all are deadly serious and genuinely ambitious all the time.” Ruth Morris in the Muncie Star Press said Deep
Harlem was “neither deep nor particularly Harlemesque,” and noted that an “amateurish flavor pervades the
entire offering,” which “won’t last long.”
An article in the Pittsburgh Courier noted that three songs were stand-outs (“I Shall Love You,” “Mexican
Blues,” and the title number); mentioned that the New York Evening World praised Juanita Stinnette as a
“finished artiste” and compared her to Florence Mills; and quoted Walter Winchell in the New York Evening
Graphic, who described the show as “slower than a Lenox Avenue Local.” Variety stated that the opening
scene was full of “tawdry regal pomp with ridiculous pretentions of grandeur” that made its drama “rather
embarrassingly outré.” The critic noted there wasn’t “a really outstanding tune” but Stinnette was a “life-
saver for several so-so melodies.”
POLLY
Performances: 15
Book: Guy Bolton, George Middleton, and Isabel Leighton
Music: Herbert Stothart and Philip Charig
Based on the 1917 play Polly with a Past by Guy Bolton and George Middleton.
Direction: John Harwood; Producer: Arthur Hammerstein; Choreography: Jack Haskell; Scenery: Joseph Ur-
ban; Costumes: Mark Mooring; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Herbert Stothart
Cast: William Seabury or Leonard Sillman (Clay Cullen; see below), Marion Saki (Sue), Inez Courtney (Betty),
Harry K. Morton (Harry Richards), June (aka June Howard-Tripp) (Polly Shannon), Alonzo Price (Bill
Collector), Fred Allen (Addie Stiles), John Hundley (Rex Van Zile), Lucy Monroe (Myrtle Grant), Isabel
O’Madigan (Mrs. Van Zile), Charles Esdale (Prentice Van Zile), Tudor Penrose (Arturo); Specialties: Thalia
Zanou and Asya Kaz, Gus and Will, George Andre, The Happy-Go-Lucky Trio (Hubert Hilton, Cliff Daly,
and Edward Mowan), and The Manhattan Quartet (Joseph Anderson, Don Buchanan, Jack Norman, and
Walter Bunker); Dancers: Louise Allen, Norine Bogan, Dorothy Brown, Billie Cortez, Helene Counihan,
Martha Carroll, Anita Gordon, Buddy Haines, Evelyn Hannons, Dorothy Hiller, Sandra LaMar, Jessie
Madison, Peggy Messinger, Dolly Mannon, Ruby Poe, Lucille Reece, Marcella Rio, Bunny Schumm, Au-
drey Sturgess, Greta Swanson, Edna May Wright, Grace Wright, Paulette Winston, Rosalie Wynn; Boys:
1928–1929 Season 509
William Tasek, Louis Delgado, William Preston, Hal Bird, Howard Rand, Jimmy Lee, Robert Matthews,
Charles Townsend, Robert Hall, William Penney, Howard Bradford, Geoffrey Luck
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Abadaba Club” (Ensemble); “When a Fellow Meets a Flapper on Broadway” (music by Philip
Charig) (William Seabury or Leonard Sillman, Marion Saki); “Be the Secret of My Life” (Harry K. Morton,
Inez Courtney); “Polly” (music by Philip Charig) (June, Harry K. Morton, Clay Cullen, Ensemble); “Sing
a Song in the Rain” (lyric by Douglas Furber and Irving Caesar, music by Harry Rosenthal) (June, John
Hundley); Song (not identified in program) (The Happy-Go-Lucky Trio); “Lover, Come Back to Me” (Lucy
Monroe, Boys); Dance (Gus and Will); “Comme Si, Comme Ca” [sic] (music by Philip Charig) (June, En-
semble); “Nobody Wants Me” (Harry K. Morton, Inez Courtney); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Little Bo-Peep” (June, Ensemble); “Heel and Toe” (music by Philip Charig) (Inez Courtney, En-
semble); “Sweet Liar” (music by Herbert Stothart) (June, John Hundley); Reprise (song not identified in
program, but probably “Sweet Liar”) (June); “Life Is Love” (Tudor Penrose, Ensemble); “Danse Espagnol”
(Thalia Zanou and Asya Kaz); “Spanish Dance” (Harry K. Morton, Inez Courtney); “Ballet de Bagdad”
(June, with George Andre); Finale (Company)
Polly was Guy Bolton and George Middleton’s adaptation of their popular 1917 comedy Polly with a Past,
which had served as a vehicle for Ina Claire. The musical starred June Howard-Tripp, who here went by her
first name alone; she was a popular London performer, and this was her Broadway debut. The musical had un-
dergone a long and laborious tryout, and Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun reported that “some months ago”
during the Philadelphia engagement Leon Errol had appeared in the show, and since then the production had
“been bolstered by the addition of much comedy and a singable song or two.” But all the rewrites and recast-
ing didn’t help. Polly may have had a past, but she had no future and was gone after just fifteen performances.
Producer Arthur Hammerstein lost $170,000 on the venture, and a few days after the closing a reporter
for the Detroit Free Press quoted the producer’s thoughts about the fiasco, which according to Hammerstein
resulted from “battling with authors, overcoming the handicap of featuring an imported star, attempting to
modernize an outdated story, with authors obsessed by the remembrance of the telling dramatic values of 1917,
and contending with the general lethargy which seems to have smitten the theatre of 1928–29.” The reporter
noted that “aside from these few and minor troubles, everything appears to have been all right” (although per-
haps he should have also mentioned the misspelled French of the song title “Comme Si, Comme Ca”).
The slight story dealt with society boy Rex Van Zile (John Hundley) who hopes to make his sweetheart,
Myrtle Grant (Lucy Monroe), jealous by hiring chorine Polly Shannon (June) to pose as a notorious French
actress and to pretend she loves him. The last is no pretense, because Polly truly loves Rex, and soon Rex him-
self realizes it’s Polly and not Myrtle whom he loves. Broadway audiences had seen it all before, and perhaps
the only real surprise was that Polly didn’t pose as a princess who is a princess after all.
The New York Times said the show was “pleasant” during a season “when just being a pleasant musi-
cal comedy is likely to prove a negative virtue.” Otherwise, June was “generally an asset,” the dancers were
“well-drilled,” the number “Sing a Song in the Rain” was “likely to be heard on the radio and in the jazz
places,” and with his “dry-voice method” Fred Allen (as wise-cracking newspaper reporter Addie Stiles) had
the talent “to freshen up the old jokes” and invent new ones. Sisk noted that Polly “needn’t be seen” if
you could get tickets to Whoopee, Show Boat, The Red Robe, Hold Everything!, or the latest Scandals. He
decided June was “not as grand as her name and her personality isn’t great, but, as leading musical comedy
ladies go, she suffices.” As for Allen, “his dry, prattling manner proved a novelty by contrast with the almost
intolerable freshness adopted by most of the other comedians along Broadway.”
G.D. Seymour in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call said the “diverting entertainment” offered comedy
and a “sumptuous” staging, and June “proved to be a graceful dancer and a gentle songstress.” Mary Ann
Miller in the Indianapolis Star found the evening “pleasant enough,” and said the “hilarious humors” of Al-
len would no doubt “help it to linger in these parts.” And the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show was “very
shrewdly and professionally concocted of melodious tunes, striking dances, gorgeous costume ensembles and
highly gorgeous Joseph Urban scenic effects” along with “much better than the usual minimum of spoken
comedy lines.”
Variety said the musical’s “redeeming features” were Allen (who in a “heroic rescue effort” reportedly
“well nigh rewrote the second act in its entirety”), June’s “pleasant manner,” Hundley’s singing voice, and
Gus and Will’s acrobatic dance specialty. Otherwise, Variety’s verdict was succinct: “Polly can’t and won’t
make the grade.”
The musical caused some minor confusion because no one could agree on who played the role of Clay
Cullen on opening night. For example, Variety and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle credited future New-Facer Leon-
ard Sillman in the role, but the Times and Burns Mantle cited William Seabury.
A few days after Polly closed, June announced she would wed Lord Inverclyde in London for a March wed-
ding. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that during the show’s Pittsburgh tryout, June had “vehemently
denied” to one of its reporters that she had any intention of marrying Inverclyde, and “The stage, not matri-
mony” was her “cryptic comment” to the press. Apparently the stage, or at least show business, won the day
because June and Lord Inverclyde were divorced in 1933. Note that June (along with Ivor Novello) was one of
the stars of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1926 thriller The Lodger.
FOLLOW THRU
“A Musical Slice of Country Club Life” / “Winning Musical Comedy Success”

Opening Date: January 9, 1929; Closing Date: December 21, 1929
Performances: 401
Direction: Edgar MacGregor; Producers: Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel; Choreography: Bobby Connolly;
Scenery: Donald Oenslager; Costumes: “Frocks” by Kiviette (golf outfits by A. G. Spalding & Company
and old-fashioned golf apparel by Eaves); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred (Al) Goodman
Cast: Arthur Aylesworth (“Mac” Moore), Don Tomkins (sometimes spelled as Tompkins) (Thomas Darcy
“Dinty” Moore), Irene Delroy (Lora Moore), Zelma O’Neal (Angie Howard), Frank Kingdon (Martin Bas-
comb), Margaret Lee (Babs Bascomb), John Sheehan (J. C. Effingham), John Barker (Jerry Downs), Jack
Haley (Jack Martin), Madeline Cameron (Ruth Van Horn), Edith Campbell (Mrs. Bascomb), Al Down-
ing (Mr. Manning), Eleanor Powell (Molly), Paul Howard (Steve), Dorothy Christy (Olive), Yvonne Grey
(Glenna), Constance Lane (Virginia), Sherry Pelham (Cynthia); Ladies: Ruth Kent, Zilpha DeWitt, Claire
Joyce, Ethel Lawrence, Christine Ecklund, Mildred Stevens, Katherine Cornell (to be sure, not the stage
actress of the same name Katharine Cornell), Elaine Lank, Bodil Lund, Jane Brown, Firlie Banks, Minerva
Wilson, Irene Hamlin, Ann Lomax, Sherry Pelham, Renee Vilon, Mildred Webb, Drucilla Strain, Dorothea
Dunn, Arlyne White, Irene Warner, Dorothy Day, Hilda Burkhart, Dody Donnelly, Anita Pam, Marguerite
Kennedy, Joselyn Lyle; Gentlemen: Herbert Rothwell, Phil King, Samuel Quinn, Harry Moore, Mortimer
O’Brien, John McCahill, Gordon Merrick, Richard Neely, Joe Evans, William Sahner, Arthur Craig, Ned
Lynn, Fred Murray, Phil Farley, Richard Renaud, Jerry White, Paul Mann; The Country Club Boys: Gar-
rick Douglas, Jack Lawrence, W. E. Critzer, Oscar Ellinger, John Hammond, Fred Kuhnly, Arthur Bryan,
and Maurice Siegel; Alfred (Al) Goodman and His Orchestra: Tom Gott, Irving Prager, Bobby Dolan,
Manny Klein, Hayden Sheppard, Carl Loeffler, Sam Gurski, Sol Deutch, Jack Scherr, Perry Billitzer, Harry
Gompers, Charles Springer, Max Weiser, Mel Franza, Billy Artzt, Rudy Sims, Nat Kass, Dave Rose
The action takes place “in Gay 1908” and during the present time at the Bound Brook Country Club.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Daring Gibson Girl” (The Gibson Girls) and “The 1908 Life” (Ensemble); “It’s a Great Sport”
(Margaret Lee, Irene Delroy, Madeline Cameron, Ensemble); “My Lucky Star” (John Barker, Girls, Coun-
1928–1929 Season 511
try Club Boys); “Button Up Your Overcoat” (Zelma O’Neal, Jack Haley); “You Wouldn’t Fool Me, Would
Ya (You)?” (John Barker, Irene Delroy); Special Dance (Paul Howard); “He’s a Man’s Man” (Madeline Cam-
eron, Boys); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Irene Delroy, John Barker); “Then I’ll Have Time
for You” (Margaret Lee, Don Tomkins); “I Want to Be Bad” (Zelma O’Neal, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Married Men and Single Men” (Don Tomkins, Margaret Lee, Ensemble); “If There Were No More
You” (John Barker, Irene Delroy, Country Club Boys); “I Could Give Up Anything but You” (Jack Haley,
Zelma O’Neal); “Follow Thru” (Madeline Cameron, Ensemble); Special Dance (Eleanor Powell); Finaletto
(Company); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Jack Haley, Zelma O’Neal); Finale (Company)
With Follow Thru, the team of B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson came up with
their second hit in three months. Both Hold Everything! and Follow Thru ran a year on Broadway; both
dealt with a popular sport (boxing and golfing, respectively); both featured a comic lead (Bert Lahr and Jack
Haley, both of whom would one day meet on the road to Oz); and both enjoyed a hit song (“You’re the
Cream in My Coffee” and “Button Up Your Overcoat”). The latter is surely the most irresistible piece of
medical advice ever given in a musical comedy (get to bed by three every night, and cut out sweets to avoid
a pain in your tum-tum).
The self-described “musical slice of country club life” began with a brief look at the olden days of 1908,
and then got down to business in the present time with its depiction of the goings-on at the Bound Brook
Country Club, with its amateur and professional golf champions, the club president, and various family and
friends of the golfers and club personnel. Lora Moore (Irene Delroy) is the daughter of a golf professional,
and she and amateur Ruth Van Horn (Madeline Cameron) are rivals for both the title of the club’s golfing
champion and the romantic attentions of amateur-golf-champion-turned-professional Jerry Downs (John
Barker). Lora and Jerry eventually pair up, as do two other couples, Jack (Haley) and Lora’s friend Angie
(Zelma O’Neal), and two teenagers, the club owner’s daughter Babs (Margaret Lee) and a golf professional’s
son “Dinty” (Don Tomkins).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “frenzied, sufficiently original carnival” with its
“gymnastic” dances, “agreeable” songs, and an overall “pace that kills.” Here was “a fast, impudent and
generally insane frolic,” and Bobby Connolly’s choreography ensured that the chorus would “whirl and zip
through some of the liveliest measures seen this season.” The “excellent” songs kept Alfred Goodman’s or-
chestra “squealing, braying and blurting in ear-splitting harmony” (Atkinson singled out two numbers, “My
Lucky Star” and “I Could Give Up Anything but You”), and O’Neal was a “merry brat” who was “invaluable”
with her “gauche and racy antics.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Follow Thru did for country clubs “what Good News did for higher
education.” It was “a gay, blaring show” that offered “corking strident music,” “quantities of comedy,” and
dances that were “extra ingenious.” As a result, he could recommend the evening “without misgivings.” Time
said O’Neal was “both pretty and without inhibitions,” and she illustrated “I Want to Be Bad” with “stamps,
wind-ups, moues, and fetching wriggles.” When in song she advised her boyfriend to “take good care of yourself,
you belong to me,” she beat him “gently on the chest,” and later reminded him that “You can’t have children
by telephone.”
Percy Hammond in the Oakland Tribune couldn’t “think of a thing to say in objection” to the new mu-
sical. It was “one of the most cheerful of the season’s music shows” with a “honeycomb hymn-book full of
dulcet airs” of which eleven might become popular (including “My Lucky Star,” a “nectar love-call”). The
jokes were funny (one golfer tells another that “the trouble with your game is that you stand too close to the
ball after you hit it”), and there was a women’s locker room scene that was “so intimate that it made the
modest first-nighters feel like Peeping Toms” (but he noted that “few of them left the theatre” and “only a
score or two shut their eyes against the shapely spectacle”). Walter Winchell in the Harrisburg (PA) Telegraph
said the “walloping hit” was a “first-rate musical comedy, an immense entertainment and the funniest of the
song, dance and tune shows,” and Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh Press noted it was “the best show I’ve
seen this season.”
Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun stated that Follow Thru was “the best musical comedy produced
within the last five years—or maybe ten,” and Ralph Wilk in the Minneapolis Star praised the “swift-
moving entertainment,” which had “a buoyantly gay and youthful lightheartedness that is as contagious
as it is refreshing and enjoyable.” Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the songs were “quick-
witted” rather than “soothing,” the décor was “colorful,” the dances were “invigorating,” and Haley was
at his “funniest” when he and John Sheehan pretended to be plumbers in the locker room scene. Although
some of the jokes were “a little sooty,” they nonetheless shared “in the general freshness that pervades”
the evening.
Variety said the “speed” show was a “smash” and “chock full of entertainment with everything in it
a pop musical should have.” The locker room scene was “a 12-minute scream,” O’Neal was “splendid,”
the lyrics were “the smartest” of any musical in the season, and there were about three “best-sellers in the
melodies.” But Don Tomkins was “saddled with one of the dirt remarks the show doesn’t need,” and the
critic cryptically referenced the bit of offending business: “That razor in the pocket bit should go out. It’s
no matinee stuff.”
“Button Up Your Overcoat” has been widely recorded, and along with “You Wouldn’t Fool Me, Would
Ya (You)?” and “I Want to Be Bad” (sung by Helen Kane) is included in the collection Good News: The
Music and Songs of DeSylva, Brown & Henderson (Conifer Records Limited CD # CDHD-182). DeSylva,
Brown & Henderson Revisited (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-144) includes “I Want to Be Bad” and
the title song.
The London production opened on October 3, 1929, at the Dominion Theatre for 148 performances with
Bernard Clifton, Leslie Henson, Elsie Randolph, Mark Lester, and Ada May, and included additional lyrics
by Desmond Carter. Contemporary recordings from the time of the London run include an HMV Records
release with Sam Browne and Jack Hylton and His Orchestra (“I Want to Be Bad,” “You Wouldn’t Fool Me,
Would You?,” “Button Up Your Overcoat,” and “My Lucky Star”) and a Columbia recording of a medley by
pianist Billy Meyer that included the songs heard on the HMV release as well as “I Could Give Up Anything
but You.”
The delightful 1930 Technicolor film version was released by Paramount; directed and written by Lau-
rence Schwab and Lloyd Corrigan and produced by Schwab and Frank Mandel, the cast included four Broad-
way cast members (Jack Haley, Zelma O’Neal, Margaret Lee, and Don Tomkins), as well as Charles “Buddy”
Rogers (Jerry) and Nancy Carroll (Lora). Three songs from the stage production were retained (“Button Up
Your Overcoat,” “I Want to Be Bad,” and “Then I’ll Have Time for You”), and two new ones were contributed
by lyricist George Marion Jr. and composer Richard A. Whiting (“It Must Be You” and the hit “A Peach of a
Pair”).
When Good News was revived on Broadway in 1974, “I Want to Be Bad” was one of score’s interpola-
tions and it was memorably sung and shimmied by Alice Faye. This production wasn’t officially recorded,
but a lavish two-LP set was privately issued (unnamed company and unnumbered LP) and taken from live
performances, including Faye’s rendition of “I Want to Be Bad” and another version by Faye, Tommy Breslin,
and students. Also included was “You’re the Cream in My Coffee” (for Faye and John Payne, with a reprise
version for Wayne Bryan).
BOOM-BOOM

Performances: 72
Book: Fanny Todd Mitchell
Lyrics: Mann Holiner and J. Keirn Brennan
Based on the 1920 play Mademoiselle ma mere by Louis Verneuil (as Oh, Mama!, the play opened on Broad-
way in 1925 in an adaptation by Wilton Lackaye and Henry Wagstaff Gribble).
Direction: George Marion; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography: John Boyle; Scenery:
Watson Barratt; Costumes: Joseph’s of New York; Barbier of Paris; Orry-Kelly; Louis J. Mallas; Lighting:
Uncredited; Musical Direction: Tom Jones
Cast: Jeanette MacDonald (Jean), Stanley Ridges (Tony Smith), Kendall Capps (Skippy Carr), Eddie Nelson
(Texas), Laurette Adams (Gussie), Nell Kelly (Tilly McGuire), Frank McIntyre (Worthington, aka Worthy,
Smith), Richard Lee (Sigmund Squnk), Archie Leach (later known as Cary Grant) (Reggie Phipps), Marcella
Swanson (Maybella La Tour), Harry Welsh (Head Waiter), Cortez and Peggy (as themselves); The Four
Nightingales: Evelyn Sayres, Loretta Sayres, Doreen Glover, and Jessie Payne; Jackie Hurlbert (Friend
1928–1929 Season 513
of Tillie McGuire); Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls: Doreen Roberts, Alice Edrique, Jackie Hurlbert,
Maybel Van, Virgie Vane, Tina DeBrauw, Anne Loomis, Pat Hunter, Evelyn Shay, Kathryn Dayton, Doro-
thy Palmer, Bobby Shutta; John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers: Katherine Hoevel, Margaret Gilligan,
Virginia Martin, Jean Russell, Willie Hale, Frank Sherlock, Charles Roth, Jack Edwards; Show Girls: Bee
Walz, Elva Adams, Rosalind Rensing, Tennylis Allyn, Evelyn Sintae, Azeada, Lucille Mercier, Francis
Stevens; Boys: Harry Kirby, Clement Cancid, George Oliver, Ray Cirake, Jimmy Ardell, Sam Wasserman,
Bob Richards, George Leland
The action takes place during the present time at sea aboard the S.S. Argentine, in New York City, and at the
Frolic Farms on the Albany Post Road.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “What Could I Do?” (Jeanette MacDonald, Stanley Ridges); “On Top” (Kendall Capps, The John
Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers, Chorus); “Be That Way” (Nell Kelly, The John Boyle Eight Lightning
Dancers, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Jea-
nette MacDonald, Stanley Ridges); “Shake High, Shake Low” (Eddie Nelson, Kendall Capps, The Four
Nightingales, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus);
“Nina” (Jeanette MacDonald, Archie Leach, Cortez and Peggy, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers,
The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus); “What a Girl” (Nell Kelly, Kendall Capps, The John
Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus); “Just a Big-Hearted
Man” (Frank McIntyre, Show Girls); “He’s Just My Ideal” (Nell Kelly, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle
Girls, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers, Chorus)
Act Two: “Pick ’Em Up and Lay ’Em Down” (Kendall Capps, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus);
Dance Specialty (Virginia Martin); “Messin’ Round” (Eddie Nelson, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle
Girls, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers, Chorus); Specialty (Cortez and Peggy): Reprise (song not
identified in program) (Jeanette MacDonald, Stanley Ridges); “We’re Going to Make Boom-Boom” (Nell
Kelly, Kendall Capps, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Dancers,
Chorus); “Blow Those Blues Away” (Eddie Nelson, Kendall Capps, The John Boyle Eight Lightning Danc-
ers, The Jack Donahue and John Boyle Girls, Chorus); Finale (Company)
From today’s perspective, the flop Boom-Boom is of interest because its star was Jeanette MacDonald and
one of the featured players was Archie Leach, both of whom shared a first-act song (“Nina”). The show lasted
nine weeks, and then Hollywood called and MacDonald never again returned to Broadway. And when Leach
got his call, he quickly changed his name to Cary Grant (his final Broadway appearance was in the 1931 musi-
cal Nikki, a quick failure that starred Fay Wray, and his character’s first name was Cary).
The story revolved around Jean (MacDonald) who is encouraged by her father to marry the elderly and
corpulent “Worthy” Smith (Frank McIntyre) even though she loves his son Tony (Stanley Ridges). All three
are jittery with the awkward arrangement, but happily there’s a way to dissolve the marriage and thus Jean
can marry the man who had briefly been her son-in-law.
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said Boom-Boom offered “generous” décor and costumes, but its
humor was “nothing to rave about as to wit” (Sample: “I’ve been in the hospital a long time.” “Pretty sick?”
“No. Pretty nurse.”). The show was “a routine but inoffensive entertainment” that “faw down and go bum,”
and the headline for Robert Littell’s review in the Minneapolis Star Tribune echoed the sentiment (“From
Angle of Merit, Musical Comedy Offering Falls Down and Goes Boom-Boom”). Littell remarked that with so
many good musicals on Broadway, Boom-Boom was no more “than a strap-hanger among them” and “to say
that it was fair to middling would be too kind.” He knew the show began “at 8:50 sharp” but admitted he
didn’t “know when it went down.”
Variety noted that except for Ridges no one in the show seemed to take the plot seriously. Ridges was
“too ardent” and stayed “too close to the book,” and “his reluctance to frolic” forced him “into the back-
ground.” But the “good-looking” Archie Leach put “his tongue in his cheek,” and the equally “good-looking”
MacDonald was “a prima donna who sings well and gets herself around gracefully in one number which calls
for animation.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the show “struggles feverishly without accomplishing
much in the way of entertainment,” and the evening wasn’t “so enlivening a sport as the devil-may-care
title” had promised. But the direction carried the show along “at the customary speed,” and Werner Janssen’s
“serviceable if occasionally reminiscent” score deserved better singers, “for Miss MacDonald has the only
enjoyable voice in the cast.”
The New York World stated it was “faintly depressing” to head out for a night of theatre “with the idea
of seriously considering something called Boom-Boom.” In fact, it gave him the “same sense of sheepish cha-
grin” when he attended the recent Ups-A-Daisy, and it led him “to melancholy reflections” that as musicals
became “more elaborate” their titles became “more and more idiotic.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said watching the “existence of such blah” made him wonder if per-
haps it was best “that civilization should end” and we all could “form a pact to go separately into the deep
woods and meditate on Eternity and Space until death claims us.” He had to participate in the “terrifying ex-
perience” of Boom-Boom by watching the show and writing about it, and it was nothing less than astounding
to realize that “mortal creatures” had actually created such a musical. He ended his review with the wistful
cry, “What’s the use? What’s the use?”
Note that one lavish production number (“Shake High, Shake Low”) thumbed its nose at the Volstead Act,
and according to Littell it was a “merciless glorification of the American cocktail shaker” and it lasted eight
“long” minutes. The lyric was “inaudible” and the music “transient in memory,” but the chorus shook the shak-
ers and then themselves. Soon there was a “tribute to the meeting place of gin and orange juice,” and finally the
chorus was seen “dancing and singing and shaking shakers with either dice or small pebbles in them.”
LADY FINGERS
Theatre: Vanderbilt Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Liberty Theatre)
Performances: 132
Book: Eddie Buzzell
Lyrics: Edward Eliscu
Music: Joseph Meyer
Based on the 1925 play Easy Come, Easy Go by Owen Davis.
Direction: “staged” by Edgar MacGregor and “general supervision” by Lew Levenson; Producer: Lyle D. Andrews;
Choreography: Sammy Lee (additional choreography by Ivan Tarasoff); Scenery; Ward and Harvey; Costumes:
“Frocks” by Kiviette; Finchley; Lighting: New York Calcium Light Co.; Musical Direction: Roy Webb
Cast: Herbert Waterous (Mortimer Quayle), Al Sexton (Horace Winfield), Louise Brown (Hope Quayle),
Ruth Gordon (not the well-known stage and film actress) (Ruth), Red Harnden (Red), Eddie Buzzell (Jim
Bailey), John Price Jones (Dick Tain), Jack Dugan (Policeman), James Curran (Policeman), John Bragg (A
Porter), Edwin Walter (Nash), Robert Fleming (Masters), Marjorie White (Molly Maloney), Jim Diamond
(Shadow Martin), William Griffith (Doctor Jasper), Gertrude MacDonald (Barbara Stanford), Dorothy
McCarthy (Margie), Margaret McCarthy (Betty), Esther Muir (Mrs. Wright), Charles Troy (Specialty
Dancer); Ensemble: Girls—Lucille Moore, Joey Benton, Cleo Cullen, Anna Rex, Marcia Bell, Mildred
Espy, Charlotte Otis, Violet Dell, Valma Valentine, Ann Mycue, Aline Green, Enes Early, Louise Garnett,
Ruth Gordon (not the well-known stage and film actress), Frances Nevins, Grace Connelly, Margaret
Miller; Boys—Alan Crane, Al Berl, Degnan Harnden, Sidney Kane, Bill Neely, Lew Walker, Martin Den-
nis, Harry Lake, Jack Morton
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and at Dr. Jasper’s Health Farm.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “There’s Something in That” (Al Sexton, Louise Brown, Ensemble); “All Aboard” (Ensemble) and
Specialty (The Pullman Porters); “You’re Perfect” (Louise Brown, John Price Jones); “The Life of a Nurse”
1928–1929 Season 515
(Marjorie White, Robert Fleming, Ensemble); “An Open Book” (Al Sexton, Grace MacDonald, Ensemble);
“I Love You More Than Yesterday” (lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers) (Louise Brown, John
Price Jones, Ensemble); “Sing Boom” (aka “Sing”) (lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers) (Mar-
garet McCarthy, Dorothy McCarthy, Ensemble, Charles Troy)
Act Two: “Follow Master” (William Griffith, Jim Diamond, Ensemble); “Ga-Ga” (Eddie Buzzell, Marjorie
White); “My Wedding” (Louise Brown, Ensemble); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Louise Brown,
John Price Jones);”Shah! Raise the Dust!” (Marjorie White, Grace MacDonald, Ensemble); Specialty (Doro-
thy McCarthy, Margaret McCarthy); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Eddie Buzzell, Marjorie
White); Ballet (choreographed by Ivan Tarasoff) (Louise Brown); Finale (Company)
Three comedies by Owen Davis were adapted into musicals during the 1928–1929 season. The Nervous
Wreck became the hit Whoopee, Easy Come, Easy Go was transformed into Lady Fingers, and Shotgun Wed-
ding (which was never produced on Broadway) was adapted by Davis into Spring Is Here, with a score by
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Lady Fingers didn’t match the enormous success of Whoopee, but it played
out the season and garnered generally good reviews for Eddie Buzzell, the show’s star and adaptor, and while
Spring Is Here had a relatively short run, its score yielded a number of gems and the musical was twice
adapted for the screen.
Buzzell played likable crook Jim Bailey, who befriends rich boy Dick Tain (John Price Jones) and causes
the innocent young man to inadvertently become involved in the theft of bonds from a bank run by Mortimer
Quayle (Herbert Waterous). Jim and Dick head for Pennsylvania Station and a train to take them away from
the law, and soon find themselves at Doctor Jasper’s Health Farm where Quayle and his daughter Hope (Lou-
ise Brown) are guests. And, wouldn’t you know it, she and Dick fall in love. According to Burns Mantle in
the Chicago Tribune, the plot became “more complicated than the duets,” but rest assured that Dick makes
restitution for the bonds and all is resolved in a satisfactory musical comedy manner.
The show also offered the irrepressible Marjorie White as Molly Maloney, a nurse at the health farm who
behaves exactly the way a musical comedy nurse at a health farm should behave, and she and Buzzell raised
the roof with their comic duet “Ga-Ga.” Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found her “saucy and amus-
ing”; Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said she was “nice” and “brisk”; and Variety described her as a “solo
wow” and “a sort of baby-talking songstress” reminiscent of Helen Kane and Zelma O’Neal.
Atkinson liked the “continuously gay and spirited” show, which was “played with the infectious fresh-
ness of a college frolic.” The dancing was “lively,” the songs “good,” the costumes “pleasing,” and the humor
inclined “shamelessly toward the Union Square brand of burlesque, making up in comic extravagance what
it lacks in dress-suit elegance.” Atkinson reported that Jones “loses his heart but keeps his singing voice,”
and so the “madrigal ecstasies” of “I Love You More Than Yesterday” was sung “with fervor” by hero Jones
and heroine Brown.
Time said Jones had “inordinate good looks” (and if that wasn’t clear enough, the critic also stated he was
“handsome”), but for the most part the show was “fair-to-middling.” Mantle said the show was “rather good
fun,” that Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “I Love You More Than Yesterday” was the score’s “favored”
song, and one of the best jokes occurred when Doctor Jasper informs Buzzell that he’s “anemic,” which the
poor boy momentarily assumes is the physical status suffered by “those harem guards.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer assured his readers there were “plenty of laughs for ev-
erybody,” the songs would keep “the new-music buyers busy” (“I Love You More Than Yesterday” and “Ga-
Ga” were the standouts), and the dancing was “expert.” For Variety, the show was a “fair entertainment” that
should have a “moderate” run and “wind up neither a smash nor a flop.” Edward Eliscu and Joseph Meyer’s
“serviceable” score was at its best in “Ga-Ga,” with its “punch lyric oddity.” The critic was glad that “Sing”
(aka “Sing Boom”) was “resurrected” from Rodgers and Hart’s Betsy because it was “too good a song to bury
completely,” and noted that both it and “I Love You More Than Yesterday” were interpolations that “bol-
stered” the Eliscu-Meyer score.
During the run, “There’s Something in That,” “You’re Perfect,” and “I Love You More Than Yesterday”
were cut and respectively replaced by “I Want You All to Myself,” “I Kiss Your Hand, Madame” (lyric by Sam
M. Lewis and Joe Young, music by Ralph Erwin), and “Something to Live For.” One or two sources indicate
“Sing Boom” and “Sing” are completely different songs, but they’re the same number (the words include the
phrase “sing boom”); as “Sing,” the number was first introduced in Betsy by Belle Baker, Allen Kearns, and
the ensemble.
When Dorothy McCarthy and Margaret McCarthy left the production, their second act specialty was cut,
and “Sing Boom” was reassigned to Marjorie White and the ensemble where it was listed in the program as
“Sing.” When specialty dancer Charles Troy left the show, he wasn’t replaced by another performer. Note
that “I Love You More Than Yesterday” was originally intended for Rodgers and Hart’s Present Arms, and is
included in the collection Rodgers and Hart Revisited Volume IV (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-126).
“Sing” was also heard in the hit 1927 London musical Lady Luck; the song is included in the collection The
Ultimate Rodgers & Hart Volume I (Pearl/Pavilion Records Ltd. CD # GEM-0110) where it’s sung by Lady
Luck cast member Leslie Cliff, and it was also recorded by Ronny Whyte and Travis Hudson for their sparkling
collection It’s Smooth, It’s Smart! It’s Rodgers, It’s Hart! (Monmouth-Evergreen Records LP # MES-7069).
FIORETTA
“A Romantic Venetian Operetta”
Theatre: Earl Carroll Theatre

Performances: 111
Book: Earl Carroll (adapted by Charlton Andrews)
Lyrics and Music: George Bagby and G. Romilli; additional lyrics by Grace Henry, Jo Trent, and Billy Rose
Direction: Book staged by Clifford Brooke and Edgar J. MacGregor; Producer: Earl Carroll; Choreography:
LeRoy Prinz; Scenery: Clark Robinson; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; William H. Mathews; Lighting: Elec-
trical effects by Max Teuber; Musical Direction: Hans Fredhoven
Cast: Theo Karle (Duke of Venice), Ethel Jane Walker (Duchess of Venice), Clement Taylor (Jester), Martin
Sheppard (Sergeant), Lionel Atwell (Count Matteo di Brozzo), Leo Pardello (Ugo), Blanche Stachel (Lady
from Rome), Carol Kingsbury (Spanish Ambassador’s Daughter), Margaret Manners (Lady from Milan),
Elsie Patrick (Lady from Pisa), Irma Philbin (Lady from Naples), Evelyn Crowell (Dancer from Paris), G.
Davison Clark (Captain of the Guard), Rita Crane (Guiseppa), Leon Errol (Julio Pepoli), Alphonso Mul-
larkey (A Herald), Leonard Trion (Pietro), Frank Fiore (Enrico), Frank Cullen (Giacomo), Dorothy Knapp
(Fioretta Pepoli), August Lindauer (Roberto), Lillian Bond (Rosamanda), Vivian Wilson (Silvia), Elsie
Connor (Beatrice), George Houston (Orsino the Count di Rovani), Harry Goldberg (Tito), Giovanni Guer-
rerl (Luigi), Sidney Schlesser (Marco), Fannie (aka Fanny) Brice (Marchesa Vera di Livio), Jay Brennan
(Caponetti), Charles Howard (Marquis Filippo Di Livio), Nelson Snow (Harlequin), Charles Columbus
(Harlequin), Vic Banks (Soldier), Stuart N. Farrington (Corporal), Peggy Taylor (Rosa), Gean Greenwald
(Bishop), Wallace Magill (Bishop), Jackson Fairchild (Turnkey), David Gerry (Paulo), The Three Demons
(V. Banks, S. Barrington, and P. Taylor), Geranium (of the donkey persuasion, who played himself); Ladies:
Dorothy Britton, Elsie Pedrick, Carol Kingsbury, Ruth K. Patterson, Blanche Satchel, Margaret Manners,
Irma Philbin, Evelyn Crowell; Misses: Faith Bacon, Catherine Clark, Angeline Hassell, Elsie Connor,
Rita Stone, Rae Powell, Sylvia Derby, Betty Goodwin, Autumn Simms, Margaret Joyce, Rita Crane, Viv-
ian Wilson, Marion Harcke, Nelda Kincaid, Frances DeLacy, Lillian Bond, Odessa Morgan, Ida Michael,
Doris Maye, Rosa Shaw, Dorothy Corrigan, Virginia Hawkins, Dorice Covert, Louise Brooks, Violet Ar-
nold, Dorothea Frank; Gentlemen: Leo Bronson, Costanza Venturella, Harry Goldberg, Martin Sheppard,
Ordoni Muzzi, Albert Sanchez, Ernest Tello, Wallace Magill, Frank Cullen, Alfonso Mullarkey, Armin
Muller, Louis Ruff, Jackson Fairchild, Don Walling, Stanley Howard, Clement Taylor, Benjamin Tilberg,
Sidney Schlesser, Leon Dumbadse, Charles Naylor, J. Allen Ware, Jack Boggs, John Zimmerman, Gean
Greenwald, John Roland, Russell McLelland, Leonard Ross, Bob Lee, Roy Hansen, William Billinghurst,
John Marlowe, Hugh Saunders, Jack Leps, Paul Banker, David Gerry, Martin LeRoy
The action takes place in Venice during the eighteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Note: The New York program wasn’t complete, and so the following information regarding songs and per-
formers is taken from various sources, including the International Broadway Database, two Washington, D.C.,
tryout programs, newspaper reviews, and A Chronology of American Musical Theatre.
1928–1929 Season 517
Act One: Dance: “Pierrot and Pierrette” (Dancers); “Blade of Mine” (lyric by Grace Henry and Jo Trent, music
by George Bagby) (George Houston); Dance: “Carnival of Venice” (Specialty Dancers: Nelson Snow and
Charles Columbus); “Coronation of the Queen” (Ensemble); “Dream Boat” (lyric by Grace Henry and Jo
Trent, music by George Bagby) (George Houston, Dorothy Knapp); “Roses of Red” (lyric and music by G.
Romilli) (performer[s] unknown); “Wicked Old Willage of Wenice” (Fannie Brice, Jay Brennan, Charles
Howard); “Carissima” (lyric by Grace Henry, music by G. Romilli) (George Houston); “Wedding of Fio-
retta” (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Chant of the Monks” (Monks); “Little Flower” (performer[s] unknown); “In My Gondola” (prob-
ably sung by Leon Errol); “My Heart Belongs to You” (lyric by Grace Henry and Jo Trent) (Ethel June
Walker); “Minister’s Soliloquy” (Lionel Atwell); Dance (The Three Demons); “Alone with You” (lyric
and music by G. Romilli) (Ethel June Walker, Lionel Atwell); “Aria” (Fannie Brice); “Fioretta” (lyric and
music by G. Romilli) (Giovanni Guerreri, Male Chorus); Special Note: “What Did Cleopatra Have That I
Haven’t Got?” was also sung in the production (by Fannie Brice).
The lavish operetta Fioretta took place in Venice during the eighteenth century and was a rare excursion
into the world of the book musical for both producer Earl Carroll, he of the gaudy and fleshy series of Vanities
that bore his name (ten Vanities in all, from 1923 to 1940, along with two Sketch Books in 1929 and 1935),
and for Fannie (Fanny) Brice, who specialized in revues and appeared in nine Ziegfeld Follies from 1910 to
1936. Carroll only occasionally dabbled in the book musical (in various roles as lyricist, composer, librettist,
and performer, he was associated with four book musicals during the years 1914–1918, and in 1933 he was
the co-librettist as well as the producer of the revue-like murder mystery musical Murder at the Vanities). As
for Brice, she had originated just one other role in a book show (The Honeymoon Express in 1913).
Carroll outdid himself with the gargantuan spectacle that was Fioretta. Broadway buzzed about its capi-
talization, which was rumored to be somewhere between $150,000 and $350,000. According to Variety, the
final cost was $300,000, and it all came from a wealthy Mrs. Penfield, whose protégés were the musical’s
songwriters George Bagby and G. Romilli (who were said to be her distant relations, although one source in-
dicated the latter was her nephew). G. D. Seymour in the Tampa Bay Times reported that Bagby and Romilli
were Americans who for the past five years had been living in Venice (perhaps to soak up local color for the
musical?).
Variety said Carroll had “carte blanche to run berserk” with Mrs. Penfield’s money, and the result was “a
beautiful thing to behold” because “artistically, scenically, sartorially and aesthetically” the “ne plus ultra”
Fioretta outdid “anything and everything preceding it in the line of musical comedy and operetta production.”
But the extravaganza lasted just three months on Broadway, not nearly enough time to recoup the production
costs and show a profit.
The story centered on the title character, Fioretta (Dorothy Knapp), a commoner who lives with her fa-
ther, Julio (Leon Errol), an eternally tipsy gondolier. When she’s crowned queen of the Venetian carnival, she
catches the eye of the Duke of Venice (Theo Karle), who would have her for his mistress but for the fact she’s
not highborn and thus would be unsuitable as a lover for a man in his position.
When Orsino, the Count di Rovani (George Houston), is sentenced to die for breaking the law against
dueling (a crime the hero of The Red Robe is also accused of), the Duke arranges for Fioretta’s marriage to
Orsino, who is blindfolded so she won’t know who he is. Once Orsino and Fioretta are married, she’ll have
a title, and once Orsino is executed, Fioretta can become the Duke’s mistress. But it true operetta fashion, it
turns out Fioretta and Orsino had already fallen in love prior to the masked marriage, and of course they don’t
know they’re married to one another. It also happens that Orsino wasn’t executed, an event that is not only
lucky for Orsino but one that will lead to a happy ending for him and Fioretta, thanks to the machinations of
Julio and of the Duke’s wife, the Duchess (Ethel Jane Walker).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “magnificent pageant” of “harlequinades, high
church processionals, silver-tipped ballets, gowns of cloth of gold, ermine trains, iridescent coats for the high
officials, troupes of gondoliers, tossing feathers, burnished cuirasses, [and] state and church flags.” He said
“Dream Boat” was the score’s highlight, but otherwise the songs were “uninspired and formless.” Arthur Pol-
lock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided that not “since Broadway turned from footpath to thoroughfare has
so much scenery been used to hold a play down and smother it,” and he noted the lyrics and music were “ex-
cessively unimportant.” Walter Winchell in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call remarked that the “stunning
presentation” and its “incessant parade of eye-filling wardrobe and hangings, gorgeous designs and extremely
beautiful women” could “have been the greatest of all shows” had the score been “more distinguished.”
Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh Press said “no more costly show has ever been splashed upon a New
York stage,” and noted that if it was true the composer’s aunt had supplied the capital for the show, her mil-
lions couldn’t “make the lad a Wagner,” and in fact he wondered “if there is enough money in the world to
make him an Irving Berlin.” The Pittsburgh Press also ran Percy Hammond’s review, and the critic mentioned
that the “pompous jubilee” was “remarkable for its magnificence, if for nothing else” because “in the splen-
dor of its dress it surpasses the Beaux-Arts ball or the Ritz at supper time.” Otherwise, the evening was “just
another baby-grand opera” which told “with absurd gravity the details of a dinky romance between a couple
of routine Venetian songbirds.”
Robert Garland in the New York World Telegram said that “its silks and its satins, its chiffons and its vel-
vets, [and] its banners and its backgrounds” made the “Venetian carnival one of the sights of the town.” But
the evening wasn’t “as diverting as it should be,” and while there was “much to enjoy” there was also “quite
a little to deplore,” including “some unpleasant fun-making in connection with dead men laid out for burial.”
Seymour said “the story is seldom more breath-taking than its mountings,” and the show offered “mag-
nificent processions, affluent tableaux and resplendent trappings.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati
Enquirer noted that “for once a first-night audience felt like complaining that it had more than enough for its
money—that is, from a spectacle viewpoint,” because “the story is swamped by the magnificence of decora-
tion.”
Brice appeared as the Marchesa Vera di Livio, who apparently lives on the Lower East Side of the Canal.
She made the most of “Wicked Old Willage of Wenice,” “What Did Cleopatra Have That I Haven’t Got?,” and
“Aria” (the last according to Seymour was “a mocking operatic solo”). Atkinson said she packed “a wealth
of pot-house merriment into her shrugs and wanton gestures,” and Hammond said she employed “a ghetto
accent and a ghetto sense of humor.” He reported that “loud was the laughter that greeted her numerous
sallies,” and when she “cracked a Krafft-Ebing joke about a fairy and a red necktie, she was rewarded by an
ovation that almost stopped the show.” Because he was “curious to know who among the celebrities present
clapped their hands at this cunning joke,” Hammond looked around and noticed that the person who “ap-
plauded it most heartily was none other than Will Hays,” the chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and
Distributors of America, which later created the Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code), which
dealt with what is acceptable and unacceptable content in the movies.
Leon Errol brought along his standard shtick as well, and so of course there was stage business with his
being tipsy and not knowing what to do with his legs. In one sequence he danced atop a table, but according to
Seymour one leg insisted on “stepping out of bounds,” and Atkinson noted that throughout the performance
Errol “bends, sags and teeters.” Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said Houston was sometimes “hard to
watch” because his performance was “the operetta variety of ham, and that is ham supreme.” Variety found
Lionel Atwell “excellent,” and only regretted that his second-act soliloquy was “a platitudinous bore” (the
actor played di Brozzo, the Minister of State, and Variety decided the main function of this office was to be
the “official ducal procurer”).
Songs cut during the tryout include “Marietta,” “Doing a Dance,” “Royal Barge,” and “The Duel.”
At the opening night performance of Rainbow, the donkey Fanny (who also played the role of Fanny)
forgot herself . . . all over the stage floor. The cast of Fioretta also included a donkey (named Geranium, per-
forming the role of Geranium). Time was relieved to report that Geranium was “singularly well-behaved—far
more so than” the notorious Fanny, and moreover had “the best laugh in the show.” Variety said Geranium
was outstanding as the “master of all he surveyed at the premiere, quizzically eyeing the august assemblage
and boredly snubbing everybody and everything within his range of vision as he permitted his hind legs to
collapse into a comfortable snooze.”
SPRING IS HERE
“The New Musical Farce” / “The New Musical Comedy”

Performances: 104
Book: Owen Davis
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
1928–1929 Season 519

Based on Owen Davis’s play Shotgun Wedding, which was never produced on Broadway.
Direction: Alexander Leftwich; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Choreography: Bobby Con-
nolly; Scenery: John Wenger; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Russell Uniform Company; Light-
ing: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: Maidel Turner (Emily Braley), Thelma White (Maude Osgood), Inez Courtney (Mary Jane Braley), Dick
Keene (Steve Alden), Gil Squires (Willie Slade), Charles Ruggles (Peter Braley), Lillian Taiz (Betty Braley),
John Hundley (Stacy Haydon), Glenn Hunter (Terry Clayton), Joyce Barbour (Rita Conway), Cy Landry
(Eben), Lewis Parker (Jennings), Frank Gagen (Policeman), Victor Arden and Phil Ohman (Pianists); Ladies
of the Ensemble: Florence Allen, Louise Allen, Emily Burton, Dorothy Brown, Louise Blakeley, Margery
Bailey, Mary Carlton, Billie Cortez, Marion Dixon, Ann Ecklund, Edith Martin, Madeleine Janis, Gladys
Kelly, Beth Milton, Vida Manuel, Frances Markey, Lillian Michel, Elsie Neal, Ruby Nevins, Adeline
Ogilvie, Wilma Roelof, Kay Stewart, Gladys Travers, Wanda Wood, Beryl Wallace; Gentlemen of the En-
semble: Ward Arnold, William Cooper, Billy Carver, Frank Gagen, Edwin Gail, Bob Gebhardt, Fred May,
Daniel O’Brien, Billy O’Rourke, Victor Pullman, Thomas Sternfeld, Jack Stevens
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (aka “A Cup of Tea” and “There’s Magic in the Cup”) (Guests); “Spring Is Here” (Dick
Keene, Inez Courtney, Ensemble); “Yours Sincerely” (Glenn Hunter, Lillian Taiz, Ensemble); Finaletto:
“We’re Gonna Raise Hell” (Glenn Hunter, Joyce Barbour, Inez Courtney, Gil Squires, Lillian Taiz, Thelma
White, Ensemble); “You Never Say Yes” (Joyce Barbour, Gil Squires, Ensemble); “(With a) Song in My
Heart” (Lillian Taiz, John Hundley); “Baby’s Awake Now” (Inez Courtney, Thelma White, Girls); Finale
(aka “Oh, Look”) (Company)
Act Two: Opening (“This Is Not Long Island”) (Ensemble); “Red-Hot Trumpet” (Thelma White, Gil Squires,
Girls); “What a Girl!” (Glenn Hunter); “Rich Man! Poor Man!” (Inez Courtney, Dick Keene, Ensemble);
Specialty Dance (Cy Landry); “Why Can’t I?” (Lillian Taiz, Inez Courtney); “(With a) Song in My Heart”
(reprise) (John Hundley, Lillian Taiz); Finale (Company)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Spring Is Here was the first book musical to follow Fioretta, and
compared to that overproduced extravaganza, the new show must have seemed like a Princess musical. All
the action in Owen Davis’s book occurred on a Long Island estate, and in fact all the scenes in the first act
took place on the garden grounds, and the cast and chorus were relatively small and brought a cozy intimacy
to what was a series of romantic entanglements. Terry (Glenn Hunter) loves Betty (Lillian Taiz), Betty is at-
tracted to Stacy (John Hundley), Terry flirts with other girls to make Betty jealous, and ultimately Betty real-
izes her heart belongs to Terry. Other characters included Betty’s flapper sister Mary Jane (Inez Courtney) and
their flustered father, Peter Braley (Charles Ruggles).
Rodgers and Hart’s score included one of their evergreens, the elegiac “With a Song in My Heart” (listed in
the tryout and Broadway programs as “Song in My Heart”), and it was joined by two other memorable ballads,
“Yours Sincerely” and “Why Can’t I?” And Courtney and the chorines had a rouser with the slam-bang jazz-
inflected stomp that wised-up everyone to “burn up the baby’s cradle” because “Baby’s Awake Now.” Note
that the score’s title song “Spring Is Here” (“in person”) isn’t the more famous song of the same title, “Spring
Is Here” (“why doesn’t my heart go dancing?”), which Rodgers and Hart wrote for I Married an Angel (1938).
Despite mostly favorable reviews, a hit song, a winning cast, and what seems to have been an amusing
book, the show didn’t quite catch on and managed just three months in New York. There wasn’t a post-
Broadway tour, but two film versions followed (see below).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the “sprightly” and “lively frolic” an “impudent and
endlessly amusing” evening. Davis’s book was “more solid than the usual conventional” musical comedy
plot, and director Alexander Leftwich was given a “free hand” to give the show an “enjoyable pace.” Atkinson
singled out a number of songs, including “Rich Man! Poor Man!” (a “capricious” number sung by Courtney
and Dick Keene as “gauche young brats who have this year become essential to musical comedy,” and he
noted there was “something of the incomparable Lillie” in Courtney’s “burlesque grimaces” and her depic-
tion of a “graceless flapper”). He also praised “Yours Sincerely” and “With a Song in My Heart,” the latter
a “lovely moonlight serenade.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the show contained “just the right admixture of youth, horse-
play, and lovemaking,” and while Rodgers’s music wasn’t “quite up” to Chee-Chee (“which went to its de-
served grave clutching as lovely a score as has come to town in many a year”), it was nonetheless “far better
than most Broadway music.” Time liked the “intelligent” lyrics, and noted that Courtney had a “gift for flip
clowning,” specialty dancer Cy Landry was a “dancing droll,” Taiz was an “uncommonly good” singer, and
Ruggles an “able farceur.”
Burns Mantle in the Chicago Tribune said the musical possessed a “modestly jazzy and lively” spirit,
and if Davis’s first attempt as a librettist wasn’t “quite as happy” as his other theatre works, he nonetheless
wrote a “clean” book with “acceptably human” characters and a story that held together. Arthur Pollock in
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle found the show “clean-cut,” “definite,” and “vigorous in every respect” with a story
that had “too much plot.” There was no relief from the musical’s “speed” and “no variation in the pace,”
and this resulted in occasional “monotony.” Otherwise, he singled out “Yours Sincerely” and “Baby’s Awake
Now” as the potential song hits. Pierre De Rohan in the Muncie Star Press said Spring Is Here was “no great
epoch-maker,” but it was “a good, honest pot-boiler, aimed to entertain,” and Variety described the evening
as “more of a play with songs rather than a musical comedy.” “With a Song in My Heart” was “a good ballad
wow,” and he said other potential hits were “Rich Man! Poor Man!,” “Red-Hot Trumpet,” “Why Can’t I?,”
“Yours Sincerely,” and “Baby’s Awake Now.”
Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun said the “almost unbelievably good” show had “grand” songs and an
“amusing” book that told “a well-connected story,” and “not since Peggy-Ann has there been so delightful”
a musical. Robert Littell in the New York Post decided there was “something fresh and cheerful about this
musical comedy that makes it unlike the others and better than most.” Stephen Rathburn in the New York
Sun said the show “has everything one can require for a very pleasant evening’s diversion.” And Gilbert W.
Gabriel in the New York American liked the “romp,” which was “funny and lively and exultantly full of
youth.” He praised the title song, “Yours Sincerely,” and the “rhythmic frenzy” of “Baby’s Awake Now.”
During the tryout, “A Word in Edgeways” and “The Color of Her Eyes” were dropped. The Complete
Lyrics of Lorenz Hart, which includes the lyrics for all the songs heard in the Broadway production as well as
the unused ones, indicates “Lady Luck Is Grinning” may have originally been intended for the 1927 London
musical Lady Luck, and was later considered for Spring Is Here.
“With a Song in My Heart” has been widely recorded, and became Jane Froman’s signature song. It served
as the title of her film biography, which was released in 1952 and won Alfred Newman an Oscar for Best Scor-
ing (Newman was the conductor for the original production of Spring Is Here). “Yours Sincerely” is included
in the collection Rodgers and Hart Revisited Volume V (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-140) and “Why
Can’t I?” is on the soundtrack album of Jumbo (see below), which was released by Columbia Records (LP #
OL-5860).
Lee Wiley’s version of “Baby’s Awake Now” is a knockout, and is available on Lee Wiley Sings Rodgers
& Hart and Arlen (Audiophile Records CD # ACD-10). The set includes the sly “A Little Birdie Told Me
So” from Peggy-Ann and the dazzling and rather naughty “As Though You Were There,” which was dropped
during the tryout of Heads Up! where it was sung by John Hundley, who had introduced “With a Song in My
Heart” earlier in the year.
In 2002 and 2003, PS Classics was on the verge of recording and releasing a full-length studio cast record-
ing of the score. Kenneth Jones in Playbill reported that originally the proposed recording would offer a two-
piano accompaniment because the original orchestrations were presumed lost. When the original charts were
discovered (which included the original overture as well as the dance arrangements), the company decided to
release the recording with singers and a full orchestra, but as of this writing the recording has yet to surface.
The first film version was released in 1930 by First National-Vitaphone Pictures. Directed by John Francis
Dillon, the film’s cast included Alexander Gray (Terry), Bernice Claire (Betty), Lawrence Gray (Steve), Frank
Albertson (Stacy), Louise Fazenda (Emily), and, in a reprise of her Broadway role, Inez Courtney (Mary Jane). The
film retained three songs from the stage production (“Spring Is Here,” “Yours Sincerely,” and “With a Song in
My Heart”), and additional ones were composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis.
A second adaptation was released in 1933 as Yours Sincerely and was part of Warner Brothers’ Broadway
Brevities series; the two-reeler was directed by Roy Mack, and the cast included Lanny Ross (Steve), Nancy
1928–1929 Season 521
Welford (Betty), Broadway cast member Richard (Dick) Keene (who played the role of Steve on stage, and was
Terry for the film), Pearl Osgood (Mary Jane), Janet Velie (Mrs. Braley), and Dudley Clements (Mr. Braley). Five
songs from the Broadway production were retained: “Spring Is Here,” “Yours Sincerely,” “Rich Man! Poor
Man!,” “Baby’s Awake Now,” and “With a Song in My Heart.” Note that Keene (as the character Steve) sang
“Rich Man! Poor Man!” with Courtney on stage, and for the film (as Terry) he sang the number with Pearl
Osgood. The film also includes the Dave Gould Boys and Girls, and for “Baby’s Awake Now” the dancers and
dancing dolls take over for the dance portion of the song.
Yours Sincerely is included as bonus material for the DVD release of MGM’s 1962 film version of Rodg-
ers and Hart’s 1935 musical Jumbo, which interpolated “Why Can’t I?” (the DVD was released by Warner
Brothers Video # 67070).
MUSIC IN MAY
“Another Musical Victory” / “The Perfect Musical Play” / “A New Play with Music”

Performances: 80
Book: Fanny Todd Mitchell (adapted from the original German libretto by Heinz Merley and Kurt Breuer)
Lyrics: J. Keirn Brennan (adapted from the original German lyrics by Heinz Merley and Kurt Breuer)
Music: Emil Berte; additional music by Maury (aka Maurice) Rubens
Based on the 1927 operetta Musik im Mai (libretto and lyrics by Heinz Merley and Kurt Breuer and music by
Emil Berte).
Direction: Lew Morton and Stanley Logan; Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreography:
Chester Hale; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes: Orry-Kelly; E. R. Schrapps (aka Ernest Schrapps, Ernest
Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, Ernest Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Lighting: Uncredited;
Musical Direction: Ivan Rudizill
Cast: Joseph Toner (Hans), Gertrude Lang (Vita), Greek Evans (Karl Van Dorn), Charles Lawrence (Popkin),
Marjorie Leach (Zenzi), Solly Ward (Rausenbach), Joseph Lertora (Baron Metternich), Bartlett Sim-
mons (Prince Stephan), Gladys Baxter (Comtesse Olga), Edith Scott (Lisa), George Offerman Jr. (Alois),
Charles Chesney (Kranz, Officer), Francis Lyman (Loibner, Courier, Officer), James Norris (Kuhmeier,
Officer), Peter Petraitis (Prinz, Officer), Earl Plummer (Butler, Footman), Frazer McMahon (Officer),
Julia Lane (Lintchy), Jean Spiro (possibly Spira) (Footman), Herman Hertel (Footman), George St. John
(Footman); Eight Special Singers: Zola M. Gray, Norma Leyland, Lorena L. Walcott, Violette M. Code,
Eileen O’Malley, Dorothy Beckloff, Marice Christie, Julia Lane; Chester Hale Dancing Specialists: Erma
Chase, Sylvia O’Neal, Elanor Gilbert, Comfort Collins, Jeanette Balder, Luba Dubiago, Margaret Gibson,
Sally Ritz, Dorothy Blair, Norma Schutt, Rolande Poucel, Sylvia Blythe; Students: Milton Gallagher,
Louis Elmer, Jack Wilhelm, Earl T. Plummer, Frazer McMahon, Robert Stevens, John Fredericks, Robert
Dudley, George St. John, Arthur Singer, John Jendrek, Frank Staley, Joseph Barlow, Earl Wisong, Alfred
Russ, Leon Mandas, Helmut Wessels, Jean Spiro (or Spira), Herman Hertel, Isador Gladstone, Bob Davis,
Fred Kruger, Michael Kavanaugh, Joseph Posner, Ed Thompson, Eddie Bird, Joseph Rose, Gerald Moore,
Frank Ryan; George Smith’s Ensemble and String Orchestra: Evelyn Klein (Violinist Solo), Nan Berr
(Violinist), Emily Eldridge (Violinist), Mary Toher (Violinist), Florence Fisher (Violinist), Fern Saunders
(Violinist), Loret Fillion (Violinist), Catherine Merrill (Violinist), Frances Flanagan (Viola), Frances Wright
(Viola), Helen Ward (Cellist), Emily Hagstrom (Cellist), Josephine Rice (Cellist), Anne Bruyn (Cellist),
Leona Burgess (Harpist), Edith Sinclair (Harpist); and Rita Mario
The action takes place in Vienna during 1820.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: “Open Your Window” (Gertrude Lang, Joseph Toner, Ensemble); “Finnan Haddie”
(Charles Lawrence, Marjorie Leach); “Glory of Spring” (Greek Evans); “Sweetheart of Our Student Corps”
(Gertrude Lang, Students); “Open and Shut Idea” (Solly Ward, Chester Hale Girls); “I Found a Friend”
(Gertrude Lang, Greek Evans); “Unto Your Heart” (Gertrude Lang, Bartlett Simmons); Intermezzo (George
Smith’s Ensemble and String Orchestra); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening: “Seidels” (Students, Ensemble); “High, High, High” (Joseph Toner, Male Ensemble); Ga-
votte (Chester Hale Girls); “There’s Love in the Heart I Hold” (Gladys Baxter, Eight Special Singers); “I’d
Like to Love Them All” (music by Maury Rubens and Phil Svigals) (Solly Ward, Chester Hale Girls); “I’m
in Love” (Gertrude Lang, Bartlett Simmons); “No Other Love Was Meant for Me” (Gladys Baxter, Ambas-
sadors); “For the Papa” (Solly Ward, Marjorie Leach, Charles Lawrence); Finale (Company)
Act Three: “Metternich” (Joseph Lertora, Male Ensemble); “Lips That Laugh at Love” (Gladys Baxter, Bartlett
Simmons, Joseph Lertora); Intermezzo (George Smith’s Ensemble and String Orchestra); “It’s the Cooks,
Not the Looks” (Marjorie Leach, Charles Lawrence, Chester Hale Girls); “Unto Your Heart” (reprise)
(performers not identified in program, but were probably Gertrude Lang and Bartlett Simmons); Finale
(Company)
The Shuberts’ Music in May had been touring since late 1928, and the Broadway premiere jumped the
calendar with an April Fool’s Day opening. But in effect the show was true to its title and played for the en-
tire month of May before closing after the first week in June for a run of ten weeks. Spring Is Here had been
deceptive, too, and had started Broadway performances ten days before the start of spring.
The operetta was based on Musik im Mai, which opened at Vienna’s Raimundtheatre in 1927, and, like
so many importations, the Broadway version included additional songs, in this case, by Maury (aka Maurice)
Rubens.
Vita (Gertrude Lang) is the daughter of a shopkeeper who sells umbrellas, and the program described her as
the “belle” of a “University Town” (the action takes place in the Old Vienna of 1820). When she and Prince
Stephan (Bartlett Simmons) meet, it’s love at first sight, but does romance have a chance between one so low
and one so high? The seemingly impossible situation is resolved, and Burns Mantle in Best Plays assured us
that in the third act our prince finds a way “to make Vita a baroness and marry her.”
The operetta followed the basic outline of the Shuberts’ The Student Prince in Heidelberg, and so while
Kathie in Romberg’s operetta is the darling of the college boys, the belle Vita is serenaded by the student
corps, and instead of “Drink, Drink, Drink,” the college boys now sing “Seidels.” Gretchen was the saucy
minx in The Student Prince, and here Marjorie Leach (as Vita’s sister Zenzi) had a similar role, and of course
in true operetta fashion the older folk such as Vita’s Papa Rausenbach (Solly Ward) provided fustian, fuddy-
duddy humor that proved there’s life in the old boy yet (one of his songs was “I’d Like to Love Them All”).
And surely any character named Popkin (played by Charles Lawrence) must have been a heel-kicker-upper,
too. There was even a scheming and haughty character, Princess Olga (Gladys Baxter), whom the program
described as Prince Stephan’s “discarded sweetheart.”
And for a touch of historical authenticity, Metternich (Joseph Lertora) was included among the characters
and he sang—what else?—his own title song (“Metternich”). J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times noted
that for part of the lyric Metternich bragged that he “put Napoleon on the skids.” Atkinson also commented
that Lertora confused “the master diplomat with a Parisian dressmaker.” (Note that Metternich was given an
ambitious trio of politics- and finance-related songs in Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock’s 1970 musical The
Rothschilds: “Have You Ever Seen a Prettier Little Congress?,” “Stability,” and “Bonds.”)
If The Student Prince served as the blueprint for Music in May (whose title brought to mind the Shuberts’
1917 hit Maytime), the Shuberts’ long-running Blossom Time (which also brought to mind Maytime) was in
play here as well. For Blossom Time, composer Franz Schubert loves his Mitzi, but loses her to his best friend,
a dashing baron. For Music in May, composer and music professor Karl Von Dorn (Greek Evans, who also
played a professor in the original production of The Student Prince) is in love with Vita but loses her to the
dashing prince. Actually, they had to stand in line to get rejected, because Hans (Joseph Toner) was a “student
sweetheart” of Vita’s, but, like the good professor, he didn’t have a chance once the prince entered the picture
and dangled the title of baroness before his beloved Vita.
As for the songs, their titles seemed to say it all: “Glory of Spring,” “Sweetheart of Our Student Corps,”
“Unto Your Heart,” “Seidels,” “There’s Love in the Heart I Hold,” “I’d Like to Love Them All,” “I’m in
Love,” “No Other Love Was Meant for Me,” and “Lips That Laugh at Love.”
Time said the show was “very well done” with a “rousing score,” “bright” performances, and “plenty of
students about to break into melody at the faintest hint of a song cue.” The New Yorker said, “The exterior
1928–1929 Season 523
sets drip with wisteria and bristle with lilacs, while the interiors writhe in twenty-foot draperies,” and noted
the performances were “terrible, the singing excellent, and the score tiptop.” And Variety said the “curious
hodgepodge” was “stilted” with a “painful” book and “bad” staging, and observed that Lang was a “prima
of sometimes uncertain registers,” Toner “grossly” overacted, Simmons sang “nicely” but lacked “dramatic
ability,” and Leach was “kind of Charlotte Greenwood-ish in her eccentricities.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer predicted a “long engagement” because the evening of-
fered “just about everything that is required for a musical hit”; Gilbert Swan in the Pittsburgh Press said the
musical would gain a “large following”; and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the “delightful” show and said
it was “destined to remain a tenant at the Casino for a long, long while.”
Note that besides the regular theatre orchestra, the production offered George Smith’s String Orchestra,
an all-string ensemble of seventeen women.
During the tryout, Marion Marchante was succeeded by Gertrude Lang. Songs dropped during the tryout
include “I Wonder Why?” and “Every Month Is May.” During the New York run, “Finnan Haddie” and “It’s
the Cooks, Not the Looks” were cut.
PANSY
“An All-Colored Musical Novelty”
Theatre: Belmont Theatre

Performances: 3
Book: Alex Belledna
Lyrics and Music: Maceo Pinkard
Direction: Frank Rye; Producer: Maceo Pinkard; Choreography: Nat Cash; Scenery: Theatrical Art Studios;
Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: George Francis
Cast: Ralph Harris (Dean Liggett), Al Frisco (James), The Cole Brothers (Tom and Austin) (The Campus Cut-
Ups), Ida Anderson (Miss Wright), Alfred Chester (Bill), Elizabeth Taylor (Miss Merritt), Pearl McCormack
(Pansy), Speedy Wilson (Ulysses Grant Green), Amon Davis (Mrs. Green), Billy Andrews (Rob), Jackie
Young (Sadie); The Penn Comedy Four: Walter Crumbley, Lee J. Randall, H. Mattingly, and D. Davis;
Bessie Smith (as herself); Ladies of the Ensemble: Lenore Gadsden, Mildred Hart, Gypsy Bonte, Dorothy
Boyd, Isabel Peterson, Alice Sampson, Rosita Williams, Julia Hassan, Eloise Thompson, Lucile Lind, Libby
Robinson, Aubrey Clark, Beatrice Summerville, Judy Bonte, Virginia Branum
The action takes place during the present time at a university and a farm in the South, and in New York City,
including a sequence at Pennsylvania Station.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It’s Commencement Day” (Ensemble); “Break’n th’ Rhythm” (The Cole Brothers, Campus Cuties);
“Pansy” (Billy Andrews, Pearl McCormack, Ensemble); “Campus Walk” (Campus Steppers); “I’d Be
Happy” (Jackie Young, Alfred Chester); “Gettin’ Together” (Al Frisco, The Cole Brothers); “Shake a Leg”
(Jackie Young, Campus Steppers, Company); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “If the Blues Don’t Get You” (Bessie Smith); Specialty (The Penn Comedy Four); Specialty (The Cole
Brothers); “A Stranger Interlude” (Ida Anderson, Ensemble); “A Surprise”; “A Bouquet of Fond Memories”
(Company); Finale (Company)
Like Black Scandals, which had opened earlier in the season, poor Pansy played for just three perfor-
mances, and both became the shortest-running book musicals of the decade. The derisive notices gave the
show bragging rights, and it comfortably paved the way for such future disasters as Mystery Moon (1930),
Hairpin Harmony (1943), Louisiana Lady (1947), Hit the Trail (1954), Portofino (1958), and Kelly (1965). But
history tells us that Pansy had bragging rights for a more serious reason: one of the musical’s cast members
would become a legendary blues singer.
As for the plot, Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said he “gathered that something may have
happened at a college and a railway station.” Note that one of the campus scenes took place at I-Ate-a-Pie
Sorority House, and one song in the second act was titled “A Stranger Interlude.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times announced that “the worst show of all time” had been “good-
naturedly produced” amid “a nightmare of lost cues, forgotten words, embarrassed performers and frantic ef-
forts backstage to avoid complete collapse behind the footlights.” The audience hissed and booed, and those
who returned after intermission no doubt remained so that one day they could “speak reminiscently to the
grandchildren” about the debacle.
Time informed its readers that the show lasted for “just three hissful performances,” and Bob Slater in
the black weekly The New York Age said Pansy was “the biggest flop of the season,” and “to say how bad the
show was would be like throwing water on a drowning duck.” Walter Winchell in the Harrisburg Telegraph
reported that the “tardy” curtain didn’t rise until 9:05, and the audience “groaned audibly” over the “sour”
sketches, “unbelievably poor dialogue,” and the “pitiful attempts to entertain on the part of rank amateurs.”
The first act “dragged,” but despite the “incredibly bad material” most of the reviewers returned for the sec-
ond act. Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer predicted the musical “will be set down as one of
the worst efforts ever made to amuse difficult New Yorkers,” and “seldom has the cream of an audience’s
vivacity turned sour in so short a period.”
Pollock said the self-described “novelty” was “so novel as to be hardly believable” because you’d never
seen “anything like Pansy.” It was “awful” and it gave “first-nighters something to tell their grandchildren.”
Some of the dancers “did steps together that seemed to indicate that they had never met each other” before
the opening performance, but the music was “sweet” and well played by the orchestra (George Francis and
His Society Entertainers). Many in the audience “were in stitches a large part of the time” (but one suspects
their stitching wasn’t complimentary). In fact, “the young man who was squiring Jeanne Eagles roared and
bellowed and laughed until he cried.” But when a quartet sang “Gone Are the Days” (which wasn’t listed in
the program), “a dozen jocular spectators took the hint, got up in a body and went.”
But those who remained for the second act were lucky. Despite everything, and believe it or not, the cast
included none other than the legendary Bessie Smith, who played herself in her first and only Broadway ap-
pearance. She was already an established recording artist and nightclub singer, and Atkinson said she was “the
only practiced performer in the company, and a good one, too.” The audience demanded three encores of “If
the Blues Don’t Get You,” and Winchell noted she “aroused sincere admiration” and “would have stopped the
show even if what preceded her had been good.” Schrader noted that Smith “found favor” with the audience
and performed encores “until she was almost exhausted.”
Incidentally, a few days after the closing of Pansy Pollock was back at the Belmont Theatre where “light-
ning struck again” when the white play Chippies opened. It ran for five performances, and Pollock decided if
he tried to describe the show “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” (This five-performance disaster dealt
with a heroine who runs off to Cleveland and becomes the mistress of an Italian gangster and bootlegger, an
event that literally breaks her mother’s heart.)
1929 Season
BOMBOOLA
“A Unique Afro-American Musical Comedy” / “A New All-Colored Musical Comedy”

Performances: 27
Book: D. Frank Marcus (Note: The program stated “the Theme from which the Book was developed” was
suggested by Jimmie Cooper.)
Lyrics and Music: D. Frank Marcus and Bernard Maltin
Direction: D. Frank Marcus; Producer: Irving Cooper; Choreography: Sam Rose (“The Bamboolians” choreo-
graphed by Allie Ross); Scenery: Theatrical Art Studio and Beaumont Studios; Costumes: Lili; Lighting:
Electrical effects by Display Stage Lighting Co.; Musical Direction: Although the program didn’t cite a
musical director, it noted that Hughie Walke was the Assistant Musical Director.
Cast: The Harmonizers—Robert Ecton (Eb), Oliver Foster (Jeb), Charles Lawrence (Ned), and Claude Lawson
(Fred); Mercedes Gilbert (Rhodendra Frost), Monte Hawley (’Lije Frost), Hilda Perleno (Sheila Nesbit),
Percy Winters (Samson Frost), George Randol (Ludlow Bassom), Isabell Washington (Anna Frost), Ray
Giles (Deputy Sheriff, Stage Doorman, The Preacher), John Mason (Sambo), “Dusty” Fletcher (Dusty),
Cora Merano (First Pedestrian, Anna’s Maid), Ruth Krygar (Second Pedestrian), Billy Andrews (J. Quentin
Creech), Billie Cortez (Myrtle Wyms), Brevard Burnett (Tom Gin), Revella Hughes (“The Song Bird”);
Additional Specialty Performers: “Derby” Himself as The Boy with the Shifty Shoes, Percy Winters and
Cora Merano, Johnnie Bragg, Timoney Gladstone, Thomas Schriner, The Swanee Four (Messrs. Robert
Ecton, Oliver Foster, Charles Lawrence, and Claude Lawson), Cecil Mack’s Southland Singers, The Bom-
boola Steppers (Charles Banks, Johnnie Bragg, Ernest Creanshaw, Frank Davis, Kenneth Harris, Dominick
Mendez, and Arthur Oliver); The Bomboola Dusky Damsels: Alice Bowen, Fannie Cotton, Violet Fisher,
Estella Finley, Clara Howard, Pearl Howell, Mabel Hopkins, Ruth Krygar, Carmen Lopez, Adelaide Mar-
shall, Josephine McClain, Ernestine McClain, Jenny Salmons, Ollie Schoonmaker, Edna Scarez, Georgina
Spelvina, Marion Tyler, Catherine Upshur
The action takes place during the present time in and around Savannah, Georgia, and in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Evenin’” (Cecil Mack’s Southland Singers, The Swanee Four); “Ace of Spades” (Hilda Perleno,
Percy Winters, Ensemble); “Dixie Vagabond” (George Randol, Ensemble); “Rub-a-Dub Your Rabbit’s
Foot” (Isabell Washington; danced by Johnnie Bragg and Ensemble); “The Way to Do Bomboola” (Billie
Cortez, Percy Winters, Ensemble); “Somebody Like Me” (Isabell Washington, George Randol, Revella
Hughes, Hilda Perleno, John Mason, “Dusty” Fletcher, Brevard Burnett); Finale (Ensemble)
525
Act Two: “Tailor-Made Babies” (Billie Cortez, Johnnie Bragg, Ensemble); “African Whoopee” (Isabell Wash-
ington and Her Wild Animals); “Tampico Tune” (Hilda Perleno, Revella Hughes, Billy Andrews, “Derby,”
Girls); “Song of Harlem” (Isabell Washington, The Swanee Four); “Shoutin’ Sinners” (Billie Cortez, Hilda
Perleno, Brevard Burnett, “Dusty” Fletcher, Cecil Mack’s Southland Singers, The Swanee Four); “Anna”
(Isabell Washington, Billy Andrews, Ensemble); Specialty (“Derby”); Reprise (song not identified in pro-
gram; sung by George Randol, Quartette); “Wedding Procession” (Ensemble); “Hot Patootie Wedding
Night” (Isabelle Washington, Company); Finale (Company)
Note: The program also included a list of “episodes” (comic specialties and skits), as follows and in per-
formance order: “Brevard Burnett’s One-Man Crap Game” (Brevard Burnett); “Mason & Fletcher’s Strange
Inter-Feud” (“With Due Apologies to the Theatre Guild”) (The Hot Dog Man: John Mason; The Soft-Shell
Crab Man: “Dusty” Fletcher; First Customer: Ruth Krygar; Second Customer: Billie Cortez; Cop: Charles
Lawrence); “The Other Side of Harlem” (“More or Less a Travesty on the Play Harlem”) (The Lady Killer:
Billy Andrews; The Host: Brevard Burnett; The Sweet Mama: Hilda Perleno; The Host’s Lady Friend: Billie
Cortez; Three Card Monte: John Mason; The Shill: “Dusty” Fletcher; The Interrupter: Isabell Washington;
Detective: Monte Hawley; Cop: Thomas Schriner; Cecil Mack’s Southland Singers, The Swanee Four, Mem-
bers of the Ensemble); “Two in One” (a) “Clothes Make the Woman” (The Wife: Hilda Perleno; The Friend:
Georgina Spelvina; The Husband: Monte Hawley) and (b) “Suicide” (Sambo: John Mason; “Dusty”: “Dusty”
Fletcher; The Woman in the Case: Billie Cortez); “The Wall Between” (The Husband: “Dusty” Fletcher; The
Wife: Hilda Perleno; The House Man: Brevard Burnett; First Poker Player: John Mason; Second Poker Player:
Ray Giles; Third Poker Player: Charles Lawrence)
Both the black musical Bomboola and Show Girl, which opened a week later, were similar in theme
and followed the progress of a stage-struck young woman who seeks fame in the theatre. Both shows had
disappointing runs, and the New York Times reported Bomboola closed because of “financial troubles.” Re-
portedly, the musicians “refused to continue because of failure to receive salary.” The Times also noted that
“patronage was slight throughout the run.”
The critics couldn’t agree whether the show was a revue or a book musical, and perhaps the evening is
best described as a revue-like book musical because there was a plot, tenuous though it was, and it was in-
terspersed with songs, dances, specialties, and sketches, some of which were from the revue Bomboola, the
show within the show.
The critics were also confused about the correct spelling of the title. About half used the correct one of
Bomboola, but others referenced the title as Bamboola. Deming Seymour had it both ways. In a column for
the July 3, 1929, edition of the Asbury Park (NJ) Press he referenced the show as Bamboola, but in the July 7
edition of the Tampa Tribune he referred to it as Bomboola.
The story was set in Savannah and New York City, and centered on Anna Frost (Isabell Washington),
who, according to Seymour, “hies herself from the old plantation to Broadway and finds fame after the usual
stumbling over the obstacles so dear to the drafters of musical comedy plots.” Anna not only gets to star in a
revue titled Bomboola (which is also the name of a dance, per “The Way to Do Bomboola,” a foxtrot sung in
the first act), she also marries her composer boyfriend from back home.
The New York Times said the first act was given “at a furious pace,” but the second was “a succession
of dreary and ineffective attempts at comedy.” The production “frequently threaten[ed] to become a revue,”
but ultimately stuck to its “banal tale” about show business. However, the evening was “a whirlwind of
fast dancing,” and so there was “a good deal of strutting and singing” (the critic singled out “Ace of Spades,”
“Dixie Vagabond,” and “Rub-a-Dub Your Rabbit’s Foot”). The musical was “made lustrous by the presence”
of the “ebullient” Isabell Washington, and her “every appearance . . . raises the show to a sparkling level.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker said the show offered “good hoofing and good singing of so-so songs,
and rates the adjective ‘fair.’” He complained that the production gave Washington “small opportunity” to
deliver her usual “gusto” because as written her character was “depressingly sweet.” Time said the “high
spot” of the musical was a sequence (“The Other Side of Harlem”) in which a group of gamblers and drinkers
at a party become instant “revivalists” when their joint is raided by the cops.
Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune thought the show was “pretty bad,” but Seymour (for the same
newspaper) said the “shouting, rowdy” show was “at its best when its dancers are busy,” and also noted
the score offered three “outstanding” songs. Variety found the musical “rather conventional” with songs
1929 Season 527
that weren’t “so hot” and humor that was “spotty.” But the dances were “very well done,” and for one
particular number the dancers utilized a “peculiar torso thrust” that “a white chorus wouldn’t have the
nerve to try.”
SHOW GIRL
Theatre: Ziegfeld Theatre
Opening Date: July 2, 1929; Closing Date: October 5, 1929
Performances: 111
Lyrics: Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn; see song list for other lyricists
Music: George Gershwin; see song list for other composers
Based on the 1928 novel Show Girl by J. P. McEvoy.
Direction: Dialogue “staged” by William Anthony McGuire (Zeke Colvan, “General Stage Director”; T. B.
McDonald, “Technical Direction”); Producer: Florenz Ziegfeld; Choreography: Dances by Bobby Con-
nolly and ballets by Albertina Rasch; Scenery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: John W. Harkrider; Mme. Francis,
Inc.; Schneider-Anderson; Sondheim-Levy Co.; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direc-
tion: William Daly
Cast: Jimmie (later known as Jimmy) Durante (Sombre Eyes, Snozzle), Calvin Thomas (Colonel Witherby,
Stage Manager), Althea Heinly (Aunt Jennie, Estelle), Barbara Newberry (Virginia Witherby, Sunshine),
Matthew Smith (Robert Adams), Blaien Cordner (Steve), Andy Jochim (Frank, Mr. Wright), Wanda Ste-
venson (Bessie), Noel Francis (Peggy Ritz), Lou Clayton (Gypsy), Eddie Jackson (Deacon, Tony Morato),
Joseph Macaulay (Alvarez Romano), Doris Carson (Raquel), Frank McHugh (Jimmy Doyle), Howard Mor-
gan (Matt Brown), Ruby Keeler (also billed as Ruby Keeler Jolson) (Dixie Dugan), Caryl Bergman (Anna,
Sylvia), Eddie Foy Jr. (Denny Kerrigan), Kathryn Hereford (Bobby), Nick Lucas (Rudy), Austin Fairman
(John Milton), Sadie Duff (Mrs. Dugan); Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra; The Albertina
Rasch Dancers: Mildred Turner, Vera Frederick, Virginia Whitmore, Lucille O’Connor, Agatha Johann,
Virginia Allen, Ruth Hayden, Dorothy Morgan, Evelyn Nichols, Dona Dene Curry, Sunny Van, Ruth
Love, Viola Hage, Eddie Belmont, Dorothy Ryan, Louise Raymond; Show Girls: Althea Heinly, Blanche
Satchel, Gertrude Dahl, Mary MacDonald, Ada Landis, Edna Bunte, Betty Bassett, Mildred Schwenke,
Moreen Holmes, Dorothy Carrigan, Dolores De Fina, Doris Downes, Caja Eric, Georgia Payne, Camilla
Lanier, Mildred Klaw, Leonia Pennington; Dancers: Pat O’Keefe, Virginia Frank, Cleo Cullen, Bobby
Brodsley, Jean Althan, Selma Althan, Jane Barry, Peggy Carthew, Beatrice Powers, Dolores Grant, Pamela
Bryant, Janet Gibbard, Dorothy Bow, Lois Peck, Vivian Porter, Florence Allen, Virginia Case, Katherine
Downer, Juliette Jones, Doris May, Patricia McGrath, Orine Bryne, Rena Landeau, Claire Wayne, Jean
Wayne, Alma Drange, Mildred De Fina, Lottie Marcy, Dolores Ray, Hazel Bofinger, Kae English, Marcia
Bell, Emily Burton, Billie Cortez, Wanda Stevenson, Violet Dell, Dore Nodine
The musical takes place during the present time, mostly in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: The Magnolias Sequence: (a) “Happy Birthday” (Girls); (b) “My Sunday Fella” (Barbara Newberry,
Girls); (c) Specialty Dance (The Albertina Rasch Dancers); and (d) Finaletto: “How Could I Forget?” (The
Entire Magnolia Company); “I Can Do without Broadway (but Can Broadway Do without Me?)” (lyric and
music by Jimmie Durante) (Jimmie Durante, Lou Clayton, Eddie Jackson); “Lolita, My Love” (Joseph Ma-
caulay); “Do What You Do!” (Ruby Keeler, Joseph Macaulay); “Spain” (lyric and music by Jimmie Durante)
(Jimmie Durante, Lou Clayton, Eddie Jackson); “One Man” (Barbara Newberry, Girls); “So Are You!” (Ed-
die Foy Jr., Kathryn Hereford, Girls); “I Must Be Home by Twelve O’Clock” (Ruby Keeler, Girls); Specialty:
Songs (including “Because They All Love You,” lyric by Thomas Malie and music by J. Little; “Who Will
Be with You When I Am Far Away?,” lyric and music by W. H. Farrell; Variety reported that during a stage
“wait,” Lucas also sang “Singin’ in the Rain,” lyric by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, from
the film Hollywood Revue of 1929); Dance: “Black and White” (Dancers); Dance: “African Daisies” (The
Albertina Rasch Dancers); “Jimmie, the Well-Dressed Man” (lyric and music by Jimmie Durante) (Jimmie
Durante, Lou Clayton, and Eddie Jackson); “Harlem Serenade” (Ruby Keeler, Girls)
Act Two: Blues Ballet: “An American in Paris” (Harriet Hoctor, The Albertina Rasch Dancers) and “Home
Blues” (Joseph Macaulay); “Broadway, My Street” (lyric by Sidney Skolsky, music by Jimmie Durante)
(Jimmie Durante, Lou Clayton, Eddie Jackson); “So I Ups to Him” (lyric and music by Jimmie Durante)
(Jimmie Durante); “Follow the Minstrel Band” (Eddie Jackson, Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Or-
chestra); “Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away)” (Nick Lucas, Ruby Keeler, Girls); Finale
According to Variety, Ziegfeld threw $150,000 into Show Girl, but the sure-fire show misfired and was
gone in three months, despite preopening gossip that it was sold out for the first twenty weeks of the run. It
was lavishly appointed with décor by Joseph Urban and costumes by John W. Harkrider, the music was by
George Gershwin, the lyrics were jointly written by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn, the dances were devised by
Bobby Connolly, the ballets staged by Albertina Rasch, and the book was by William Anthony McGuire, who
had written the scripts for Ziegfeld’s hits The Three Musketeers and Whoopee.
And the star was the new Mrs. Al Jolson, otherwise known as Ruby Keeler and Ruby Keeler Jolson (she
and Jolson had married almost a year earlier, in September 1928, and divorced in 1940). She’d made favorable
impressions with critics and audiences in her four earlier Broadway appearances in chorus and featured roles,
and often as the leading dancer (see The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly, Bye Bye, Bonnie, Lucky, and Sidewalks of
New York), and here she was crowned by Ziegfeld as the next musical comedy queen. Only it didn’t quite
work out that way: the notices were cool, she left the show three weeks after it opened (for unspecified medi-
cal reasons), and she didn’t return to Broadway until forty-two years later when she triumphed in the hit 1971
revival of Vincent Youmans’s 1925 smash No, No, Nanette.
The cast of Show Girl also included the popular nightclub comic team of Lou Clayton, Eddie Jackson,
and Jimmie (later, Jimmy) Durante, and other cast members were Nick Lucas, Eddie Foy Jr., Frank McHugh,
Harriet Hoctor, Barbara Newberry, Joseph Macaulay, and Doris Carson. Besides the regular pit orchestra, the
onstage band was no less than Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra. And to top it off, Gershwin’s
orchestral piece An American in Paris was transformed into a lavish ballet (here titled “American in Paris—
Blues Ballet”), and the ballet’s main blues theme was given a lyric and sung by Macaulay as “Home Blues.”
But the impressive package didn’t take off and was gone in three months. It opened on July 2, and when
Keeler withdrew from the production on July 27 the musical lost the momentum that her presence and at-
tendant publicity had brought to the show. On July 29, the New York Times reported that because of ill health
Keeler would be replaced by Dorothy Stone (who had actually been in the audience for the show’s opening
night a few weeks earlier) but would remain in the production until Stone was ready to assume the role. How-
ever, a July 30 article in the New York Daily News stated Keeler had collapsed in her dressing room prior to
the Saturday evening performance on July 27 and was admitted to the hospital for an operation “necessary
to save her life.” Featured player Doris Carson, who was also Keeler’s understudy, would play the role until
such time as Stone was ready to step in. On August 2, the Times said Keeler’s operation had taken place on
August 1, the same day that Stone arrived in New York to begin rehearsals.
The reviews were good enough, but discerning readers could read between the lines and deduce that Show
Girl wasn’t the show of the age and wasn’t going to match the blockbuster runs enjoyed by Ziegfeld’s Sally,
Kid Boots, Rio Rita, Show Boat, Rosalie, The Three Musketeers, and Whoopee. The critics were particularly
disappointed with Gershwin’s least impressive score, although “Liza” and “Do What You Do!” were favor-
ably mentioned (and the former has enjoyed some currency). But the songs never became evergreens, and it
was telling that the show’s five songs for Durante, Clayton, and Jackson weren’t by Gershwin but mostly by
Durante. Further, Time reported that the score also included two more songs by Durante (which weren’t listed
in the Show Girl programs), “Shades, Yellow Shades for the Window” and “Who Will Be with You When I’m
Far Away (Far Out in Far Rockaway)?” Moreover, Nick Lucas’s first-act specialty consisted of non-Gershwin
songs, and during the run a song by Youmans was added.
The show underwent drastic revision after the opening. Five numbers were dropped: the Albertina Rasch
Dancers’ specialty and “How Could I Forget?” (both part of the Magnolias segment), “Lolita, My Love,”
“Spain,” and “Follow the Minstrel Band,” and when Lucas left the show his specialty was cut. “Mississippi
Dry” (lyric by J. Russel Robinson and music by Youmans) was added for the Magnolias scene where it was per-
formed by Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra and the Jubilee Singers (who joined the cast when
the song was interpolated into the score). As noted, Keeler left the show after about three weeks, as did Lucas.
1929 Season 529
The plot revolved around Dixie Dugan (Keeler), who wants more than anything to be a stage star. The
story began with a scene supposedly from a recent Ziegfeld musical called Magnolias, which was set in the
Old South of Virginia in 1863 and included Durante in the blackface role of Sombre Eyes. From there, we fol-
low Dixie’s progress through New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Manhattan (including a stop at the Club Caprice), and
then to the stage of the Ziegfeld Theatre and the production of the Follies where she becomes a star (it was
during the onstage Follies sequences that we got the An American in Paris ballet and the minstrel number).
Meanwhile, when Dixie isn’t busy breaking into show business, she’s being pursued by a trio of men, includ-
ing Jimmy Doyle (McHugh), who finally wins her hand.
The scene from Magnolias was a spoof of Southern-fried melodrama, the ballet was serious, and the min-
strel show was a salute to old-time show business. And all this as we followed Dixie on her road to Rialto
royalty. As mentioned, the songs were from a number of sources, and the evening emerged as a hodgepodge
without a coherent point of view and a strong score to hold it together.
The most talked-about moment was the “Liza” sequence. The number featured Lucas, Keeler, and the
chorines, but suddenly on opening night, Jolson (who was seated third row on the aisle) stood up and sere-
naded Keeler with the song, something he’d done during the show’s Boston tryout (and so no one on stage was
surprised by the supposedly impromptu interruption). Jolson occasionally attended other performances where
he continued his aisle-seat serenades, and although everyone seemed or at least pretended to be charmed, at
least one critic speculated that perhaps Mrs. Keeler wasn’t all that taken with Jolson’s appropriation of the
spotlight for her big eleven o’clock number. And surely Lucas couldn’t have been happy that Jolson side-
swiped him. Once Keeler and Lucas left the show, Durante (and then later Macaulay) joined Doris Carson for
the song, and during the final weeks of the run it was Macaulay (and then apparently McHugh) who joined
Stone for the number.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the Times noted that Ziegfeld had given the show a “lustrous splendor,” but the
“task of blending materials that are episodic and individual” made the new musical “the least notable” of
Ziegfeld’s recent shows. Throughout the evening you were “constantly aware of banalities and awkward
transitions” and you missed “the stately flow of the best Ziegfeld pageants.” Keeler was now “on her way to
fame on Broadway” and was an “enjoyable” performer “without pretentions and affectations,” and while Du-
rante’s “personality” managed to batter “through all barriers,” his “sizzling energy” and “spluttering, insane
material” didn’t “melt gracefully into a musical comedy book.” Gershwin’s contributions had “moments of
vividness or melody,” but he hadn’t composed “a first-rate score.”
Charles Brackett in the New Yorker found the adaptation “soggily” written, and noted it was Gershwin’s
“weakest” score, and Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune said the “elaborate and bountifully decorated”
show was “the nearest thing” to a financial “miss” that Ziegfeld had produced during the past five years
(perhaps he’d forgotten about Betsy).
But Percy Hammond in the Oakland (CA) Tribune said Show Girl was “as satisfactory a musical show
as I have ever seen,” and while he noted that Jolson’s “Liza” was a “priceless moment,” it nonetheless “de-
tracted a little” from Keeler’s “brilliant success.” Grace Cutler in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that for the
“entertaining” show Urban had “outdone himself in scenic effects” and Keeler excelled “in voice, in gesture,
[and] routine tap-dancing.” But Gershwin’s music was (with the exception of “Do What You Do!”) a “little
disappointing,” Durante was “hampered” by his fellow comics, and Foy “by no means” made the most of his
part.
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said “the most pleasing feature” of the musical was Ur-
ban’s décor; otherwise, Gershwin’s score was “breezy” and “sometimes original.” Variety decided the show’s
“main trouble” was the “music and the lack of it in a popular way,” but noted Durante got a “peach spot” for
two of his specialties, including the “bear” of a song “So I Ups to Him” (the critic reported that the “house
rocked” with Durante’s “snapper” line that someone was a “fairy”).
Ward Greene in the Indianapolis Star noted that Whoopee made Keeler famous, “especially when she
walked out on the show,” that her marriage to Jolson “hit the front pages of a hundred cities,” and “as a
dancer not even Marilyn Miller in her gayest days excels Ruby.” But in regard to Jolson’s “Liza” moment,
Greene suspected Jolson might not “continue to give this little surprise party to his darling wife,” who “in
time” might “appreciate it less and less.”
During the tryout, “I Couldn’t Be Good” and the haunting ballad “Feeling Sentimental” were cut. Songs
dropped in preproduction include: “I Just Looked at You,” “Minstrel Show,” “Tonight’s the Night,” “At
Mrs. Simpkins’ Finishing School,” “Adored One,” “Somebody Stole My Heart Away,” “I’m Just a Bundle of
Sunshine,” “Someone’s Always Calling a Rehearsal,” “I’m Out for No Good Reason Tonight,” “Home-Lovin’
Gal,” “Home-Lovin’ Man,” and “Casanova, Romeo, and Don Juan.” Except for “I Couldn’t Be Good,” all the
used and unused lyrics are included in The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin.
The cut song “Feeling Sentimental” is included in the collection George Gershwin Revisited (Painted
Smiles Records CD # PSCD-101), and The Broadway Musicals of 1929 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-038)
includes “Liza.” Note that “Tonight’s the Night” was used in the 1992 musical Crazy for You and was re-
corded for the cast album (Broadway Angel Records CD # CDC-7-54618-2).
The musical was based on J. P. McEvoy’s 1928 novel Show Girl and its leading character Dixie Dugan,
who was played by Alice White in the 1928 silent movie adaptation. In 1929, McEvoy’s sequel Hollywood
Girl was published, and it too starred White when it was filmed in 1930 as Show Girl in Hollywood (and in-
cluded cameos by Jolson and Keeler). Show Girl in Hollywood was released on DVD on the Warner Brothers
Archive Collection.
In the Show Girl program, Ziegfeld himself wrote “I commend Sondheim.” To be sure, not Stephen, who
was born the following year. Ziegfield wrote, “I commend Sondheim-Levy on the beauty of the fabric named
‘Panne Glow Satin,’” which his “glorified show girls” wore in the backstage scene of Show Girl during the
second scene of the first act. The advertisement further noted that “Gowns by Sondheim-Levy” were featured
at their shop located at 500 Seventh Avenue.
A NOBLE ROGUE
“A Musical Melodrama”
Theatre: Gansevoort Theatre

Opening Date: August 19, 1929; Closing Date: August 26, 1929
Performances: 9
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Kenyon Scott
Direction: Kenyon Scott, Adrian S. Perrin, and Paul Gilmore; Producer: Adrian S. Perrin; Choreography:
Adrian S. Perrin and J. R. O’Neil; Scenery: Joseph Allen Physioc; Costumes: Uncredited; Lighting: Uncred-
ited; Musical Direction: Jack Press
Cast: R. A. Rose (Jules Le Blanc), Cecil Carol (Celeste Beauregard), Frank Howson (Colonel Mulford), Melba
Marcelle (Senorita Velasquez), Esteban Cerdan (Grambo), Nanette Flack (Madame Le Blanc), Robert
Hobbs (Major Villere), Gordon Richards (Captain Lockyer), Marguerite Zender (Virginia Mulford), Helen
Heed (Evalina), Robert Rhodes (Jean Lafitte), William Balfour (Captain Dominique You), Alfred Heather
(Captain O’Shaughnessy), Jimmie Carr (Alphonse), Andre Borice (Francois), Marie La Verni (Rina), Irma
Friend (Louise), Barry Devine (Senor Antonio), Lionel Sainer (Rancher); Ensemble: Guests, Entertainers,
Members of Jean Lafitte’s Crew, Cajuns, Flower Girls, Fisher Maidens—Claudia Tyce, Julie La Chane,
Evelyn Hamilton, Kay Harkins, Betty Howson, Irma Friend, Florence Fields, Viola Pye, Elsie Melvin,
Beulah Yorkin, Madeline Levey, Hortense Hector, Lucy Barbaro, Margaret Collins, Harry Shapiro, Billy
Nation, Jack Greenburg, John Arcelo, Jay Altman, Carmelo Amora, Fred Armerson, Billy Gallagher, Em-
mett Anderson
The action takes place during 1814 in New Orleans and on the Island of Grand Terre.
Musical Numbers
Note: Except for “Fascination,” “Once Again,” “Spirit of Jasmine,” “When a Girl’s in Love,” “Wonderful
Dream,” and “Zina,” the titles of most of the musical numbers heard in the production are unknown.
In later years, A Noble Rogue would have been considered an Off-Broadway musical, but during the early
decades of the twentieth century the term “Off Broadway” didn’t have much in the way of currency, and
no one seemed to worry about geographical classifications. The New York critics and Best Plays considered
small downtown shows as part and parcel of the regular theatre season, and so for the 1929–1930 season a mu-
sical like A Noble Rouge took its place along with Sweet Adeline, Bitter Sweet, and Fifty Million Frenchmen
1929 Season 531
as one of the seasonal offerings. A Noble Rogue was the shortest-running musical of the season (the longest
run was enjoyed by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson’s Flying High, which opened in March
1930 and topped out at 355 performances).
The work premiered at the tiny Gansevoort Theatre, which was a newly renamed and refurbished venue
that had previously been known as the Grove Street Theatre. The New York Times reported that during the
previous season the playhouse had been home to the “professional band of insurgents” known as the New
Playwrights. The Times critic provided his readers with specific directions on how to reach the theatre: walk
one block south of the Sheridan Square subway stop and then take a turn to your right on Grove Street.
The book, lyrics, music, and codirection were by Kenyon Scott, and the story took place in Old New Or-
leans and environs during 1814. Proper Southern belle Virginia Mulford (Marguerite Zender) and the dashing
title character Jean Lafitte (Robert Rhodes), the famous buccaneer who lived circa 1780–1823, fall in love, and
no doubt audience members endured unbearable suspense as they speculated on the outcome of the love affair
between the high-born heroine and the colorful pirate.
The Times found the book “slow and conventional” and the lyrics “early” nineteenth century, but noted
the score was moderately pleasing. The critic mentioned that the production offered one “modern touch”
with the inclusion of two effeminate men (probably the characters of Alphonse and Francois, who were re-
spectively played by Jimmie Carr and Andre Borice), and commented that “effeminate young men have long
been fixtures of Broadway comedy.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the show was “slightly aged if not mellow in spots and a bit green in
others.” The “smoothness” of the evening was the result of Joseph Allen Physioc’s décor, and otherwise the
leads “did all that one could expect” considering “the material at hand,” including “ballads that would have
delighted the hearts of the flappers of the naughty 90’s.” Deming Seymour in the Burlington (VT) Free Press
reported that those who attended the show found the music “excellent,” the lyrics “not quite so good,” and
the book “a little less meritorious.”
Variety couldn’t get the name of the musical right, and so throughout the review the critic referred to
A Royal Rogue. The critic decided the songs were “better than the book,” and singled out three numbers,
“Fascination,” “Once Again,” and “Wonderful Dream.” The latter’s “comic lyric,” which offered just about
“all the giggles in the show,” was a quartet for two of Lafitte’s pirates and two “nance” stowaways (the ones
referred to in the Times’ review). Variety offered a sample of the lyric: “He was a dear / Although a bit queer.”
The Gansevoort also included a combined night club and supper club on the floor above the theatre.
Called the Persian Gardens, it was designed by Physioc and offered specialty acts following the performance
downstairs.
The character of Jean Lafitte returned to musical comedy in Mardi Gras!, which opened on June 26, 1965,
at the Jones Beach Theatre for sixty-eight performances; the book was by Sig Herzig and the lyrics and music by
Carmen Lombardo and John Jacob Loeb. The musical took place over three time periods (1965, 1815, and 1905),
and most of the performers played multiple characters. David Atkinson was John Laffity, Jean Laffite, and
Lucky Laffity, and others in the cast were Karin Shepard, Ruth Kobart, Juanita Hall, and Phil Leeds. Note that
one of the characters played by Kobart was none other than Carrie Nation, who sang “Down with Whiskey.”
Mardi Gras! played a second engagement at Jones Beach the following summer beginning on July 8, 1966,
for fifty-four performances; Atkinson and Shepard reprised their roles, and Joel Grey and Fran Stevens suc-
ceeded Leeds and Kobart. There was no cast recording of the production, but an album of twelve orchestral
selections played by Mitchell Ayers (the show’s musical director) and the Mardi Gras Strings was released by
Decca Records (P # DL-74696).
The Jones Beach musical shouldn’t be confused with Norman Rosten’s 1954 drama Mardi Gras, which
closed during its pre-Broadway tryout and included background music by Duke Ellington; nor should it be
mistaken for the London musical Mardi Gras, which opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on March 18,
1976, for 212 performances.
SWEET ADELINE
“A Musical Romance of the Gay Nineties”

Performances: 234
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: Book staged by Reginald Hammerstein (Leighton K. Brill, Technical Director); Producer: Arthur
Hammerstein; Choreography: Danny Dare; Scenery: Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange; Costumes:
Charles LeMaire; Eaves; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Gus Salzer
Cast: Thomas Chadwick (Sergeant Malone, The Sultan), George Raymond (August), Pauline Gorin (Lena),
Violet Carson (Dot), Robert C. Fischer (Emil Schmidt), Helen Morgan (Addie Schmidt), Caryl Bergman
(Nellie Schmidt), Irene Franklin (Lulu Ward), Robert Emmett Keane (Dan Ward), Max Hoffman Jr. (First
Mate Tom Martin), Charles Butterworth (Ruppert Day), Jack Gray (Doctor), Tom Thompson (Orderly),
Ben Wells (Colonel), Robert Chisholm (James Day), Gus and Will (as Gus and Will), Len Mence (Sam
Herzig), Wally Crisham (Eddie), John D. Seymour (Sid Barnett), George Djimos (The Jester), Helen Ault
(Maizie O’Rourke), William Sheppard (Head Carpenter), Joe Reilly (Prop Man), Gus Salzer (as First Violin-
ist Gus), Borrah Levinson (George), Jackson Fairchild (Young Blood), Martin Sheppard (Gabe Case), Tom
Rider (A Cabby), Harry Edmond (Old Sport), George Magis (Doc), Jim Thornton (as Jim Thornton), Jerry
Jarnagin (aka Jarnigan) (Mr. Gilhooley), Sally Bates (Hester Van Doren Day), Peter Bender (Willie Day);
George Smith’s Girl Band: Frances Flanigan, Polly Fisher, Josephine Rice, Mabel Thilbault, Gertrude
Clave, Laura Mutch; Girls of the Gay Nineties: Helen Ault, Louise Bernhardt, Harriet Britton, Mary Car-
ney, Dorothy Brown, Lillian Burke, Kaye Carroll, Louise Chowning, Nore Clifft, Aida Conkey, Myrtle
Cox, Betty Croke, Nonie Dale, Fanilla Davies, Christine Gallagher, La Vergne Evans, Helene Gardner,
Mildred Gethins, Pauline Gorin, Evelyn Hannons, Muriel Harrison, Dorothy Hiller, Cyrilla Tuite, Helen
Kelly, Grace La Rue, Evelyn Laurie, Madge MacAnally, Helen McDonald, Marion Martin, Peggy Mes-
senger, Gladys Nelson, Ruby Nevins, Ruth Penery, Robertina Robertson, Madgio Schmylee, Bertha Mae
Swan, Elenore Tierney, Emily Van Hoven, Genevieve Van Hoven, Marion Young, Lorena Walcott, Gloria
Le Bow, Baum Sturz; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: John Campbell, Don Carter, Joseph Davidenko, Frank
Dobert, Lynn Eldridge, Jackson Fairchild, Andy Lieb, George Magis, Paul Moran, George Raymond, Tom
Rider, Len Sasion, Martin Sheppard, Bob Shutta, Alexis Sokoloff, Morris Tepper, Tom Tomson, Efim Vitis,
Robert Vernon
The action takes place during the late 1890s, mostly in New Jersey and New York City, with a brief detour
to Cuba.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture: “Fin de Siècle” (the overture was based on songs from the 1890s period and was arranged
by Jerome Kern; see section below in regard to recordings from the score) (Orchestra); “Play Us a Polka,
Dot” (Violet Carson, Boys and Girls); “’Twas Not So Long Ago” (Helen Morgan, Ensemble); “My Hus-
band’s First Wife” (lyric by Irene Franklin) (Irene Franklin); “Here Am I” (Helen Morgan, Violet Carson);
“First Mate Martin” (Max Hoffman Jr., Charles Butterfield, Ensemble); “Spring Is Here” (Violet Carson,
Charles Butterfield, Girls); “Out of the Blue” (Robert Chisholm, Max Hoffman Jr., Boys; Violet Carson,
Caryl Bergman, Girls; Gus and Will); “Naughty, Naughty Boy” (Irene Franklin, Charles Butterworth,
Girls); Rehearsal: (a) “Oriental Moon” (Thomas Chadwick, George Djimos, Ensemble) and (b) “Molly (aka
Mollie) O’Donahue” (Helen Ault, Girls); “Why Was I Born?” (Helen Morgan); Finale (Ensemble)
Act Two: “’Twas Not So Long Ago” (reprise) (Robert C. Fischer); “Winter in Central Park” (Ensemble);
“Adeline Belmont” (Male Ensemble); “The Sun about to Rise” (John D. Seymour, Helen Morgan, Robert
Chisholm, Ensemble); “Some Girl Is on Your Mind” (Robert Chisholm, Max Hoffman Jr., John D. Sey-
mour, Jim Thornton, Male Ensemble); “Don’t Ever Leave Me” (Helen Morgan, Robert Chisholm); “Here
Am I” (reprise) (Violet Carson); Finaletto (Helen Morgan); “Miss Lulu Ward’s Specialty” (“Indestructible
Kate”) (lyric by Irene Franklin and music by Jerry Jarnagin) (Irene Franklin, Jerry Jarnagin); “Take Me for
a Honeymoon Ride” (Violet Carson, Charles Butterworth, Gus and Will, Bicycle Girls); “Harbor Scena”;
“Scene” (Helen Morgan, John D. Seymour, Robert Chisholm); “’Twas Not So Long Ago” (reprise) (Cho-
rus); Finale (Ensemble)
1929 Season 533
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Sweet Adeline received mostly favorable reviews (and in some
cases, raves), but at least one prominent critic was less than impressed with the proceedings. Kern and Ham-
merstein’s previous collaboration had been Show Boat, and so interest in their new musical was high. More-
over, Helen Morgan had appeared in Show Boat and introduced “Bill” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man,”
and as the star of the new musical her name sold tickets.
Because of the advance sale, the musical reportedly sold out during its first four months, and despite the
stock market crash (which occurred two months after the opening) the show continued to do well during the
winter until such time as the advance ticket sales had run their course. The show played for a total of six
months, and when it closed was almost on the verge of recouping its production costs. A few months later a
national tour (which headlined Morgan) played for five months, and presumably the tour along with the film
sale to Warner Brothers enabled the show to eventually enter the profit column.
Despite the show’s title, the main character went by her shortened nickname. Addie Schmidt (played by
Morgan), a singer in her father’s Hoboken beer garden, eventually makes the journey to Manhattan, where
she becomes a famous Broadway star. It was a Cinderella story of sorts, but a certain seriousness permeated
the action and the score, and the Spanish-American War served as background and directly involved some of
the characters. There are three romances in Addie’s life, Lieutenant Tom Martin (Max Hoffman Jr.), composer
and orchestra leader Sid Barnett (John D. Seymour), and theatre producer Jim (James) Day (Robert Chisholm),
and it’s Jim she eventually marries.
The musical was a nostalgic look at life and show business during the late 1890s, and provided a Cook’s
tour of Little Old New York in the Gay Nineties. There were scenes that took place at the Bowery’s Olympic
Burlesque Theatre, Central Park’s McGowan’s Pass Tavern, the Hoffman House Bar, Fort George Hill, and
the Madison Square Garden Roof Theatre. There was also a sequence that depicted a horse-drawn car going
down Avenue A while a hansom cab made its way up Broadway.
Kern and Hammerstein’s score was one of their finest and served Morgan well with three slightly brood-
ing ballads that complemented her somewhat tragic persona, “Here Am I,” “Don’t Ever Leave Me,” and the
evergreen lament “Why Was I Born?” The musical’s opening number was the rollicking “Play Us a Polka,
Dot,” and as the evening progressed the folk-like “’Twas Not So Long Ago” became a theme song of sorts for
the production. The score’s masterpiece is the stunning “Some Girl Is on Your Mind,” a reflective second-act
number for the men in Addie’s life. This lengthy concerted number of frustration and longing is surprisingly a
drinking song as well, and its alternately hushed and exultant music is one of Kern’s most inspired creations
and one of the towering moments of 1920s musical theatre.
The overture (titled “Fin de Siècle”) is one of those interpolations that Kern felt was somehow necessary
in order to establish the atmosphere of a specific time period. As a result, the overture didn’t include any
music from Kern’s score and instead was a medley of popular songs from the 1890s, all selected and arranged
by Kern into an eight-minute overture.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the work’s humor “exuberantly good-natured” rather
than “sophisticated,” and said the story revisited such familiar themes as “bedlam” at a rehearsal hall and
a heroine who makes good in show business. And the real “joy” of Sweet Adeline was Kern’s abiding score
(Atkinson singled out “Here Am I,” “The Sun about to Rise,” and “’Twas Not So Long Ago”), and he noted
that Kern had composed “broken, tearful ballads” for Morgan, who sang in a “pensive, gently melancholy
mood.” Time said the evening was “gay and rambling,” and that the “cadaverous and tragic buffoon” Charles
Butterworth was the “best thing” in the show as he voiced “sardonic witticisms.”
But Robert Benchley in the New Yorker warned his readers that the musical was “not without its dull
stretches,” and “when they are dull they are good and dull.” Morgan’s “lush personality” was “almost op-
pressively lush at times,” and Kern’s score was “somehow disappointing in that there isn’t much in it to tuck
away and take home.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle liked the show, which was “musical and amusing without
noise or wild jazz monkeyshines,” and Gilbert W. Gabriel in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call praised the
“gracious” score and singled out Morgan and Butterworth’s performances. Heywood Broun in the Pittsburgh
Press stated Sweet Adeline was an “almost perfect musical comedy” with one of Kern’s “loveliest” scores,
and commented that some three weeks after the premiere he’d already seen the musical three times. But he
had one reservation about the plot: of Addie’s three suitors, she chooses Jim, and Broun thought the char-
acter was all wrong for her. In fact, when Addie agreed to marry Jim, Broun felt he’d “been knocked down
with a saxophone” and he gave the marriage “about a month.” Robert Garland in the Pittsburgh Press also
questioned Addie’s choice, but decided it was “her business after all” and it was “she who has to live with
him.” He felt that Addie should have realized Jim was really the Shep Keyes character from Golden Dawn,
who “went after his women with a sneer, a whip and a visible determination to get what he wanted when
he wanted it.” (Hammerstein had cowritten the book and lyrics for Golden Dawn, and Chisholm had played
the role of Shep Keyes.)
Percy Hammond in the Los Angeles Times enjoyed the “excellent comic opera” and Kern’s “appropriate”
score, and noted the evening was “semiserious and smartly old-fashioned,” and Robert Littell in the Louis-
ville Courier-Journal stated Sweet Adeline was “the biggest smash” of the new season and was the “gayest
and most satisfying musical comedy” he’d ever seen.
As mentioned, the musical included scenes that took place at the Madison Square Garden Roof Theatre,
a venue that saw the most notorious premiere in the history of New York theatre. On the night of June 25,
1906, the musical Mamzelle Champagne opened, and during the performance multimillionaire Harry K.
Thaw shot and killed the preeminent architect Stanford White. Years before, White and the beautiful model
and actress Evelyn Nesbit had an affair, and when Thaw later married Nesbitt he became obsessed by hers
and White’s earlier relationship.
The murder trial was one of the most sensational in American history (and marked for the first time in
U.S. legal history that a jury was sequestered), and Thaw was eventually found not guilty by reason of insan-
ity and sentenced to life in a state hospital for the criminally insane. He escaped, but later faced more trials
and more scandals (and at least one more incarceration) and eventually was found not guilty and not insane
and lived out his years as a free man.
Burns Mantle in the Detroit Free Press reported that Thaw attended one of the tryout performances of
Sweet Adeline, and the Madison Square Garden scene was apparently so “disturbingly reminiscent” to Thaw
that “he arose excitedly in his seat and left the theatre.” The scene in question involved Tom and Sid, who
come to blows over Addie’s affection, and the sequence reminded Thaw “a little too vividly of the night he
shot Stanford White on that same roof.”
“I’ve Got a New Idea” and “I’m Dreaming” were dropped during the tryout. “First Mate Martin” incor-
porates some of the music from “Yes, Ma’am,” which was cut during the tryout of Show Boat, and “Oriental
Music” uses the same melody of “Oriental Dreams” from Kern’s 1921 London musical The Cabaret Girl.
All extant lyrics for Sweet Adeline are included in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammer-
stein II (the lyrics for “Winter in Central Park,” “Take Me for a Honeymoon Ride,” and “I’m Dreaming” are
presumed lost, or at least missing, and note that “Take Me for a Honeymoon Ride” had once been known as
“Take Me for a Bicycle Ride”). Irene Franklin sang and cowrote “My Husband’s First Wife” and “Indestruc-
tible Kate,” and two other numbers probably performed by her were “She’s Doing It All for Baby” (for which
she wrote both lyric and music) and “Just a Little Bit of String” (aka “The Fish-Hook Number”), the latter
with lyric by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross and music by Lionel Monckton.
Morgan recorded “Why Was I Born” and “Don’t Ever Leave Me.” The invaluable Broadway Showstop-
pers recording (Broadway Angel CD # CDC-7-54586-2) includes four numbers from the production, all with
the original Broadway orchestrations. The songs are “Here Am I,” “Why Was I Born?,” “Some Girl Is on
Your Mind,” and “Don’t Ever Leave Me”; the conductor is John McGlinn, and the singers include Judy Kaye,
Rebecca Luker, Davis Gaines, Cris Groenendaal, Brent Barrett, George Dvorsky, and the Ambrosian Chorus.
In his liner notes for Jerome Kern Overtures & Music from the Film “Swing Time” (EMI Records CD #
CDC-7-49630-2), McGlinn refers to the Sweet Adeline overture as “unique and bizarre.” It wasn’t the usual
medley of songs from the score and was instead a selection of period songs from the 1890s, which established
the time setting for the action and provided a nostalgic musical prelude for the evening. The piece is almost
eight minutes in length and includes “Daisy, Daisy” (aka “A Bicycle Built for Two”), “The Band Played
On,” “I’d Leave My Happy Home,” “Break the News to Mother,” “Hello, Mah (Ma) Baby,” “Tell Me, Pretty
Maiden,” and “I Want to Be a Military Man.” Kern had previously added “Hello, Mah Baby” to Show Boat,
but the song was dropped during the tryout.
The collection Life’s a Funny Present (Rialto Recordings CD # SLRR-9306) includes “The Sun about to
Rise” and “Indestructible Kate,” and The Broadway Musicals of 1929 (Bayview Records CD # RNBW-038)
includes “My Husband’s First Wife.”
As noted above, Thaw became uneasy during the second act scene, which took place at the Madison
Square Garden Roof Theatre, and one wonders if his discomfort began with the overture, which included
1929 Season 535
“Tell Me, Pretty Maiden,” a song Nesbitt sang as part of the Florodora sextet when she joined that production
during the course of the New York run, which lasted from 1900 to 1902.
The 1935 Warner Brothers’ film adaptation of Sweet Adeline was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and cho-
reographed by Bobby Connolly; the cast included Irene Dunne (Addie) and Donald Woods (Sid) as well
as Ned Sparks, Hugh Herbert, Joseph Cawthorn, Louis Calhern, Winifred Shaw, and Noah Beery. Eight
songs were retained (“Play Us a Polka, Dot,” “Here Am I,” “Why Was I Born?,” “Oriental Moon,” “Molly
O’Donahue,” “’Twas Not So Long Ago,” an abbreviated version of “Some Girl Is on Your Mind” [the
“Pretty Jennie Lee” section], and “Don’t Ever Leave Me”); one song (“Lonely Feet”) had originally been
heard in Kern and Hammerstein’s 1934 London musical Three Sisters, where it had been introduced by
Adele Dixon; and Kern and Hammerstein wrote one new number for the film, the somewhat simpering
“We Were So Young.”
Some sources indicate that “Out of the Blue” was retained for the film, but it isn’t included in the print I
saw. On the other hand, no source that I know of references a drinking song for the chorus that is sung in the
beer garden toward the end of the film (with the best-guess title of “Down, Down, Down”) (this number isn’t
related in lyric and music to “Some Girl Is on Your Mind,” which in its own way is also a drinking song). The
song doesn’t seem to have been in the stage production, and doesn’t seem to match any preexisting Kern and
Hammerstein song, and so perhaps it was written for the film. The movie was released on DVD by the Warner
Brothers Archive Collection. Critics who reviewed the stage production and were unhappy with Addie’s choice
of the theatre producer no doubt were pleased to find that for the film version she chooses the composer.
The musical was revived by the Goodspeed Opera House (East Haddam, Connecticut) for the period April
26–June 18, 1977, with Cynthia Wells (Addie); other cast members included Pam Dawber, Travis Hudson, Jay
Garner, Scott Stevenson, and Candy Darling. An Encores! concert production at City Center played for a lim-
ited engagement of five performances February 13–16, 1997, and included the deleted song “I’ve Got a New
Idea.” The cast included Patti Cohenour (Addie), MacIntyre Dixon, Dorothy Loudon, Gary Beach, Hugh Panero,
Stephen Bogardus, Nancy Marchand, and Tony Randall. In his review for the Times, Ben Brantley noted that
the concert reached its “epiphany” with “Some Girl Is on Your Mind,” a “rich, enchanting paean to romantic
wistfulness,” and Clive Barnes in the New York Post described the number as a “solemn Verdi-like ensemble.”
THE STREET SINGER

“A Musical Comedy of Americans Abroad”
Theatre: Shubert Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Royale Theatre)
Performances: 191
Book: Cyrus Wood and Edgar Smith
Lyrics: Graham John
Music: Nicholas Kempner, S. Timberg, and John Gilbert
Direction and Choreography: Busby Berkeley; Producer: Busby Berkeley; Scenery: Watson Barratt; Costumes:
Orry-Kelly; Barbier; Schneider-Anderson; Joseph; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Pierre de
Reeder
Cast: Jane Alden (Mabel Brown), Nick Long Jr. (Ronnie), Ruth Shields (Claire), Phil Reep (Manager of the
Café Royal, Jean Baptiste), Ed Garvie (Colonel Brown), Peggy Cornell (Muriel), Jack Kelley (Waiter), Nell
Kelly (Annette), Harry K. Morton (Louis), Andrew Tombes (Picot), Walter Johnson (Doorman, Manager of
the Folies Bergère), Don Cortez (First Tourist), Frank Gagen (Second Tourist), Kay Ross (A Lady), Cesar
Romero (John), Queenie Smith (Suzette), Guy Robertson (George), Frank Lalor (Prefect of Police), Bentley
Stone (First Agent of Police), Larry Hogan (Second Agent of Police), Jimmy Lyman (The Baron, Theatre
Attendant), Audrey Maple (Erminie), Marian Palmer (Louise); Dancing Girls: Edith Blaire, Virla Burley,
Ruth Cunliff, Maxine Darrell, Rita Hogan, Catherine Huth, Elsie Lauristen, Barbara Lee, Jane Love, Isa-
belle McLaughlin, Hazel Maguire, Mildred Morgan, Betty O’Day, Dorothy Snowden, Jean Swanson, Peggy
Tebbs, Jean Watson; Show Girls: Anne Austin, May Meeris, Helen Hall, Dorothy Joy, Agnes Kiely, Dora
Lee, Kathryn Ross, Grace Stogner, Wynn Terry, Marjorie Younger, May Ferber, Shirley Parshall; Boys:
Don Cortez, Clark Eggleston, Frank Gagen, Larry Hogan, George Saylor, Arthur Shnitzer, Bentley Stone,
Milton Brodus

The action takes place during the present time in Paris and environs.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Jane Alden, Nick Long Jr., Ensemble); “You Never Can Tell” (Jane Alden, Nick Long Jr.,
Peggy Cornell, Ensemble); “I Am” (Nell Kelly, Harry K. Morton); “When Everything Is Honky (Hunky)-
Dory” (Queenie Smith, Guy Robertson); “The Girl That I’ll Adore” (Guy Robertson, Ensemble);“You’ve
Made Me Happy Today” (Queenie Smith, Guy Robertson); “Somebody Quite Like You” (Peggy Cornell,
Nick Long Jr., Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Two: Opening (Ruth Shields, Ensemble); “Statues” (Nell Kelly, Harry K. Morton, Boys and Girls); “Oh,
Theobold, Oh, Elmer” (Andrew Tombes, Frank Lalor); “From Now On” (lyric by Edward Eliscu, music by
Richard Meyers) (Queenie Smith, Guy Robertson); “Knocking on Wood” (Nick Long Jr., Ensemble); Fina-
letto (Company); Reprise (song not identified in program) (Nell Kelly, Harry K. Morton); Ballet (Queenie
Smith, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The Street Singer was a vehicle for the endearing dancer Queenie Smith, and some critics were surprised
the show didn’t provide her with more dancing opportunities. The musical ran for six months, and later em-
barked on a national tour, which starred Smith.
The cast also included handsome tenor Guy Robertson as Smith’s romantic interest, and the company was
peppered with comics (Andrew Tombes and Frank Lalor), dancers (Harry K. Morton and Nick Long Jr.), and even
a future screen personality (Cesar Romero). Busby Berkeley was the director and choreographer as well as the
nominal producer (Variety noted that while Berkeley was “programmed” as producer, The Street Singer was
“a Shubert show”), and his dances, which emphasized ensembles, were singled out for their roughhouse vigor.
George (Robertson) is a rich American in Paris who meets poor American guttersnipe Suzette (Smith), a
flower girl and street singer. He makes a bet that he can transform her and pass her off to society as an elegant
lady, and so over the course of three months he teaches her how to properly speak, dress, walk, and eat. And
then it’s time for her society debut.
Does any of this seem familiar? Yes, it was Pygmalion by way of Cinderella all over again, and the only
thing missing were songs on the order of “The Sleet in Crete.” In this case, George and his fiancée, Mabel
(Jane Alden), quarrel because he wants to make her over into his vision of the ideal woman. Mabel suggests
the wager and says if George can turn Suzette into a lady she’ll not only marry him, she’ll also strive to fill
his fantasy of female perfection. Suzette does indeed become a polished lady fair, and she believes George’s
interest in her comes from romantic inclinations on his part. But she rebels when she discovers George took
her on as a wager with Mabel, and so on the occasion of her society debut she purposely shocks everyone by
behaving like a drunken hussy. And then she walks out on him.
Two years pass, and we learn that George has been away from Paris during that time and is no longer
engaged to Mabel, that Suzette is now the star of the Folies Bergère, and that George has come to realize he’s
always loved Suzette. As Burns Mantle observed in Best Plays, George almost loses Suzette but finds her just
in time for the final curtain.
The New York Times said the score offered “several ingratiating tunes” that were sometimes “vaguely
reminiscent.” The voice of the “enameled” Robertson was a “definite asset,” Tombes was “one of the best of
the second division merry-andrews,” Lucas was praised for his “acrobatic antics,” and while Smith was best
known as a dancer she now emerged “as an almost full-fledged Times Square thrush.” Frederick F. Schrader
in the Cincinnati Enquirer praised the “delightful” musical, which offered an “unexcelled” company and
“elaborate scenic effects,” and Time liked the “pleasant, flowery entertainment.”
As mentioned, Berkeley’s choreography was singled out, and it seems that here his contributions were
a forerunner of sorts to the energetic, rough-and-tumble dances of the Michael Kidd variety. Time indicated
there was “a great deal of ardent hoofing,” and Deming Seymour in the Havre (MT) Daily News reported
there was “an arduous and intricate series of ensemble dances” that sometimes were “more exciting than
the plot.” The Times commented that Berkeley’s “highly energetic dances” were performed by his “more
reckless pupils,” and so for one sequence the dancers were “athletic” and they “hoof[ed] fast and furiously
as tennis girls, golf girls, swimming girls and even cowboys.” For another dance, they “crouch[ed] through a
1929 Season 537
long series of convolutions, a procedure which must have been painful during the early rehearsals.” Arthur
Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle praised the dancers for their “musical comedy zest and liveliness,” not-
ing that their “studied” and “tortuous” steps made “one wonder how chorus girls live till tomorrow,” and
he hailed them as Berkeley’s “proudest achievement.” Variety said the evening’s tempo was “accelerated
by ensembles in which a young and willing chorus gets hot and stays that way until, winded and exhausted,
they tumble gratefully into the wings.” The critic noted that one dance was “done entirely in a crouching
position, and must be ghastly upon the leg muscles,” and he concluded that “few choruses have ever been
subject to such rigors.”
During the run, “Somebody Quite Like You” and “Knocking on Wood” were dropped and respectively
replaced by “My Little Piano Man” and “Jumping Jimminy,” and Guy Robertson was succeeded by John Price
Jones.
Smith headlined the national tour, and Archie Leach (later known as Cary Grant) played George. Berke-
ley had directed and choreographed the Broadway production and was the nominal producer, but for the tour
Marcel Varnel was credited for direction and the Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.) were listed as producers (there
was no credit for choreography). For Broadway, “Somebody Quite Like You” had been replaced by “My Little
Piano Man,” and for the tour “I May Be Wrong (but I Think You’re Wonderful)” (lyric by Harry Ruskin and
music by Henry Sullivan) was used in the spot (the now-standard number had originally been introduced in
the 1929 edition of Murray Anderson’s Almanac). The tour cut the song “From Now On” and substituted “So
Beats My Heart for You” (lyric and music by Pat Ballard, Charles Henderson, and Tom Waring).
GREAT DAY!
“A Musical Play of the Southland” / “New Musical Production” / “Vincent Youmans’ Greatest Musical Score”

Performances: 36
Book: William Cary Duncan and John Wells
Lyrics: William (Billy) Rose and Edward Eliscu
Direction: Dialogue directed by Frank M. Gillespie (staging by R. H. Burnside); Producer: Vincent You-
mans; Choreography: LeRoy Prinz; Scenery: Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange; Costumes: Mabel
Johnston; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Paul Lannin and Nicklas Kempner (who apparently
alternated)
Cast: Frank Daley (Pete), Ken Pulsifer (Tom), Bob Burton (Richard), Letha Burson (Ida May), Blanche Le Clair
(Kitty), Kitty Coleman (Carolyn), Billy Taylor (Phil Randolph), Mayo Methot (Emmy Lou Randolph),
Flournoy E. Miller and Aubrey L. Lyles (Henry White and Babe Jackson), Vanessi (Pepita Padilla), John
Haynes (Carlos Zarega), Allan Prior (Jim Brent), Walter C. Kelly (Judge Totheridge), Maude Eburne (Mazie
Brown), Vincent Simonin (Charlie), Hugh Chilvers (Lantern Man), Lois Deppe (Lijah), Ethel Norris (Susie
Totheridge), The Trainor Brothers (Specialty Dancers); Show Girls: Georgia English, Roberta Kent, Diane
Doering, Emily Martin, Marjorie Porter, Doris Delairs, Louise (possibly Loise) Gay; Dancing Girls: Medi-
ums—Margaret Miller, Beth Meredith, Irene Evans, Vera Villon, Grace Connelly, Dixie Lester, Frances
Stevens, Josephine Mostler, Peggy Deighton, Helen Newton; Ponies—Jackie Cortez, Adelaide Kaiser, Jean
Warren, Billy Toy, Buddy Lavon, Jean Joyce, Rita Garcia, May Brenton, Paulyne Wynter, Olga Fox, Mildred
Schroder; Singing and Dancing Boys: Bob Burton, Herman Hylander, Kenneth Pulsifer, Vincent Simonin,
Alfred Milano, Frank Daley, Frank Larsen, William Ehlers; Jubilee Singers: Assorta Marshall, Mildred
Dawson, Kay Mason, Olive Wanamaker, Helen Wallace, Margie Woods, Elizabeth Carroll, Harriett Wil-
liams, Christine Davis, Carrie Huff, Gladys Wells, Olive Hopkins, Josephine Gray, Estell Richardson, Mary
Mason, Gertrude Fayde, Alma Reynolds, Essie Queen, Ismay Andrews, Lillian Howard, Olive Ball, Pearl
Johnson, Millie Holmes, Mayme Briggs, Jewell Fisher, Louise Reynolds, Harold Des Verney, Snippy Mason,
Halle Howard, Ralph Northern, J. DeWitt Spencer, George Battle, Edward Cartier, Larry Lorear, Herbert
Skinner, Hamilton McLean, S. H. Gray, Lackey Grant, Jean Donnald (possibly Donald), James Downes
The action takes place circa 1900 in New Orleans and environs.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Billy Taylor, Ensemble); “Does It Pay to Be a Lady?” (Ethel Norris, Ensemble); “I Like
What You Like” (Billy Taylor, Mayo Methot, Girls); “Happy Because I’m in Love” (Mayo Methot, Allan
Prior, Ensemble); “Great Day” (Lois Deppe, Jubilee Singers); “One Love” (Allan Prior); “Si, Si, Señor” (En-
semble); “Spanish Dance” (Vanessi); “Open Up Your Heart” (Billy Taylor, Ethel Norris); “Wedding Bells
Ring On” (Maude Eburne, Walter C. Kelly, Billy Taylor, Ethel Norris); “More Than You Know” (Mayo
Methot); “Play the Game” (Allan Prior, Ensemble); “Happy Because I’m in Love” (reprise) (Mayo Methot);
Finale
Act Two: “Levee Scene and Hymn” (Jubilee Ensemble); “Sweet as Sugar Cane” (Ensemble); Specialty (Trainor
Brothers); “Without a Song” (Lois Deppe, Jubilee Singers); “Happy Because I’m in Love” (reprise) (Allan
Prior, Mayo Methot); “Scarecrows” (Ethel Norris, Billy Taylor, Dancers); Dance (Negro Ensemble); Finale
(Company)
Vincent Youmans’s ambitious Great Day! went through a Tryout Hell almost unprecedented for the era,
and during the better part of the five months it took the show to reach New York, the road to Broadway was
strewn with discarded plots, songs, performers, writers, and directors. Robert Benchley in the New Yorker re-
ported that Broadway “wisecrackers” referred to the musical as Great Day-after-Tomorrow and Great Delay,
and when the production finally opened it was met with mostly dismissive reviews. But Youmans didn’t give
up, and during the show’s brief four-and-a-half weeks on Broadway he continued to tinker with it and dropped
two songs. But all the blood, sweat, and tears couldn’t salvage the $300,000 mistake. (For information about
the tryout, see below.)
Youmans had enjoyed his final blockbuster with Hit the Deck! in 1927, and despite the quality of his
later scores, their productions crashed at the box office: before Great Day! there was Rainbow (twenty-nine
performances), and after there were Smiles (1930; sixty-three performances) and Through the Years (1932;
twenty performances). He contributed a few songs to Take a Chance, which was a moderate hit and his last
Broadway show, and from there he composed the songs for the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, which marked
the first screen teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and included such memorable songs as the dance
sensation “The Carioca,” the tango ballad “Orchids in the Moonlight,” the get-hot “Music Makes Me,” and
the breezy title number.
The through-line of Great Day! seems strong enough in its depiction of the plight of Emmy Lou Randolph
(Mayo Methot, who later became Mrs. Humphrey Bogart) when she loses her family plantation near New
Orleans and is forced to sell it to the untrustworthy Carlos Zarega (John Haynes), who turns it into a casino
where she works in order to survive. Engineer Jim Brent (Allan Prior) loves Emmy Lou as much as he despises
Zarega, and eventually the two men fight and Zarega meets his doom when he falls into raging Mississippi
flood water.
The essence of the plot was promising with its compelling narrative, but extraneous material seems to
have slowed down the action. Much time was spent on the secondary love interest of Emmy Lou’s brother
Phil (Billy Taylor) and his girl Susie (Ethel Norris). There were also musical sequences by the Jubilee Sing-
ers, and the evening was peppered with specialty material, including two back-to-back atmospheric Spanish
numbers (“Si, Si, Señor” and “Spanish Dance”) and comic routines by the beloved team of Flournoy E. Miller
and Aubrey L. Lyles.
As a result, the critics weren’t kind, but most realized that the score included a few gems, especially
two of Youmans’s finest achievements, the blues “More Than You Know” and the elegiac “Without a
Song.” Besides these two evergreens, there was also the jubilant title song and the ballad “Happy Because
I’m in Love.”
The New York Times said “the most postponed musical show in recent theatrical history” seemed to
have first been announced “when most of the current crop of Broadway gray-beards were clear-eyed lads.”
But the changes during the lengthy tryout weren’t enough, and the “soggy and pointless” book needed to be
eliminated and a new one written to support Youmans’s score (the critic cited “Without a Song,” “More Than
You Know,” and the title number, but decided that even these failed to equal the composer’s “best” music).
Further, the book had been written by “joke-shy” authors, some of the story “connections” weren’t “quite
clear,” and the musical emerged as a “thoroughly routine” one.
1929 Season 539
Benchley noted that “as much work was put” into the musical as the Panama Canal “with nowhere near
as much to show for it.” The production had to endure the “tough handicap” of all the pre-opening publicity,
and without all the gossip most would have viewed the work as “a good musical show with a nice score.”
Benchley speculated that had Youmans changed the title and “brought it in as a new show nobody would have
minded it at all.” Time said the “tedious musicomedy” included two of Youmans’s “best” songs (“Without a
Song” and the title number) and predicted that “Happy Because I’m in Love,” “More Than You Know,” and
“Open Up Your Heart” would “soon reach ballroom and loudspeaker.”
Gilbert Swan in the Pittsburgh Press said the production “held the world’s record for postponements,”
and he calculated “it had been announced on nine different occasions, only to be withdrawn for one reason or
another.” But for all the alterations and changes, Great Day! “was just another one of those musical shows.”
Deming Seymour in the Great Falls (MT) Tribune stated the book was not “excellent,” and “the music is the
thing” with four songs destined to become popular with the public. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the story
lacked humor and originality, wasn’t “particularly entertaining,” and Youmans had been “more liberal with
his check book than he was with musical talents.” The score was “mediocre,” the book was “equally poor,”
and there wasn’t “much life” in the show.
Variety said the work deserved to run because of its “excellent” music, but there wasn’t “much of a
chance” for the production because “its book has been badly handicapped with inferior dialogue and unin-
teresting motivations.” The critic noted that Methot was a “refreshing type” who looked “good” and had
“personal charm,” but her singing voice “just slips over and her few attempts at dancing are just attempts.”
If she’d possessed “vocal and trouping tricks,” the torch song “More Than You Know” would “have made her
overnight” into “another Libby Holman,” and in fact Holman, Helen Morgan, and Ruth Etting “would have
leaped to the top of the show with that one number.”
Four songs from the production are included on the two-LP collection Through the Years with Vincent
Youmans (Evergreen Records # 6401/2), “Without a Song,” “Happy Because I’m in Love,” “More Than You
Know,” and “Great Day.” Vincent Youmans Revisited (Painted Smiles Records CD “ PSCD-142) includes
“Happy Because I’m in Love” and the cut “Mean Man,” here with a new lyric written for the recording (ap-
parently the original lyric is lost). Orchids in the Moonlight: Songs of Vincent Youmans (Arabesque Records
CD # Z6670) includes “Without a Song,” “Great Day,” and “More Than You Know.” The Carioca: Songs of
Vincent Youmans (Arabesque Records CD # Z6692) includes “Does It Pay to Be a Lady?,” “Open Up Your
Heart,” and an acetate recording of Youmans playing the piano and whistle for a song titled “Hymn”; the
liner notes don’t identify the source of the song, but it well may be the “Hymn” heard in Great Day! And the
Smithsonian’s American Songbook Series Vincent Youmans (Sony Music Records CD # AD-048-20/A-24582)
includes “Without a Song” (Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra), “Great Day” (John Raitt),
and “More Than You Know” (Liza Minnelli).
According to The First Hollywood Musicals, MGM had “sunk a good deal of money” for the film rights.
The musical went into production in 1930 with Joan Crawford, and “was in production less than two weeks
before being halted” for script revision. Of course, the film was never made, but MGM’s 1931 The Prodigal
starred Lawrence Tibbett and the score included one song from Great Day! (“Without a Song” was interpo-
lated for Tibbett, and he later recorded the number).
The musical began its tryout at Philadelphia’s Garrick Theatre on June 4, 1929, with Marion Harris as
Emmy Lou, Don Lanning as the hero (here named Chick Carter), and future Broadway and film composer
Harold Arlen in the small role of a piano player (it seems Arlen was also the musical’s rehearsal pianist). The
story was set in New Orleans and environs and capitalized on the tourist-friendly elements of the city and
surrounding area: Mardi Gras festivities, gambling dens, dance halls, race tracks, barbeque stands, plantations,
the atmosphere of back country shacks, and of course the levees (do you think one might break and cause
destruction?). Apparently the only overlooked New Orleans cliché was a marching funeral band.
The prologue took place in 1900 when the young Emmy Lou is abandoned by her gambler father, and the
remainder of the evening was set in 1913, where we find the adult Emmy Lou in love with taxi-driver Chick,
who wins a fortune in gambling, marries Emmy Lou, and buys a plantation they can call home. When floods
destroy their property, they stalwartly face the future and are determined to carry on.
Eventually, Harris was replaced by Lillian Taiz and Lanning by Charles Purcell and then by Oliver
McLennan. Director Alexander Leftwich was succeeded by Oscar Eagle (for Broadway, Frank M. Gillespie was
cited as the dialogue director and R. H. Burnside was given credit for overall staging). At various times Anne
Caldwell, William Anthony McGuire, and Harold Atteridge were brought in to shore up the book (which for
Broadway was credited to William Cary Duncan and John Wells).
Ultimately Methot and Prior assumed the leading roles, and John Haynes (who replaced Leonard Ceeley)
was the villainous Zarega. With so many changes in cast members and creative personnel, it’s telling that
when the revamped Great Day! premiered at Boston’s Colonial Theatre on September 17, the flyer failed to
mention a single name associated with the production except for the composer, and in this case Youmans’s
name was printed twice in capital letters in a font almost the size of the show’s title. Otherwise, the flyer re-
ferred to an “Important All-Star Cast” of “150 People” and “60 Jubilee Singers,” and noted the musical would
introduce “Five Big Song Hits.”
“Before I Go” was dropped in preproduction; songs deleted during the tryout were “Bismarck Is a Herring
and Napoleon Is a Cake,” “Dancing in the Moonlight,” “Doo, Dah, Deh,” “Do We Understand Each Other?,”
“The Flood” (an orchestral sequence), “Help Us Tonight,” “The Homestead Must Be Sold,” “Mardi Gras,”
“Mean Man,” “Meet the Boy Friend,” “Poor Little Orphans,” “Right Off the Board,” “River Song,” “Sweet
Emmy Lou,” “Sweet Sunshine,” and “Wish You’d Never Grow Up at All”; and during the New York run
“One Love” and “Wedding Bells Ring On” were cut.
During the time that Harold Arlen was associated with the production, the score included “Bismarck Is
a Herring and Napoleon Is a Cake,” a conceit that must have tantalized him because two songs with similar
ideas surfaced in two of his own musicals during the next thirty years, both with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg.
Jack Whiting and June Clyde sang “Napoleon’s a Pastry” in Hooray for What! (1937) and Lena Horne sang
“Napoleon” in Jamaica (1957). And perhaps the New Orleans setting intrigued Arlen as well: his 1954 mu-
sical House of Flowers about life on a Caribbean isle included a song celebrating Mardi Gras, and his final
musical Saratoga (1959) was partially set in the Old New Orleans of petticoats and flounces, street vendors,
and ne’er-do-well gamblers.
A WONDERFUL NIGHT
Theatre: Majestic Theatre
Opening Date: October 31, 1929; Closing Date: February 15, 1930
Performances: 125
Book and Lyrics: Original German libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genee (English book and lyric adapta-
tion by Fanny Todd Mitchell)
Music: Johann Strauss
Based on the operetta Die Fledermaus (libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genee and music by Johann
Strauss), which was based on the play Le reveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy.
Direction: Jose Ruben (Lew Morton, Stage Director); Producers: The Messrs. Shubert (Lee and J. J.); Choreog-
raphy: Chester Hale; Scenery: Watson Barratt (Art Director) and Herbert Moore (Assistant Art Director);
Costumes: Orry-Kelly and Ernest Schrapps (aka Ernest Schraps, Ernest Schrapp, Ernest R. Schrapps, Ernest
Schrappro, and E. R. Schraps); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Leon Rosebrook
Cast: Bartlett Simmons (Latzo Garbo), Robert Irving (Footman at Grunewald’s), Sarah Brown (Mme. Agout),
Mary McCoy (Kathie), Gladys Baxter (Mathilda Grunewald), Charles Chesney (Leo), Archie Leach (later
known as Cary Grant) (Max Grunewald), Joseph Lertora (Doctor Von Lubke), Hal Forde (Bochmeister),
Dorothy Kane (Frieda), Allan Rogers (Prince Koslofsky), Sallie Stembler (Frau Hickenlooper), Peggy Udell
(Countess Malakoff), Julia Barker (Baroness Von Pogenhardt), Gretchen Wilson (Marquise de Montmartre),
Thalie Hamilton (Countess Vichy), Anna May Denehy (Countess Perrier), Marian Alden (Lady Button-
shire), Rosalind Wishon (Madame de Chaumont; during run, the character was eliminated and Wishon
then played Senora Monjagalupa, a new character), Georgia Gwynne (Baroness Metelier), Mabel Ellis (Ma-
dame de Esplanade), Marion Gillon (Duchess de Montparnasse), Virginia Bethel (Princess Fleur-de-Lys),
M. Varrelle (Alfred), Robert Smith (First Flunkey), Ray Wright (Second Flunkey), Trueman (later, Truman)
Gaige (Third Flunkey), Charles Townsend (Fourth Flunkey), Robert Burk (Richard Lowen), Solly Ward
(Blatz), Arthur Wood (A Keeper), George Smith (Messenger); Sopranos: Florence Starr, Marnella Ney, Irene
Day, Frances Ellington, Marie Valdez, Meekie Ruth, Alice Everling; Altos: Madeleine Clancy, Evelyn Low-
man, Jean Kriston, Kathryn Krech, Ann Scarborough; Tenors: Chester J. Williams, Ramy Varnell, Valtine
Sholar, Eddie Bird, Evert Woodsman, Ernest Pavano, John Fredericks, Robert Burk; Second Tenors: Law-
1929 Season 541
rence Elwin, James Santry, Donald Gale, Ray Wright, Armand Vallerie, Ken J. Butler; Baritones: Charles
Townsend, Trueman (later, Truman) Gaige, Robert Smith, William Spencer, Robert Turner; Bassos:
Robert Irving, Zachary Karr, Jack London, Gwillym Williams, Glib Chandro; Chester Hale Girls: Norma
Schutt (Captain), Sally Ritz, Dolores Distasio, Catherine Gray, Florence Mallee, Charlotte Joslin, Chula
Morrow, Lula Dubagio, Evangeline Edwards, Betty Stratton, Garda Norheim, Alma Wertley; Dancers:
Harold Haskins, Constant Nickoll, Jashe Crandall, Reed McClelland, Roland Geurard, Edward Browne;
Show Girls: Virginia Bethel, Georgia Gwynne, Gretchen Wilson, Mabel Ellis, Marian Alden, Marion Gil-
lon, Peggy Udell, Bobbie Hamilton, Rosalind Wishon, Julia Barker, Anna May Denchy, Dorothy Gilbert
The action takes place in Vienna during the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening; Serenade: “Two in Love” (Bartlett Simmons); “Girls Must Live” (Eight Ladies of Vienna);
“Letter Song” (Mary McCoy); “Duet” (Archie Leach, Joseph Lertora); “Trio” (Archie Leach, Mary McCoy,
Gladys Baxter); “Duet” (Gladys Baxter, Bartlett Simmons); “Trio” (Gladys Baxter, Bartlett Simmons, Hal
Forde)
Act Two: Opening (Ensemble, Chester Hale Girls); “Chacun a son gout” (Allan Rogers); “Song” (Mary McCoy,
Ensemble); “Czardas” (Gladys Baxter, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
Act Three: “Song” (Solly Ward); “Duet” (Gladys Baxter, Bartlett Simmons); Finale (Company)
Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) was revived on Broadway as A Wonderful Night in
a new adaptation by Fanny Todd Mitchell and was the first Broadway musical to open after the Wall Street
crash, which had occurred a few days earlier. The work played for 125 performances and then began a national
tour with most of the Broadway principals, but because of the huge company and the Shuberts’ opulent pro-
duction values the revival doesn’t seem to have been a likely candidate for recoupment.
As Champagne, Sec, another adaptation opened on October 14, 1933, at the Morosco Theatre for 113
showings with a book by Alan Child (aka Lawrence Langer) and lyrics by Robert A. Simon, and it wasn’t un-
til 1942 as Rosalinda that the operetta became a Broadway blockbuster in a version by Gottfried Reinhardt
and John Meehan Jr., which was based on an earlier European adaptation by Max Reinhardt. This production
opened at the 44th Street Theatre on October 28, 1942, for 521 performances, and when it closed, it was the
eleventh-longest-running book musical in Broadway history.
The operetta’s world premiere took place on April 5, 1874, at the Theatre an der Wien in Vienna, and was
an immediate success thanks to Strauss’s enchanting score and the lighter-than-air story of amorous mis-
behavior, marital deceptions, and mistaken identities, all of which are resolved with the requisite romantic
ending.
The work’s American premiere occurred at Brooklyn’s Thalia Theatre on October 18, 1879, for seven per-
formances in repertory where it was sung in the original German, and the first English adaptation (by Sydney
Rosenfeld) opened on March 16, 1885, at the Casino Theatre for forty-two performances. Besides A Wonderful
Night; Champagne, Sec; and Rosalinda, an earlier version opened on Broadway as The Merry Countess at the
Casino Theatre on August 20, 1915, for 135 showings in an English adaptation by Gladys Unger and with lyr-
ics by Arthur Anderson. This production was based on an earlier version by Unger and Anderson that never
played on Broadway; titled Night Birds, it was produced by the Shuberts and opened on February 5, 1912, at
the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, where it starred Fritzi Scheff and John E. Hazzard.
Perhaps spurred on by the success of Rosalinda, another adaptation of Die Fledermaus was The Rose
Masque by Erich Weiler and Thomas Martin, which played a few road engagements in 1943 but didn’t risk
Broadway.
The operetta is a perennial on the New York stage. For example, in the 1980s it was revived five times (for
a total of twenty-seven performances) at the New York State Theatre by the New York City Opera Company
in 1980 (February and September), 1981, 1986, and 1987; and in 1984 was given in German by the Vienna
Volksoper for five performances at the New York State Theatre.
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times noted that Gladys Baxter (Mathilda) and Mary McCoy (Ka-
thie) brought “good voices” to their roles, but otherwise the evening was “no unalloyed delight,” because
there wasn’t “a good male singer in this superabundant company.” However, Watson Barratt’s “lavish”
décor included a revolving stage that depicted “spacious” interiors, including “halls, baroque and princely
salons, buffets, conservatories and anterooms for mincing indiscretions,” and there were colorful costumes
and “sparkling decorations.” And throughout the evening, the action was populated by “counts, countesses,
princes, dukes, barons, flunkies, jailers and messengers.”
Robert Benchley in the New Yorker said the Shuberts had “outdone themselves,” but mentioned that on
opening night the revolving stage caused “a slight tension” among the performers which might “be laid to a
quite natural distrust of the contraption lest they should find themselves rotating back into the depths of the
stage at any minute” (Atkinson also commented that one performer missed his cue and then “blithely” made
his entrance from the wrong side of the stage).
Time said A Wonderful Night offered “the best score on Broadway” and the Shuberts had hired a “large
and expert” orchestra along with Baxter and her “bounteous” voice, and Robert Garland in the New York
Telegram decided Barratt’s décor and Strauss’s “lilting and almost if not quite, immortal music” should “be
given the great big hand.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer noted the Shuberts had “fairly
excelled themselves” with an “avalanche of decoration, color and horseplay,” during which “one of the most
capable singing companies New York has heard in years efficiently stresses the glorious melodies.” And while
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the “exquisite” music needed “a little better singing,”
he stated that the revolving stage provided “color and gayety and a kind of loose elegance Die Fledermaus
probably never knew before.”
John Mason Brown in the Minneapolis Star Tribune exclaimed that “the loveliest and most irresistible
music that can be heard in any New York theatre today danced its way upward from the orchestra pit of the
Majestic Theatre,” but otherwise the evening was an “unedited, overpeopled and distended affair.” Variety
found the production “astonishingly tiresome,” with a “sad” and “remarkably dull” book. And while the of-
fering was “elaborate” and even “strikingly elaborate,” it was “by no means beautiful or fascinating.” As for
Baxter, she had “a rather inflexible stage personality,” but possessed “one of the richest soprano voices on
the musical comedy stage.”
One of the players in the production was Archie Leach, who later reinvented himself and morphed from
chorus boy and featured player into screen legend Cary Grant. Pollock wrote that Leach “feels that acting in
something by Johann Strauss calls for distinction” and he was “somewhat at a loss as to how to achieve it,”
and so the result was “a mixture of John Barrymore and Cockney.” However, Pollock concluded by noting
that Leach “makes a handsome hero,” and Variety also found him “handsome” but decided that “some of the
lines of fearsome insipidity he had to utter discounted most of his natural grace.”
There are numerous recordings of the score (almost all of which include the libretto), and while the
Reinhardt and Meehan stage adaptation was the most popular of all the English versions, there doesn’t seem
to be any recording of their translation. The collection Broadway Musicals of 1933 (Bayview Records CD
# RNBW-017) includes “Never Fear” from Champagne, Sec (which appears to be the untitled “Duet” from
that production’s second act). As Oh . . . Rosalinda!, an updated film version was released in 1955 with
direction by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and a cast that included Michael Redgrave, Ludmilla
Tcherina, Anton Walbrook, Mel Ferrer, Dennis Price, and Anthony Quayle.
BITTER SWEET
“An Operette”
Theatre: Ziegfeld Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre)
Performances: 159
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Noel Coward
Direction: Noel Coward; Producers: Florenz Ziegfeld and Arch Selwyn (A Charles B. Cochran Production);
Choreography: The waltz and Prater Girls’ dance in Act Two, Scene Two, was choreographed by Tilly
Losch; Scenery: Gladys E. Calthrop; Professor Stern; Costumes: Gladys E. Calthrop; Professor Stern;
Worth of Paris, Ltd.; Idare et Cie; Morris Angel and Son; C. Alias Ltd.; B.J. Simmons & Co, Ltd.; Light-
ing: Electrical fitting and effects by The Strand Electric and Engineering Co. and Frank Detering; Musical
Direction: Frank Tours
1929 Season 543
Cast: Act One, Scene One (London, 1929)—Trevor Glyn (Parker), Audrey Pointing (Dolly Chamberlain), Pat-
rick Ludlow (Lord Henry), Max Kirby (Vincent Howard), Evelyn Laye (The Marchioness of Shayne), Joan
Stanbrough (Nita), Constance Perrin (Helen), Cecile Maule-Cole (Jackie); Guests: Leah Warne, Gladys
Hay-Dillon, Mildred Allen-Letts, Eva Scott-Thompson, Kathleen Holt, Pauline Desmond, Sybil Davidson,
Peggy Lovat, Vera Caprice, Edna Earle, Vicky Lynn, Cecile Maule-Cole, Iris White, Marjorie Simpson,
George Woof, Alfred Fairhurst, Mervyn Pearce, Anthony Neville, Reginald Allen, Noel Clifford, Herbert
Garry, Claude Brittin-Eldred, Richard Thorpe, Paul Spender-Clay, Bruce Anderson, Hugh Cuenod, Roy
Arcourt, William Dawson; Musicians: Sydney Perlstone, Kenneth Burston, Arthur Woolf, Edmond Ford,
Jack Haywood
Act One, Scene Two (London, 1875)—Evelyn Laye (Sarah Millick), Gerald Nodin (Carl Linden), Isabel Ohm-
ead (Mrs. Millick), Tracy Holmes (Mr. Hugh Devon)
Act One, Scene Three (London, 1875)—Gerald Nodin (Carl Linden), Kay Lambelet (Lady Devon), Isabel Ohm-
ead (Mrs. Millick), Tracy Holmes (Mr. Hugh Devon), Charles Mortimer (Sir Arthur Fenchurch), Evelyn
Laye (Sarah Millick), Donald Gordon (The Marquis of Steere), Richard Thorpe (Lord Edgar James), Hooper
Russell (Lord Sorrel), Leslie Bannister (Mr. Vale), Anthony Neville (Mr. Bethel), Douglas Graeme-Brooke
(Mr. Proutie), Marjorie Raymonde (Victoria), Audrey Pointing (Harriet), Nancy Brown (Gloria), Isla Bevan
(Honor), Winifred Talbot (Jane), Vesta Sylva (Effie), Graham Yarborough (Footman), Trevor Glynn (Foot-
man), John W. Thompson (Footman), Albert Chapman (Footman); Guests: Elsie Hulme, Iris White, Isabel
Marden, Kathleen Holt, Peggy Lovat, Jane Moore, Sybil Davidson, Myfanwy Jenkins, Cecile Maule-Cole,
Mildred Allen-Letts, Vera Caprice, Mary David, Roma Presano, Joan Stanbrough, Doris Colston, Leonora
Hilton, Pauline Desmond, Gladys Hay-Dillon, Joyce Fletcher, Eva Scott-Thompson, Cunningham Glen,
George Woof, Alfred Fairhurst, Noel Clifford, Herbert Garry, William Herbert, Claude Brittin-Eldred,
James Reid, Mervyn Pearce, Roy Hall, James Prescott, Paul Spender-Clay, Reginald Allen, Bruce Ander-
son, Hugh Cuenod, Louis Miller; Musicians: Sydney Perlstone, Kenneth Burston, Arthur Woolf, Edmond
Ford, Vernon Rudolf
Act Two, Scene One (Vienna, 1880)—Waiters: Paul Spender-Clay, Claude Brittin-Eldred, James Reid, Bruce
Anderson, Anthony Neville, William McGuigan; Cleaners: Roma Presano, Isabel Marden, Leonta Proc-
tor, Gladys Hay-Dillon, Enid Settle, Elsie Hulme; Peter Donald Jr. (Piccolo), Zoe Gordon (Lotte), Nancy
Barnett (Freda), Dorothy Debenham (Hansi), Sylvia Leslie (Gussi), Gerald Nodin (Carl Linden), Mireille
(Manon, aka La Crevette), Desmond Jeans (Captain August Lutte), Charles Mortimer (Herr Schlick),
Evelyn Laye (Sari Linden); Musicians: Sydney Perlstone, Kenneth Burston, Edmond Ford, Eddie Lisbona,
Vernon Rudolf
Act Two, Scene Two (Vienna, 1880)—Evelyn Laye (Sari Linden), Zoe Gordon (Lotte), Desmond Jeans (Captain
Lutte), Sylvia Leslie (Gussie), Louis Miller (Lieutenant Tranisch), Dorothy Debenham (Hansi), Nancy
Barnett (Freda), Charles Mortimer (Herr Schlick); The Prater Girls: Girls—Sybil Davidson, Cecile Maule-
Cole, Vicky Lynn; and Boys—Leah Warne, Edna Earle, Peggy Blake; Mireille (Manon, aka La Crevette);
Officers, Guests, Waiters, Musicians: Hooper Russell, Leslie Bannister, Donald Gordon, Roy Hall, Gor-
don Brand, Douglas Graeme-Brooke, Hugh Cuenod, John W. Thompson, Trevor Glynn, Herbert Garry,
Graham Yarborough, Gustav Wallenberg, Paul Spender-Clay, Claude Brittin-Eldred, James Reid, Bruce
Anderson, Anthony Neville, William McGuigan, Isabel Marden, Elsie Hulme, Constance Perrin, Iris
White, Roma Presano, Mary David, Leonora Hilton, Enid Settle, Gladys Hay-Dillon, Doris Colston, Joan
Stanbrough, Pauline Desmond, Joyce Fletcher, Myfanwy Jenkins, Peggy Lovat, Jane Moore, Kathleen Holt,
Vera Caprice, Leonta Proctor, Mildred Allen-Letts, Eva Scott-Thompson, Leah Russell, Marcel Turner,
Patrick Ludlow, James Cameron, William Dawson, Reginald Allen, Albert Chapman, Richard Thorpe,
George Woof, James Prescott, Tracy Holmes, Alfred Fairhurst, Mervyn Pearce, Cunningham Glen, Noel
Clifford, William Herbert
Act Three, Scene One (London, 1895)—Albert Chapman (Burley), John Evelyn (The Marquis of Shayne), Vesta
Sylva (Mrs. Bethel, aka Effie), Anthony Neville (Mr. Bethel), Winifred Talbot (Mrs. Vale, aka Jane), Les-
lie Bannister (Mr. Vale), Nancy Brown (Mrs. Proutie, aka Gloria), Douglas Graeme-Brooke (Mr. Proutie),
Marjorie Raymonde (The Duchess of Tenterton, aka Victoria), Donald Gordon (The Duke of Tenterton),
Isla Bevan (Lady Sorrell, aka Honor), Hooper Russell (Lord Sorrel), Audrey Pointing (Lady Edgar James, aka
Harriet), Richard Thorpe (Lord Edgar James), Tracy Holmes (Sir Hugh Devon), Jane Moore (Lady Devon),
Evelyn Laye (Madame Sari Linden), William Herbert (Vernon Craft), Paul Spender-Clay (Cedric Ballantyne),
Hugh Cuenod (Bertram Sellick), George Woof (Lord Henry Jade), Eddie Lisbona (Accompanist to Madame
Linden); Guests: Constance Perrin, Leah Warne, Cecile Maule-Cole, Joyce Fletcher, Leah Russell, Myfanwy
Jenkins, Iris White, Joan Stanbrough, Kathleen Holt, Vera Caprice, Roma Presano, Elsie Hulme, Gladys
Hay-Dillon, Peggy Lovat, Pauline Desmond, Doris Colston, Enid Settle, Mildred Allen-Letts, Leonora
Hilton, Isabel Marden, Eva Scott-Thompson, Sybil Davidson, Leonta Proctor, John W. Thompson, James
Prescott, James Reid, William Herbert, Graham Yarborough, Trevor Glynn, Claude Brittin-Eldred, Alfred
Fairhurst, Roy Hall, Reginald Allen, Herbert Garry, Bruce Anderson, William Dawson, William McGuigan,
Gustav Wallenberg, Mervyn Pearce, Noel Clifford
Act Three, Scene Two (London, 1929)—Note: The script indicates that “everyone” on stage at the end of the
first scene in the first act is now seen “in the same positions.” The three main principals in this scene
are: Evelyn Laye (Sarah), Audrey Pointing (Dolly), and Max Kirby (Vincent).
The action takes place in 1929 (London), 1875 (London), 1880 (Vienna), 1895 (London), and 1929 (London).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Call of Life” (Evelyn Laye, Chorus); “If You Could Only Come with Me” (Gerald Nodin); “I’ll
See You Again” (Evelyn Laye, Gerald Nodin); “Polka” (Guests); “Tell Me, What Is Love?” (Evelyn Laye,
Chorus); “The Last Dance” (Donald Gordon, Richard Thorpe, Hooper Russell, Leslie Bannister, Anthony
Neville, Douglas Graeme-Brooke, Marjorie Raymonde, Audrey Pointing, Nancy Brown, Isla Bevan, Win-
ifred Talbot, Vesta Sylva); Finale
Note: The New York program didn’t include information about the first-act finale, but it seems likely it
followed what was heard in the London production; if so, the five-part finale sequence would have been pre-
sented as follows and would have been sung by the following players: (1) “Eeny Meeny Miny Mo” (Nancy
Brown, Audrey Pointing, Marjorie Raymonde, Vesta Sylva, Evelyn Laye, Winifred Talbot); (2) “Should Happi-
ness Forsake Me” (Evelyn Laye, Gerald Nodin); (3) “I’ll See You Again” (reprise) (Evelyn Laye, Gerald Nodin);
(4) “Footmen Quartet” (Graham Yarborough, Trevor Glynn, John W. Thompson, Albert Chapman); and (5)
“The Call of Life” (reprise) (Evelyn Laye, Gerald Nodin)
Act Two: Opening Chorus: “Life in the Morning” (Waiters, Cleaners); “Ladies of the Town” (Zoe Gordon,
Nancy Barnett, Dorothy Debenham, Sylvia Leslie); “If Love Were All” (Mireille); “Evermore and a Day
(Peace Enfold You)” (Evelyn Laye); “(Dear) Little Café” (Evelyn Laye, Gerald Nodin); “Waltz” (Couples);
“Officers’ Chorus” (“We wish to order wine, please . . .”) (Officers, Chorus); “Tokay” (Gerald Nodin, Of-
ficers, Chorus); “Waltz” (Dancers); “Dance of the Prater Girls” (The Prater Girls); “Bonne nuit, merci!”
(Mireille); “Kiss Me” (Mireille, Chorus)
Act Three: “Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay” (Anthony Neville, Leslie Bannister, Douglas Graeme-Brooke, Donald
Gordon, Hooper Russell, Richard Thorpe, Marjorie Raymonde, Audrey Pointing, Nancy Brown, Isla Be-
van, Winifred Talbot, Vesta Sylva); “Alas, the Time Is Past” (Marjorie Raymonde, Audrey Pointing, Nancy
Brown, Isla Bevan, Winifred Talbot, Vesta Sylva); “(We All Wore a) Green Carnation” (Hugh Cuenod,
George Woof, William Herbert, Paul Spender-Clay); “Zigeuner” (Evelyn Laye); Finale: “I’ll See You Again”
(reprise) (Evelyn Laye)
Noel Coward’s hit London operetta (or, operette, as he so designated it) Bitter Sweet was a victim of the
Wall Street crash, and like Sweet Adeline would have undoubtedly enjoyed a much longer New York run but
for the economics of the times. The operette with its all-British cast managed almost four months in New
York, and two days after its closing the national tour opened at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia (for the
tour, the three acts were collapsed into two). But it’s unlikely the lavish production came even close to re-
couping its investment.
Originally titled Sari Linden in preproduction, the work premiered in London on July 12, 1929, at His
Majesty’s Theatre for 697 performances with Peggy Wood (Sarah), George (aka, Georges) Metaxa (Carl), Ivy
St. Helier (Manon), Austin Trevor (Lutte), and Dorothy Boyd (Dolly). During the run, Wood was succeeded by
Evelyn Laye, who created the role for the New York production.
1929 Season 545
Like so many operettas, the plot was all over the place in two countries and four different periods of time
with its across-the-decades story in which one generation loses romance but another finds it. In 1929, the
widow Marchionesse of Shayne (Laye), otherwise known as Sarah Millick and Sari Linden, urges Dolly (Au-
drey Pointing) to follow her heart and marry the man she loves (the young band musician Vincent, played by
Max Kirby), rather than wed her pompous fiancé. (One or two sources indicate Dolly is a relative of Sarah’s,
but the script indicates she’s a young friend whose grandmother went to school with Sarah.)
Sarah lost her true love decades earlier, and in flashback she recounts to Dolly the days of her youth when
she fell in love with her music instructor and aspiring composer Carl Linden (Gerald Nodin). She jilted her
stuffy fiancé Hugh Devon (Tracy Holmes), and ran off with Carl to Vienna where they hoped to one day have
their own café. The arrogant Captain August Lutte (Desmond Jeans) is attracted to Sarah, and when he and
Carl quarrel the officer kills him in a duel.
Sarah becomes a famous singer, and when she returns to England marries the Marquis of Shayne (John
Evelyn). Decades earlier, Sarah and Carl had pledged eternal love in “I’ll See You Again,” and now she clings
to the hope that in another life they’ll again be together. And thanks to Sarah’s advice to answer the call of
life, Dolly decides to run off with Vincent, and Sarah is left with her bitter sweet memories of days gone by.
Coward’s story may have covered tried-but-true operetta territory, but his memorable score was one of
the era’s most romantic, and it was nicely offset by slightly risqué revue-like numbers. “I’ll See You Again”
is of course the operetta’s most famous song, but the worldly wise “If Love Were All” is a close second. This
melancholy and disenchanted rumination of loneliness and lost love is perfectly suited for cabaret singers, and
perhaps was most memorably performed by Judy Garland in her legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. “Kiss
Me,” “Dear Little Café,” and the gypsy song “Zigeuner” were other romantic pieces, and Carl’s “If You Could
Only Come with Me” was cleverly modeled on the scales of a music lesson for Sarah and was a forerunner of
sorts to Meredith Willson’s “Piano Lesson” in The Music Man (1957).
During the era, every operetta in good standing demanded a drinking song, and in “Tokay” Coward pro-
vided a virile one for the officers. There was also a quartet of cynical numbers reminiscent of Coward’s revue
material. A quartet of prostitutes exult in their status of “Ladies of the Town”; the staff in the “Footman
Quartet” state that when they grovel and say “Very good” to their betters they really mean “Go to hell”; and
the dowagers in the sextette “Alas, the Time Is Past” look back upon their long-ago youth when they were
“secure” in their “virginity.”
The fourth revue-like number is “(We All Wore a) Green Carnation,” which is perhaps musical theatre’s
first openly gay song. A quartet of self-described “blasé” and “pretty” boys are “rather Grecian” with “sleek
and willowy” figures, and are “the reason for the ‘Nineties’ being gay.” They adore porphyry bowls and chan-
deliers, and always wear green carnations as a signal to others of their ilk and to distinguish themselves from
those “less enlightened.” Most of the critics enjoyed the number, but it shocked at least one of the aisle sit-
ters. Percy Hammond in the Pittsburgh Press didn’t care for the “nasty boys whose effeminate impersonation
cannot be described in a Home Paper.”
As noted in the above song list, the specifics of the first act finale weren’t given in the program, but it
would seem the finale followed that of the London production and so the five-part sequence is noted in the
list of musical numbers. Although it wasn’t listed in the Broadway program, London’s first-act opening num-
ber “That Wonderful Melody” (a spoof of jazzy ballads of the 1920s, and per the lyric, a melody with “frantic
syncopation”) was most likely retained for the New York production.
Note that “Evermore and a Day (Peace Enfold You)” was cut after the London opening, but reinstated for
New York (but wasn’t included in the 1934 Broadway revival).
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “refreshingly civilized” evening was “no great shakes
as a story,” but the book had more continuity than most musicals and was informed “with sufficient dramatic
quality.” Moreover, the score had “a native gaiety and a compelling caprice,” and he singled out “Eeny Meeny
Miny Mo” (“a nice-mannered frolic”), “Ladies of the Town” (“droll” and “piquant”), and “Green Carnation”
(“a wry caricature of the Oscar Wildettes”) as well as “Tell Me, What Is Love?,” “The Last Dance,” “If Love
Were All,” and “Zigeuner.” As for Evelyn Laye, she possessed “fragile beauty” and “radiant splendor.”
Time said Laye’s “full, sweet voice” and “porcelain femininity” made one forget “the slow pace of the
proceedings” and the “pale, undistinguished music.” But the critic said “Zigeuner” and “I’ll See You Again”
were the score’s “catchiest” songs, and the critic praised “Ladies of the Town” (a “satiric ditty”) and “Green
Carnation” (“a subtle parody on Oscar Wilde and his languid legionnaires”). Burns Mantle in the Detroit
Free Press found Laye “the loveliest prima donna who has graced a Broadway stage in many, many seasons.”
The songs were “interesting but not particularly melodious,” and “there were few indications” that any hits
would emerge from the score, but the choreography offered a “wild” polka, a “riotous” schottische, and a hop
waltz of “spirit.”
John Mason Brown in the Minneapolis Star Tribune stated that Bitter Sweet was “well-nigh perfect of its
kind, providing as it does an enchanting and ever-tasteful mixture of the theatre’s most irresistible ingredi-
ents,” and the music had “a decided and agreeable aroma of the past about it.” He concluded that the produc-
tion was “something that no one can afford to miss, regardless of what the market may do or what the specu-
lators may charge for seeing it.” On the other hand, Robert F. Sisk in the Baltimore Sun was disappointed, and
for all the preopening “ballyhoo” it was just “modest,” with a “decent” book and a “well-contrived story” but
without a “memorable strain” of music (save “Zigeuner”). But Laye was “incomparable” and “as amazing a
figure as our stage has seen in a number of years.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the story was “good enough,” but Coward had composed
“uncertain tunes instead of melodies” and when he strove for the “romantic” he came up with music that
was “a little sappy.” If the production had any “gayety and vitality” it was because of Laye, who had “charm,”
“spirit,” and “beauty.” Gilbert Seldes in the Scranton Republican admitted the musical was “miraculously
right in tone,” but the “humor, the dances and the music are not up to the highest level.” However, “the
ninety seconds of the duel and death are terrifying in their impact,” and Laye had a “lovely voice” and “an
exceptional dramatic range.”
Robert Littell in the Philadelphia Inquirer was disappointed in the score, and said there weren’t any
“tunes that one takes away to prop up on the piano.” It was “pleasant” music and “nearly always appropriate,
but all through the show one looks rather than listens” because “the music remains a background.” But Laye
had a “lovely voice” and acted “with the greatest humor and spirit, and merely to watch her was show enough
in itself.” Bide Dudley in the Indianapolis Star said he “liked the show tremendously” but wasn’t “sure that
it will prove more than passively successful as a financial venture” because it was “sweet and absolutely
nice” and might disappoint those “who seek Ziegfeld shows with their ‘glorified girls.’”
Robert Benchley in the New Yorker probably gave the operetta its harshest assessment. The “pretty disap-
pointing” show had a book that could “have been done by Rida Johnson Young and the music by any Vien-
nese orchestra-leader.” Yes, it was a “gossamer entertainment” written “in a soprano key,” and he guessed
it was comforting to know that in “this great ugly noisy city” such a show could flourish, but he asked “to
be excused from having to sit through it again.” And then Benchley wondered if the entire evening had been
a deliberate “hoax” on Coward’s part to “silence those who have criticized him on the grounds of flippancy,
smartness, and decadence.”
The script has been published in numerous editions, including hardback releases by Martin Secker (Lon-
don, 1929) and (as Bitter Sweet and Other Plays) by Doubleday Doran & Company (New York, 1929). The
script is also included in the hardback collection Play Parade: Volume One (William Heinemann) and was
also issued in paperback by Samuel French in 1933. The lyrics are included in the hardback collections The
Lyrics of Noel Coward (1973) and Noel Coward: The Complete Lyrics (1998).
A few of the original London cast members recorded songs from the score, which were released by
both World Records (LP # SH-179/180) and Monmouth-Evergreen (LP # MES-7062/3), and a comprehensive
collection by Sepia Records (CD # 1130) includes recordings by the original London, New York, and 1934
New York revival casts. A charming studio cast recording of the score’s highlights was released in 1961 by
Angel Records (LP # 35814) with Vanessa Lee and Roberto Cardinali, and the complete score was recorded
in 1988 by the New Sadler’s Wells Opera Company with Valerie Masterson and Martin Smith (released in
1989 on a two-CD set by That’s Entertainment Records # CDTER2-1160, and later issued by Jay Records
# CDJAY2-1264).
The musical was revived once on Broadway when it opened on May 7, 1934, at the 44th Street Theatre for
sixteen performances. The cast included Evelyn Herbert, Allan Jones, Hannah Toback, and Leonard Ceeley.
The revival seems to have dropped “Bonne nuit, merci!,” “Alas, the Time Is Past,” and “Evermore and a Day
(Peace Enfold You)”; note that the latter had been cut from the original London production after its opening
but had been reinstated for the 1929 Broadway premiere. During the pre-Broadway tour of the revival, a new
song (“It’s Always the Man That’s Pursued”) was added but dropped before the New York opening.
Bitter Sweet was filmed twice, in 1933 and 1940. It was said Coward wept when he saw the latter version
(but not in a good way), and it may well be that he cried when he viewed the first adaptation, which was a Brit-
1929 Season 547
ish release directed by Herbert Wilcox with a cast that included Anna Neagle, Fernand Gravey (later Gravet),
Miles Mander, and Ivy St. Helier in a reprise of her London stage performance as Manon. This film is more
faithful to the stage version than the second adaptation, but it’s somewhat slow and stodgy, and with their
accents Gravey and St. Helier are sometimes almost impossible to understand. Further, the latter is given far
more screen time than her character warrants, and with her stagy and over-the-top mannerisms she’s clearly
an acquired taste.
The film retained eight songs (“The Call of Life,” “If You Could Only Come with Me,” “I’ll See You
Again,” “Dear Little Café,” “Ladies of the Town,” “If Love Were All,” “Tokay,” and “Kiss Me”); one song
was used as underscoring (“Zigeuner”); and apparently a couple of numbers possibly written by St. Helier
were interpolated into the film for her (although one seems to be Coward’s “Bonne nuit, merci!”). The film is
available on at least two DVD releases, one on an unnamed label marked # 2362D, and another on Nostalgia
Home Video (unnumbered).
The 1940 MGM film version was directed by W. S. Van Dyke II, choreographed by Ernst Matray, and
scripted by Lesser Samuels with lyric revisions by Gus Kahn. The cast included Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson
Eddy, and George Sanders. The somewhat overlooked film retained eight songs from the original score (“If
You Could Only Come with Me,” “I’ll See You Again,” “Tell Me, What Is Love?,” “Tokay,” “Zigeuner,”
“Dear Little Café,” “Kiss Me,” and “Ladies of the Town”); used “If Love Were All” as underscoring; and
although the lyric and music for “Love in Any Language” (sung by MacDonald) is sometimes attributed to
Coward it seems likely the music is from an unidentified Coward song with a new lyric by Kahn (no such
song as “Love in Any Language” is included in the above-referenced collections of Coward lyrics).
Unlike the 1933 film, the second version eliminated the flashback device but otherwise retained the basic
storyline of Coward’s original. On its own terms, the film is enjoyable enough, but MacDonald and Eddy seem
a good ten years too old for their characters. The film’s weakest sequence is an insufferably tiresome, would-
be comic scene set in a grocer’s shop. Because the owner’s untalented daughter wants to be a serious singer,
MacDonald and Eddy offer to teach her if they can be compensated with groceries. The staging of “Zigeuner”
was much too overblown for comfort, and the film’s campiest moment occurred in the finale when MacDon-
ald reprises “I’ll See You Again” while a huge image of Eddy’s face appears in a sky of Technicolored moon-
light. The film was released on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
During the New York run, at least one theatre program (dated February 3, 1930) offered some interest-
ing advertisements for upcoming musicals to be produced by Ziegfeld. One page included a photo of Marilyn
Miller and Fred and Adele Astaire with the caption they’d soon appear in Ziegfeld’s The Spinning Wheel
with music by Vincent Youmans and a book by George S. Kaufman (the musical was eventually produced in
November 1930 as Smiles, and the book was by William Anthony McGuire). Another advertisement touted
Ziegfeld’s upcoming production of Ming Toy with music by Rudolph (that is, Rudolf) Friml and book by Wil-
liam Anthony McGuire (adapted from Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer’s hit 1918 drama East Is West).
Ming Toy was never produced, but Smiles incorporated an Oriental sequence into its story, and one suspects
that unused décor and costumes for Ming Toy were recycled for Smiles.
HEADS UP!

Performances: 144
Book: John McGowan and Paul Gerard Smith
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Direction and Choreography: George Hale; Producers: Alex. A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley; Scenery: Donald
Oenslager; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Russell Uniform Company; Lighting: Uncredited; Mu-
sical Direction: Alfred Newman
Cast: Janet Velie (Martha Trumbell), Alice Boulden (Peggy Pratt), John Hundley (Rex Cutting), John Hamilton
(Larry White), Betty Starbuck (Betty Boyd), Ray Bolger (Georgie), Victor Moore (“Skippy” Dugan), Robert
Gleckler (Captain Denny), Barbara Newberry (Mary Trumbell), Jack Whiting (Lieutenant Jack Mason),
Lewis Parker (James Clarke), Atlas and LaMarr (Bob and Harry), Louis Delgado (Carson), Richard Ma-
caleese (Dillon), Chester Bree (Hanson), The Reynolds Sisters (Gladys and Helene), Phil Ohman (Pianist);
Ladies of the Ensemble: Gene Brady, Margery Bailey, Margot Bazin, Helen Collins, Catherine Cathcart,
Violet Carson, Alvina Carson, Chris Cane, Helen Doyle, Ann Echlund, Eleanor Etheridge, Fay Greene,
Ruth Gordon (to be sure, not the famous stage and film actress), Gypsy Hollis, Eva Hart, Pat Hamill, Rita
Jason, Clara Larinova, Muriel Lawler, Helen Lee, Jane Lane, Betty Morton, Elsie Neal, Clarita Nash, Lylie
Olive, Helen Reinecke, Ruth Sato, Amy Weber, Wanda Wood, Paulette Winston, Grace Wright, Geraldine
Pratt, Mary Kerr; Gentlemen of the Ensemble: Jerry Cushman, Hal Clyne, Louis Delgado, Bob Derden,
Jack Fago, Harry Griffin, Bob Gebhardt, Tommy Jordan, Al Jordan, Lewis Parker, Jack Ross, George Rand,
Bob Spencer, Edoard Gates, Charles McGrath, William Cooper, Fran Heyser, Chester Breen, Gordon
Clark, Bud Tipton, Ben White, Richard Macaleese, LeRoy Kent, Paul Jensen, George Meyer
The action takes place during the present time in and around New London, Connecticut, at sea aboard the
Silver Lady, and on an island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “You’ve Got to Surrender” (Ensemble); “Playboy” (Ray Bolger, Ensemble); “Mother Grows Younger”
(Janet Velie, Barbara Newberry, Cadets); “Why Do You Suppose?” (Barbara Newberry, Jack Whiting,
Girls); “Me for You” (Betty Starbuck, Ray Bolger); “Why Do You Suppose?” (reprise) (Barbara Newberry,
Jack Whiting); “Onsgay and Anceday” (The Reynolds Sister, “Irlsgay” [performer unknown]); “It Must Be
Heaven” (Barbara Newberry, Jack Whiting); “My Man Is on the Make” (Alice Boulden, Chorus; Dancers:
Atlas and LaMarr)
Act Two: “The Lass Who Loved a Sailor” (Betty Starbuck, Sailors); “A Ship without a Sail” (Jack Whiting,
Sailors); “Why Do You Suppose?” (reprise) (Barbara Newberry); “Knees” (Alice Boulden, Ray Bolger, Girls);
“My Man Is on the Make” (reprise) (Alice Boulden, Girls); Specialty (Atlas and LaMarr, The Reynolds
Sisters); Finale (Company)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Me for You underwent a chaotic tryout in Detroit and then shut down.
When it emerged a month later in Philadelphia, it had the new title Heads Up!, the book had been completely
rewritten by different authors, many songs had been discarded (but Me for You’s title song was retained for
the new version), there had been major cast replacements, and the original director was no longer with the
production (see below for more details).
Heads Up! played five months on Broadway, but didn’t return its initial investment. There wasn’t a na-
tional tour, the London production was a major disappointment that lasted for just two weeks, and the film
adaptation is all but forgotten. But the songs that have emerged from the score are delightful, and the plot
itself sounds quite amusing, with seemingly plenty of comic opportunities for Victor Moore, cut-up interludes
for Alice Boulden and Betty Starbuck, dancing moments for Ray Bolger, and romantic murmurings for Jack
Whiting and Barbara Newberry.
The story revolved around the luxurious yacht Silver Lady, which is owned by society matron Martha
Trumbell (Janet Velie) who isn’t aware that the yacht’s Captain Denny (Robert Gleckler) is using the vehicle
to transport illegal hooch. But Coast Guard Lieutenant Jack Mason (Jack Whiting), who is the sweetheart
of Martha’s daughter Mary (Barbara Newberry), uncovers the operation and arrests the rum-runner. Victor
Moore played the yacht’s cook “Skippy” Dugan, a former resident of one Big House or another, who tries to
conquer the galley with his Rube Goldberg-like cooking inventions.
Rodgers and Hart’s score included one of their most haunting and plaintive ballads, “A Ship without a
Sail,” the jaunty “Why Do You Suppose?,” and the insinuating flapper song “My Man Is on the Make.”
The New York Times liked the “fairly lively diversion,” singled out four songs (“A Ship without a Sail,”
“My Man Is on the Make,” “Why Do You Suppose?,” and “It Must Be Heaven”), praised the “prepossessing”
Whiting and the “beauteous” Newberry, and laughed over Moore’s attempts to become a chef. Along with
one or two other reviewers, the Times’ critic enjoyed Moore’s reply when someone asks if he knows what a
mutiny is. Of course he knows: It’s a performance given in the afternoon.
1929 Season 549
Robert Benchley in the New Yorker was delighted to “be back in 1929 again” because too many recent
shows had taken place in the past where most of the characters could have been relatives of Chester Alan
Arthur. Gilbert W. Gabriel in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call liked the “engagingly romantic” story with
a cast of “town favorites,” including Moore, who “added to his stature as a funny man.” and Bide Dudley in
the Indianapolis Star found the show “very good entertainment” and noted that Newberry sang and danced
“like another Marilyn Miller.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer said Rodgers’s contributions registered “no high degree
of originality” but were “pleasing”; Deming Seymour in the Havre (MT) Daily News said the score was “only
a little more than ordinary”; and although N.F. in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society found
the “lively,” “good-looking,” “gay-spirited,” and “quite sufficiently witty” show a “real boon,” and noted
that Newberry’s dancing “has not been surpassed for grace by any musical comedy actress whom I have seen,”
he thought the plot was “negligible” and the music lacked “distinction.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle decided the evening was “considerably below the high standards” of such Aar-
ons and Freedley-produced musicals as Oh, Kay!, Funny Face, and Hold Everything! The music was “none too
distinguished” and “not as genuine” as Rodgers’s previous work, and Hart’s lyrics lacked the “brittle, fragile
charm that once upon a time made us think that some day he would grow up into an American Gilbert.”
During the first phase of the tryout, which played in Detroit during the last two weeks of September 1929,
the musical was known as Me for You with a book by Owen Davis. The production shut down for a month,
and when it reopened in Philadelphia as Heads Up! it had a completely new plot with a book by John Mc-
Gowan and Paul Gerard Smith. It also lost director Alexander Leftwich (choreographer George Hale assumed
directorial duties) and cast members Lulu McConnell, Peggy Bernier, and Madeline Gibson.
Songs dropped when the musical was known as Me for You are: the captivating and somewhat daring “As
Though You Were There” (sung by Hundley and Gibson), “Sky City,” “I Can Do Wonders with You,” “The
Color of Her Eyes,” “Jazz Reception,” “Sweetheart, You Make Me Laugh,” “Mind Your P’s and Q’s,” “It’s a
Man’s World,” “The Boot-Leggers’ Chantey” (aka “We’re an English Ship”), “Now Go to Your Cabin” (aka
“Finale, Act One”), and “Harlem on the Sand.” Songs dropped in preproduction are “The Three Bears” and
“Have You Been True to Me?”
“The Color of Her Eyes” had been cut during the tryouts of Spring Is Here and Me for You/Head’s Up!,
and it finally found a spot in Rodgers and Hart’s 1930 London musical Ever Green. “Why Do You Suppose?”
had been cut from She’s My Baby when it was known as “How Was I to Know?”, and “I Can Do Wonders
with You” resurfaced later in the season in Rodgers and Hart’s Simple Simon, where it was introduced by
Doree Leslie and Alan Edwards.
The show’s classic ballad “A Ship without a Sail” has been frequently recorded, and two particularly
memorable renditions are by Lee Wiley and Ella Fitzgerald. Helen Kane sang “My Man Is on the Make” for
the film adaptation (see below), and her version is included in the collection The Ultimate Rodgers & Hart
Volume I (Pearl/Pavilion Records CD # GEM-0110). “Why Do You Suppose?” and “How Was I to Know” are
included as back-to-back numbers for Rodgers and Hart Revisited Volume I (Painted Smiles Records CD #
PSCD-116); “A Ship without a Sail” is on the second Revisited (CD # PSCD-139); and “Knees,” “Me for You,”
and “I Can Do Wonders with You” are on the fourth Revisited (CD # PSCD-126). Lee Wiley’s terrific rendi-
tions of “As Though You Were There” and “A Ship without a Sail” are included in Lee Wiley Sings Rodgers
& Hart and Arlen (Audiophile Records CD # ACD-10).
The London production opened on May 1, 1930, at the Palace Theatre for nineteen performances. The
book was adapted by Lauri Wylie, and Janet Velie and the dance team Atlas and LaMarr re-created their Broad-
way roles. Others in the cast were Arthur Margetson (Jack), Louise Brown (Mary), Polly Ward (Peggy), Har-
land Dixon (Georgie), Clarice Hardwicke (Betty), Sydney Howard (“Skippy”), and Edmund Willard (Captain
Denny). The entire Broadway score was retained for the London production, but “Mother Grows Younger”
was retitled “Daughter Grows Older.”
The film version was released by Paramount Pictures in 1930 in an adaptation by John McGowan (who
cowrote the book of the musical) and Jack Kirkland. Victor Schertzinger directed, George Hale reprised his
choreography, and Broadway cast member Victor Moore returned in his Broadway role of “Skippy.” Others in
the cast were Charles “Buddy” Rogers (Jack), Margaret Breen (Mary), Billy Taylor (Georgie), and Helen Kane
(Betty), who memorably sang “My Man Is on the Make,” one of two songs from the Broadway production
that were retained for the film (the other was “A Ship without a Sail”). Two songs were written for the film
(“Readin’, ’Riting, Rhythm” and “If I Knew You Better”) with lyrics by Don Hartman and music by Schertz-
inger, and soundtrack recordings by Kane have been issued.
SONS O’ GUNS
“A Musical Comedy” / “The Musical Hit”

Performances: 295
Book: Fred Thompson and Jack Donahue
Lyrics: Arthur Swanstrom and Benny Davis
Direction: Bobby Connolly (“Military Direction by Harry Holbrook, U.S.M.C.”); Producers: Bobby Connolly
and Arthur Swanstrom; Choreography: dances by Bobby Connolly and ballets by Albertina Rasch; Scen-
ery: Joseph Urban; Costumes: Charles LeMaire; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Max Steiner
Cast: Jack Donahue (Jimmy Canfield), Shirley Vernon (Mary Harper), William Frawley (Hobson), Milton
Watson (Arthur Travers), Barry Walsh (Carl Schreiber), Mary Horan (Bernice Pearce), Richard Temple
(General Harper), Eddie Hodge (Billswater), Robert Dohn (Parker, A German Prisoner), Alfred Bardelang
(Oswald, A German Prisoner), Ann Karyle (Marie), Gwendolyn Milne (Marie), Marion Chambers (Jea-
nette), Frances Markey (Colette), Isobel Zehner (Irene), David Hutcheson (Major Archibald Ponsonby-
Falcke), Raoul de Tisne (Pierre), Charles E. Bird (A British Officer), Joseph Spree (A British Tommy),
Harry Holbrook (U.S.A. Captain), Charles Dodson (U.S.A. Bugler), Lily Damita (Yvonne); The Alber-
tina Rasch Girls: Jeanette Bradley, Wilma Kaye, Josephine Wolfe, Virginia Allen, Nora Pontin, Lillian
Jordan, Virginia Whitmore, Frances Wise, Ethel Greene, Ruth Hayden, June English, Evelyn Nichols;
Ladies: Ann Constance, Nora Kildare, Millicent Bancroft, Marcella Miller, Della Harkins, Edna Bunte,
Marion Santre, Sylvia Roberts, Anne Goddard, Clare Hooper, Wanda Stevenson, Billie Cortez, Muriel
Hoey, Iola Sparks, Enda Burford, Mae Rena Grady, Adel Story, Gloria Clare, Adrienne Lampel, Mu-
riel Hayman, Ruth Grady, Topsy Humphrey, Firlie Banks, Ida Berry; Gentlemen: Ray Stully, Ward A.
Tallman, Herbert Warren, M. J. Forbes, Preston Lewis, Dan Sparks, Robert Milton, Russell Duncan,
Tuxie Ondek, Wallace Banfield, Albert Henkel, Chris Gerard, Del Daven, Byron Earle, Tom Weldon,
Leo Branson, Gladstone Waldrip, George Lamb, William Dunn, Frank Strang, Roy Santor, Cliff Whit-
comb, Joe Carey, Ray Prescott, Roderick Murray, Paul Bristbois, Henry Mirshon, Efim Konoff, Merrill
Oslin, James Garrett, Guy Daly, Robert Saidler, Stanley Howard, Fred Kruger, Russell Ash, Bill Mack,
Jack Little, John M. Malone, Ben K. Leavenworth, George Rolland, Carl Rose, Richard F. Ellis, George
K. Wallace, Michael Cavanaugh, Earle Sanford, Victor Young, Lawrence Waite, Jack Spiegel, John
Heming, Gordon Davis
The action takes place during 1918–1919 in Newport, Rhode Island, at sea, and in France.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Younger Set” (The American Girls); “May I Say I Love You?” (Milton Watson, Shirley Ver-
non); “I’m That Way Over You” (Jack Donahue); “We’ll Be There” (Milton Watson, Doughboys); “The
Can-canola” (The Albertina Rasch Girls, French Peasants); “Why?” (Lily Damita, Jack Donahue); “Cross
Your Fingers” (Milton Watson, Shirley Vernon); “Red Hot and Blue Rhythm” (Mary Horan, American
Entertainers); “Over Here” (William Frawley, Doughboys); “It’s You I Love” (“C’est vous que j’aime”)
(Lily Damita)
Act Two: Opening (French Officers and Girls); “Let’s Merge” (David Hutcheson, Mary Horan); Reprise (song
not identified in program, but probably ”It’s You I Love”) (Lily Damita); “Sentimental Melody” (The
Albertina Rasch Girls); “There’s a Rainbow on the Way” (Mary Horan, Guests); “The Victory Parade”
(Ensemble); “A Dance” (Jack Donahue); “Grand Finale” (Company)
1929 Season 551
Sons o’ Guns was a vehicle for dancer Jack Donahue, who also cowrote the book with Fred Thompson.
The musical took place mostly in France during World War One, and a lighthearted look at the Great War
wouldn’t have set well with audiences a few years earlier. But now a decade had passed since the end of hos-
tilities, and the show was accepted as an old-fashioned lark that utilized the background of war for its plot
and characters. The major criticism was the show’s length, and everyone agreed that trimming was in order.
The producers apparently listened, and Variety reported that on opening night one of Donahue’s dances lasted
“for around a half hour,” but “later in the week this was heavily reduced.”
Bide Dudley in the Indianapolis Star reported the show cost $150,000, and certainly the production had
almost everything going for it: Donahue’s star quality, a solid supporting cast (including William Frawley, the
future Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy), and magnificent décor by Joseph Urban. Just about all that was lacking was
a hit song to identify the show to the public. J. Fred Coots later composed the hit holiday perennial “Santa
Claus Is Coming to Town” and the wistful ballad “Love Letters in the Sand,” but here he created a pleasant
collection of songs that didn’t yield an evergreen. Even so, the show quickly became a hot ticket and played
over eight months for almost three-hundred performances.
Jimmy Canfield (Donahue) is a wealthy and slightly spoiled young man who even has his own private golf
course in Newport. When he’s drafted and shipped off to France, he discovers his former valet Hobson (Fraw-
ley) is now his sergeant, but this uneasy reversal of roles is offset when Jimmy falls in love with Yvonne (Lily
Damita), an innkeeper’s daughter. A problem arises when her father turns out to be a German sympathizer,
and when Jimmy releases what he assumes are noisy chickens, the military discovers he’s liberated carrier
pigeons that have now flown to Germany. Jimmy is arrested as a spy but escapes from prison, tricks a British
officer out of his uniform, and soon discovers that an outwardly innocent trio of acrobats are really Germans.
He captures them, and is hailed as a hero, and when peace is declared he can’t get rid of them because they
don’t seem to understand the war is over and their side lost. They insist on accompanying Jimmy to Paris and
are even nice enough to carry his weapons.
Time said the show offered “the most amiable war on record,” and Robert Benchley in the New Yorker
noted that the war had “now reached that stage of reminiscence where it can be made into a musical comedy
without offence” and “shows that either we are a gay people at heart or that we are almost ready for another
war.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer praised the “witty libretto” which didn’t hesitate to
apply “the whip of satire to whosoever the victim may be.” He also observed that the musical was “probably
the first and only time that the tragedy of the four-year conflict has been treated as a farce,” and the lack of
“protest” from critics and audiences proved “what a momentous change has taken place in public sentiment
within the past decade.”
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle commented that the musical offered a “jolly” war where de-
spite “differences of opinion” all the soldiers “are brothers having a good time.” But the evening went on too
long and there was “not too much of a good thing but too much of things not quite good enough,” and thus
“condensation” would do “wonders” for the production.
Benchley noted that the musical was the first in which Donahue was given above-the-title star billing, but
as far as Benchley was concerned Donahue had “starred in every show I have ever seen him in” and “he cer-
tainly was the star, regardless of where his name came on the program.” The New York Times said he danced
with his usual “skill,” and in one number performed “an almost endless variety of steps without repeating
himself,” and Pollock said “Jack Donahue dances as no one but Jack Donahue can.” Pollock also mentioned
that Frawley was “alternately a softly solicitous valet and a two-fisted corporal.”
Deming Seymour in the Havre (MT) Daily News said the music wasn’t “up to the rest of the show” but
noted “Why?” and “It’s You I Love” were “singable enough.” Pollock found “Why?” a “pleasant” song, Burns
Mantle in the Tampa Tribune said it was the musical’s “song hit,” and Variety said it was “the show’s front
runner for musical popularity.” The Times found the score “unusually tuneful” and singled out “Why?,” “I’m
That Way Over You,” “Cross Your Fingers,” and “It’s You I Love.”
During the tryout, the musical was titled Carry On. The collection Broadway Musicals of 1929 (Bayview
Records CD # RNBW-038) includes “It’s You I Love.” The London production opened on June 26, 1930, at the
Hippodrome with Bobby Howes for 211 showings, and a contemporary recording released by HMV Records
with conductor Ray Noble and the New Mayfair Orchestra includes a medley of seven songs from the score
(“Why?,” “It’s You I Love,” “Let’s Merge,” “Red Hot and Blue Rhythm,” “Cross Your Fingers,” “Sentimental
Melody,” and “I’m That Way Over You”).
The film version was released by Warner Brothers in 1936; directed by Lloyd Bacon and scripted by Jerry
Wald and Julius J. Epstein, the cast included Joe E. Brown (Jimmy), Joan Blondell (Yvonne), and Eric Blore
(Hobson). The songs “Arms of an Army Man” and “A Buck and a Quarter a Day” were by lyricist Al Dubin
and composer Harry Warren, and “Over Here” is probably the song of the same name from the Broadway
production.
FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN

“A Musical Comedy Tour of Paris”

Opening Date: November 27, 1929; Closing Date: July 5, 1930
Performances: 254
Lyrics and Music: Cole Porter
Direction: Edgar M. Woolley (aka Monty Woolley); Producer: E. Ray Goetz; Choreography: Larry Ceballos;
Scenery: Norman Bel-Geddes; Costumes: Jay Thorpe, Inc.; Saks-Fifth Avenue; Bone Soeurs; Brooks Cos-
tume Co.; Finchley, Inc. (all costumes “supervised” by James Reynolds); Lighting: Uncredited; Musical
Direction: Gene Salzer
Cast: Jack Thompson (Michael Cummins), Lester Crawford (Billy Baxter), Dorothy Day (Marcelle
Fouchard), Ignatio Martinetti (Louis), Betty Compton (Joyce Wheeler), Thurston Hall (Emmitt Carroll),
Bernice Mershon (Gladys Carroll), William Gaxton (Peter Forbes), Genevieve Tobin (Looloo Carroll),
Fifi Laimbeer (Sylvia), Evelyn Hoey (May De Vere), Gertrude Hudge (Mrs. De Vere), Robert Leonard (Mr.
Ira Rosen), Annette Hoffman (Mrs. Rosen), Larry Jason (Junior), Helen Broderick (Violet Hildegarde),
Billy Reed (Boule de Neige), Lou Duthers (Oscar), Mario Villani (Monsieur Pernasse), Jean De Val (Le
Sahib Roussin, Joe Zeill), Manart Kippen (The Grand Duke), Oscar Magis (Maître d’Hôtel at the Chateau
Madrid); Ceballos’ Hollywood Dancers: Doris Toddings, Billie Chase, Lu Ann Meredith, Peggee Standlee,
Blanche Poston, Helen Splane, Lucille Lester, Julia Blake, Melva Cornell, Josephine Barnhardt, Valeda
Duncan, Marie Valli, Billie Smith, Teddy Lura, Adelaide Kaye, Marusa Roberti, Frankie Silvers, Frances
Grant, Lorraine Platt, Helen Fairweather, Eileen Gorlet, Sue Rainey, Grace Davies, Betty Bowen; Dancing
Girls: Anna May Rex, Marion Thompson, Mildred Espy, Patsy O’Keefe, Jeanette Marion, Pansy Maness,
Pearl Shepard, Nancy Dolan, Florine Meyers, Mary Dunckley; The California Collegians: Lou Wood,
Herb Montel, Ray Adams, Percy Launders, Alan Jones, Ted Beach and Rene duPlessis; Show Girls: Tanya
Dumova, Theresa Donahue, Edna Storey, Marie Sorel, Marjorie Phillips, Marjorie Arnold, Meta Klinke,
Josephine Carroll, Betty Knight, Ethel Odell, Carol Kingsbury; French Singers: Belle Olska, Charlotte Ge-
raud, Marguerite Denys, Nanette Deaustro, Frances Newbaker, Catherine Palmer; Dancing Boys: Ernest
Rayburn, Bob Gordon, Jack Tucker, Bill Douglas, Sid Salzer, Jack Bauer, Billy O’Rourke, Nor Norcross,
Henry Ladd, William Broder, Charles Conkling, Beau Tilden, Bob Morgan, Regis Geary, Jack Barrett, Jack
Fraley; Singing Boys: Frank Bochetta, William Culloo, Sam Suchman, David Tulin, Syuleen Krasnoff, John
Matsin, George O’Brien, Arthur Ver Bownes
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Toast to Volstead” (The California Collegians, Male Ensemble); “You Do Something to Me”
(William Gaxton, Genevieve Tobin); “The American Express” (Ensemble); “You’ve Got That Thing”
(Jack Thompson, Betty Compton); “Find Me a Primitive Man” (Evelyn Hoey, Billy Reed, Lou Duthers,
Ensemble); “Where Would You Get Your Coat?” (Helen Broderick); “Do You Want to See Paris?” (William
Gaxton, The California Collegians, Tourists); “At Longchamps Today” (Ensemble); “Yankee Doodle”
(Ensemble); “The Happy Heaven of Harlem” (Billy Reed, Lou Duthers, Chorus); “Why Shouldn’t I Have
You?” (Betty Compton, Jack Thompson, Chorus); Finale (Genevieve Tobin, William Gaxton)
1929 Season 553
Act Two: “Somebody’s Going to Throw a Big Party” (Ensemble); “It Isn’t Done” (Ensemble); “I’m in Love”
(Genevieve Tobin, Franklyn Graham, Ceballos’ Hollywood Dancers); “The Tale of the Oyster” (Helen
Broderick); Specialty (William Gaxton, The California Collegians); “Paree, What Did You Do to Me?”
(Betty Compton, Jack Thompson); “You Don’t Know Paree” (William Gaxton); “I’m Unlucky at Gam-
bling” (Evelyn Hoey, Ceballos’ Hollywood Dancers); Finale
Cole Porter’s Fifty Million Frenchmen was a self-described “Musical Comedy Tour of Paris,” and the
flyer for the pre-Broadway tryout must have tantalized audiences with the promise of a “tour de luxe.”
Yes, for the price of “one reserved seat,” an audience member could enjoy “riding in the Bois in an open
barouche, sightseeing to the Battlefields, drinking champagne cocktails at the Ritz Bar, eating French pas-
try at Rumpelmeyer’s, [and] making whoopee at the Moulin Rouge.” This imaginative and provocative
itinerary also included “Napoleon’s Tomb, the Madeline, risqué post cards at the Café de la Paix, dowagers
dancing with gigolos, the Montmartre Citroens, French cocottes, Harry’s American Bar, the Place Ven-
dome, the Chateau Madrid and last, but not least, the dear old American Express.” And so for the price of a
theatre ticket (the top-priced seat for the Broadway production sold for $5.50) you got the tour and Porter’s
score, which ran the gamut from sublime serenades (“You Do Something to Me”) to impertinent inquiries
(“Where Would You Get Your Coat?”).
Porter had occasionally been represented on Broadway, but this was the show that put him on the map.
It ran for 254 performances, offered a treasure-trove of memorable songs, and eventually was filmed twice.
The flyer had promised a tour of Paree, and Porter came through with three songs about the French
capital: “Do You Want to See Paris?” was virtually a lyric variation of the show’s flyer with its invitation to
improve your French with French cocottes and to see Claridge’s, the hotel where wives go when they’re tired
of their husbands; “Paree, What Did You Do to Me?” looked at how a “Sunday school” personality turns into
someone who wants a bottle of bubbly; and “You Don’t Know Paree” advised that knowing “Paris” didn’t
guarantee you knew “Paree.”
The score’s most enduring song is “You Do Something to Me,” but there were treats throughout the al-
ternately romantic and raucous score: the insinuating reminder that “You’ve Got That Thing,” the request
to “Find Me a Primitive Man” (not a man who belongs to a club, but a man with a club that belongs to him),
the lament “I’m Unlucky at Gambling” (an evening at a movie reveals that a woman’s date really prefers John
Gilbert), and “The Tale of the Oyster,” a pilgrim’s progress of sorts in which a social climbing oyster gets his
comeuppance.
The plot dealt with well-to-do American in Paris Peter Forbes (William Gaxton) who becomes infatu-
ated with rich American Looloo (Genevieve Tobin). His friends place a bet that he can’t survive in Paris for
a month without his own money, and that without money he’ll never be able to win Looloo’s hand in mar-
riage. He takes on the bet and manages to earn money in Paris as a tour guide, a gigolo, a bookmaker, and a
cabaret manager, and after the usual musical comedy complications and misunderstanding he wins both the
bet and Looloo.
Burns Mantle in the Tampa Tribune said Porter’s score didn’t include an “outstanding melody,” but oth-
erwise the evening was “big and handsome” and “rough and ready,” and Helen Broderick sang with “double
meanings” and made a “great hit” with the audience. (Broderick’s husband Lester Crawford played the role
of Billy Baxter, and both of them reprised their stage roles for the 1931 film version; their son was the Oscar-
winning actor Broderick Crawford.)
Arthur Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said the “active, merry and rowdy” musical was “gay and
full of sound” and “something close to first-class musical comedy entertainment.” Norman Bel-Geddes
created “handsome” décor; Herbert Fields’s book was “so-so”; and Porter was the “master” of double
meanings but could “be fully as silly as the stupidest of lyricists.” Pollock noted that some might apply
the word “dynamic” to describe Gaxton, but “nuisance might be better”; Tobin was “a gift from heaven”;
and Broderick was “funnier than anyone else in the cast.” Evelyn Hoey sang “Find Me a Primitive Man”
and made it “interesting,” and Ceballos’ Hollywood Dancers did “the sort of thing groups of dancers are
taught to do.”
Deming Seymour in the Great Falls (MT) Tribune liked Broderick’s “droll and blasé pilgrim abroad,” and
noted that Porter’s songs ran to “biologic themes which aren’t so funny after a while as they seemed at first.”
He also noted that “You’ve Got That Thing” and “You Do Something to Me” made “favorable impressions.”
Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer hailed “A Toast to Volstead” as an “inspiring hit,” and
praised Broderick as “one of the most humorous actresses of the day,” who “talks in a subdued but distinct
voice” with “a hardly perceptible inflection and says the most hair-raising things with a matter-of-course
indifference which is convulsively funny.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times praised the “brisk, crack-brained, smartly accoutered and
modishly salacious” musical, which moved “along with enlivening rapidity” with “strikingly handsome”
costumes and Bel-Geddes’s “extensive” décor. Porter’s music was “pleasant” and his lyrics “excellent,”
and among the ones Atkinson singled out were “Find Me a Primitive Man” (which Hoey sang with “jaunty
spirit”), “Do You Want to See Paris?” (“staged with snap”), and “I’m in Love” (sung “well” by Tobin).
Variety reported that because the show’s advance sale was $200,000 it “should have no trouble selling
itself for a healthy New York run.” Broderick was “among the first-flight musical comediennes,” and the
score “pleases all the way” with “You Do Something to Me” (“likely as a pop”), “Find Me a Primitive Man”
and “I’m Unlucky at Gambling” (both “nifties”), and Broderick’s “Where Would You Get Your Coat?” (“a
comedy lyric that single men and women in vaude would give their right arms for”).
Throughout the era, critics complained that musicals contained too many encores and were in need
of judicious pruning, but note that Robert Benchley in the New Yorker said “it is the pace of Fifty Million
Frenchmen which carries it bounding along,” and Atkinson said the evening moved “with enlivening rapid-
ity.” It’s clearly thanks to director Edgar M. Woolley (later known as Monty Woolley) that the production was
so speedy, and in fact the title page of the program included the following note: “Owing to the length of the
performance, and to preserve the proper continuity and tempo of the story, no encores will be taken to any
of the musical numbers.”
Woolley later created the role of Sheridan Whiteside in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s classic 1939
comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner, which he reprised for the 1942 film version, and among his other
films are the 1944 home-front drama Since You Went Away and the 1947 Christmas fantasy The Bishop’s
Wife. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Actor in The Pied Piper (1942) and for Best
Supporting Actor in Since You Went Away. He played himself in Night and Day, the 1946 film biography of
Cole Porter, and his final film appearance was as Omar in the 1955 adaptation of Kismet. Woolley directed
Porter’s musical The New Yorkers (1930) and was the dialogue director for Porter’s Jubilee (1935). He also
directed Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s America’s Sweetheart (1931), and in 1936 appeared in Rodgers and
Hart’s On Your Toes, where with Luella Gear he introduced the sardonic “Too Good for the Average Man.”
During the Broadway run, “A Toast to Volstead” (the requisite 1920s Broadway number that referenced
Prohibition) and “The Tale of the Oyster” were dropped, and “The Boy Friend Back Home” was added but
eventually dropped and replaced by “Stepping Out” (better known as “Let’s Step Out”). Dropped prior to
Broadway (during preproduction, rehearsals, or the tryout) were: “I Worship You,” “Please Don’t Make Me
Be Good,” “The Queen of Terre Haute,” “Watching the World Go By,” “Down with Everybody but Us,”
“Why Don’t We Try Staying Home?,” “That’s Why I Love You,” “My Harlem Wench,” and “The Heaven of
Harlem” (not the same song as “The Happy Heaven of Harlem”). “Do You Want to See Paris?” was a revised
version of an earlier song heard in La revue des ambassadeurs (1928), and “The Tale of the Oyster” was a re-
vamped version of Porter’s private party song “The Scampi.” “The Queen of Terre Haute” is a sparkling gem
about a small-towner’s lament that fate decreed her lot in life was not to be Salome or Mary Pickford or Elea-
nor Glyn or even Whistler’s Mother. Instead, she’s an “unknown ignoramus” in a small Midwestern Podunk.
A studio cast recording of the score was released by New World Records (CD # 80417-2) and includes
Howard McGillin, Kim Criswell, Karen Ziemba, Jason Graae, Scott Waara, and Peggy Cass. Of the songs
heard on opening night, the recording includes all but three (“A Toast to Volstead,” “Yankee Doodle,” and
“The Happy Heaven of Harlem” are omitted). The recording includes the added songs “The (My) Boy Friend
Back Home” and “Stepping Out” (aka “Let’s Step Out”) as well as “Please Don’t Make Me Be Good,” “The
Queen of Terre Haute,” and “I Worship You.” The unused “That’s Why I Love You” is included in the col-
lection Cole Porter Revisited Volume Five (Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-122), and “Let’s Step Out”
was interpolated into the 1962 Off-Broadway revival of Anything Goes, and Margery Gray’s memorably brassy
rendition is captured on the cast album (Epic Records LP # FLM-13100).
The 1931 First National/Vitaphone film version was photographed in Technicolor, was directed by Lloyd
Bacon, and starred Broadway cast members Gaxton, Broderick, and Crawford, and others in the film were Ole
Olson, Chic Johnson, John Halliday, and Bela Lugosi (a warning: Johnson’s trademark laugh is annoying and in-
cessant, and requires the patience of Job on the part of the viewer). It was filmed as a musical, but in 1931 movie
1929 Season 555
musicals were box office poison and so all the songs that were filmed were cut prior to release (a few, including
“You Do Something to Me” and “You’ve Got That Thing,” can be heard as underscoring). The Technicolor
print is presumed lost, and the DVD release by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection is in black and white.
The second film version was released by Warner Brothers as part of Vitaphone’s Broadway Brevities se-
ries. Titled Paree, Paree, the short film of approximately twenty minutes was directed by Roy Mack and cho-
reographed by Allan K. Foster, and the leads were Bob Hope (Peter), Dorothy Stone (Looloo), and Billie Leonard
(Violet). Five songs were retained: “Paree, What Did You Do to Me?” (Female Singer), “You Do Something
to Me” (Hope and Stone), “Find Me a Primitive Man” (Leonard), “You’ve Got That Thing” (Hope), and “You
Don’t Know Paree,” which was used as background music. Hope would again inherit one of Gaxton’s stage
roles when he starred in the 1941 film version of Irving Berlin’s Louisiana Purchase. Paree, Paree is included
as bonus material on Warner Brothers’ DVD release of Porter’s Silk Stockings (# 65629).
Many of Porter’s stage and film musicals were centered in Paris. Besides the three “Paree”/”Paris” songs
in Fifty Million Frenchmen, Porter’s Paris-centric shows include Paris (1928): the cut songs “Bad Girl in
Paree” and “Quelque-chose”; Nymph Errant (1933; London): “The Cocotte”; You Never Know (1938): “Au
revoir, cher Baron”; DuBarry Was a Lady (1939): “Mesdames et messieurs”; Can-Can (1953): “I Love Paris,”
“Montmart’,” “C’est magnifique,” “Allez vous-en,” “Maidens Typical of France,” and the unused “Who Said
Gay Paree?”; Silk Stockings (1955): “Paris Loves Lovers”; and Les Girls (1957 film): “Ca, c’est l’amour.” For
more information about Porter and the French capital, see Paris.
THE SILVER SWAN

“A Viennese Musical Romance”

Performances: 21
Book: William S. Brady and Alonzo Price
Lyrics: William S. Brady
Music: H. Maurice Jacquet
Direction: Alonzo Price; Producer: Herman Gantvoort; Choreography: LeRoy (J.) Prinz; Scenery: Ward and
Harvey Studios; Costumes: William H. Matthews; John Booth; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction:
Augustus Barratt
Cast: Robert Roltner (Lieutenant Berthold), David D. Morris (Adolf), Alexander Leftwich Jr. (Lieutenant Wal-
ther), Walter E. Munroe (Lieutenant Erich), Harry Miller (Seppel), Laine Blaire (Denise), Alice Mackenzie
(Hortense Zorma), Robert G. Pitkin (Gurlitt), Ninon Bunyea (Alexandrine), Edward Nell Jr. (Captain Rich-
ard Von Orten), Paul Joyce (Tiger), Lina Abarbanell (Princes Von Auen), Vivian Hart (Gabrielle), Florenz
Ames (General Von Auen), Lucille Constant (Marie), Jill Northrup (Theresa), William Dillon (Lieutenant
Karl), Fawn and Jardon (The Dancers); Singers of the Gurlitt Opera Company: Azita Cortez, Dorothy
Coulter, Constance Durand, Marie Endicott, Margaret Grove, Edith Gwen, Mildred Harrington, Mary
Hennessy, Irene Lee, Phyllis Lee, Beatrice Marsh, Jean Mawar, Mildred Newman, Marvel Ober, Elsa Paul,
Peggy O’Riley, Grace Starr, Elizabeth Thomas; Dancers of the Gurlitt Opera Company: Lucille Constant,
Marcia de Baum, Gene Fontaine, Arlene Holmes, Gwendolyne MacMurray, Jill Northrup, Florentine
Sherman, Virginia Toland; Officers of the Emperor’s Guard: George Ammonn, Leslie Coullard, Antonia
Diaz, Thomas Follis, Walter Higgins, Eugene Hoffman, Luther G. Hoobyar, William H. Jenkins, Nicholas
Krasink, August Loring, Antonio Mali, Leon Mandas, Walter E. Munroe, Hawkins Nelson, Irving Parker,
Charles Shumaker, Ottanio Valentino, Patrick Walters
The action takes place in Vienna, probably late in the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Only Game That I Would Play” (Robert Roltner, Officers, Girls); “À la Viennese” (Alice Mack-
enzie, Robert G. Pitkin, Ensemble); “I Like the Military Man” (Laine Blaire, Harry Miller); “Trial Song”
(Vivian Hart, Ensemble); “The Brave Deserve the Fair” (Florenz Ames, Girls); “Till I Met You” (Vivian
Hart, Edward Nell Jr.); Finale
Act Two: Opening: (a) “Graceful and Fair” (Girls, Ballet Dancers); (b) “Ballet” (Girls, Ballet Dancers); and (c)
“Polka” (Fawn and Jardon); “Cigarette” (Edward Nell Jr., Officers); “Till I Met You” (reprise) (Ensemble);
“Love Letters” (Alice Mackenzie, Florenz Ames); “Shoe-Clap-Platter” (Laine Blaire, Harry Miller, Ensem-
ble); “I Love You” (Vivian Hart, Edward Nell Jr., Ensemble); Finaletto; “Serenade”(“Chorus a Cappela”)
(Officers, Ladies); “Divertissement” (Fawn and Jardon); “Till I Met You” (reprise) (Vivian Hart); “Merry-
Go-Round” (Alice Mackenzie, Ensemble); Finale
The old-fashioned operetta The Silver Swan premiered on the same evening as Cole Porter’s frisky musi-
cal comedy Fifty Million Frenchmen. Porter’s fandango was a hit that played for 258 performances, but the
overly familiar paces of the operetta received mixed reviews, didn’t much excite anyone, and collapsed after
less than three weeks of performances.
The action took place in Vienna at an inn known as The Silver Swan, where members of the Gurlitt
Opera Company live. The very married General Von Auen (Florenz Ames) has a roving eye and is especially
interested in two of the singers—prima donna Hortense Zorma (Alice Mackenzie) and ingénue Gabrielle (Viv-
ian Hart)—but isn’t too happy when he discovers his nephew Captain Richard Von Orten (Edward Nell Jr.) is
attracted to Gabrielle. The situation led to an evening of comic and romantic folderol, and Variety noted that
the action concluded with a “sweet love ballad” (for Nell and Hart), and that throughout the story, Von Auen
spent most of his time “dodging” his “frau,” the Princess Von Auen (Lina Abarbanell).
The New York Times found the evening “pleasant, conventional and undistinguished” with a “routine”
and “merely adequate” book, and a score that was “attractive without suggesting melodic originality and
rhythmic without any strong hint of versatile orchestration.” True to operetta formula, the songs included a
march, a drinking song, and a ballad or two, but “Cigarette” was “the best achievement of the evening” and
featured Nell and his fellow officers who sang while they smoked. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that
the characters included the familiar “philandering officers” and “amorous ladies,” and the score offered “the
usual sugary waltz.” As a result, the production was “adequate” and you’d “never be bored,” but you wouldn’t
“be wildly entertained,” either. The “pleasing” songs didn’t create “any lasting impression,” and not a single
number was “particularly original in theme.” Variety said the operetta was “pleasant” if “moderately preten-
tious,” and while it was “no hit” it stood “a chance to crawl into profit.”
But Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer hailed the work as “one of the outstanding musical
productions of the year.” It offered “grace and tunefulness,” its melodies would “haunt you with stealthy
insistency,” and the libretto was “full of pep and go.” Deming Seymour in the Havre (MT) Evening News said
the show was “lifted from triteness by good production, good singing and good dancing.” Fawn and Jardon
were an “exquisite” dance team, and the score was “not the least of the assets of the piece.”
Walter Brown, the dramatic editor of the Hartford Courier, noted that he had enjoyed the musical when it
played at Hartford’s Parson Theatre late during the 1928–1929 season. In his current survey of New York crit-
ics, he reported that Milton V. Snyder in the New York Herald Tribune said the show was “a delight to both
ear and eye with its catchy songs” and “dreamy waltzes” as well as its “colorful” décor and “picturesque”
costumes; that William G. King in the New York Evening Post indicated the operetta was “pleasant enough to
the ear and attractive to the eye, but regrettably uninspired”; and that R. de R. in the New York Sun said the
book was “as conventional as the dinner you ate Thanksgiving Day,” and while it was “agreeably familiar”
and “swings along happily like a cheerful tippler,” it arrived “nowhere in particular.”
TOP SPEED
Theatre: 46th Street Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Royale Theatre)
Performances: 104
Book: Guy Bolton
Lyrics: Bert Kalmar
1929 Season 557
Music: Harry Ruby

Direction: John Harwood; Producers: Bolton, Kalmar & Ruby, Ltd.; Choreography: John Boyle; LeRoy Prinz;
Scenery: Raymond L. Sovey; Costumes: Kiviette; Saks-Fifth Avenue; per program, “Lester Allen’s sweat-
ers by West Point Knitwear Mills”; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ivan Rudisill
Cast: Harland Dixon (Tad Jordan), Sunny Dale (Daisy Parker), Lloyd Pedrick (Bellows), Lester Allen (Elmer
Peters), Paul Frawley (Gerry Brooks), Laine Blaire (Molly), Lon Hascall (Pete Schoonmaker), Irene Delroy
(Virginia Rollins), Ginger Rogers (Babs Green), Ken Williams (Chauffeur), Shirley Richards (Shirley), Theo-
dore Babcock (Mr. Rollins), Sam Critcherson (Vincent Colgate), John T. Dwyer (Spencer Colgate), George
Del Drigo (Waiter at the Yacht Club), William Hale (Souvenir Storekeeper); Show Girls: Frances Thress,
Hilda Knight, Larraine Power, Ray Apgar; Special Dancing Girls: Marie Keve, Martha Carroll, Nondas
Wayne, Mildred Franke, Paula Sands, Olga Fox, Beth Meredith, Charlotte Silton; Dancing Girls: Billie Blake,
Elinor Walent, Mildred Hosee, Dodo Wyatt, Helen Rauth, Peggy Driscoll, Irene Carroll, Adele Dickson, Lou-
ise Francis, Valerie Dolaro, Carolyn James, Flo Allen, Enes Early, Mildred Rye, Dixie Lester, Norine Bogen,
Kay Reilly; Male Chorus: Kendall Northrop, Daniel Wyler, Jerry Kirkland, Arthur May, Fred Furman, Willis
Lawrence, George Del Drigo, Hermes Pan; Eight Top-Speed Boys: Hal Morton, Ken Williams, Irving Lesser,
Tom Barrett, Alan DeSylva, Gene Johnson, John Quinn, George King
The action takes place during the present time, mostly at the Onawanda Lodge located in the Thousand Is-
lands.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening: (a) “In the Summer” (Ensemble) and (b) “The Papers” (Harland Dixon, Ensemble); “Try
Dancing” (Harland Dixon, Sunny Dale, Ensemble); “I’d Like to Be Liked” (Irene Delroy, Paul Frawley);
“Keep Your Undershirt On” (Lester Allen, Ginger Rogers, Ensemble); “We Want You” (Irene Delroy,
Boys); “What Would I Care?” (Irene Delroy, Paul Frawley, Girls); “Dizzy Feet” (Harland Dixon, Ensemble);
Finale
Act Two: Opening: (a) “On the Border Line” (State Troopers, Girls) and (b) Dance (Shirley Richards); “Hot
and Bothered” (Ginger Rogers, Ensemble); “Sweeter Than You” (Irene Delroy, Paul Frawley, Ensemble);
“You Couldn’t Blame Me for That” (Lester Allen, Ginger Rogers); Finaletto; “Fireworks” (Harland Dixon,
Laine Blaire, Ensemble); Finale
B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson’s musicals looked at football (Good News), box-
ing (Hold Everything!), golf (Follow Thru), and aviation (Flying High; 1930), and their scores always offered
one or two irresistible and usually flippant songs, such as “Varsity Drag” (Good News), “You’re the Cream
in My Coffee” (Hold Everything!), “Button Up Your Overcoat” and “I Want to Be Bad” (Follow Thru), “Turn
on the Heat” (1929 film Sunnyside Up), and “Never Swat a Fly” (1930 film Just Imagine). In the same vein,
Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby’s Top Speed was in the swim of things when it capitalized on boat racing, and
it too had a flippant number, the delightful “Keep Your Undershirt On,” which was introduced by Ginger
Rogers and Lester Allen. During the previous Broadway season, Kalmar and Ruby (with Herbert Stothart) col-
laborated on the hit Good Boy, and the score included the blasé boop-boop-a-doop warning that “I Wanna Be
Loved by You.”
Top Speed had a lot going for it, including a batch of glowing reviews for Rogers in her Broadway debut,
but the show didn’t catch on and was gone in three months. Despite the likeable novelty of “Keep Your Un-
dershirt On,” it and the other songs in the score never caught on, and even the eventual film version tossed
the Broadway score and added new numbers by another songwriting team.
The story centered on Wall Street clerks Elmer Peters (Lester Allen) and Gerry Brooks (Paul Frawley)
who vacation above their means at Onawanda Lodge, an exclusive vacation spot for millionaires located in
the Thousand Islands and a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. Everyone assumes the boys are rich,
and soon the fellows meet and fall in love with the wealthy Virginia Rollins (Irene Delroy) and Babs Green
(Rogers). Gerry and Virginia team up, as do Elmer and Babs, but complications arise when Gerry is asked to
pilot the speed boat owned by Virginia’s father in an international boat race. Gerry is then approached by a
rival of Virginia’s father who promises him $50,000 if he’ll throw the race. He accepts $25,000 instead, but
wins the race anyway. When news of the bribe comes to light, he blithely states that he accepted it because
if he’d turned down the money the rival would have come up with another scheme to throw the race. Arthur
Pollock in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle observed that Gerry’s conduct is excused because “everybody seemed to
think that was perfectly all right.”
J. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said the “frolic capers along pleasantly from start to finish,
plighting its troth to good music, dancing with grace and spirit, and even surviving the regulation off-stage
race without a grimace.” Although one might assume the plot was “no great shakes,” it was “unfailingly
interesting” and “thoroughly enjoyable,” Rogers was “an impudent young thing,” and among the outstanding
numbers were “I’d Like to Be Liked,” “Keep Your Undershirt On,” “Dizzy Feet,” and “Hot and Bothered.”
Robert Benchley in the New Yorker noted there was “a snap to the production as a whole which bespeaks
at least a moderate success,” there were “several good, serviceable numbers,” and Rogers was “a valuable
comedienne in the making.” Time said there was “only one song of any possible consequence” (“What Would
I Care?”). And Walter Winchell in the Akron Beacon Journal wondered “whether or not the sponsors of the
show appreciate star material when they have it” because in the program Rogers’s name should have been in
capital letters like the other leads, and if “management permits her name to remain billed as small as their
minds, it will be something to groan about.”
Deming Seymour in the Richmond (IN) Palladium-Item said Rogers scored “a personal hit” and was
“the outstanding contribution to musical comedy” in Top Speed. Despite its “hackneyed” plot, the show was
“breezy” and included “some melodiously pleasant tunes.” Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer
liked the “intrinsically funny” musical and said Rogers “readily succeeds in establishing herself as a favorite
with the audience.” Ward Green in the Muncie Star Press praised the “continuously amusing” show and said
the “pert” Rogers reaped “sheaves of applause for her amusing antics.” And Pollock noted that Top Speed was
“really a very nice show,” Rogers “does the sort of thing Zelma O’Neal does so well,” and Allen’s scene in a
girls’ bedroom was “just as funny as the similar scene in a shower room in Follow Thru.”
Variety said the “good-looking” musical was “splendidly dressed,” offered “fast dancing,” and included
“uniformly good” chorus numbers. Allen “evolved a comedy theme” with “a succession of sweaters” (which,
by the way, got program credit), and Atkinson noted that Allen got laughs “through the simple medium of
changing his sweater for every entrance.” Rogers was “a likely comedienne for future musicals” and was
“okay . . . if lacking a punch,” and her “facial grimaces when dancing made her look not unlike Fanny Brice.”
And how was the Big Race depicted on stage? Variety explained. The progress of the race was described by
means of radio announcements and “exclamations” by the chorus, and these were embellished by “some sort
of an effect of the winning boat hurtling across back stage, well screened by the merry-merries.”
One song in the show (“Sweeter Than You”) had been heard in Twinkle Twinkle as one of three songs by
Kalmar and Ruby that had been interpolated into the score, which was otherwise written by Harlan Thomp-
son and Harry Archer.
The 1930 film version was released by Warner Brothers, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and choreographed by
Larry Ceballos. The cast included Joe E. Brown (Elmer), Jack Whiting (Gerry), Bernice Claire (Virginia), Laura
Lee (Babs), and Frank McHugh (Tad). As noted, the film didn’t retain any songs from the Broadway production
and instead offered new ones with lyrics by Al Dubin and music by Joe Burke: “Looking for the Lovelight in
the Dark” (sung by Claire and Whiting), “If You Were a Traveling Salesman and I Were a Chambermaid” (Lee
and Brown), and “Knock Knees” (Lee, Brown, and ensemble; this was the film’s contribution to the long list
of “dance sensations” from Broadway and film musicals). A fourth song is attributed to Dubin and Burke (“As
Long as I Have You and You Have Me”), but it wasn’t included in the print I viewed. The film gives Brown
numerous opportunities for his terrific clowning. He and the irrepressible Lee make a good team, and together
they have two opportunities for eccentric dancing. Claire makes a lovely heroine, and Whiting a handsome
hero. The film’s opening credits state there are “additional” songs by Dubin and Burke, which would indicate
that their contributions were in addition to songs by others. If so, perhaps other songs were cut prior to the
film’s release.
At least one source indicates that the following Kalmar and Ruby songs were used in the film, three from
the stage production (“Keep Your Undershirt On,” “What Would I Care?,” and “Sweeter Than You,” the lat-
ter of course originally heard in the team’s Twinkle Twinkle) and two others (“Goodness Gracious” and “I’ll
Know and She’ll Know”). Although these weren’t performed in the print I saw, they may have been used for
background scoring. The same source indicates Irving Berlin’s “Reaching for the Moon” is heard in the film,
1929 Season 559
but if so, it was cut (the song was intended as the title number for the 1930 film released by United Artists
but was heard only as background music in that film).
Both Top Speed and Woof, Woof opened on Christmas Night and were the final two book musicals of the
decade. They were followed by the final two musicals of the 1920s, Cole Porter’s revue Wake Up and Dream
on December 30 and the black revue Ginger Snaps on December 31.
WOOF, WOOF
“A Romantic Musical Comedy”

Performances: 45
Book: Estelle Hunt, Sam Summers, and Cyrus Wood (additional dialogue by Eugene Conrad)
Lyrics: Eddie Brandt
Music: Edward Pola
Direction: William Caryl; Producer: (William) Demarest & (Bernard) Lohmuller, Inc.; Choreography: Dan
Healy (“Ballet of Dreams” choreographed by Leonide Massine); Scenery: Clark Robinson; Costumes: Ma-
bel Johnston; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Ernest Cutting
Cast: William Plunkett (Stage Manager), Helen Goodhue (Babe Birdy), Al Sexton (Monty, aka Dick Fleming),
Jack Squires (Tommy Clair), “Sunkist” Eddie Nelson (Elmer Green), Olive Fay (Chosty), Louise Brown
(Susie Yates), George Haggerty (Henry), Madeline Grey (Mrs. Clair), Louis Casavant (Colonel Penny),
Gladyce Deering (Virginia Lee Penny), Andrew Mack (Harv McDaniel), Edwin Walter (Al Stafford), Mar-
tha Copeland (Sugar Betty Ann), Arthur Bryson (Dude), U.S. Thompson (Sluefoot), John Kennedy (Soapy
Blake); Hollywood Collegians: “Cal” Earl, “Slim” Gorstenkorn, “Ken” Howell, “Bud” Carlton, “Hal”
Gustafson, “Bill” Griffin, and “Russ” Erickson; Billy and Elsa Newell (Specialty Dancers), Wesley Pierce
and Hazel Harris (Specialty Dancers); Boys and Girls of the Ensemble—Girls: Rosalind Schneider, Kath-
elene Reichner, Teddy Dauer, Alyce Swanson, Elinore Whitney, Pauline Nesson, Ida Walker, Gertrude
Brynell, Dolores Nadine, Virginia Welch, Carol Renwick, Ida Michael, Dorothy Leslie, Nondas North,
Evelyn Anderson, Alice Laurie, Jae Voll, Viola Hart, Peggy Timmons, Roslyn Smith, Betty Wright, Mickey
MacKillop, Agnes Young, Dorothea Frank, Dorothy Morgan; Dancing Show Girls: Evan Southwell, Helen
Koster, Dorothy Koster, Elizabeth Janeway, Dolores Lavin, Norma Maxine; Boys: Jack Waldon, Bob Long,
Eddie Cliffod, Phil Shaw, Jack Star, George Ford, Al Dillon, Bob Easton, Sam Weiser, Eddie Judge, Fred
Nay, Alvin Ray
The action takes place during the present time in New York City, New Jersey, and Mobile, Alabama.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening Chorus (Girls); “I Like It” (Olive Fay, Girls); “I’ll Take Care of You” (Louise Brown, Al
Sexton); “That Certain Thing” (Gladyce Deering, Jack Squires); “I Mean What I Say” (Louise Brown, Al
Sexton); Dance (Show Girls); “Tree Top Toddle” (Billy and Elsa Newell, Girls); “You’re All the World to
Me” (Gladyce Deering, Jack Squires); Dance (Wesley Pierce and Hazel Harris); “Satanic Strut” (Olive Fay,
Little Devils); “Trip around the World” (Hollywood Collegians); “A Girl Like You” (Louise Brown, Boys);
Finale
Act Two: “Fair Weather” (Ensemble); Specialties: Show Girls; Specialty (later titled “Guitar and Dance Num-
ber”) (Olive Fay, “Sunkist” Eddie Nelson); “Shh!” (Bell Hops, Phone Girls); Dance (U.S. Thompson, Ar-
thur Bryson); “Topple Down” (Olive Fay, Ensemble); “Won’t I Do” (Al Sexton, Louise Brown, Ensemble);
“Ballet of Dreams” (choreographed by Leonide Massine) (Louise Brown, Girls); “Lay Your Bets” (Girls and
Boys); Finale
Woof, Woof centered around the adventures of small-town girl Susie Yates (Louise Brown, who had ap-
peared in Rainbow). She arrives in New York hoping to land a career on the stage, and is soon pursued by
a wolf with designs on her, wealthy orchestra leader Tommy Clair (Jack Squires), and poor-but-honorable
dancer Monty, aka Dick, Fleming (Al Sexton). Who do you think wins her hand?
The musical lasted less than six weeks, and probably those who saw the show were less interested in
the romance than in the dog race. Yes, there was a whippet race presented with the use of treadmills, and
the Times reported that “two of those tireless hounds appeared on the stage at approximately 9 o’clock”
and “some two hours later they reappeared, this time to win $10,000” and to “bark in what was perhaps
titular glee.”
Otherwise, the “routine” and “dubious” musical comedy deteriorated into a “patchwork” of vaudeville-
like specialties, and the Times suggested that the “second act seems scarcely to have heard of the first.” At
one point when it seems that success has gone to the head of our heroine Susie, the honest and stalwart hero
Monty actually accuses her of being . . . “just another girl gone Broadway.” The Times’ critic noted that
theatre veterans had “held out in rigid disbelief” that a musical with the title Woof, Woof would actually
open on Broadway. Otherwise, if the plots of other shows could be settled by football games, prizefights, golf
tournaments, and “any other stage form of guerrilla warfare,” why not a dog race?
Robert Benchley in the New Yorker predicted the dogs would “probably be out of a job shortly,” and with
all these “sporting” shows in New York it wouldn’t be surprising if one night the dogs mistakenly outran the
speedboat in Top Speed or, conversely, the speedboat outran the dogs. But he decided it was “doubtful” that
“anyone in the respective audiences would know the difference.”
Ward Green in the Muncie Star Press said the “preposterous affair” showed “musical comedy in its most
deplorable estate.” It might appear that the show was “something by Gertrude Stein from the exclamatory
title,” and although the “dizzy saga” was about dogs, “another animal—the turkey—was freely referred to”
on opening night.
The show’s self-described tagline was “A Romantic Musical Comedy,” but G.H. in the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle said the “embarrassingly and bewilderingly vulgar” evening was “nothing but a noisy, loud, tasteless
and uncommonly vulgar” production with “loud and uninteresting” music and a plot that was “the regula-
tion machine-made musical comedy story No. 45.” The show left a “bitterish-sourish taste in the mouth,”
but Brown did “everything in her power to mitigate the coarseness of the exhibit.” Otherwise, the players
were “either cheap and third-rate, or simply fourth-rate.” Variety’s verdict for the musical’s success was the
succinct “not a chance.” During the first act, the show had “nothing in the way of a story,” but the second
half did an “about face” and became “something fairly novel as tune books go, but the stagers fumbled too
early and recovered too late.” Even the treadmills were unimpressive because “treadmills today are as excit-
ing as a croquet match.”
But Frederick F. Schrader in the Cincinnati Enquirer liked the “breezy and up-to-date” musical, and said
the Big Race was “spectacular.” Further, the piece was “elaborately staged with numerous handsome scenes
and realistic effects, some of which have never been so well presented.”
Although the greyhounds were the true stars of the show, their names were omitted from the program.
The “Ballet of Dreams” was choreographed by no less than ballet legend Leonine Massine. The program
credited Billy Newell and Girls for “Tree Top Toddle,” but a program note for this spot stated that “rehearsal
for Tree Top Inn and interpolation number in Scene 3, Act 1, enacted by Billy and Elsa Newell”; when the
specialty dancers Wesley Pierce and Hazel Harris left the show, their first-act dance spot was given to Norma
Maxine; the Hollywood Collegians’ “Trip Around the World” was later retitled “Trip to Foreign Lands”; the
second act “Specialties” were performed by the showgirls, but later in the run were credited to Evan South-
well, Helen Koster, Dorothy Koster, Elizabeth Janeway, Dolores Lavin, and Norma Maxine; and Olive Fay
and “Sunkist” Eddie Nelson’s second-act specialty was later titled “Guitar and Dance Number.” During the
tryout, “Why Didn’t You Tell Me” and “I’ll Make Your Dreams Come True” were cut, and for the entr’acte
Don Juielle and His Masterplayers entertained.
Appendix A:
Chronology of Book Musicals
(by Season)
The following is a seasonal chronology of all 287 book musicals discussed in this survey.
1920 Love Birds

Always You The Right Girl
As You Were It’s Up to You
Cleopatra’s Night June Love
My Golden Girl Two Little Girls in Blue
The Night Boat Princess Virtue
Look Who’s Here Phoebe of Quality Street
3 Showers The Last Waltz
Lassie The Three Musketeers (1921; Temple)
The Girl from Home Shuffle Along
Honey Girl
Betty, Be Good
1921–1922
The Whirl of New York
Tangerine
1920–1921 Sonny (aka Sonny Boy)
The Girl in the Spotlight Blossom Time
Poor Little Ritz Girl The O’Brien Girl
Tickle Me The Love Letter
The Sweetheart Shop Bombo
Little Miss Charity Love Dreams
Honeydew Good Morning Dearie
Pitter Patter Suzette
Mecca The Wild Cat
Jim Jam Jems Hanky Panky Land
Tip-Top Up in the Clouds
Kissing Time The Blue Kitten
Mary Marjolaine
The Half Moon The Blushing Bride
Afgar For Goodness Sake
Jimmie The Rose of Stamboul
Lady Billy The Hotel Mouse
Sally Just Because
Her Family Tree Letty Pepper
The Rose Girl Go Easy, Mabel
Blue Eyes Red Pepper
561
562 APPENDIX A
1922–1923 1924–1925
Sue, Dear Flossie
Daffy Dill Marjorie
The Gingham Girl No Other Girl
Molly Darling The Dream Girl
Sally, Irene and Mary Bye, Bye, Barbara
Orange Blossoms The Chocolate Dandies
The Lady in Ermine Top Hole
The Yankee Princess Rose-Marie
Queen o’ Hearts Be Yourself!
Springtime of Youth Dear Sir
Up She Goes Annie Dear
Little Nellie Kelly Madame Pompadour
Liza My Girl
The Bunch and Judy The Magnolia Lady
Our Nell Lady, Be Good!
The Clinging Vine Princess April
Glory The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student
Lady Butterfly Prince)
The Dancing Girl Topsy and Eva
Caroline Betty Lee
Sun Showers Big Boy
Wildflower The Love Song
Go-Go China Rose
Jack and Jill Natja
Elsie Sky High
Cinders Louie the 14th
How Come? Bringing Up Father
Dew Drop Inn Mercenary Mary
Adrienne Tell Me More
1923–1924 1925–1926
Helen of Troy, New York Lucky Sambo
Little Jessie James Kosher Kitty Kelly
Poppy Engaged
The Magic Ring June Days
Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler) Captain Jinks
Ginger No, No, Nanette
Runnin’ Wild Dearest Enemy
Stepping Stones The Vagabond King
Sharlee Sunny
One Kiss Merry Merry
Mary Jane McKane When You Smile
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly Holka Polka
Kid Boots The City Chap
Lollipop Florida Girl
Sweet Little Devil Princess Flavia
Moonlight Mayflowers
The Chiffon Girl Oh! Oh! Nurse
Paradise Alley The Cocoanuts
Sitting Pretty Tip-Toes
Peg o’ My Dreams Song of the Flame
Plain Jane Hello, Lola!
I’ll Say She Is! Sweetheart Time
CHRONOLOGY OF BOOK MUSICALS (BY SEASON) 563
The Matinee Girl Manhattan Mary

Rainbow Rose The Merry Malones
The Girl Friend Sidewalks of New York
Kitty’s Kisses Yes, Yes, Yvette
My Princess
The 5 O’Clock Girl
1926–1927 Just Fancy!
My Magnolia White Lights
The Blonde Sinner The Love Call
Castles in the Air A Connecticut Yankee
Queen High Funny Face
Naughty Riquette Take the Air
Countess Maritza Golden Dawn
Honeymoon Lane Happy
The Ramblers The White Eagle
Happy Go Lucky Show Boat
Deep River Lovely Lady
Criss Cross She’s My Baby
Katja Rosalie
The Wild Rose The Sunset Trail
Oh, Kay! The Madcap
Twinkle Twinkle Sunny Days
The Desert Song Rain or Shine
Oh, Please! Keep Shufflin’
Peggy-Ann The Three Musketeers (1928; Friml)
Betsy Present Arms
The Nightingale Here’s Howe!
Lace Petticoat
Piggy (aka I Told You So)
Bye Bye, Bonnie 1928–1929
Yours Truly Say When
Rio Rita Good Boy
Judy White Lilacs
Polly of Hollywood Luckee Girl
The King’s Henchman Cross My Heart
Lucky The New Moon
Cherry Blossoms Chee-Chee
Lady Do Billie
The Circus Princess Just a Minute
Hit the Deck! Paris
Oh, Ernest! Ups-a-Daisy
The White Sister Hold Everything!
Tales of Rigo Three Cheers
Animal Crackers
Black Scandals
1927–1928 Hello Yourself!!!!
Namiko-San Treasure Girl
Talk about Girls Rainbow
Bottomland Angela
Kiss Me! Whoopee
Footlights (aka Beyond the Footlights) The Houseboat on the Styx
Good News The Red Robe
Half a Widow Hello, Daddy!
My Maryland Deep Harlem
Enchanted Isle Polly
564 APPENDIX A
Follow Thru A Noble Rogue

Boom-Boom Sweet Adeline
Lady Fingers The Street Singer
Fioretta Great Day!
Spring Is Here A Wonderful Night (Die Fledermaus)
Music in May Bitter Sweet
Pansy Heads Up!
Sons o’ Guns
Fifty Million Frenchmen
1929 The Silver Swan
Bomboola Top Speed
Show Girl Woof, Woof
Appendix B:
Chronology of Revues
The following is a chronological list of the revues that opened on Broadway during the period January 1, 1920–
December 31, 1929. After each revue’s title, the following information is given: opening date, name of theatre,
number of performances, and names of representative sketch writers, lyricists, and composers.
1920
Frivolities of 1920—January 8, 1920; 44th Street Theatre; sixty-one performances; sketches by William An-
thony McGuire; lyrics and music by William B. Friedlander
Tick-Tack-Toe—February 23, 1920; Princess Theatre; thirty-two performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by
Herman Timberg
What’s in a Name?—March 19, 1920; Maxine Elliott’s Theatre; 115 performances; sketches and lyrics by
John Murray Anderson in collaboration with Anna Wynne O’Ryan and Jack Yellen; music by Milton
Ager
The Ed Wynn Carnival—April 5, 1920; Selwyn Theatre; 150 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by Ed
Wynn
1920–1921
George White’s Scandals—(1920 edition) June 7, 1920; Globe Theatre; 134 performances; sketches by Andy
Rice and George White; lyrics by Arthur Jackson; music by George Gershwin
Ziegfeld Follies of 1920—June 22, 1920; New Amsterdam Theatre; 123 performances; lyrics and music by
Irving Berlin
Cinderella on Broadway—June 24, 1920; Winter Garden Theatre; 126 performances; sketches and lyrics by
Harold Atteridge; music by Bert Grant
Buzzin’ Around—July 6, 1920; Casino Theatre; twenty-three performances; sketches and lyrics by William
(aka Will) Morrissey and Edward Madden; music by William (aka Will) Morrissey
The Century Revue—July 12, 1920; Century Promenade Theatre; 150 performances; sketches by Howard E.
Rogers; lyrics by Alfred Bryan; music by Jean Schwartz
The Midnight Rounders—(1920 edition) July 12, 1920; Century Promenade Theatre; 120 performances;
sketches by Howard E. Rogers; lyrics by Alfred Bryan; music by Jean Schwartz (Note: The Midnight
Rounders was given for six showings each week and was presented after the performances of The Century
Revue [see above].)
Silks and Satins—July 15, 1920; George M. Cohan Theatre; sixty performances; sketches by Thomas Duggan;
lyrics by Louis Weslyn; music by Leon Rosebrook
Good Times—August 9, 1920; Hippodrome; 456 performances; sketches and lyrics by R. H. Burnside; music
by John Raymond Hubbell
565
566 APPENDIX B
The Greenwich Village Follies of 1920—August 30, 1920; Greenwich Village Theatre; 217 performances;
sketches by Thomas J. Grey; lyrics by John Murray Anderson and Arthur Swanstrom; music by A. Bald-
win Sloane
Broadway Brevities of 1920—September 29, 1920; Winter Garden Theatre; 105 performances; sketches by
George LeMaire; lyrics by Blair Traynor; music by Archie Gottler
Hitchy-Koo 1920—October 19, 1920; New Amsterdam Theatre; seventy-one performances; sketches by Glen
MacDonough; lyrics by Glen MacDonough and Anne Caldwell; music by Jerome Kern
The Passing Show of 1921—December 29, 1920; Winter Garden Theatre; 191 performances; sketches and lyr-
ics by Harold Atteridge; music by Jean Schwartz
The Midnight Rounders of 1921—February 7, 1921; Century Promenade Theatre; forty-nine performances;
sketches by Harold Atteridge; lyrics by Alfred Bryan; music by Jean Schwartz
Biff! Bing! Bang!—May 9, 1921; Ambassador Theatre; seventy-three performances; sketches by Jack McLaren;
lyrics and music by various contributors
Sun-Kist—May 23, 1921; Globe Theatre; forty-eight performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by Fanchon
and Wolff (aka Marco Wolff)
1921–1922
Snapshots of 1921—June 2, 1921; Selwyn Theatre; sixty performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various
contributors
The Broadway Whirl—June 8, 1921; Times Square Theatre; eighty-five performances; sketches by Thomas J.
Gray; lyrics and music by various contributors
Ziegfeld Follies of 1921—June 21, 1921; Globe Theatre; 119 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by
various contributors
George White’s Scandals of 1921—July 11, 1921; Liberty Theatre; ninety-seven performances; sketches by
Arthur (aka Bugs) Baer and George White; lyrics by Arthur Jackson; music by George Gershwin
The Mimic World of 1921—August 17, 1921; Century Promenade Theatre; twenty-six performances; sketches
and lyrics by Harold Atteridge, James Hussey, and Owen Murphy; music by Jean Schwartz, Lew Pollock,
and Owen Murphy
Put and Take—August 23, 1921; Town Hall; thirty-two performances; sketches by Irvin C. Miller; lyrics and
music by Spencer Williams
The Greenwich Village Follies (1921 edition)—August 31, 1921; Shubert Theatre; 167 performances; sketches
and lyrics by John Murray Anderson and Arthur Swanstrom; music by Carey Morgan
Get Together—September 3, 1921; Hippodrome; 397 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various
contributors
Music Box Revue (1921–1922 edition)—September 22, 1921; Music Box Theatre; 440 performances; sketches
by various writers; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
The Perfect Fool—November 7, 1921; George M. Cohan Theatre; 275 performances; sketches, lyrics, and
music by Ed Wynn
Ain’t It the Truth—December 19, 1921; Manhattan Opera House; eight performances; sketches and lyrics by
Jude Brayton; music by Harry B. Olsen
Elsie Janis and Her Gang—January 16, 1922; Gaiety Theatre; fifty-six performances; sketches, lyrics, and
music by Elsie Janis
Pins and Needles!—February 1, 1922; Shubert Theatre; forty-six performances; sketches by Albert de Cour-
ville, Wal Pink, and Edgar Wallace; lyrics by Ballard Macdonald; music by James F. Hanley and Frederic
Chappelle
Chauve-souris—First edition: February 4, 1922; 49th Street Theatre; second edition: June 5, 1922; Century
Roof Theatre; third edition: October 9, 1922; Century Roof Theatre; fourth edition: January 4, 1923; Cen-
tury Roof Theatre; 544 total performances; all four revues assembled by Nikita Balieff
Frank Fay’s Fables—February 6, 1922; Park Theatre; thirty-two performances; sketches by Frank Fay; lyrics
by Frank Fay and Clarence Gaskill; music by Clarence Gaskill
Make It Snappy—April 13, 1922; Winter Garden Theatre; ninety-six performances; sketches and lyrics by
Harold Atteridge; music by Jean Schwartz
CHRONOLOGY OF REVUES 567
Some Party—April 15, 1922; Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre; seventeen performances; sketches and lyrics by
R. H. Burnside; music by Silvio Hein and others
1922–1923
Ziegfeld Follies of 1922—June 5, 1922; New Amsterdam Theatre; 424 performances; sketches, lyrics, and
music by various contributors
The Grand Street Follies (1922 edition)—June 13, 1922; Neighborhood Playhouse; twelve performances;
sketches by “everybody”; lyrics “generally speaking” by Albert Carroll; music by “Great Composers”
Pin Wheel—June 15, 1922; Earl Carroll Theatre; twenty-eight performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by
various contributors
Strut, Miss Lizzie—June 19, 1922; Times Square Theatre; eighty performances; lyrics by Turner Layton; music
by Henry Creamer
Spice of 1922—July 6, 1922; Winter Garden Theatre; eighty-five performances; sketches by Jack Lait; lyrics
and music by various contributors
Plantation Revue—July 17, 1922; 48th Street Theatre; thirty-three performances; lyrics and music by various
contributors
Michio Itow’s Pin Wheel Revue (revised edition of Pin Wheel [see above])—July 31, 1922; Little Theatre; six-
teen performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors
George White’s Scandals of 1922—August 28, 1922; Globe Theatre; eighty-nine performances; sketches by
George White, W. C. Fields, and Andy Rice; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, E. Ray Goetz, and Arthur
Francis (aka Ira Gershwin); music by George Gershwin
Better Times—September 2, 1922; Hippodrome; 405 performances; dialogue and lyrics by R. H. Burnside;
music by John Raymond Hubbell
The Greenwich Village Follies (1922 edition)—September 12, 1922; Shubert Theatre; 209 performances; sketches
by George V. Hobart; lyrics by John Murray Anderson and Irving Caesar; music by Louis A. Hirsch
The Passing Show of 1922—September 20, 1922; Winter Garden Theatre; eighty-five performances; sketches
and lyrics by Harold Atteridge; music by Alfred (aka Al) Goodman
Revue Russe—October 5, 1922; Booth Theatre; twenty-one performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by vari-
ous contributors
Music Box Revue (1922–1923 edition)—October 23, 1922; Music Box Theatre; 330 performances; sketches by
various writers; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
The ’49ers—November 6, 1922; Punch and Judy Theatre; sixteen performances; sketches by various writers,
including Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, Dorothy Parker, and Morrie Ryskind; lyrics by Morrie
Ryskind and Franklin Price Adams; music by Arthur Samuels and Lewis E. Gensler
1923–1924
The Passing Show of 1923—June 14, 1923; Winter Garden Theatre; 118 performances; sketches and lyrics by
Harold Atteridge; music by Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz
George White’s Scandals (1923 edition)—June 18, 1923; Globe Theatre; 168 performances; sketches by George
White and William K. Wells; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva; music by George Gershwin
Ziegfeld Follies (Summer 1922 edition)—June 25, 1923; New Amsterdam Theatre; ninety-six performances;
sketches, lyrics, and composers by various contributors
Earl Carroll Vanities (1923 edition)—July 5, 1923; Earl Carroll Theatre; 204 performances; lyrics and music
by Earl Carroll
Fashions of 1924—July 18, 1923; Lyceum Theatre; thirteen performances; sketches by various writers includ-
ing Alexander Leftwich; lyrics by Harry B. Smith; music by Ted Snyder
The Newcomers—August 8, 1923; Ambassador Theatre; twenty-one performances; sketches by Joe Burrows
and Will Morrissey; lyrics and music by Will Morrissey
Artists and Models (1923 edition)—August 20, 1923; Shubert Theatre; 312 performances; sketches, lyrics, and
568 APPENDIX B
The Marionette Players—September 10, 1923; Frolic Theatre; sixteen performances; assembled by Vittorio
Podrecca and Cav. R. Fidora
The Greenwich Village Follies (1923 edition)—September 20, 1923; Winter Garden Theatre; 131 perfor-
mances; sketches by various writers including John Murray Anderson; lyrics by Irving Caesar and John
Murray Anderson; music by Louis A. Hirsch and Con Conrad
Music Box Revue (1923–1924 edition)—September 22, 1923; Music Box Theatre; 273 performances; sketches
by various writers including George S. Kaufman and Robert Benchley; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
Nifties of 1923—September 25, 1923; Fulton Theatre; forty-seven performances; sketches by Sam Bernard
and William Collier; lyrics by various lyricists, including B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva, Harry Ruby, and Arthur
Francis (aka Ira Gershwin); music by various composers including Bert Kalmar
Hammerstein’s 9 O’Clock Revue—October 4, 1923; Century Roof Theatre; twelve performances; sketches,
lyrics, and music by various contributors
Ziegfeld Follies of 1923—October 20, 1923; New Amsterdam Theatre; 233 performances; sketches by various
writers including Eddie Cantor; lyrics by Gene Buck; music by Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, and Dave
Stamper
Topics of 1923—November 20, 1923; Broadhurst Theatre; 154 performances; sketches by Harold Atteridge and
Harry Wagstaff Gribble; lyrics by Harold Atteridge; music by Jean Schwartz and Alfred aka Al Goodman
Andre Charlot’s Revue of 1924—January 9, 1924; Times Square Theatre; 298 performances; sketches by Dion
Titheradge and Jack Hulbert; lyrics and music by various contributors including Noel Coward and Eubie
Blake
Vogues of 1924—March 27, 1924; Shubert Theatre; 114 performances, including second edition (titled
Vogues and Frolics; see below); sketches and lyrics by Fred Thompson and Clifford Grey; music by
Herbert Stothart
The Grand Street Follies (1924 edition)—May 20, 1924; Neighborhood Playhouse; 172 performances; sketches
and lyrics by Agnes Morgan; music by Lily Hyland
Round the Town—May 21, 1924; Century Roof Theatre; fifteen performances; sketches by Herman J. Mankie-
wicz, S. Jay Kaufman, George S. Kaufman, and Marc Connelly; lyrics and music by various contributors
Keep Kool—May 22, 1924; Morosco Theatre; 148 performances; sketches and lyrics by Paul Gerard Smith;
music by Jack Frost
1924–1925
Ziegfeld Follies of 1924—June 24, 1924; New Amsterdam Theatre; 147 performances; sketches by William
Anthony McGuire and Will Rogers; lyrics by Gene Buck and Joseph J. McCarthy; music by various com-
posers including Victor Herbert and Harry Tierney
Vogues and Frolics (second edition of Vogues of 1924, see above)—June 25, 1924; Shubert Theatre; 114 per-
formances, including first edition
George White’s Scandals (1924 edition)—June 30, 1924; Apollo Theatre; 196 performances; sketches by Wil-
liam K. Wells and George White; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Ballard Macdonald; music by George
Gershwin
The Passing Show of 1924—September 3, 1924; Winter Garden Theatre; 106 performances; sketches and lyrics
by Harold Atteridge; music by Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz
Earl Carroll Vanities (1924 edition)—September 10, 1924; Earl Carroll Theatre; 133 performances; sketches
by Earl Carroll and Ralph Spence; lyrics and music by Earl Carroll
The Greenwich Village Follies (1924 edition)—September 16, 1924; Shubert Theatre; seventy-seven perfor-
mances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors including Cole Porter
Hassard Short’s Ritz Revue—September 17, 1924; Ritz Theatre; 117 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music
by various contributors
The Grab Bag—October 6, 1924; Globe Theatre; 184 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by Ed Wynn
Artists and Models of 1924—October 15, 1924; Astor Theatre; 258 performances; sketches by Harry Wagstaff
Gribble; lyrics by Clifford Grey and Sam Coslow; music by Sigmund Romberg and J. Fred Coots
Dixie to Broadway—October 29, 1924; Broadhurst Theatre; seventy-seven performances; sketches by various
writers; lyrics by Grant Clarke and Roy Turk; music by George W. Meyer and Arthur Johnson
Ziegfeld Follies of 1924 (Fall edition)—October 30, 1924; New Amsterdam Theatre; 148 performances;
sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors
The Greenwich Village Follies (Winter edition)—November 24, 1924; Winter Garden Theatre; fifty-four per-
formances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors
Music Box Revue (1924–1925 edition)—December 1, 1924; Music Box Theatre; 184 performances; sketches by
various writers; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
Seeniaya Ptitza (First edition)—December 29, 1924; Frolic Theatre; thirty-six performances; assembled by
Yasha Yushny
Chauve-Souris (1925 edition)—January 14, 1925; 49th Street Theatre; sixty-nine performances; assembled by
Nikita Balieff
Seeniaya Ptitza (Second edition)—January 29, 1925; Frolic Theatre; forty-four performances; assembled by
Yasha Yushny
The Blue Bird—February 2, 1925; Frolic Theatre; forty-four performances; assembled by Yasha Yushny
Puzzles of 1925—February 2, 1925; Fulton Theatre; 104 performances; assembled by Elsie Janis
Ziegfeld Follies of 1925—March 10, 1925; New Amsterdam Theatre; 127 performances; sketches by J. P.
McEvoy, Will Rogers, W. C. Fields, and Gus Weinberg; lyrics by Gene Buck; music by John Raymond
Hubbell and others
1925–1926
The Garrick Gaieties (1925 edition)—June 8, 1925; Garrick Theatre; 211 performances; sketches by various
writers; lyrics by Lorenz Hart; music by Richard Rodgers
The Grand Street Follies (1925 edition)—June 18, 1925; Neighborhood Playhouse; 148 performances; sketches
and lyrics by Agnes Morgan; music by Lily Hyland
George White’s Scandals (1925 edition)—June 22, 1925; Apollo Theatre; 169 performances; sketches by Wil-
liam K. Wells and George White; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Fields; music by Ray Henderson
Artists and Models: Paris Edition—June 24, 1925; Winter Garden Theatre; 416 performances; sketches by
Harold Atteridge and Harry Wagstaff Gribble; lyrics by Clifford Grey; music by Alfred (aka Al) Goodman,
J. Fred Coots, Sigmund Romberg, and Maurice Rubens
Earl Carroll Vanities (1925 edition)—July 6, 1925; Earl Carroll Theatre; 199 performances; sketches by various
writers, including William A. Grew; lyrics and music by Clarence Gaskill
Ziegfeld Follies of 1925 (Summer edition)—July 6, 1925; New Amsterdam Theatre; eighty-eight performances;
sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors
Gay Paree (1925 edition)—August 18, 1925; Shubert Theatre; 181 performances; sketches by Harold Atter-
idge; lyrics by Clifford Grey; music by Alfred (aka Al) Goodman, Maurice Rubens, and J. Fred Coots
The Charlot Revue of 1926—November 11, 1925; Selwyn Theatre; 138 performances; sketches, lyrics, and
The Greenwich Village Follies (1925 edition)—December 24, 1925; 46th Street Theatre; ninety-two perfor-
mances; lyrics by Owen Murphy; music by Harold Levey
By the Way (1925 edition)—December 28, 1925; Gaiety Theatre; 176 performances; sketches by Ronald Jeans
and Harold Simpson; lyrics by Graham John; music by Vivian Ellis
Earl Carroll Vanities (1926 edition)—December 28, 1925; Earl Carroll Theatre; 230 performances; sketches by
various writers, including William A. Grew; lyrics and music by Clarence Gaskill
A Night in Paris (First edition)—January 5, 1926; Casino de Paris; 208 performances; sketches by Harold At-
teridge; lyrics by Clifford Grey and McElbert Moore; music by J. Fred Coots and Maurice Rubens
The Greenwich Village Follies (Spring edition of the 1925 revue)—March 15, 1926; Shubert Theatre; eighty-
eight performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by various contributors
By the Way (1926 edition)—April 15, 1926; Central Theatre; fifty-six performances; sketches by Ronald Jeans
and Harold Simpson; lyrics by Graham John; music by Vivian Ellis
Bunk of 1926 (First edition)—April 22, 1926; Broadhurst Theatre; forty-four performances; sketches and lyrics
by Gene Lockhart and Percy Waxman; music by Gene Lockhart, Deems Taylor, and Robert Armbruster
The Garrick Gaieties (1926 edition)—May 10, 1926; Guild Theatre; 174 performances; sketches by various
writers; lyrics by Lorenz Hart; music by Richard Rodgers
570 APPENDIX B
The Great Temptations—May 18, 1926; Winter Garden Theatre; 223 performances; sketches by Harold At-
teridge; lyrics by Clifford Grey; music by Maurice Rubens
1926–1927
The Merry World—June 8, 1926; Imperial Theatre; eighty-seven performances; lyrics by Clifford Grey; music
by Maurice Rubens, J. Fred Coots, Herman Hupfeld, and Sam Timberg; during the Broadway run, the re-
vue was retitled Passions of 1926
Bunk of 1926 (Second [summer] edition)—June 9, 1926; Broadhurst Theatre; fourteen performances; lyrics and
music by James Bannister, James Dietrich, and Wallace and Trent
George White’s Scandals (1926 edition)—June 14, 1926; Apollo Theatre; 432 performances; sketches by
George White and William K. Wells; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown; music by Ray
Henderson
The Grand Street Follies (1926 edition)—June 15, 1926; Neighborhood Theatre; fifty-five performances;
sketches and lyrics by Agnes Morgan; music by Lily Hyland, Arthur Schwartz, and others
No Foolin’—June 24, 1926; Globe Theatre; 108 performances; sketches by J. P. McEvoy and James Barton; lyr-
ics by Gene Buck and Ballard Macdonald; music by Rudolf Friml and James F. Hanley
Americana (1926 edition)—July 26, 1926; Belmont Theatre; 224 performances; sketches by J. P. McEvoy;
lyrics by Ira Gershwin and others; music by Con Conrad, Henry Souvaine, George Gershwin, and others
A Night in Paris (Second edition)—July 26, 1926; 44th Street Theatre; 113 performances; sketches by Harold
Atteridge; lyrics by Clifford Grey and McElbert Moore; music by J. Fred Coots and Maurice Rubens
Nic-Nax of 1926—August 2, 1926; Cort Theatre; thirteen performances; sketches and lyrics by Paul W. Porter
and others; music by Gitz Rice and Werner Janssen
Earl Carroll Vanities (1926 edition)—August 24, 1926; Earl Carroll Theatre; 154 performances; sketches by
Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and others; lyrics by Grace Henry, Henry Creamer, and others; music by Morris
Hamilton, Lou Alter, and others
Gay Paree (1926 edition)—November 9, 1926; Winter Garden Theatre; 192 performances; sketches by Harold
Atteridge; lyrics by Clifford Grey, J. Fred Coots, and Mann Holiner; music by Alberta Nichols, J. Fred
Coots, and Maurice Rubens
Earl Carroll Vanities (1927 International edition)—January 4, 1927; Earl Carroll Theatre; 151 performances;
sketches by Ronald Jeans; lyrics by Grace Henry; music by Morris Hamilton, Richard Addinsell, and Noel
Gray; this production was for all purposes a revised version of the 1926 edition
The New Yorkers—March 10, 1927; Edyth Toten Theatre; fifty-two performances; sketches by Jo Swerling;
lyrics by Henry Myers; music by Arthur Schwartz and others; not related to the 1930 Cole Porter book
musical of the same name
Rufus LeMaire’s Affairs—March 28, 1927; Majestic Theatre; fifty-six performances; sketches and lyrics by
Ballard Macdonald; music by Martin Broones
A Night in Spain—May 3, 1927; 44th Street Theatre; 174 performances; sketches by Harold Atteridge; lyrics
by Al Bryan; music by Jean Schwartz
The Grand Street Follies (1927 edition)—May 19, 1927; Neighborhood Playhouse; 148 performances; sketches
and lyrics by Agnes Morgan; music by Max Ewing
Merry-Go-Round (First edition)—May 31, 1927; Klaw Theatre; the first and second editions played for a total
of 135 performances; sketches and lyrics by Morrie Ryskind and Howard Dietz; music by Henry Souvaine
and Jay Gorney
1927–1928
Merry-Go-Round (Second edition)—July 4, 1927; Sam Harris Theatre (for more information, see entry above
for first edition)
Padlocks of 1927—July 5, 1927; Shubert Theatre; ninety-five performances; sketches by Paul Gerard Smith
and Ballard Macdonald; lyrics by Billy Rose; music by various composers
Africana—July 11, 1927; Daly’s Theatre; seventy-two performances; lyrics and music by Donald Heywood;
(Note: The revue isn’t related to Heywood’s 1934 book musical of the same name.)
Rang-Tang—July 12, 1927; Royale Theatre; 119 performances; sketches by Kaj Gynt; lyrics by Jo Trent; music
by Ford Dabney
Allez-Oop!—August 2, 1927; Earl Carroll Theatre; 119 performances; sketches by J. P. McEvoy; lyrics by Leo
Robin; music by Philip Charig and Richard Myers
The Manhatters—August 3, 1927; Selwyn Theatre; seventy-seven performances; sketches by Alene Erlanger
and George S. Oppenheimer; lyrics by George S. Oppenheimer and others; music by Alfred Nathan Jr.,
and Morris Hamilton
Ziegfeld Follies of 1927—August 16, 1927; New Amsterdam Theatre; 167 performances; sketches by Harold
Atteridge and Eddie Cantor; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin
À la Carte—August 17, 1927; Martin Beck Theatre; forty-five performances; sketches by George Kelly; lyrics
and music by various lyricists and composers, including Herman Hupfeld and Henry Creamer
The Band Box Follies—September 5, 1927; Daly’s Theatre; eight performances; sketches by Menlo Mayfield
and Ballard Macdonald; lyrics by Marian Gillespie and others; music by John Milton Hagen
Chauve-Souris (1927 edition)—October 10, 1927; Cosmopolitan Theatre; eighty performances; assembled by
Nikita Balieff
Artists and Models (1927 edition)—November 15, 1927; Winter Garden Theatre; 151 performances; lyrics by
Benny Davis and others; music by Harry Akst and Maurice Rubens
Harry Delmar’s Revels—November 28, 1927; Shubert Theatre; 112 performances; sketches by William K.
Wells; lyrics by Billy Rose and Ballard Macdonald; music by Jimmy (aka James) Monaco, Jesse Greer, and
Lester Lee
The Optimists—January 30, 1928; Casino de Paris; twenty-four performances; sketches and lyrics by Clifford
Grey and others; music by Melville Gideon
Parisiana—February 9, 1928; Edythe Totten Theatre; twenty-eight performances; sketches, lyrics, and music
by Vincent Valentini
Greenwich Village Follies (1928 edition)—April 9, 1928; Winter Garden Theatre; 128 performances; sketches
by Harold Atteridge; lyrics by Max Lief and Nathaniel (aka Nat) Lief; music by Ray Perkins and Maurice
Rubens
Blackbirds of 1928—May 9, 1928; Liberty Theatre; 518 performances; lyrics by Dorothy Fields; music by
Jimmy McHugh
The Grand Street Follies (1928 edition)—May 28, 1928; Booth Theatre; 144 performances; sketches and lyrics
by Agnes Morgan; music by Max Ewing and other composers
1928–1929
George White’s Scandals (1928 edition)—July 2, 1928; Apollo Theatre; 240 performances; sketches by William
K. Wells and George White; lyrics by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown; music by Ray Henderson
Earl Carroll Vanities (1928 edition)—August 6, 1928; Earl Carroll Theatre; 200 performances; sketches by
W. C. Fields, Paul Gerard Smith, and others; lyrics by Grace Henry and others; music by Morris Ham-
ilton, Michael Cleary, Lou Alter, and others
Americana (1928 edition)—October 30, 1928; Lew Fields’ Theatre; seven performances; sketches by J. P.
McEvoy; lyrics by J. P. McEvoy and Irving Caesar; music by Roger Wolfe Kahn (see below for revised
version, titled New Americana)
This Year of Grace—November 7, 1928; Selwyn Theatre; 157 performances; sketches, lyrics, and music by
Noel Coward
New Americana (Revised version of the 1928 edition of Americana)—November 29, 1928; Liberty Theatre;
twelve performances; sketches by J. P. McEvoy and Arthur (aka Bugs) Baer; lyrics by Irving Caesar; music
by Roger Wolfe Kahn
Ned Wayburn’s Gambols—January 15, 1929; Knickerbocker Theatre; thirty-one performances; sketches by
Morrie Ryskind and others; lyrics by Morrie Ryskind and Clifford Grey; music by Walter G. Samuels,
Arthur Schwartz, and Lew Kessler
572 APPENDIX B
Chauve-Souris (1928 edition)—January 22, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; forty-seven performances; assembled by
Nikita Balieff
Pleasure Bound—February 18, 1929; Majestic Theatre; 136 performances; sketches by Harold Atteridge; lyrics
by Max Lief, Nathaniel (aka Nat) Lief, and Harold Atteridge; music by Muriel Pollock, Phil Baker, and
Maurice Rubens (Note: The production began life as a book musical titled Well, Well, Well, and by the
time it reached Broadway it had morphed into a full-fledged revue.)
Messin’ Around—April 22, 1929; Hudson Theatre; thirty-three performances; sketches by Louis Isquith; lyrics
by Perry Bradford; music by James P. (aka Jimmy) Johnson
The Little Show—April 30, 1929; Music Box Theatre; 321 performances; sketches by Howard Dietz, George
S. Kaufman, and others; lyrics by Howard Dietz, Earl Crooker, Herman Hupfeld, and others; music by
Arthur Schwartz, Kay Swift, Herman Hupfeld, Ralph Rainger, and others
The Grand Street Follies (1929 edition)—May 1, 1929; Booth Theatre; eighty-five performances; sketches and
lyrics by Agnes Morgan; music by Arthur Schwartz, Max Ewing, and others
A Night in Venice—May 21, 1929; Majestic Theatre; 175 performances; lyrics by J. Keirn Brennan and Moe
Jaffe; music by Lee David and Maurice Rubens
1929
Hot Chocolates—June 20, 1929; Hudson Theatre; 219 performances; sketches by Eddie Green; lyrics by Andy
Razaf; music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks
Keep It Clean—June 24, 1929; Selwyn Theatre; sixteen performances; sketches by Jimmy Duffy and Will Mor-
rissey; lyrics and music by Lester Lee, Harry Archer, James F. Hanley, and others
Earl Carroll Sketch Book (First edition)—July 1, 1929; Earl Carroll Theatre; 392 performances; sketches by
Eddie Cantor, Sidney Skolsky, and Eddie Welch; lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and others; music by Jay Gorney
and others
Broadway Nights—July 15, 1929; 44th Street Theatre; forty performances; sketches by Edgar Smith; lyrics by
Moe Jaffe; music by Sam Timberg, Lee David, and Maurice Rubens
Murray Anderson’s Almanac—August 14, 1929; Erlanger’s Theatre; sixty-nine performances; sketches by
Rube Goldberg, Noel Coward, Peter Arno, Paul Gerard Smith, and others; lyrics by Jack Yellen, Edward
Eliscu, and others; music by Milton Ager and Henry Sullivan
Cape Cod Follies—September 18, 1929; Bijou Theatre; twenty-nine performances; sketches and lyrics by
Stewart Baird; music by Alexander Fogarty
George White’s Scandals (1929 edition)—September 23, 1929; Apollo Theatre; 161 performances; sketches
by William K. Wells and George White; lyrics by Cliff Friend, George White, and Irving Caesar; music by
Cliff Friend and George White
Wake Up and Dream—December 30, 1929; Selwyn Theatre; 136 performances; sketches by John Hastings
Turner; lyrics and music by Cole Porter
Ginger Snaps—December 31, 1929; Belmont Theatre; seven performances; sketches and lyrics by J. Homer
Tutt, Donald Heywood, and George Morris; music by Donald Heywood
Appendix C:
Plays with Music
The following is a chronological list of selected plays with music that opened on Broadway during the period
January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. After each play’s title, the following information is given: opening date,
name of theatre, number of performances, and names of the author, lyricist, and composer (in some cases,
song titles are included).
1921–1922
The French Doll—February 20, 1922; Lyceum Theatre; 120 performances; play by A. E. Thomas. Songs in-
cluded “Do It Again,” lyric by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and music by George Gershwin.
1923–1924
Little Miss Bluebeard—August 28, 1923; Lyceum Theatre; 175 performances; play by Avery Hopwood; lyrics
and music by various contributors, including George Gershwin and Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin).
Sancho Panza—November 26, 1923; Hudson Theatre; forty performances; based on a play by Melchior
Lengyel in a translation by Sidney Howard; lyrics and music by Hugo Felix. The play was inspired by Don
Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
The Melody Man—May 13, 1924; Central Theatre; fifty-six performances; play by Herbert Fields; lyrics by
Lorenz Hart; music by Richard Rodgers; the play’s creators were officially credited as “Herbert Richard
Lorenz.” The production included two songs, “Moonlight Mama” and “I’d Like to Poison Ivy Because She
Clings to Me,” both sung by Eva Puck and Sammy White.
1924–1925
The Firebrand—October 15, 1924; Morosco Theatre; 287 performances; play by Edwin Justus Mayer; lyric
by Ira Gershwin; music by Robert Russell Bennett and Maurice Nitke. Gershwin wrote the lyric for the
play’s song “The Voice of Love,” and in 1945 wrote the lyrics for the play’s musical adaptation The Fire-
brand of Florence, music by Kurt Weill.
Peter Pan—November 6, 1924; Knickerbocker Theatre; 120 performances; a revival of the play by James M.
Barrie, which starred Marilyn Miller in the title role. Two songs by Jerome Kern were included in the pro-
duction: “Just Because You’re You” (aka “Because You Are Just You”), with lyric by Gene Buck from the
1917 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies; and “The Sweetest Thing in Life,” with a new lyric by B. G. (Buddy)
DeSylva for a song that had originally been heard as “When Three Is Company” (aka “Cupid Song”) by
M. E. Rourke for the 1913 book musical The Doll Girl.
573
574 APPENDIX C
1925–1926
A Lucky Break—August 11, 1925; Cort Theatre; twenty-three performances; play by Zelda Sears; lyrics un-
credited; orchestra conducted by and music composed by Harold Levey. The opening night program listed
the following three songs: “You’re All the World to Me,” “When the Hurdy-Gurdy Plays,” and “Where
the Rainbow Ends.” The first two songs were retained for Rainbow Rose, the 1926 musical adaptation of
the play.
The Enemy—October 20, 1925; Times Square Theatre; 202 performances; play by Channing Pollock; music
by Reynell Wreford.
Naughty Cinderella—November 9, 1925; Lyceum Theatre; 121 performances; play by Rene Peter and Henri
Falk as adapted by Avery Hopwood; lyrics and music by various contributors.
1926–1927
Old Bill, M.P.—November 10, 1926; Biltmore Theatre; twenty-three performances; play by Bruce Bairnsfa-
ther; lyrics mostly by Bruce Bairnsfather; music by Abel Baer and other composers including Con Conrad.
Mozart—November 22, 1926; Music Box Theatre; thirty-two performances; play and lyrics by Sacha Guitry in
an English adaptation by Ashley Dukes and with a prologue by Brian J. Hooker; music by Reynaldo Hahn.
Mozart—December 27, 1926; 46th Street Theatre; thirty-two performances. For more information, see the
above November 1926 production, which was performed in English; the current production was given
in French and was presented along with the first act of the verse comedy Deburau by Sacha Guitry,
with music by Andre Messager. Later in the run, the production was given in repertory with the play
L’illusionniste.
The Seventh Heart—May 2, 1927; Mayfair Theatre; sixteen performances; play by Sarah Ellis Hyman; lyrics
and music by Arthur Brander.
1927–1928
Burlesque—September 1, 1927; Plymouth Theatre; 372 performances; play by Arthur Hopkins and George
Manker Watters; lyrics by Edward Grant and Jo Trent; music by Peter DeRose and Albert von Tilzer. The
cast members included Hal Skelly, Barbara Stanwyck, and Oscar Levant.
Excess Baggage—December 26, 1927; Ritz Theatre; 216 performances; play by Jack McGowan; the produc-
tion included “For Old Times’ Sake,” lyric by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and Lew Brown and music by Ray
Henderson.
1928–1929
The Song Writer—August 13, 1928; 48th Street Theatre; fifty-six performances; play by Crane Wilbur; lyrics
and music by Phil Baker, Herb Magidson, and other contributors.
1929
June Moon—October 9, 1929; Broadhurst Theatre; 272 performances; play by Ring Lardner and George S.
Kaufman; lyrics and music by Ring Lardner.
Appendix D:
Miscellaneous Productions
The following is a chronological list of miscellaneous musical productions that opened on Broadway dur-
ing the period January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. The survey includes one-person shows and limited-run
foreign-language musicals. Background information covers opening date, name of theatre, number of perfor-
mances, and other production information.
1920–1921
Wo die Lerche singt—December 27, 1920; Manhattan Opera House; five performances in repertory; libretto
by A. M. Willner and Heinz Reichert; music by Franz Lehar.
Chinese Love—February 28, 1921; Punch and Judy Theatre; twelve performances; book, lyrics, and music by
Clare Kummer. (Note: Chinese Love and The Choir Rehearsal [below] were performed on a program that
included two short comedies by Kummer.)
The Choir Rehearsal—February 28, 1921; Punch and Judy Theatre; twelve performances; book, lyrics, and
music by Clare Kummer. (See note for Chinese Love above.)
1925–1926
Arabesque—National Theatre; October 20, 1925; 23 performances; the work included music and dances, and
Bela Lugosi was in the cast; Time said the production was a “succession of gorgeous scenic designs” by
Norman Bel-Geddes, but as a drama was “skinny and undernourished.”
Raquel Meller—April 14, 1926; Empire Theatre; thirty-eight performances. (Note: The presentation was a
one-woman concert of Spanish songs performed by Raquel Meller.)
1926–1927
Raquel Meller—October 25, 1926; Henry Miller’s Theatre; sixteen performances. (Note: The presentation was
a one-woman concert of Spanish songs performed by Raquel Meller.)
1927–1928
Sir Harry Lauder—January 30, 1928; Knickerbocker Theatre; fifty-five performances. (Note: The presenta-
tion’s second act was a one-man concert of old and new songs performed by Sir Harry Lauder; his concert
was preceded by a bill of vaudeville acts by various performers.)
575
576 APPENDIX D
1928–1929
Trois jeunes filles nues—March 4, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; eight performances in repertory; book and lyrics by
Yves Mirande and Albert Willemetz; music by Raoul Moretti.
Passionnement!—March 7, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; eight performances in repertory; book and lyrics by Mau-
rice Hennequin and Albert Willemetz; music by Andre Messager.
Comte Obligato—March 11, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; four performances in repertory; book and lyrics by Andre
Barde; music by Raoul Moretti.
Ta bouche—March 14, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; twelve performances in repertory; book by Yves Mirande; lyr-
ics by Albert Willemetz; music by Maurice Yvain. (Note: As One Kiss, an English version of Ta bouche
opened on Broadway in 1923 with book and lyrics by Clare Kummer.)
Un bon garçon—March 18, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; four performances in repertory; book and lyrics by Albert
Barde; music by Maurice Yvain.
Pas sur la bouche—March 25, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; four performances in repertory; book and lyrics by Al-
bert Barde; music by Maurice Yvain.
Appendix E:
Revivals and Return Engagements
The following is a chronological list of revivals (R) and return engagements (RE) which were produced on
Broadway during the period January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. It’s likely that most of the era’s return
engagements were part of post-Broadway tours that were booked in New York for a few weeks before they
resumed their national tours.
After each production’s title, the following information is given: opening date, name of theatre, number
of performances, and names of librettists, sketch writers, lyricists, and composers.
1920
Florodora (R)—April 5, 1920; Century Theatre; 150 performances; book by Owen Hall with new book revi-
sions by Harry B. Smith; lyrics by Ernest Boyd-Jones and Paul Rubens; music by Leslie Stuart; originally
presented on Broadway in 1900
Macushla (R)—May 17, 1920; Park Theatre; twenty-four performances; book by Rida Johnson Young; lyrics
by J. Keirn Brennan; music by Ernest R. Ball; originally presented on Broadway in 1912
1920–1921
Erminie (R)—January 3, 1921; Park Theatre; sixty-four performances; book and lyrics by Harry Paulton and
Claxson Bellamy with a new adaptation by Marc Connelly; music by Edward Jakobowski; originally pre-
sented on Broadway in 1886
1921–1922
The Merry Widow (R)—September 5, 1921; Knickerbocker Theatre; fifty-six performances; libretto by Victor
Leon and Leo Stein; adaptation most likely by Adrian Ross; music by Franz Lehar; originally presented
on Broadway in 1907
The Chocolate Soldier (R)—December 12, 1921; Century Theatre; eighty-three performances; book and lyrics
by Rudolph Bernauer and Leopold Jacks; adaptation by Stanislaus Stange; music by Oscar Straus; origi-
nally presented on Broadway in 1909
1922–1923
Irene (RE)—April 2, 1923; Jolson’s Theatre; sixteen performances; book by James Montgomery; lyrics by Jo-
seph McCarthy; music by Harry Tierney; originally presented on Broadway in 1919
577
578 APPENDIX E
Bombo (RE)—May 14, 1923; Winter Garden Theatre; thirty-two performances; book and lyrics by Harold At-
teridge; music by Sigmund Romberg; originally presented on Broadway in 1921
Blossom Time (RE)—May 21, 1923; Shubert Theatre; twenty-four performances; libretto by A. M. Willner and
Heinz Reichert in an adaptation with book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly; music by Franz Schubert in
an adaptation and augmentation by Sigmund Romberg; originally presented on Broadway in 1921
Blossom Time (RE)—May 21, 1923; 44th Street; sixteen performances (Note: Both this production and the one
listed directly above opened on the same night, and for a two-week period were given simultaneously.)
1923–1924
Sally (RE)—September 17, 1923; New Amsterdam Theatre; twenty-four performances; book by Guy Bolton;
lyrics by Clifford Grey and others; music by Jerome Kern with ballet music by Victor Herbert; originally
presented on Broadway in 1920
Blossom Time (RE)—May 19, 1924; Jolson’s Theatre; twenty-four performances; libretto by A. M. Willner and
1924–1925
Sweeney Todd and Bombastes Furioso (R)—July 16, 1924; Frazee Theatre; sixty-seven performances (Note:
These productions were given on a double bill, the former by George Dibiden Pitt and the latter by Wil-
liam Barnes Rhodes; these productions were probably seen on Broadway in the 1860s or 1870s.)
Stepping Stones (RE)—September 1, 1924; Globe Theatre; forty performances; book by Anne Caldwell and
R. H. Burnside; lyrics by Anne Caldwell; music by Jerome Kern; originally presented on Broadway in 1923
Pierrot the Prodigal (R)—March 6, 1925; 48th Street Theatre; fourteen performances; libretto by Michel Carre
fils; music by Andre Wormer (piano adaptation of the score by George Copeland); originally presented on
Broadway as The Prodigal Son in 1891
Sally, Irene and Mary (RE)—March 23, 1925; 44th Street Theater; sixteen performances; book by Eddie Dowl-
ing and Cyrus Wood; lyrics by Raymond Klages; music by J. Fred Coots; originally presented on Broadway
in 1922
1925–1926
Big Boy (RE)—August 24, 1925; 44th Street Theatre; 120 performances; book by Harold Atteridge; lyrics by
B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva; music by James F. Hanley and Joseph Meyer; originally presented on Broadway in
January 1925
La Perichole (R)—December 21, 1925; Jolson’s Theatre; twelve performances in repertory; libretto by Ludovic
Halevy and Henri Meilhac in a Russian adaptation by Vladimir Nemirovitch Dantchenko and Mikhail
Galperin; music by Jacques Offenbach; originally presented on Broadway in 1869
The Daughter of Madame Angot (R)—December 28, 1925; Jolson’s Theatre; eight performances in repertory;
libretto by Paul Siraudin, Victor Koning, and Clairville in a Russian adaptation by Vladimir Nemirovich
Dantchenko and Mikhail Galperin; music by Charles Lecocq; originally presented on Broadway 1873
Blossom Time (RE)—March 8, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; sixteen performances; libretto by A. M. Willner and
1926–1927
Girofle-Girofla (R)—November 22, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; ten performances; music by Charles Lecocq; given
in both French and English performances; originally presented on Broadway in 1875
REVIVALS AND RETURN ENGAGEMENTS 579
La Mascotte (R)—December 1, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; fourteen performances; libretto by Henri Chivot; music
by Edmond Audran; originally presented on Broadway in 1881
Les Cloches de Corneville (R)—December 13, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; seven performances; libretto by Charles
Gabet and Clairville; music by Robert Planquette; originally presented on Broadway in 1877
La Fille de Madame Angot (R)—December 20, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; seven performances in repertory; li-
bretto by Paul Siraudin, Victor Koning, and Clairville; music by Charles Lecocq; originally presented on
Broadway in 1873; see above for information about the 1925 New York revival
La Perichole (R)—December 27, 1926; Jolson’s Theatre; eight performances in repertory; libretto by Ludovic
Halevy and Henri Meilhac; music by Jacques Offenbach; originally presented on Broadway in 1869; see
above for information about the 1925 New York revival
Rose-Marie (RE)—January 24, 1927; Century Theatre; forty-eight performances; book and lyrics by Otto Har-
bach and Oscar Hammerstein II; music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart; originally presented on
Broadway in 1924
The Cocoanuts (RE)—May 16, 1927; Century Theatre; sixteen performances; book by George S. Kaufman and
Morrie Ryskind; lyrics and music by Irving Berlin; originally presented on Broadway in 1925
1927–1928
Oh, Kay! (RE)—January 2, 1928; Century Theatre; sixteen performances; book by Guy Bolton and P. G.
Wodehouse; lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Howard Dietz; music by George Gershwin; originally presented
on Broadway in 1926
Yours Truly (RE)—March 12, 1928; Century Theatre; twenty-four performances; book by Clyde North; lyrics
by Anne Caldwell; music by John Raymond Hubbell; originally presented on Broadway in 1927
The Beggar’s Opera (R)—March 28, 1928; 48th Street Theatre; thirty-six performances; libretto by John Gay;
music assembled by Johann Christoph Pepusch, and for current revival music assembled by and new mu-
sic composed by Frederic Austin; originally presented on Broadway in 1750
Countess Maritza (RE)—April 9, 1928; Century Theatre; sixteen performances; libretto by Julius Brammer
and Alfred Grunwald in an adaptation by Harry B. Smith; music by Emmerich Kalman; originally pre-
sented on Broadway in 1926
1928–1929
Sunny Days (RE)—October 1, 1928; Globe Theatre; thirty-two performances; book and lyrics by Clifford Grey
and William Cary Duncan; music by Jean Schwartz and Helen Dunsmuir; originally produced on Broad-
way in February 1928
1929
Sweethearts (R)—September 21, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; seventeen performances; book by Harry B. Smith
and Fred de Gresac; lyrics by Robert B. Smith; music by Victor Herbert; originally presented on Broad-
way in 1913
Mlle. Modiste (R)—October 7, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; forty-eight performances; book and lyrics by Henry
Blossom; music by Victor Herbert; originally presented on Broadway in 1905
Naughty Marietta (R)—October 21, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; sixteen performances; book and lyrics by Rida
Johnson Young; music by Victor Herbert; originally presented on Broadway in 1910
The Fortune Teller (R)—November 4, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; sixteen performances; book and lyrics by Harry
B. Smith; music by Victor Herbert; originally presented on Broadway in 1898
Robin Hood (R)—November 18, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; thirty-one performances in two slightly separated
engagements; book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith; music by Reginald De Koven; originally presented on
Broadway in 1891
580 APPENDIX E
The Merry Widow (R)—December 2, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; sixteen performances; libretto by Victor Leon and
Leo Stein; adaptation most likely by Adrian Ross; music by Franz Lehar; originally presented on Broadway
in 1907
Babes in Toyland (R)—December 23, 1929; Jolson’s Theatre; thirty-two performances; book and lyrics by
Glen MacDonough; music by Victor Herbert; originally presented on Broadway in 1903
Appendix F:
W. S. Gilbert and
Arthur Sullivan Productions
The following is a chronological list of operettas by lyricist and librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur
Sullivan that were revived on Broadway during the period January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. After each
title, the following information is given: opening date, name of theatre, number of performances, and name
of producer.
Seven operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan were produced during the decade, for a total of eleven productions
and 606 performances (also see entry for Gilbert’s Engaged, which was produced on Broadway in 1925). In
contrast, ten of the team’s operettas were presented on Broadway during the 1930s for a total of 119 produc-
tions and 888 performances, and during the 2000–2009 decade not a single operetta by the team was given on
Broadway.
1924–1925
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu—April 11, 1925; 44th Street Theatre; sixty-five performances; The
Messrs. Shubert, Lee and J. J.
Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant—April 13, 1925; Shubert Theatre; forty performances; The Messrs. Shubert,
Lee and J. J.
1925–1926
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor—April 6, 1926; Century Theatre; fifty-six performances;
The Messrs. Shubert, Lee and J. J.
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri—April 19, 1926; Plymouth Theatre; Winthrop Ames and The Pirates of
Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty (December 6, 1926; Plymouth Theatre; Winthrop Ames (Note: When The
Pirates of Penzance opened, the two productions played in repertory and tallied up a total of 255 perfor-
mances, 145 performances for the former, 110 for the latter.)
1926–1927
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty—See the entry for Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri in the
1925–1926 season.
Ruddigore; or, The Witch’s Curse—May 20, 1927; Cosmopolitan Theatre; nineteen performances; Lawrence
J. Anholt
Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride—May 23, 1927; Masque Theatre; sixteen performances; Perke Hamburg Pro-
ductions, Inc.
581
582 APPENDIX F
1927–1928
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu—September 17, 1927; Royale Theatre; 110 performances in repertory;
Winthrop Ames
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri—November14, 1927; Royale Theatre; twelve performances in repertory;
Winthrop Ames
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty—November 24, 1927; Royale Theatre; nine performances in
repertory; Winthrop Ames
1928–1929
Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride—June 25, 1928; Masque Theatre; twenty-four performances; The Play-Arts
Guild, Inc.
Appendix G:
Pre-Broadway Closings
The following is a chronological list of selected productions that closed during their pre-Broadway tryouts for
the period January 1, 1920–December 31, 1929. The productions are given alphabetically during each year, are
noted as either book musicals or revues, and the names of representative sketch writers, librettists, lyricists,
and composers are given along with occasional other information.
1920
Dere Mable—Book musical; book by Edward Streeter and John Hodges; lyrics and music by John Hodges with
additional lyrics by Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin) and B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva and additional music by
George Gershwin.
I’ll Say She Does—Book musical; book by Avery Hopwood; lyrics and music by B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva.
Piccadilly to Broadway—Revue; sketches and lyrics by Glen MacDonough and E. Ray Goetz; music by Vin-
cent Youmans and George Gershwin; lyrics for Youmans’s song by Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin).
1921
A Dangerous Maid—Book musical; book by Charles W. Bell; lyrics by Arthur Francis (aka Ira Gershwin);
music by George Gershwin.
Let ’Er Go, Letty—Book musical; book by George E. Stoddard; lyrics by Ballard Macdonald; music by James
F. Hanley; the cast included Charlotte Greenwood in one of her “Letty” roles. (For more information, see
Letty Pepper, which was produced on Broadway in 1922.)
Town Gossip—Book musical; book and lyrics by George E. Stoddard and Ned Wayburn; music by Harold Or-
lob. Orlob was almost continuously unlucky during his decades-long career, and his A Trial Honeymoon
from 1924 and Making Mary from 1931 also closed on the road. His most notorious flop was 1943’s Hair-
pin Harmony, which collapsed in New York after three performances.
1922
Bibi of the Boulevards—Book musical; book and lyrics by Catherine Chisholm Cushing; music by Rudolf Friml.
Hitchy-Koo of 1922—Revue; sketches by Harold Atteridge; lyrics and music by Cole Porter.
1923
The Courtesan—Book musical; book by Harold Atteridge and Harry Wagstaff Gribble; lyrics by Harold At-
teridge; music by Jean Schwartz.
583
584 APPENDIX G
1924
In Dutch—Book musical; book and lyrics by Irving Caesar and William Cary Duncan; music by William Daly,
Joseph Meyer, and Alfred Newman; the cast included Edward Gallagher and Al Shean.
My Boy Friend—Book musical; book by Jack Lait; lyrics by Harold Christy and Jack Lait; music by Con Con-
rad. The musical was also known as Gus the Bus.
A Trial Honeymoon—Book musical; book, lyrics, and music by Harold Orlob. See Town Gossip, above.
1925
The Brown Derby—Book musical; book by Brian Marlowe and F. S. Merlin; lyrics by Clifford Grey; music by
Paul Lannin and Ray Perkins. Fannie Brice was the musical’s coproducer.
The Comic Supplement of American Life—Book musical; book and lyrics by J. P. McEvoy; music by Con
Conrad; produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. The musical’s cast included W. C. Fields, Betty Compton, Ray
Dooley, and Clarence Nordstrom.
The Dutch Girl—Book musical; book by Guy Bragdon; lyrics by Joe Burrows; music by Emmerich Kalman.
The cast included Irene Dunne.
How’s the King?—Book musical; book by Marc Connelly; lyrics by Owen Murphy; music by Jay Gorney. The
cast included Joe Cook and John Price Jones.
A Night Out—Book musical; book by George Grossmith and Arthur Miller; lyrics mostly by Clifford Grey
and Irving Caesar; music by Vincent Youmans.
1926
Bubbling Over—Book musical; book by Clifford Grey; lyrics by Leo Robin; music by Richard Myers. The
musical was based on Byron Ongley and Winchell Smith’s play Brewster’s Millions, and the cast included
Jeanette MacDonald.
Miss Happiness—Book musical; book by Jay Gorney and George E. Stoddard; lyrics by George E. Stoddard;
music by Jay Gorney. The cast included William Gaxton and May Boley.
1927
Listen Dearie!—Book musical; book by Harold Atteridge and Gertrude Purcell; lyrics and music by Charles
Gilpin.
Strike Up the Band—Book musical; book by George S. Kaufman; lyrics by Ira Gershwin; music by George
Gershwin. A revised version opened on Broadway in 1930.
Sweet Lady—Book musical; book by Mann Page and Jack McGowan; lyrics by Bud Green; music by Delos Owen.
1928
Headin’ South—Book musical; book by Edgar Smith and Cyrus Wood; lyrics by Al Bryan; music by Jean
Schwartz.
Taza—Book musical; book and lyrics by Boyle Lawrence and Ivie A. MacCarthy (adapted from the Spanish by
Paso Y Abati); music by Pablo Luna, as adapted by Robert A. Goetzl and with additional music by Frank
Padwe.
1929
The Duchess of Chicago—Book musical; book by Julius Brammer and Alfred Gruenwald; lyrics by Edward
Eliscu; music by Emmerich Kalman; produced by Lee and J. J. Shubert. The musical’s cast included Lillian
Taiz, Walter Woolf King, Eric Blore, and Arthur Treacher.
Appendix H:
Discography
The alphabetical list below is intended as a general guideline in regard to recordings of book musicals repre-
sented in this survey. The list includes recordings by original Broadway and London cast members, studio cast
recordings, contemporary cover versions, and recordings from theatre music collections.
The criterion for inclusion on this list is that the recordings were on sale to the public at one time or
another. For specific information about the recordings, the reader is directed to the entries for the shows.
Afgar The Girl Friend

As You Were Good Boy
Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler) Good Morning Dearie
The Belle of New York Good News
Betsy Great Day!
Big Boy Heads Up!
Billie Hit the Deck!
Blossom Time Hold Everything!
The Blue Kitten Honeymoon Lane
Bombo Katja
The Bunch and Judy Kid Boots
Caroline Kitty’s Kisses
Castles in the Air Lady, Be Good!
Chee-Chee Lady Fingers
China Rose The Lady in Ermine
The Circus Princess The Last Waltz
The City Chap Little Nellie Kelly
Cleopatra’s Night Lollipop
The Cocoanuts Madame Pompadour
A Connecticut Yankee Manhattan Mary
Countess Maritza Mary
Criss Cross Mary Jane McKane
Dearest Enemy Mecca
Dear Sir Mercenary Mary
The Desert Song Merry Merry
Die Fledermaus (A Wonderful Night) My Maryland
The Dream Girl The New Moon
Fifty Million Frenchmen The Night Boat
The 5 O’Clock Girl No, No, Nanette
Follow Thru Oh, Kay!
For Goodness Sake Oh, Please!
585
586 APPENDIX H
One Kiss Sky High

Orange Blossoms Song of the Flame
Paris Sons o’ Guns
Peggy-Ann Spring Is Here
Phoebe of Quality Street Stepping Stones
Poor Little Ritz Girl The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student
Poppy Prince)
Present Arms Sunny
Queen High Sweet Adeline
Rainbow Sweet Little Devil
Rio Rita Tell Me More
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly The Three Musketeers (1928; Friml)
Rosalie Tickle Me
Rose-Marie Tip-Toes
The Rose of Stamboul Topsy and Eva
Sally Treasure Girl
She’s My Baby Two Little Girls in Blue
Show Boat The Vagabond King
Show Girl Whoopee
Shuffle Along Wildflower
Sitting Pretty The Yankee Princess
Appendix I:
Filmography
The following alphabetical list represents film, radio, and television versions of the book musicals discussed
in this survey. Note that some films are virtually in-name-only adaptations, one was shelved during produc-
tion, and one was never released. See entries for specific information.
Animal Crackers
Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler)
The Belle of New York
Big Boy
Bitter Sweet
Caroline
The Circus Princess
The Clinging Vine
The Cocoanuts
A Connecticut Yankee
Countess Maritza
Dearest Enemy
The Desert Song
Fifty Million Frenchmen (filmed twice, as Fifty Million Frenchmen and Paree, Paree)
The 5 O’Clock Girl (film not released)
Follow Thru
The Gingham Girl
Golden Dawn
Good News
Great Day! (film not completed)
Heads Up!
Hit the Deck!
Hold Everything!
Kid Boots
The King’s Henchman
Lady, Be Good!
The Lady in Ermine
The Last Waltz
Little Nellie Kelly
Manhattan Mary (filmed as Follow the Leader)
My Magnolia Lady (source material filmed as Honey)
The New Moon
No, No, Nanette
Oh, Kay!
587
588 APPENDIX I
Orange Blossoms
Paris
Poppy (filmed twice, as Sally of the Sawdust and Poppy)
Present Arms (filmed as Leathernecking)
Queen High
Rainbow (filmed as Song of the West)
The Ramblers (filmed as The Cuckoos)
Rio Rita
Rise and Shine
Rosalie
Rose-Marie
The Rose of Stamboul
Sally
Sally, Irene and Mary
Show Boat
Song of the Flame (filmed twice, as Song of the Flame and The Flame Song)
Sons o’ Guns
Spring Is Here
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince)
Sunny
Top Speed
Topsy and Eva
The Vagabond King
The White Sister
Whoopee
A Wonderful Night (Die Fledermaus; source material filmed as Oh . . . Rosalinda!)
Appendix J:
Published Scripts
The following is an alphabetical list of book musicals covered in this survey whose scripts were published
and officially on sale to the public at one time or another. For more information, see specific entry regarding
publisher, date of publication, and hardback or paperback editions.
Animal Crackers The Night Boat

Blossom Time Rio Rita
Cleopatra’s Night Rose-Marie
The Cocoanuts Show Boat
The Desert Song Shuffle Along
Good News Sunny
The King’s Henchman The Three Musketeers (1928; Friml)
The New Moon The Vagabond King
589
Appendix K:
Black-Themed Shows
The following is an alphabetical list of shows discussed in this book that have predominately black stories,
characters, subject matter, and performers, including works that aren’t necessarily considered as traditional
black shows (such as Deep River by Laurence Stallings and Frank Harling [aka W. Franke Harling] and Oscar
Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s Show Boat). See entries for specific information.
Black Scandals Keep Shufflin’

Bomboola Liza
Bottomland Lucky Sambo
The Chocolate Dandies My Magnolia
Deep Harlem Pansy
Deep River Runnin’ Wild
Elsie Sharlee
Go-Go Show Boat
How Come? Shuffle Along
591
Appendix L:
Theatres
For the book musicals discussed in this survey, the theatres where they played during their original runs are
listed below in alphabetical order. Following each theatre’s name is a chronological list of the shows that
opened at the theatre; if a production transferred to one or more theatres, the show’s title is followed by the
words transfer, second transfer, and so on.
During the decade, the Lyric Theatre saw the premieres of more book musicals than any other venue,
eighteen in all. The most-traveled musicals were The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince),
The Blonde Sinner, and Countess Maritza, with four changes of theatre. The Student Prince and Countess
Maritza eventually returned to their original theatres, so actually they were seen in three playhouses (Jolson’s,
Ambassador, Century, and Jolson’s Theatres for the former, and the Shubert, 44th Street, Jolson’s, and the
Shubert Theatres for the latter). As a result, the obscure The Blonde Sinner holds the record for most theatres.
During its five-month run, it played at the Cort, Selwyn, Lyric, and Frolic Theatres.
ALVIN THEATRE (now the NEIL SIMON THEATRE)

Funny Face
Treasure Girl
Spring Is Here
Heads Up!
AMBASSADOR THEATRE
The Rose Girl
Blossom Time
The Lady in Ermine
Caroline
The Dream Girl
Princess April
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince) (first transfer)
Queen High
Just a Minute
Angela
APOLLO THEATRE
Jimmie
Love Birds
593
594 APPENDIX L
Love Dreams (transfer)

Daffy Dill
How Come?
Go-Go (transfer)
Poppy
Manhattan Mary
ASTOR THEATRE
Kissing Time (transfer)
The Blushing Bride
Sun Showers
Lady Butterfly (transfer)
Dew Drop Inn
Sweet Little Devil
June Days
BELASCO THEATRE
Hit the Deck!
BELMONT THEATRE
Little Miss Charity
Pansy
BIJOU THEATRE
Sue, Dear
BROADHURST THEATRE
Marjolaine
Springtime of Youth
Here’s Howe!
Hold Everything!
CASINO THEATRE
My Golden Girl (transfer)
Betty, Be Good
Lassie (transfer)
Honeydew
It’s Up to You
Sally, Irene and Mary
Wildflower
I’ll Say She Is!
Sky High (second transfer)
THEATRES 595
The Vagabond King

The Desert Song
Just Fancy!
The White Eagle
My Maryland (transfer)
Luckee Girl
Hello Yourself!!!!
Boom-Boom
Music in May
The New Moon (transfer)
CENTRAL THEATRE
Always You
As You Were
Poor Little Ritz Girl
Afgar
Princess Virtue
The Gingham Girl (transfer)
Sweet Little Devil (transfer)
The Chiffon Girl (second transfer)
June Days (transfer)
When You Smile (transfer)
CENTURY ROOF (located above the CENTURY THEATRE)

Hanky Panky Land
CENTURY THEATRE
Mecca
The Last Waltz
The Rose of Stamboul
Blossom Time (second transfer)
The Lady in Ermine (transfer)
Sally, Irene and Mary (second transfer)
The Love Song
Princess Flavia
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince) (second transfer)
The Vagabond King (transfer)
Castles in the Air (transfer)
The Desert Song (first transfer)
Just a Minute (transfer)
Angela (transfer)
COHAN AND HARRIS THEATRE (later known as the SAM H.

HARRIS THEATRE aka HARRIS THEATRE [see below])
Honey Girl
596 APPENDIX L
COLONIAL THEATRE
Runnin’ Wild
The Chocolate Dandies
Lucky Sambo
CORT THEATRE
Sonny (aka Sonny Boy)
The Blonde Sinner
COSMOPOLITAN THEATRE (aka ZIEGFELD COSMOPOLITAN

THEATRE)
Louie the 14th
Oh! Oh! Nurse
Naughty Riquette
Bye Bye, Bonnie (transfer)
Cherry Blossoms (transfer)
Great Day!
DALY’S THEATRE (aka DALY’S 63RD STREET THEATRE;

earlier known as 63RD STREET MUSIC HALL
[see below])
Liza
Go-Go
Ginger
Sharlee
Kosher Kitty Kelly (transfer)
Happy
Keep Shufflin’
DRESDEN THEATRE (later known as the FROLIC THEATRE

[see below])
Cinders
EARL CARROLL THEATRE

Just Because
The Blue Kitten (transfer)
The Gingham Girl
Kid Boots
Oh, Ernest! (transfer)
Take the Air (transfer)
Fioretta
THEATRES 597
EDYTH TOTTEN THEATRE

Black Scandals
ELTINGE THEATRE
Plain Jane (second transfer)
Hello, Lola!
Keep Shufflin’ (transfer)
ERLANGER’S THEATRE (now the ST. JAMES THEATRE)

The Merry Malones
Billie
Hello, Daddy! (transfer)
52ND STREET THEATRE

Engaged
FORREST THEATRE (now the EUGENE O’NEILL THEATRE)

Mayflowers
The Matinee Girl
Rainbow Rose
Lace Petticoat
48TH STEET THEATRE

Engaged (transfer)
44TH STREET THEATRE

Look Who’s Here
Up in the Clouds (transfer)
The Blushing Bride (transfer)
Sally, Irene and Mary (first transfer)
Marjorie (transfer)
Betty Lee
Song of the Flame
Katja
Countess Maritza (first transfer)
Cherry Blossoms
The 5 O’Clock Girl
Animal Crackers
598 APPENDIX L
46TH STREET THEATRE (aka CHANIN’S 46TH STREET THEATRE;

now the RICHARD RODGERS THEATRE)
Piggy (aka I Told You So) (transfer)
Good News
Follow Thru
Top Speed
FROLIC THEATRE (earlier known as the DRESDEN THEATRE [see

above])
The Blonde Sinner (third transfer)
FULTON THEATRE
Orange Blossoms
One Kiss
Sitting Pretty
Top Hole
Oh, Please!
GAIETY THEATRE
Tell Me More
GALLO THEATRE (now STUDIO 54)

Rainbow
GANSEVOORT THEATRE
A Noble Rogue
GEORGE M. COHAN’S THEATRE (aka COHAN’S THEATRE)

Two Little Girls in Blue
Queen o’ Hearts
Adrienne
Polly of Hollywood
Rain or Shine
GLOBE THEATRE (now the LUNT-FONTANNE THEATRE)

The Girl from Home
Tip-Top
The Love Letter
THEATRES 599
Good Morning Dearie

Molly Darling (transfer)
The Bunch and Judy
Lady Butterfly
Jack and Jill
Stepping Stones
No, No, Nanette
Criss Cross
She’s My Baby
Three Cheers
HAMMERSTEIN’S THEATRE (now the ED SULLIVAN THEATRE)

Golden Dawn
Good Boy
Sweet Adeline
HUDSON THEATRE
Deep Harlem
Messin’ Around
IMPERIAL THEATRE
Mary Jane McKane
Peg o’ My Dreams (transfer)
Sitting Pretty (transfer)
Rose-Marie
Sweetheart Time
Deep River
Oh, Kay!
The Desert Song (second transfer)
Sunny Days
The New Moon
Sons o’ Guns
JOLSON’S 59TH STREET THEATRE (aka JOLSON’S THEATRE)

Bombo
Blossom Time (first transfer)
The Chiffon Girl (first transfer)
Peg o’ My Dreams
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince)
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince) (third transfer; the production returned to Jolson’s
Theatre after its second transfer, where it played at the Century Theatre)
The Nightingale
Countess Maritza (second transfer)
My Maryland
White Lilacs (transfer)
600 APPENDIX L
KNICKERBOCKER THEATRE
The Girl in the Spotlight
The Sweetheart Shop
Mary
June Love
The Yankee Princess
The Clinging Vine
Lollipop
Top Hole (first transfer)
Natja
China Rose (transfer)
Dearest Enemy
Honeymoon Lane
Sidewalks of New York
Cross My Heart
LIBERTY THEATRE
The Night Boat
The Half Moon
Lady Billy
The O’Brien Girl
Molly Darling
Little Nellie Kelly
The Magic Ring
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly
Top Hole (second transfer)
Lady, Be Good!
The City Chap
Tip-Toes
Happy Go Lucky
Twinkle Twinkle
Lady Do
The Houseboat on the Styx
Lady Fingers
LITTLE THEATRE (now the HELEN HAYES THEATRE)

Little Jessie James (transfer)
LONGACRE THEATRE
Pitter Patter
Go Easy, Mabel
Little Jessie James
Moonlight
Mercenary Mary
THEATRES 601
LYRIC THEATRE
Always You (transfer)
Kissing Time
Her Family Tree
Up in the Clouds
For Goodness Sake
The Chiffon Girl
Flossie
Bringing Up Father
Holka Polka
Florida Girl
The Cocoanuts
The Blonde Sinner (second transfer)
The Ramblers
Rio Rita (first transfer)
Tales of Rigo
Kiss Me!
Footlights
Enchanted Isle
The Three Musketeers (1928; Friml)
Polly
Fifty Million Frenchmen
MAJESTIC THEATRE
The Love Call
Rio Rita (second transfer)
A Wonderful Night (Die Fledermaus)
MANHATTAN OPERA HOUSE

The Three Musketeers (1921; Temple)
MANSFIELD THEATRE (now the BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRE)

My Magnolia
Present Arms
Chee-Chee
Hello, Daddy!
MARTIN BECK THEATRE (now the AL HIRSCHFELD THEATRE)

Madame Pompadour
Captain Jinks
The Wild Rose
The Silver Swan
602 APPENDIX L
MAXINE ELLIOTT’S THEATRE

Hello, Lola! (transfer)
MOROSCO THEATRE
No Other Girl
Say When
MUSIC BOX THEATRE

Paris
NATIONAL THEATRE (now the NEDERLANDER THEATRE)

Bye, Bye, Barbara
When You Smile
NEW AMSTERDAM THEATRE

Sally
Plain Jane
Sunny
Betsy
Lucky
Rosalie
Whoopee
NORA BAYES THEATRE

My Golden Girl
Lassie
Our Nell
Liza (transfer)
PARK THEATRE
The Wild Cat
PLAYHOUSE THEATRE
Up She Goes
Kitty’s Kisses
THEATRES 603
PLYMOUTH THEATRE (now the GERALD SCHOENFELD THEATRE)

3 Showers (transfer)
PRINCESS THEATRE
Suzette
Bottomland
PUNCH AND JUDY THEATRE

The ’49ers
RITZ THEATRE (now the WALTER KERR THEATRE)

Bye Bye, Bonnie
White Lights
ROYALE THEATRE (now the BERNARD B. JACOBS THEATRE)

Piggy (aka I Told You So)
Judy
Oh, Ernest!
My Maryland (transfer)
The Madcap
Bomboola
The Street Singer (transfer)
Woof, Woof
Top Speed (transfer)
SAM H. HARRIS THEATRE (earlier known as the COHAN AND

HARRIS THEATRE [see above]; also known as the HARRIS THEATRE)
3 Showers
Plain Jane (first transfer)
Be Yourself!
Topsy and Eva
Yes, Yes, Yvette
Lovely Lady
Luckee Girl (transfer)
SELWYN THEATRE
Tickle Me
The Blue Kitten
604 APPENDIX L
Helen of Troy, New York

Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler)
Kid Boots (transfer)
The Blonde Sinner (first transfer)
Castles in the Air
Namiko-San
SHUBERT THEATRE (aka the SAM S. SHUBERT THEATRE)

Her Family Tree (transfer)
Blue Eyes (transfer)
Phoebe of Quality Street
The Hotel Mouse
Red Pepper
Marjorie
The Magnolia Lady
Sky High
Princess Flavia (transfer)
Countess Maritza
Countess Maritza (third transfer; the production returned to the Shubert Theatre after its second transfer,
where it played at Jolson’s Theatre)
Yours Truly
My Princess
The 5 O’Clock Girl (transfer)
White Lilacs
The Red Robe
The Street Singer
Bitter Sweet (transfer)
63RD STREET MUSIC HALL (later known as DALY’S THEATRE and

DALY’S 63RD STREET THEATRE [see above])
Shuffle Along
TIMES SQUARE THEATRE

The Right Girl
Love Dreams
Helen of Troy, New York (transfer)
Battling Buttler (aka Mr. Battling Buttler) (transfer)
Dear Sir
Annie Dear
Kosher Kitty Kelly
VANDERBILT THEATRE
Letty Pepper
Glory
Elsie
THEATRES 605
My Girl
Merry Merry
The Girl Friend
Peggy-Ann
A Connecticut Yankee
Lady Fingers
WALDORF THEATRE
Talk about Girls
Half a Widow
Take the Air
WALLACK’S THEATRE
China Rose
The White Sister
Footlights
WINTER GARDEN THEATRE

The Whirl of New York
The Dancing Girl
Big Boy
Sky High (first transfer)
The Circus Princess
ZIEGFELD THEATRE
Rio Rita
Show Boat
Show Girl
Bitter Sweet
Appendix M:
Long Runs
The following is a list of the longest-running book musicals of the decade; these productions played 400 or
more performances.
The Student Prince in Heidelberg (aka The Student Prince) 608

Show Boat 572
Sally 570
Rose-Marie 557
Good News 551
Sunny 517
Blossom Time 516
The Vagabond King 511
The New Moon 509
Shuffle Along 504
Rio Rita 494
Kid Boots 479
Wildflower 477
The Desert Song 471
A Connecticut Yankee 418
Whoopee 412
Hold Everything! 409
Follow Thru 401
607
Bibliography
For most of the productions discussed in this book, I used original source materials, such as programs, souvenir pro-
grams, flyers, scripts, and recordings. I also used brief excerpts from various newspaper and magazine reviews. In addi-
tion, many reference books and databases were helpful in providing technical information and reality checks, and these
are listed below.
American Film Institute. AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The First 100 Years 1893–1993. https://afi.com/Catalog/Showcase.
Asch, Amy (ed.) The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.
Best Plays. As of this writing, the most recent edition of this venerable series is The Best Plays Theatre Yearbook of
2007–2008, edited by Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. New York: Limelight Editions, 2009.
Bloom, Ken. American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion, 1877–1995 (2 vols.). New York: Schirmer
Books, 1996.
Bordman, Gerald, and Richard C. Norton. American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Fourth edition. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011.
Bordman, Gerald. American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1869–1914. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996.
———. American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1915–1929. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
———. Days to Be Happy, Years to Be Sad: The Life and Music of Vincent Youmans. New York: Oxford University Press,
1982.
———. Jerome Kern: His Life and Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Bradley, Edwin M. The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland & Company, 1996.
Coward, Noel. The Lyrics of Noel Coward. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1973.
Day, Barry (ed.). The Complete Lyrics of P. G. Wodehouse. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004.
———. Noel Coward: The Complete Lyrics. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1998.
Dunn, Don. The Making of “No, No, Nanette.” Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel Press, 1972.
Everett, William A. Rudolf Friml. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2008.
———. Sigmund Romberg. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007.
Fordin, Hugh. The Movies’ Greatest Musicals: Produced in Hollywood USA by the Freed Unit. New York: Frederick
Ungar, 1975.
Ganzl, Kurt. The British Musical Theatre, Volume II, 1915–1984. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Gershwin, Ira. Lyrics on Several Occasions. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959.
Gould, Neil. Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.
Green, Stanley. Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre. New York: The Da Capo Press, 1980.
———. Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book: A Record of Their Works Together and with Other Collaborators. New
York: The Lynn Farnol Group, 1980.
Hart, Dorothy. Thou Swell, Thou Witty: The Life and Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
Hart, Dorothy, and Robert Kimball (eds.). The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.
Hirschhorn, Clive. The Hollywood Musical: Every Hollywood Musical from 1927 to the Present Day. New York: Crown
Publishing, Inc., 1981.
The Internet Broadway Database. https://ibdb.com/.
The Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/.
Kimball, Robert (ed.). The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
609
610 BIBLIOGRAPHY
———. The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Kimball, Robert, and Linda Emmet (eds.). The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
Kreuger, Miles. Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Maltin, Leonard (ed.). Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era through 1965. Third edition. New York: Plume, 2015.
MetOpera Database. The Metropolitan Opera Archives. https://archives.metoperafamily.org./archives/frame.htm.
Newspapers.com Database. https://www.newspapers.com.
Norton, Richard C. A Chronology of American Musical Theatre. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Parker, Dorothy, and Kevin C. Fitzpatrick (ed.). Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918–1923. Bloomington, IN:
iUniverse LLC, 2014.
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. New York: Random House, 1975.
Seeley, Robert, and Rex Bunnett. London Musical Shows on Record, 1889–1989. Harrow, UK: General Gramophone Pub-
lications Ltd., 1989.
Suskin, Steven. Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows and Careers of Broadway’s Major Composers. Third edition. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000.
van Hoogstraten, Nicholas. Lost Broadway Theatres. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1991.
Index
Aarons, Alex (Alexander) A., 101–2, 230, 256, 296, 336, Alcock, Merle, 367
419, 422, 455, 482, 490, 492, 519, 547 Alda, Delyle, 51
Aarons, Alfred E., 408 Alda, Frances, 4
Aaronson, Alex, 92 Alden, Jane, 459, 535
Aaronson, Irving, 478 Aldrich, Meeka, 496
Abarbanell, Lina, 328, 555 Aldrich, Richard, 5
Abbott, Bud, 364 Alexander, Rod, 419
Abbott, Eleanor, 210 Alfred, Julian, 5, 19, 24, 43, 53, 108–9, 139, 168, 171, 179–
Abbott, George, 362 80, 195, 225, 228, 274, 339
Abie’s Irish Rose, 261 Alias Ltd., 542
Abrams, Irwin, 314 Alicoate, Jack, 281
A.C., 404, 406–7, 411, 430 Allan, Edward, 223, 484
Aceto, Adam, 178 Allen, Beatrice, 261
Acker, Mabel, 358 Allen, Edward, 364
Ackerman, Jean, 497 Allen, Ethel, 505
Ackerman, P. Dodd, 26, 48, 53, 74, 101, 109, 157, 167, Allen, Fred, 508–10
173, 195, 227, 238, 267, 279, 308, 316, 339, 364, 395, Allen, Harry, 233–34
406, 408, 412, 467, 476, 488 Allen, Harry R., 101
Ackerman (P. Dodd) Studios, 17, 60 Allen, Jonelle, 273
Adair, John, 147, 333 Allen, Joseph, 222
Adaire, Josephine, 497 Allen, Lester, 287, 451, 557–58
Ada-May, 32–33, 81, 187–88, 267, 512 Allen, Louise, 23, 116
Adams, Bill, 292 Allen, Viola, 381
Adams, Frank R., 233 Allison, Bessie, 329
Adams, Laurette, 512 Allyson, June, 395
Adams, Maude, 62 Alter, Louis, 478
Adams, R. Addison, 208 Alton, Robert, 395
Adler, Else, 57–58 Always You, 1–2
Adler, Hyman, 382 Amend, Karl O., 254, 286, 304, 357, 449
Adrian, 140, 170 Amend (Karl O.) Studios, 191–92
Adrienne, 162–63 American Allied Arts, 399–400
A.E.M., 349 American Opera Company, 443
Afgar, 40–42 Ames, Florenz, 142, 225, 496
Agate, James, 218, 349 A.M.J., 156
Ager, Milton, 447 Anderson, Arthur, 541
Agnolucci, Mario, 76, 87 Anderson, Harry, 234, 282
Ahern, Townsend, 83 Anderson, Hilding, 24, 94, 151, 178, 191, 215, 244, 292,
Aimes, Paul, 366 501
Akst, Harry, 301 Anderson, Hugh A., 153
Alberni, Luis, 354–55, 373 Anderson, Ida, 523
Albert, Eddie, 419 Anderson, John, 300, 375–76, 416, 426
Albertson, Frank, 520 Anderson, John Murray, 153–54, 271, 505
611
Anderson, Percy, 30 Atteridge, Harold, 63, 84, 102, 144, 206, 210, 240, 247, 540
Anderson, Virginia, 173 Atwell, Lionel, 516
Andrada, David, 50 Atwell, Roy, 165
Andrews, Adora, 188 Auburn, Jayne, 230
Andrews, Albert G., 98 Austin, Beth, 500
Andrews, Charlton, 516 Austin, Marguerite, 246
Andrews, Julie, 219 Austin, Phyllis, 379
Andrews, Lyle D., 227, 279, 347, 417, 514 Aveling, Claude, 357
Angel (Morris) and Son, 542 Ayer, 264
Angela, 495–97 Ayers, Mitchell, 531
Angelo, Charles, 65, 276 Ayers, Paula, 424
Animal Crackers, 486–88 Aylesworth, Arthur, 109, 510
Annie Dear, 223–25
Ansell, John, 187 Babcock, Theodore, 359
Anthony, Grace, 367 Bacon, Gerald, 60
Appleby, Dorothy, 234 Bacon, Lloyd, 552, 554
Arbuckle, Ivan, 503 Badaloni, Rodolpho, 356
Arcaro, Flavia, 271, 379 Baddeley, Hermione, 411
Arch Productions, 261 Badger, Clarence, 270, 479
Archer, Harry, 29, 166, 194, 227–28, 279–80, 339–40, 476 Baer, Abel, 373
Ardell, Franklyn, 189 Baer, Arthur “Bugs,” 48
Arden, Eve, 270 Bafunno, Antonio, 212
Arden, Victor, 421 Bagby, George, 516–17
Arlen, Harold, 364, 539 Bagwell, Marsha, 436
Arlington, 15 Bainter, Fay, 210–11, 229
Arlington, Kathryn, 320 Baird, Stewart, 104
Arlington, Paul, 101, 144 Baker, Belle, 349–51, 477
Arlington (Paul) Inc., 1, 29, 94, 113, 118, 120, 160, 162, Baker, Dan, 34
167, 201, 247 Baker, Edythe, 146, 240, 301–3
Arlington-Mahieu, 281 Baker, Josephine, 213–15
Armand, 478 Baker, Mark, 298
Armin, Walter, 320 Baker, Shirley, 96, 151
Armont, Paul, 104 Bakst, Leon, 30
Arms, Frances, 178 Baldwin, Winnie, 254
Armstrong, Dorothy, 3, 74 Balieff, Nikita, 114
Armstrong, Paul, 238 Ballard, Pat, 537
Armstrong, Robert, 15–16, 366 Bancroft, George, 183
Arnold, Laura, 162 Bancroft, Millicent, 501
Arnst, Bobbe, 440 The Band Wagon, 231
Aronson, Boris, 273 Bangs, John Kendrick, 501
Arthur, Frederick, 99 Banks, Hugh, 240
Arthur, George K., 118 Banton, Travis, 227
Arthur, John, 155 Baravalle, Victor, 7–8, 40, 60, 88, 135, 157, 176, 284, 327,
As You Were, 2–4 330, 349, 364, 379, 430, 455
Asche, Oscar, 30–31 Barber, Dorothy, 308, 465
Ash, Sam, 27, 92–93, 414, 501 Barbier, George, 135
Astaire, Adele, 83–84, 101–2, 135, 137, 230–32, 420, 547 Barbier (of Paris), 352, 463, 496, 503, 512, 535
Astaire, Fred, 73, 83–84, 101–2, 135, 137, 230–32, 276, Barbour, Joyce, 247, 319, 453
379, 420–21, 463, 538, 547 Barclay, Don, 293
Astrova, Marie, 91 Barde, Andre, 40, 465
Atkinson, David, 531 Barker, Jack, 267, 269, 293
Atkinson, Don, 511 Barker, John, 510
Atkinson, J. Brooks, 35, 47, 261, 299, 311, 318, 323, 326– Barker, Shirley, 48, 58, 142
27, 329–30, 332, 336–38, 345, 357, 359–60, 363, 378, Barlow, Betty, 96
380, 383, 387, 394, 409, 413, 416–18, 421–22, 426–27, Barnard, Ivor, 317
437, 439, 442, 446, 449, 452, 454, 456, 470, 473, 483, Barnes, Clive, 535
485, 487, 491, 494, 497, 499, 505–6, 514–15, 517–20, Barnes, Howard, 47, 494–95
522, 524, 529, 533, 541–42, 545, 554, 558 Barnes, Mae, 261
Atlas and LaMarr, 547, 549 Barnes, Will R., 176
Index 613
Barnet, Ray, 428 Beaux Arts Studio, 32, 92, 113, 151
Barnett, Zoe, 78 Bechet, Sidney, 159–60
Barney, 130 Beck, Martin, 225–26
Barnolt, Louise, 92 Beebe, Irving, 40, 189–90, 286
Barnum, P. T., 353–54 Beebe, Lucius, 426
Baron, Al, 250 Beery, Noah, 301, 426–27, 535
Baron, Albert, 341 Beeson, Jack, 267
Baron, Charles, 412 Belbridge, David, 99
Baron, Evalyn, 267 Bel-Geddes, Norman, 4, 122, 230–31, 410, 552–54
Barr, Kathy, 344 Belinda!, 264
Barratt, Augustus, 271, 555 Bell, Charles W., 155, 194
Barratt, Watson, 63, 71, 78, 85, 99, 102, 104, 123, 128, 144, Bell, Marion, 219
147, 153, 160, 206, 210, 234, 240, 242, 247, 264, 287, Bell, Tommy, 34
290, 320–21, 333, 352, 371, 374, 397, 415, 444–45, 465, The Belle of New York, 71–73
496, 503, 512, 521, 535, 540, 542 Belledna, Alex, 523
Barrett, Brent, 534 Belmore, Daisy, 98
Barrett, James S., 239, 286 Belmore, Herbert, 327
Barrett, Raymond, 5 Benatzky, Ralph, 63, 333
Barrie, Amanda, 338 Benavente, Joseph, 496
Barrie, James M., 62 Benchley, Robert, 417, 420, 533, 538–39, 542, 546, 549,
Barrister, 467 551, 554, 558, 560
Barron, Arthur, 30 Bendel, Henri, 15, 42, 109, 185, 440, 451
Barron, Charles, 490 Bendix, Max, 223, 316
Barry, Arthur, 374 Benetti, Carlo, 424
Barry, Ed, 273 Benham, 267
Barry, Frank, 373 Benham, Earl, 54, 122, 157, 183, 284, 408
Barry, Jimmie, 137 Benham & Co., 118, 276, 410
Barry, Jimmie, Mrs., 137 Bennett, Constance, 121
Barry, Jimmy, 168 Bennett, David, 17, 21, 29, 54–55, 57, 127, 149, 162, 170–
Barrymore, Ethel, 266, 435 71, 206, 210, 215–16, 222–23, 238, 276, 284, 286, 330,
Barrymore, John, 241, 285, 367, 542 344, 369, 408, 424, 436, 484
Bartella, 167 Bennett, Evelyn, 461
Bartholomae, Phillip, 74–75, 310 Bennett, Hugh, 422
Barton, James, 64, 102, 104, 160–61 Bennett, Magda, 364
Barton, Ralph, 168 Bennett, Robert Russell, 279
Bartsch, Rudolf Hans, 78 Bennett, Wilda, 123–25, 225–27
Baskcomb, A. W., 255, 280, 319 Benny, Ben, 119
Bass, Paul, 313 Benrimo, J. H., 371
Bates, Edna, 15 Benson, Sally, 303
Bates, “Scotty,” 488 Bent, Marion, 54
Bates, Thorpe, 126 Bentley, Spencer, 223
Batie, Franklyn A., 85 Bergdorf Goodman, 43, 76, 96, 187
Battles, George, 449 Berger, Ludwig, 276
Battling Buttler, 171–73 Bergman, Caryl, 532
Bauer, Jack, 412 Bergman Studios, 349
Baxter, Gladys, 540–42 Beri, Beth, 153
Bayer-Schumacher Company, 137, 247, 287 Berkeley, Busby, 219, 269, 282, 335, 373, 417, 428, 430,
Bayes, Nora, 48–49, 127–28 453–55, 461–62, 493, 505–6, 535–37
Be Yourself!, 220–21 Berkeley, Martin, 369
Beach, Gary, 535 Berle, Milton, 366
Beach, Rex, 238 Berlin, Irving, 54, 293, 295–96, 350–51
Beaston, Frank, 240, 364 Bernard, Lester, 461
The Beatles, 427 Bernard, Sam, 3–4, 356–57
Beatty, Roberta, 135, 157, 198, 234, 415–16 Bernhauser, Rudolf, 128
Beaumont, Aline, 436 Bernie, Ben, 455–56
Beaumont, Bertee, 366 Bernier, Peggy, 549
Beaumont, Sascha, 279, 336 Berry, 189
Beaumont Studios, 388, 525 Berry, Audrey, 422
Beaumonte, Bertee, 57 Berry, Leigh, 271
Berry, W. H. (Bill), 169, 280 Bond, Brenda, 406

Berte, Emil, 521 Bone Soeurs, 552
Berte, Heinrich, 78 Bonwit, Elise, 339
Berthe, Mme., 488 Booker, Leonard, 65
Berton, Charles, 399 Boom-Boom, 512–14
Bestor, Vernon, 111 Booth, John, 471, 501, 555
Betsy, 349–52 Booth, John Hunter, 386
Betty, Be Good, 16–18 Booth, John N., Jr., 308, 316
Betty Lee, 238–40 Booth, John Newton, 189, 213
Beury, James P., 201, 281 Booth, Marjorie, 91
Beverley, Gaile, 454 Booth-Willoughby, 328
Beyond the Footlights (aka Footlights), 391–92 Boots, Antoinette, 346
Bibo, Irving, 108 Bordman, Gerald, 33, 47, 90, 136, 182–83, 197, 345–46,
Big Boy, 240–42 370, 378, 494
Billie, 474–76 Bordoni, Irene, 3–4, 478–80
Billings, James, 57 Borough, Marguerite, 382
Billy Four, 43 Bosco, Philip, 264
Binney, Constance, 189–90 Boston, Kalmar & Ruby, Ltd., 557
Birabeau, Andre, 436 Bosworth, Hallam, 108
Birns, William, 36 Bottomland, 388–89
Birns (William) Co., 116 Bottomley, Roland, 13, 126
Bishop, Andrew, 507 Boucicault, Aubrey, 234
Bisson, Alexandre, 7–8 Boulanger, Louise, 478
Bitter Sweet, 542–47 Boulden, Alice, 482, 547
Black Scandals, 488 Boulden, Howard, 239
Blair, Eugenie, 21 Bow, Clara, 187
Blair, Janet, 419 Bowdin, Rae, 189
Blaire, Laine, 304, 358, 555, 557 Bower, Edward P., 10
Blake, Eubie, 66–69, 155, 213–14 Bowers, Robert Hood, 379
Blaney, Norah, 275 Bowhan, Sibylla, 173–74
Blank, Anna, 414 Box, Sidney, 81
Blazer, Judith, 419 Boyd, Dorothy, 544
Bledsoe, Jules, 329, 435 Boyle, John, 316, 356–57, 512, 557
Bleichmann, Rudolf, 234 Bozardt, Victor, 352
The Blonde Sinner, 314–15 Bracken, Eddie, 436
Blondell, Joan, 552 Brackett, Charles, 314–15, 317, 319, 321, 323, 325, 334–36,
Blore, Eric, 413, 455–56, 496, 552 338, 340, 345, 347, 351, 353, 355, 357–59, 361, 363,
Blossom, Henry M., Jr., 15–16 371–72, 376, 380, 394, 397, 399, 402, 405, 407, 411,
Blossom Time, 78–81 416, 418, 421, 423, 426–27, 430, 434, 438–39, 442, 445–
Blue Eyes, 51–52 46, 449–50, 452, 454, 456, 462, 464, 468, 470, 473, 475,
The Blue Kitten, 96–97 478–79, 481, 483, 485, 487, 491, 494, 499, 502, 504,
The Blushing Bride, 99–100 506, 511, 514–15, 518, 520, 526, 529
Blyth, Ann, 219, 236 Bradbury, Walter, 310
Bodansky, Robert, 248 Bradley, Buddy, 506
Bodanzky, Ralph, 104 Bradley, Edwin M., 426–27
Bogardus, Stephen, 535 Bradley, Oscar, 123, 210, 234, 341, 361, 440
Bohlman, Edgar, 443 Bradley Knitting Mills, 488
Bold, Richard, 53 Brady, Olive, 497
Boles, John, 254–55, 310, 343, 364, 495 Brady, William A., 310
Boles, Viola, 205 Brady, William S., 555
Boleslavsky, Richard, 428, 451 Brady (William A.) Ltd., 130
Boley, May, 50–51, 151, 233, 293 Bragdon, Guy, 171
Bolger, Ray, 119, 279, 443, 547 Braine, Robert, 215
Bolton, Guy, 45, 74–75, 104–5, 115–16, 195–97, 230, 296, Bramble, Mark, 453
325, 336, 338, 352, 361–62, 409, 438, 440, 508, 556 Brammer, Julius, 63, 102, 125, 321, 374
Bolton, Helen, 29, 130–31, 227 Branden, Ethel, 78
Bombo, 84–87 Brandon, Jocelyn, 99
Bomboola, 525–27 Brandon, Johnny, 199
Bon Bon Buddy, Jr., 135 Brandt, Eddie, 559
Index 615
Brandt, William, 239 Brown, Martin, 478

Brantley, Ben, 535 Brown, Maxine, 113, 191
Braun, Eugene, 30 Brown, Nacio Herb, 500
Breau, Louis, 171 Brown, Russ, 480
Breen, Margaret, 549 Brown, Sarah, 540
Breen, Nellie, 173–74, 254, 286, 341 Brown, Sherman, 57
Brennan, J. Keirn, 512, 521 Brown, Steve, 267
Brennan, Walter, 503 Brown, Walter P., 556
Breslin, Tommy, 512 Browne, J. Albert, 54
Bretschneider, Carl, 242 Browne, Lewis Allen, 233
Breuer, Kurt, 521 Browne, Roscoe Lee, 422
Brewer, John H., 157 Browning, William E., 326
Brian, Donald, 130, 407, 438 Brownlee, John, 275
Brice, Fannie, 516, 518 Bruce, Richard, 19
Brightman, Stanley, 171 Brulatour, Jules, 226
Brill, Leighton K., 461, 532 Brune, Adrienne, 453
Bringing Up Father, 252–54 Brune, Phebe, 298
Brinkley, Grace, 463 Bruner, Jerome, 48
Britton, Tony, 270 Bruns, Jack, 377
Brockbank, Harrison, 147, 451 Bryan, Al, 125
Broderick, Helen, 270, 344, 553–54 Bryan, Alfred, 3, 105
Brodszky, Nicholas, 236 Bryan, Gertrude, 195, 197
Brooke, Clifford, 51, 223, 516 Bryan, Wayne, 512
Brooke, J. Clifford, 5 Bryant, Frances, 162
Brooks, Donald, 394 Bryant, Nana, 335, 417
Brooks, Walter, 66, 133, 151, 155, 167, 173, 199–200, 227, Brymn, J. Tim, 133
292, 366, 414, 427 Bubbling Brown Sugar, 69
Brooks and Eaves, 91 Buchanan, Jack, 155, 171–73, 278, 479
Brooks Costume Company, 12, 51, 96, 216, 230, 244, 276, Buck, Gene, 359, 422
284, 290, 307, 310, 320, 325, 330, 336, 349, 361, 369, Bulger, 109
410, 414, 422, 440, 484, 488, 507, 552 Bullock, Walter, 121
Brooks Theatrical Costume Company, 34 The Bunch and Judy, 135–37
Brooks Uniform Company, 15, 58, 118, 250, 266, 296, 336 Bunker, Ralph, 314
Brooks-Mahieu, 153, 155, 157, 162, 168, 176, 183, 195, Bunyea, Ninon, 555
199, 201, 261 Burbank, Sam, 13
Broomfield, Leroy, 159 Burby, Gordon, 417
Brophy, David, 273 Burch, Shelly, 436
Broun, Heywood, 22, 31, 46–47, 50–51, 55–56, 59, 61–62, Burckly, Arthur, 212
76, 112, 134, 140, 154, 161, 163, 196–97, 199, 214, 216, Burgess, Dorothy, 358–59
225, 229, 234, 245, 265, 473, 477, 511, 518, 533–34 Burgess, Kendall, 319
Brown, A. Seymour, 162 Burgette, Gladys, 153
Brown, Alice, 160 Burke, Billie, 223–24, 229, 252
Brown, Arnold, 377 Burke, Joe, 48, 558
Brown, Bill, 427 Burke, Katherine, 497
Brown, Billy, 34 Burke, Tom, 354
Brown, Calvin, 459 Burks, Hattie, 42
Brown, Charles, 215 Burns, Paul, 108, 151
Brown, Fred, 34 Burns, Robert D., 451
Brown, Georgie, 127 Burnside, Kathryn, 330
Brown, Harry, 34 Burnside, R. H., 13, 15, 34–35, 176, 225, 244, 284, 330,
Brown, Honey, 449 484, 537
Brown, J. Mardo, 213 Burr, Donald, 273
Brown, Jean (Louise), 120–21 Burress, William, 13
Brown, Jessica, 14 Burroughs, Don, 42
Brown, Joe E., 32–33, 47, 239–40, 266, 340, 483, 495, 552, Burrows, Abe, 394
558 Burson, Letha, 537
Brown, John Mason, 542, 546 Burt, Benjamin Hapgood, 286
Brown, Lew, 356, 392, 400, 482, 484 Burt, Frederic, 155
Brown, Louise, 266, 310, 493, 514, 549, 559–60 Burton, Bob, 537
Burton, David, 222 Carle, Richard, 163

Busby, Earl, 465 Carlo, Monte, 74–76, 155, 192, 211–12, 233, 292, 501
Bushman, Francis X., 125 Carlson, Doris, 528
Busse, Henry, 460–61 Carlson, Richard, 270
Butler, David, 270 Carlton, Carle, 74, 194, 354–55
Butt, Alfred, 453 Carlton, Thelma, 48
Butterfield, Everett, 192 Carnegie, Hattie, 336
Butterworth, Charles, 461–62 Carol, Cecil, 530
Buzzell, Eddie, 117, 209, 304, 341, 461, 514–15 Caroline, 146–48
Byam, John, 223, 358 Carpenter, Constance, 417–18, 506
Bye, Bye, Barbara, 211–12 Carpenter, Irving, 7
Bye Bye, Bonnie, 357–59 Carpenter, Thelma, 69
Byng, George W., 133 Carr, Howard, 97
Byram, John, 407 Carr, Jack, 264
Byrd, Joe, 259 Carre, Michel, 40
Byrne, Gypsy, 476 Carrington, Helen, 199, 317, 319, 455
Byron, A. S., 373 Carroll, David-James, 338
Carroll, Earl, 286–87, 516–17
Cadman, Charles Wakefield, 443 Carroll, Henry, 464
Caesar, Irving, 36, 144, 168, 238, 255, 267, 270–71, 303, Carroll, Jane, 179, 274
349, 386, 406, 455, 508 Carroll, John, 279, 364
Caine, Georgia, 37, 81, 220–21 Carroll, Marie, 5–6, 87–88
Calcium Light Company, 153 Carroll, Nancy, 230, 290–91, 512
Caldwell, Anne, 7, 24, 34, 45, 88, 135, 176, 198–99, 228, Carroll, Richard F., 252
284, 330, 344, 359, 422, 484, 539–40 Carroll, Vinnette, 273
Caldwell, Gladys, 14, 85 Carson, Grace, 308
Caldwell, Orville R., 30 Carson, James B., 19, 167, 171
Calhern, Louis, 236, 535 Carson, Maxine, 420, 445
Callahan, Marie, 90, 468 Carson, Violet, 416, 532
Callan, Chris, 343 Carswell, Ben, 377
Callaway, Liz, 453 Carter, Barrington, 313
Calley, Robert, 123 Carter, Desmond, 199, 232, 257, 349
Calthrop, Gladys E., 542 Carter, Rex, 63
Cameron, Frances, 40 Caruso, Enrico, 5
Cameron, Hugh, 3, 60, 298 Caryl, William, 215, 559
Cameron, Madeline, 328, 349, 510 Caryll, Ivan, 34–37, 104–5, 357
Cameron, Rudolph, 195, 358 Caryll, Primrose, 36, 330
Cameron, William, 252 Case, Alan, 339
Camp, Shep, 301, 395, 415 Case, Helen, 237
Campbell, Allan, 430 Casey, Kittye, 301
Campbell, Colin, 98 Cash, Nat, 523
Campbell, George, 20 Casmore, Vic, 23, 142
Campbell, Irma, 10 Cass, Peggy, 554
Campbell, Walter, 313 Cassel, Walter, 343
Cansino, Angel, 330 Cassidy, Jack, 247, 339
Cansino, Eduardo, 9, 15 Cassidy, Patrick, 339
Cansino, Elisa, 15 Cassidy Company, 131, 183
Cansino Brothers, 9, 14–15 Castle, Nick, 121
Cantor, Eddie, 185–87, 249, 498–500 Castle, William, 13, 139, 187, 307, 478
Cantor, Lew, 148 Castle, William E., 29, 171, 228
Capehart, Charles, 192 Castles in the Air, 316–17
Capitol Stage Lighting Company, 325, 399 Catlett, Walter, 45, 222–23, 230, 457
Capps, Kendall, 512 Cauble, Becky, 74
Capra, Frank, 449 Cavanaugh, Alice, 114
Capron, Robert, 325 Cavanaugh, Evelyn, 5, 36, 53, 149, 160, 308
Captain Jinks, 265–67 Cavendish, Charles, 136
Cardinali, Roberto, 546 Cawthorn, Joseph, 39–40, 96, 136, 155, 276, 535
Carey, A. J., 144 Ceballos, Larry, 91, 148, 153, 191–92, 208, 240, 304, 552–
Carey, Addison, 213 53, 558
Index 617
Ceeley, Leonard, 408–9, 540, 546 Clark, Edward, 15, 26, 99, 157–58, 194
Ceiley, Leonard, 188 Clark, Eva, 137, 225
Cerdan, Esteban, 530 Clark, Gilbert, 144, 153
C.G.H., 263, 502 Clark, Harry, 160
Chadbourne, Mortimer, 310 Clark, Patricia (Patrice), 89, 135, 230
Chadwick, Ida May, 194–95 Clark, Wilfred, 505
Chadwick, Thomas, 532 Clark (Gilbert) Inc., 83, 165
Chaffin, Philip, 312 Clark (Peter) Inc., 461
Chalmers, Lionel, 30, 126 Clarke, Grant, 301
Chamberlain, Ida Hoyt, 399–400 Clarke, Harry, 55, 233, 244
Chamberlain, Peggy, 455–56 Clarke, John, 287
Champagne, Sec, 541 Clayton, Ethel, 108
Chaplin, Charlie, 278 Clayton, Lou, 528
Chapman, Bert, 430 Clemens, Doyle and Black, 185
Chapman, John, 47, 76 Clemens, Gertrude, 344
Chapman, William, 276 Clemens, Le Roy, 51–52
Chappell, George S., 16, 20, 22, 24–25, 28 Clement, Joan, 438
Chappelle, Chappy, 159, 507 Clements, Dudley, 521
Charig, Philip, 199, 406, 412, 508 Clemons, 45, 323, 325, 327, 410
Charters, Spencer, 160, 387 Clemons, Gertrude, 227
Chase, Dave, 448 Cleopatra’s Night, 4–5
Chase, Erma, 354 Cleveland, Phyllis, 223, 256, 284–85, 295
Chase, Newell, 276 Clewis, Cullen, 354
Chatterton, Ruth, 228–29 Cliff, Leslie, 516
Chauve-Souris, 114 Clifford, Billy, 151
Chee-Chee, 471–74 Clifford, Jack, 141
Chelsea Production Corporation, 153 Clifton, Bernard, 421, 512
Cherry, Frances H., 282 Cline, Edward, 455
Cherry, John, 91, 141 The Clinging Vine, 139–40
Cherry Blossoms, 371–73 Clive, Helene C., 361
Chesney, Charles, 540 Clooney, Rosemary, 100
Chester, Alfred, 523 Closser, Louise, 478
Chester, Alma, 199 Cloy, Robert C., 395
Chester, Elizabeth, 478 Clutsam, G. H., 81
Chez Routon, 192 Clyde, June, 327, 379, 540
The Chiffon Girl, 192–93 Coast, John, 234, 236
Child, Alan, 541 Coburn, Charles, 10
Chilvers, Hugh, 321 Coburn, Charles, Mrs., 10
China Rose, 244–46 Coburn, Gladys, 94
Chinese-American Importing Company, 244 Coca, Imogene, 282
Chippies, 524 Cochran, Charles B., 3, 542
Chisholm, Robert, 418, 424, 426, 534 Cochrane, Frank, 32
The Chocolate Dandies, 213–15 Cochrane, June, 308
Chodorov, Jerome, 264 The Cocoanuts, 293–96
Choos, George, 171, 173, 488 Cohan, George M., 37–38, 81–82, 131–33, 149, 183–84,
Chopin, Frederic, 463–64 402–4, 474–75
Christy, Lew, 200 Cohen Bros., 467
Chu Chin Chow, 31 Cohen & Gentlemen, 45
Ciannelli, Edouard (Edward), 1, 216 Cohenour, Patti, 535
Cinders, 157–58 Cohn, Max, 173
The Circus Princess, 374–76 Coin de Paris of Wanamaker’s, 135
Cirker and Robbins, 259 Coit, Sam, 266
The City Chap, 284–86 Colantuoni, Alberto, 237
Clair, Al, 361 Colbert, Claudette, 446
Claire, 296 Colbert, Stephen, 427
Claire, Bernice, 270, 301, 343, 520, 558 Cole, Jack, 290
Claire, Rosalie, 414–15, 445 Cole, Lester, 343, 347
Clark, Alexander, 246, 307 Cole, Louis, 388–89
Clark, Bobby, 326–27 Cole, Vera Bayles, 85
Cole Brothers, 523 Corbeau et Cle, 167

Coleman, Cy, 354 Corbett, Frank J., 201
Coleman, Harry, 36 Corbin, John, 129–30, 136–37, 140
Coleman, Kitty, 537 Corcoran, Jane, 310
Coleman, Robert, 434 Corder, Leeta, 173
Coleman, Ted, 201 Cordner, Blaine, 488, 527
Coles, Charles “Honi,” 422 Cork, J. Frank, 53, 128, 290
Colin, Jean, 411 Cornell, Peggy, 445, 535
Collier, William, 23, 29, 220, 304, 335–36 Corrigan, Lloyd, 512
Collins, Ceciley Youmans, 270 Corsaro, Frank, 500
Collins, Charles, 178, 332 Corson, Alex, 48
Collins, Dorothy, 381 Cort, Harry L., 32, 66, 151, 178, 244, 366
Collins, Frank, 40 Cort, John, 32, 92
Collins, Gene, 427 Cortelyou, George B., 391
Collins, Guy, 40 Cortelyou, Winthrop, 389–91
Collins, Harry, 116 Cosgrove, Douglas, 113
Collins, James, 252 Coslow, Sam, 230, 238, 276
Collins, Madeline, 246–47 Costello, Lou, 364
Collins, Miriam, 12 Countess Maritza, 321–23
Collins, Neil, 394 Coupe, Walter, 13
Colman, Ronald, 382 Courtney, Inez, 279, 301, 335, 508, 519–20
Colston, Percy, 313 Courtney, Perqueta, 339
Colton, John, 52 Coward, Noel, 542, 546
Columbus, Charles, 344 Cowles, Albert, 373
Colvan, Zeke, 430, 527 Cox, Catherine, 500
Comden, Betty, 395 Coyle, Jack, 391
Compton, Betty, 285, 336, 420, 482, 552 Coyne, Joseph, 319
Comstock, F. Ray, 30, 40, 195 Craddock, Earle, 209
Conant, Homer, 3 Craig, Amanda, 159
Condon, Eva, 308 Craig, George, 99
Conkey, Thomas, 137 Craig, Richy, 326
Conley, Ruth, 209 Craik, Robert, 274
A Connecticut Yankee, 416–19 Crandall, Elizabeth, 505
Connell, Jane, 271 Crater, Allene, 177–78, 330, 332
Connelly, Dolly, 54 Craven, Frank, 13–15, 130–31, 339
Connelly, Marc, 165, 220–21, 459–60 Crawford, Broderick, 553
Connolly, Bobby, 310, 312, 323, 341, 364, 392, 394, 419, Crawford, Francis Marion, 381
468, 471, 490, 510, 519, 527, 535, 550 Crawford, Joan, 121, 219
Connors, Jack, 205–6, 399 Crawford, Lester, 552–53
Conrad, Con, 191–92, 238, 240, 254, 310, 449 Crawford, Nan, 206
Conrad, Eddie, 356, 467 Crazy for You, 492
Conrad, Eugene, 215, 559 Creamer, Henry, 10, 158, 206, 449, 507
Constance, Beatrice, 43 Creco, William, 162
Conte, John, 419 Criss Cross, 330–33
Conwell, O’Kane, 7, 13, 34 Criswell, Kim, 273, 554
Cook, Barbara, 436 Criterion Productions, 158
Cook, Cecil, 357 Crockett, Charles, 118
Cook, Elisha, Jr., 303 Croft, Annie, 169
Cook, Joe, 447–49 Croker-King, Charles, 463
Cook, Marie, 21 Crompton, Miss, 93
Cook, Olga, 78, 80 Cromwell, John, 310
Cook, Phil, 118, 199, 281 Crooker, Earle, 427
Cook, William, 387 Crosby, Bing, 419
Coolidge, Calvin, 241 Crosby, Phoebe, 170
Cooper, Irving, 525 Crosland, Alan, 241, 300
Cooper, Jimmie, 525 Cross, Jules, 290
Cooper, Richard, 66 Cross, Wellington, 267
Coots, J. Fred, 93–94, 120, 160, 264, 290, 414, 550–51 Cross My Heart, 466–68
Copinger, Inc., 130 Croswell, Anne, 381
Index 619
Crowley, Ann, 303 Davenport, Harry, 72–73

Croyle, Dorothy, 505 Davenport, Milla, 165
Crumit, Frank, 17, 74, 76, 338 David, Amon, 159
Cryer, David, 343 David, Worton, 40
The Cuckoos, 327 Davidow, Edward, 137
Culkin, Philip, 206 Davidson, W. B., 57
Cunningham, Cecil, 187 Davies, Lilian, 333–34
Cunningham, Leon, 274 Davies, Marion, 62, 73, 411
Curry, Kenneth, 286 Davis, Al, 133
Curtiz, Michael, 276 Davis, Benjamin O., 252
Cushing, Catherine Chisholm, 12, 97, 237 Davis, Benny, 550
Cushing, Edward, 460 Davis, Charles, 66, 313, 341
Cutler, Grace, 529 Davis, Hubert, 271
Cutter, Royal, 55, 98 Davis, Joan, 121
Cutting, Ernest, 167, 227, 279, 308, 459, 559 Davis, Owen, 497, 514–15, 518, 520
Cuvillier, Charles, 40 Davis, Richard Harding, 13
Cyber, 478, 488 Davis, Robert Hobart, 497
Davis, Roger, 135
Daffy Dill, 114–16 Dawber, Pam, 535
Dale, Alan, 88, 291, 348, 418, 434 Dawn, Eleanor, 116, 267, 326
Dale, Charles, 72 Dawn, Gloria, 188
Dale, Glen, 191, 341 Day, Diana, 339
Dale, Margaret, 157, 440 Day, Doris, 270, 408
Dale, Sunny, 557 Day, Dorothy, 552
Daley, Frank, 537 Day, Edith, 122–23, 149–51, 218, 343, 363, 435
Daley, Jerome, 149 Day, Juliette, 178–79, 305
Daley, Timothy, 123 Dayne, Marie, 444
Dallas, Lorna, 435 De Becker, Harold, 314
Dalton, Fred, 361 De Cardi, Laura, 181
Daly, Dan, 72–73 de Croisset, François, 122
Daly, Jerome, 366 De Garcy Co., 392
Daly, John J., 433 de Gresac, Fred, 122
Daly, Thy, 17 de Meyer, Baron, 45
Daly, Timothy, 63 de Reeder, Pierre, 463, 535
Daly, William, 83, 101, 125, 137–38, 142, 153, 179, 257, De Rohan, Pierre, 520
296, 336, 420, 527 De Wolfe, Billy, 270, 296
Damone, Vic, 379 de Zamora, José, 179
The Dancing Girl, 144–46 Deagon, Arthur, 216, 403–4
Danforth, William, 80, 287 Deans, James W., 171
D’Angelo, Louis, 4, 367 Dear Sir, 221–23
Daniels, Bebe, 364 Dearest Enemy, 271–73
Danjou, Jeanne, 205 Deas, Lawrence, 66
Dano, Edward, 130 DeBrocq, E. L., 98
Darby, Myrna, 497 Debussy, Agatha, 45
Darcy, Maurice, 122 Decker, Todd, 436
Dare, Ada, 72 DeCosta, Leon, 261–62, 314
Dare, Danny, 410, 532 Dee, Pauline, 501
Darewski, Herman, 3 Deep Harlem, 507–8
D’Arle, Yvonne, 321, 323 Deep River, 328–30
Darling, Beatrice, 50 Deering, Oliver, 153
Darling, Candy, 535 DeForest, Patsie, 292
Darling, Elizabeth, 50 DeGuary, Babette, 474
D’Arnell, Nydia, 327 Del Ruth, Roy, 343, 483
Darnelle, Paul, 373 Delaney, Jere, 254
Darnton, Charles, 7–8, 11–15, 17, 33, 35, 38, 40–41, 43–44, Delbridge, Edwin, 397
46–47, 49–52, 54, 56–59, 63–64, 66, 73, 80, 82, 84, 86, DeLeon, Walter, 160, 187, 306, 488
93, 95, 97–98, 103–5, 107, 109–10, 112, 119, 121–25, Delf, Harry, 42, 148–49
128–29, 131, 134, 137, 139 deLille, Lola, 410
Darville, Evelyn, 408 deLima, C. A., 26
Dell, Claudia, 440 Dolores, 45

Delroy, Irene, 455–56, 510, 557 Domingo, Placido, 93
Delys, Gaby, 92 Donahue, Jack, 118–19, 220–21, 276, 278, 440, 442, 550–51
Delysia, Alice, 3, 40–42 Donahue, Joe, 119, 279
Demarest, William, 559 Donaldson, Walter, 304, 310, 497, 500
Demas, Carol, 270 Donegan, Francis X., 209, 284
Deming, Will J., 109–10 Donen, Stanley, 421
Dempster, Carol, 170 Doner, Kitty, 144, 146
Denham, Carl, 16 Doner, Ted, 144
Denni, Lucien, 327–28 Donlevy, Brian, 377, 493
Denny, Harry, 391 Donn, Berta, 148, 228, 264, 397
Dent, Nellie Graham, 215 Donne, Berta, 77
DePackh, Maurice, 141, 400 Donnelly, Dorothy, 78, 168, 234, 236, 264, 301, 397–99, 408
Derickson, Charles, 194 Donnelly, Leo, 240, 414
Derwent, Clarence, 382 Donnelly, Ruth, 3
deSegonzac, Daisy, 459 Donner, Vyvyan, 341
The Desert Song, 341–44 Dooley, Gordon, 323
DeSoria, Finita, 81 Dooley, Johnny, 19, 57, 136–37, 155
DeSylva, B. G. (Buddy), 45, 102, 122, 125, 189–90, 240, Dooley, Ray, 136–37, 404–6
255, 257, 266, 317, 392, 400, 435, 482, 484, 510 Dore, Gladys, 127
Detering, Frank, 359, 422, 430, 542 Dore, Richard, 5
Dew Drop Inn, 160–62 Dorney, Joseph R., 178
DeWitt, Francis, 379 Dorriani, William, 23
Dickey, Paul, 216, 359 Dorsey, Tommy, 539
Dickson, Dorothy, 13, 47, 348–49 Doucet, Paul, 395
Dickstein, Martin B., 315 Douglas, Walter, 173
Diehl, Otto F., 486 Dove, Billie, 187
Dietrich, Jeanette, 6 Dove, Julius, 1–2
Dietz, Howard, 168, 222–23, 336 Dowling, Eddie, 120–21, 256, 323, 325, 404–6
Dill, George V., 215 Downes, Olin, 368
Dilley, Dorothy, 310 Downey, Morton, 232
Dillingham, Charles, 7, 13, 34, 39, 83, 88, 135–36, 176, Doyle, James, 149
179, 225–26, 276, 278, 284, 330, 344–45, 369–70, 404, Drake, Alfred, 290
438, 484 Drasin, Tamara, 270
Dillon, Denny, 422 Drayton, Thaddius, 133
Dillon, John Francis, 125, 520 The Dream Girl, 210–11
Dimond, Bushnell, 283, 297, 299–300, 303, 305–6, 317, Dressler, Marie, 349
323, 338, 340, 343, 346, 351, 355, 359, 361, 365–66, Dreyfuss, Henry, 482
372, 376, 378, 380–81, 386–88, 392, 409, 411, 413, 418, Drinkwater, John, 81
421, 426–28, 430, 438–39, 454, 456, 460, 487 Driver, Donn, 273
Dingle, Tom, 148–49 Drury, Charles, 422
Display Stage Lighting Company, 27, 118, 189, 199, 254, Dubin, Al, 48, 125, 414, 558
266, 271, 341, 410, 453, 468, 493, 525 Dudley, Bide, 77–78, 113, 131, 143, 146, 150, 305, 357,
Dix, Beulah Marie, 210 546, 549, 551
Dix, Franklin A., 436 Duenweg, Robert, 377
Dix, Rolli, 329 Duey, Philip, 373
Dixon, Adele, 535 Dugan, Jack, 514
Dixon, Brandon Victor, 69 Duke, Vernon, 290, 334
Dixon, Harland, 90, 185–86, 336, 400, 493, 549, 557 Dumas, Alexandre, 65, 451
Dixon, Lee, 168 Dumbrille, Douglass R., 287, 451
Dixon, MacIntyre, 535 Dumont, Andre, 329
Dixon, Roy, 91 Dumont, Margaret, 109, 293, 295, 486
Doane, Frank, 36–37, 126, 151, 192, 308, 438 Duncan, Ina, 174
Dobbs, George, 264, 503 Duncan, Rosetta and Vivian, 35, 237–38
Dobson, Frank, 142, 144 Duncan, Sandy, 271
Dodge, D. Frank, 13, 29 Duncan, William Cary, 10, 50, 96–97, 118, 181, 233, 386,
Dodge & Castle, 36, 39, 51 406, 445, 537
Dolan, Edward, 461 Dunckley, Mary, 436
Dolan, Peggy, 503 Dunham, Katherine, 199
Index 621
Dunn, Don, 270 Elias, Rosalind, 276

Dunn, Edward Delaney, 61–63, 146, 160, 502 Eliscu, Edward, 319, 500, 514–15, 537
Dunn, Emma, 77–78 Ellinger, Desiree, 335, 371, 373, 390
Dunne, Irene, 139–40, 189, 284–85, 305, 359, 435, 438, Ellington, Duke, 527–28
455, 465–66, 535 Elliott, Gladys, 17
Dunning, Jennifer, 38 Elliott, James W., 316
Dunsmore, John, 27 Elliott, Leonard, 419
Dunsmuir, Eleanor, 445 Ellis, Charles, 430
Dunsmure, John, 218, 242 Ellis, Mary, 216, 218–19, 249
Dupree, Frank, 395, 397 Ellis, Scott, 267
Duran, Leo, 385 Ellis, Vivian, 199, 381
Durand, Edouard, 250 Ellsworth, Grace, 53
Durante, Jimmy, 121, 527–29 Elsie, 155–56
Durkee, James S., 307 Elsner, Edward, 389
Duval, Josephin, 290 Elson, Anita, 133
Duval, Victor, 445 Elton, Edmund, 482
Duwico Stage Lighting Company, 158, 261, 293, 316, 373, Emerald, Connie, 320
400, 486 Emerson, Ida, 434
Dvorsky, George, 271, 534 Emery, Edward, 65, 392
Dyrenforth, James, 141 Emery, Edwin T., 9, 395
Emery, Gilbert, 459
E.A., 148 Emery, Louie, 12
Eagan, Raymond B., 282 Emmett, Robert, 199
Eagle, Oscar, 10, 42, 98, 106, 149, 233, 237, 281–82, 293, Empire Producing Corporation, 36
305, 399, 486, 501 Enchanted Isle, 399–400
Eagles, Jeanne, 52, 524 Endich, Sara, 276
Earle, Florence, 505 Engaged, 262–64
Easton, Florence, 367–68 Engel, Georgia, 297–98
Eaton, Doris, 209, 467 Engel, Lehman, 219
Eaton, Mary, 296, 369–71, 410–11 Englander, Ludwig, 356
Eaton, Pearl, 327, 364, 381, 438, 455, 484 Enko, David, 300
Eaves Costume Company, 45, 65, 131, 250, 276, 284, 323, Enright, Ray, 426, 495
327, 330, 335, 341, 349, 361, 369, 404, 412, 422, 424, Epailly, Jules, 60, 436
440, 451, 480, 484, 486, 497, 510, 532 Epstein, Julius J., 552
Ebersole, Christine, 419 E.R., 134
Ebsen, Buddy, 501 Erlanger, A. L. (Abraham), 58, 125, 323, 327
Eburne, Maude, 87, 142 Errol, Leon, 45, 47, 60, 96, 250–52, 359–61, 509, 516, 518
E.B.W., 390 Errolle, Ralph, 352
Eckstrom, Carl, 51 Ersi, Elsa, 191
Ecton, Robert, 525 Erté, 400, 402
E.D., 221 Ervine, St. John, 470, 483, 485, 487
Eddy, Nelson, 219, 344, 443, 471, 547 Erwin, Frank, 415
Edens, Roger, 133 Esmone, Charlotte, 256
Edeson, Robert, 140 Etting, Ruth, 497, 500
Edginton, H. M. (Helen May), 267 Ettinger, Don, 121
Edmund Enterprises, Inc., 305 Eubie!, 69
Edney, Florence, 478 Evans, Greek, 234, 298, 301, 399, 423, 521
Edwardes, Felix, 230 Evans, Harry, 467
Edwards, Alan, 116, 168, 230, 402, 484 Evans, Helena Phillips, 327
Edwards, Cliff, 231–32, 276, 278 Evans, Lyle, 468
Edwards, Cynthia, 123 Evans, Neil, 123
Edwards, Sarah, 60 Evans, William, 471
Edwards, Thelma, 412 Everett, Sophie, 352
Egan, John, 168 Everett, William A., 54, 147, 224
Egbert, Jane, 415 Everton, Paul, 185, 369, 417
Eggleston, Marjorie, 195 Eville, William, 271
Elaine, Mabel, 111–12
Elesser, Bryan, 48 Fagan, Allen, 60
Eley, Helen, 171 Fairbanks, Douglas, 452
Fairbanks, Douglas, Jr., 125 Fisher-Griffo, 189

Fairbanks, Madeline, 58, 254–55, 336, 427–28 Fitch, Clyde, 266–67, 397
Fairbanks, Marion, 58, 336 Fitzgerald, Ella, 549
Fairchild, Andrew, 159 Fitzgerald, Lillian, 212
Fairchild, Edgar, 286, 318 Fitzgibbons, Dorothy, 459
Fall, Leo, 102–4, 225–26 The 5 O’Clock Girl, 409–12
Famous Fain, 301 Flack, Nanette, 301, 530
Fanny, 495 Fleeson, Neville, 15, 116, 357
Farrell, Richard, 316 Fleming, Blanche, 429
Fassett, Jay, 262, 382 Fleming, Fred T., 148
Faulkner, Worth, 170 Fleming, Susan (Suzanne), 400
Faust, Gilberta, 198 Fleming, Una, 24–25
Fay, Frank, 32–33 Fleming, Victor, 382
Fay, Joseph, 488–89 Fletcher, Juanita, 26
Fay, Olive, 559 Fletcher, Percy E., 30–32
Faye, Alice, 121, 394, 467, 512 F.L.F., 306
Fazenda, Louise, 125, 270, 520 Flink, Herman, 173
Feaster, Gwendolyn, 213 Flippen, Jay C., 265, 301, 303
Fein, Maurice M., 382 Florey, Robert, 343
Felix, Hugo, 12–13, 24–25, 97–98, 198–99 Florida Girl, 286–87
Felix, Seymour, 148, 215, 240, 247, 264, 301, 320, 347, Flossie, 205–6
349, 377, 440, 497 Flower Drum Song, 182
Fender, Harry, 162 Floyd, Paul, 66, 174
Fender, Henry, 123 Flying Down to Rio, 538
Fenderson, Alonzo, 133 Flynn, Errol, 270
Fenn, Jean, 276 Flynn, Kitty, 99, 120
Fennelly, Parker, 286 F.M., 129, 137
Ferago, Eugene, 242 Fokine, Michel, 30–32, 50–51, 189–90, 440
Ferber, Edna, 430 Follow the Fleet, 379
Ferguson, Dave, 366–67 Follow Thru, 510–12
Ferrer, Jose, 54, 100 Fontaine, Paul, 342
Ferrer, Mel, 542 Fontana, Georges, 285
Ferry, Mabel, 162 Footlights (AKA Beyond the Footlights), 391–92
F.H.T., 285 For Goodness Sake, 100–102
Field, Ada B., 183 Foran, Dick, 418
Fields, Arthur, 184 Foran, William, 286
Fields, Bertha A., 57 Forbes, Ben, 19
Fields, Dorothy, 505 Forbes, Ralph, 228–29
Fields, Herbert, 271, 273, 308, 376, 417, 453, 471, 505, Ford, Harrison, 209
552–53 Ford, Harry, 271
Fields, Herbert L., 22 Ford, Helen, 1–2, 25, 101, 116–17, 165, 209, 272, 347–48,
Fields, Lew, 20–22, 51–52, 154, 308, 346–47, 349, 377, 417, 471
453, 471, 505 Ford, Hugh, 135
Fields, W. C., 168–69 Ford, James T., 116
Fifty Million Frenchmen, 552–55 Ford, Johnny, 412
Figman, Max, 274, 468 Ford Uniform Company, 120, 128, 144
Figman, Oscar, 198, 225, 236, 496 Forde, Hal, 27, 379
Fillmore, Nellie, 228 Forde, Stanley, 32, 233, 316
Finchley, 10, 26, 37, 187, 276, 284, 369, 404, 408, 438, Forrest, Sam, 15, 37, 402, 408, 474
486, 514, 552 Forsberg, Edwin, 81, 206, 387
Fine, Alexander U., 298 Fosse, Bob, 247
Finian’s Rainbow, 424 Foster, Allan K., 39, 63, 71, 85, 94, 101–2, 111, 120, 123,
Finley, Marjorie, 445 128, 374, 555
Finn, Elfin, 199 Foster, Oliver, 525
Fioretta, 516–18 Fox, Earl A., 60
Firman, Anita, 339 Fox, Harry, 418
Fischer, Robert, 122 Foy, Eddie, Jr., 455, 529
Fischer, Robert C., 532 Foy, Gloria, 130–31, 239, 504
Fisher, Fred, 90 Frances (Mme.), 37, 43, 51, 74, 96, 108, 162, 170, 185, 223,
Fisher, Irving, 465 250, 267, 349, 361, 444, 527
Fisher, Jack, 286 Frances & Co., 369
Index 623
Franchetti, Aldo, 385 Gallagher, Betty, 327

Francillon, 284, 330, 369, 404, 438, 484 Gallagher, Charles E., 429
Francis, Arthur, 25, 58, 101–2 Gallagher, Helen, 189, 269–70, 424
Francis, Carl, 404, 474 Gallagher, Richard “Skeets”/”Skeet,” 94, 130, 206–8,
Francis, Dorothy, 242, 244, 330 228–30, 284–85, 369
Francis, George, 523–24 Gallaudet, John B., 281
Francis, Kay, 295 Galli, Rosina, 4
Francis & Co., Inc., 276, 316 Gallo, Norma, 326
Francis-Robertson, James, 209 Galloway, Goodie, 371
Franck, Virginia, 490 Galloway, Louise, 140, 307
Frank, Erle, 208 Galton, Blanche, 413
Frank, Paul, 250 Gamble, Glenn, 40
Frankenstein, Alfred, 444 Gamby-Hale, 484
Franklin, Irene, 532, 534 Gannon, Kim, 303
Franklin Simon & Co., 336 Gantvoort, Herman, 555
Frantzen, Gerald, 104 Garcia, Rita, 447
Frantzen, John, 104 Gardella, Tess, 430, 435
Frawley, Paul, 10–11, 36, 165, 276, 400, 557 Gardner, Chappy, 477
Frawley, William, 279–80, 358–59, 387, 438, 455–56, Gardner, Edgar, 447
550–51 Gardner, Helene, 276
Frazee, H. H., 267, 406 Gardner, Joan, 185
Frazee, Marian, 290 Gargan, Edward, 366
Frederick, 167 Garland, Judy, 48, 133, 496, 545
Fredericks, Charles, 219 Garland, Robert, 76, 499, 502, 518, 534, 542
Fredhoven, Hans, 516 Garland, Victor, 490
Freedley, Vinton, 101–2, 156, 230, 296, 336, 419, 422, 455, Garner, Jay, 535
482, 490, 492, 519, 547 Garrett, Lloyd, 201
Freedman, David, 349 Garson, Betty, 205
Freeman, Everett, 290 Garvie, Ed, 535
Freeman, Gerald G., 497 Gates, Aaron, 388
Freisinger, Mme., 246, 328 Gates, Frank, 10, 88, 135, 194
French, Bert, 15, 23, 42, 51, 54, 74, 98, 106–7, 130, 141, Gates, Frank E., 149, 181, 216, 532, 537
155, 165, 187–88, 192 Gates and Morange, 349, 493
French, Harold, 338 Gateson, Marjorie, 26, 50, 83, 101, 189–90, 314, 379
Friedberg, William, 273, 344, 419 Gauthier, Donat, 206
Friedlander, William B., 28–29, 191–92, 254, 356 Gauthier, Théophile, 4
Friedman, Louis, 63 Gauvin, J. A., 180
Friedman, Samuel, 51 Gaxton, William, 417, 552
Friend, Cliff, 71, 356 Gay, Alden, 179, 271
Friend, Hilary, 159 Gay, Dorothy, 262
Friend, William, 366 G.C., 121–22, 124, 128, 152, 212, 255, 269, 464
Frierson, Andrea, 199 G.C.C., 317, 325, 392
Friml, Rudolf, 52, 57–58, 96–97, 150–51, 157–58, 160, 216, Gear, Luella, 155–56, 168–69, 317, 319, 480–81
218, 224, 274–75, 335–36, 428, 430, 451–52, 547 Geary, Arthur, 321
Frisco, Al, 523 Gebest, Charles J., 37, 81, 131, 402, 474
Frist, Don, 474 Gee, George, 310, 363
Fritchie, Barbara, 398 Gee, Lottie, 66
Froman, Jane, 520 G.E.L., Jr., 132
Frye, Dwight, 196 Gelbart, Larry, 474
F.T., 127 Genee, Richard, 540
Funny Face, 419–22 Genevieve, Mme., 281
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 474 Genn, Leo, 273
Furber, Douglas, 40, 171 Gensler, Lewis E., 127–28, 220, 266, 317, 480–81
Furth, Seymour, 252 Gentle, Alice, 301
George, Charles, 109–10
Gable, Clark, 382 George, Ray, 55
Gabriel, Gilbert W., 309, 311, 426, 492, 495, 504, 520, 533, George M!, 476
549 Geranium, 518
Gaines, Davis, 199, 471, 534 Gerber, Alex, 20
Gaines, John, 352 Gerbidon, Marcel, 104
Gaites, Joseph M., 94 Gerrard, Alfred, 37
Gerrard, Gene, 334 Glagov, Hersh, 104

Gershe, Leonard, 421 Gleason, James, 447
Gershwin, George, 25, 52, 101–2, 137–38, 144, 189–90, Gleckler, Robert, 547
230–32, 256–57, 296–98, 300, 336, 338–39, 370, 419, Gleerich Productions, 54
421, 440, 490, 492, 527–29 Glendinning, Ernest, 77, 191, 215–16
Gershwin, Ira, 25, 58–59, 101–2, 220, 230–32, 255, 257, Glenville, Peter, 63
296, 336, 338, 419, 421, 440, 442, 490–92, 527 Glenville, Shaun, 62–63, 72–73
Gerstenberger, Emil, 354 Glickman, Will, 344, 419
Gest, Morris, 30, 40, 195 Gloria, Adelaide, 183
Geva, Tamara, 497 Gloria, Albert, 183
G.H., 428, 445, 508, 560 Glory, 140–42
G.H.H., 143, 158, 280, 393 Glover, Ralph, 471
Ghoshal, Kumar, 424 Gluck, Arnold, 167
Gibbs, A. Harrington, 134, 175 Gluck, M. Senia, 389
Gibson, Henry, 419 Gluck, Wally, 395
Gibson, Madeline, 549 Glyn, Elinor, 32, 342
Gibson, Melville, 171 Glyn, Trevor, 543
Gibson, Virginia, 270 Go Easy, Mabel, 109–11
Gibson, Wynne, 281 Godard, Lucile, 113
Giddings, J. M., 96 Godfrey, Vaughn, 18, 94, 201, 220, 463
Gideon, Melville, 3 Goe, Bernie, 305
Giersdorf Sisters, 467 Goetz, E. Ray, 3, 478, 480, 552
Giglio, Alexander, 381 Goetzl, Anselm, 50
Giglio, Clement, 381 Goetzl Theatrical Enterprises, 50
Gignoux, Regis, 444 Go-Go, 151–53
Gilbert, Billy, 270 Golden Dawn, 424–27
Gilbert, Gerald, 176 Goldin, Horace, 51
Gilbert, Gloria, 410 Golding Studios, 91
Gilbert, J. Charles, 502 Gonzales, Max, 92
Gilbert, Jean, 123, 333–34 Good Boy, 461–63
Gilbert, John, 443, 535 Good Morning Dearie, 88–90
Gilbert, Mercedes, 354, 525 Good News, 392–95
Gilbert, W. S., 262, 581–82 Goodhue, Helen, 490, 559
Gilbrae-Gingham, 181 Goodman, Al (Alfred), 63, 71, 85, 102, 123, 144, 147, 160,
Gilford, Jack, 269 206, 219, 240, 242, 247, 287, 319, 321, 352, 371, 374,
Gilfry, Rodney, 471 392, 468, 510–11
Gill, Frank, 27 Goodman, Edward T., 262
Gillespie, Frank M., 78, 147, 537 Goodman, Philip, 168, 222, 325, 410, 493
Gillespie, Haven, 94 Gorcey, Bernard, 1–2, 298, 371
Gillette, Viola, 147, 244, 307 Gordon, Jeanne, 4
Gillier, Andre, 444 Gordon, Leon, 51–52
Gilliland, Helen, 317, 503 Gordon, Mack, 121
Gilman, D., 233 Gordon, Maude Turner, 155, 240
Gilman, Mme., 53, 133 Gordon, Roy, 24, 503
Gilman and Bernstein, 116 Gordon, Ruth, 438, 514
Gilman Co., 155 Gordon, Withald, 3
Gilmore, Janette, 336 Gordon-Lennox, Cosmo, 122
Gilmore, Paul, 530 Gorham Company, 252
Gilmore, W. H. (William), 62, 137, 478 Gorin, Pauline, 532
Ginger, 173–74 Gorney, Jay, 215, 304, 364
The Gingham Girl, 116–18 Gosnova, Florentine, 223, 323
Giradot, Etienne, 73 Gould, Bert, 369
Girard, Eddie, 284 Gould, Dave, 488
The Girl Friend, 308–10 Gould, David, 443
The Girl from Home, 13–15 Gould, Neil, 6, 20, 211
The Girl from Kay’s, 357 Goulding, Edmund, 121
The Girl in the Spotlight, 19–20 Gowing, Almerin, 55
Gish, Lillian, 382 Graae, Jason, 554
Glad, Gladys, 361, 440, 497 Grable, Betty, 125, 500
Index 625
Graham, Frederic, 37, 250 Gridelli, S., 381

Graham, Harry, 123, 247–48, 333 Grieg, Robert, 486
Graham, Jessie, 501 Griffin, Merv, 424
Graham-Dent, Nellie, 106 Griffith, Corinne, 125
Grahame, Gerald, 126 Griffith, D. W., 170
Grainger, Porter, 259 Griffith, Eleanor, 21–22, 129, 197
Grant, Cary, 424, 512–13, 537, 540, 542 Grimes, Rollin, Jr., 397
Grant, Frances, 17, 23 Grimsley, Emma, 48
Grant, John, 392 Grimwood, Herbert, 30
Grant, Sydney, 178 Grisman, Samuel H., 158, 386, 507
Grant and Wing, 172 Groenendaal, Cris, 271, 534
Granville, Bernard, 152, 316, 407 Groody, Louise, 7–8, 89–90, 179–80, 267, 269, 377
Gras, F., 92 Gros, Ernest, 179
Gravet, Fernand, 547 Grossmith, George, 223, 411
Gray, Alexander, 47, 256, 270, 301, 320, 343, 520 Grundy, William, 213
Gray, Bee Ho, 112 Grunwald, Alfred, 63, 102, 125, 321, 374
Gray, Dolores, 87 Guion, Raymond, 459
Gray, Lawrence, 187, 279, 338, 520 Gumble, Albert, 111
Gray, Margery, 479, 554 Gunton, Bob, 297
Gray, Roger, 379 Gussow, Mel, 297–98
Gray, Ruth, 113 Gustafson, William, 367
Gray and Lampel, 185 Gutman, Arthur, 48, 91
Grayson, Kathryn, 276, 343–44, 364, 436 G.W.G., 309, 311
Great Day!, 537–40 Gwynne, Harold, 99
Green, Adolph, 395 Gwyther, Geoffrey, 363
Green, Marion, 93, 102
Green, Martyn, 381 H. Robert Law Studios, 3
Green, Mitzi, 230 Hackett, Raymond, 141
Green, Morris, 208, 447 Hackett, Walter, 381
Green, Rosie, 73 Haddon, Peter, 187
Green, Teddy, 270 Hadley, Henry, 4–5
Green, William, 192, 558 Hadley, Jerry, 436
Greene, Billy B., 212 Haffner, Carl, 540
Greene, Frank, 144, 216, 436 Haft (Morris W.) & Bros., 467
Greene, H. C., 476 Haggerty, George, 490, 559
Greene, Ward, 529, 560 Haig, Emma, 137, 139, 256, 310
Greenlee, R. Eddie, 133 Haile, Evans, 123
Greenstreet, Sydney, 43–45, 170–71, 444 Hajos, Karl, 246, 463
Greenwood, Barrett, 53, 111, 131, 220 Hajos, Mitzi, 43–44, 170–71, 320–21, 444–45
Greenwood, Charlotte, 108–9 Hale, Alan, 338
Greer, Howard, 153 Hale, Binnie, 270, 278
Greer, Jesse, 459 Hale, Chester, 198, 228, 412, 436, 496, 501, 503, 521, 540
Gregg, John, 449 Hale, George, 547, 549
Gregg, Mitchell, 168 Hale, Georgie, 293, 358
Gregory, Paul, 499–500 Hale, Sonnie, 133, 255, 319
Grenelle, Helen, 429 Halevy, Ludovic, 540
Grenville, Claire, 148, 246, 381 Haley, Jack, 510–12
Gresham, Herbert, 24 Half a Widow, 395–97
Greshoff, Tony, 19, 24, 58, 125, 162–63, 213 The Half Moon, 39–40
Gress, Louis, 185, 356, 386, 467 Hall, Adelaide, 174–75, 313
Grew, William A., 286 Hall, Fred, 85
Grey, Clifford, 36, 45, 104, 138, 142, 206, 223, 247, 264, Hall, Frederick, 29
290, 333, 352, 376, 381, 444–45, 451, 480 Hall, Juanita, 531
Grey, Frank H., 113–14, 305, 427–28 Hall, Leonard, 433, 460–61
Grey, George E., 182 Hall, Mordaunt, 343
Grey, Joe, 134, 175 Hall, Owen, 357
Grey, Madeline, 113, 399, 476 Hall, Pauline, 89, 179
Grey, Minerva, 19 Hall, Thurston, 552
Gribble, Harry Wagstaff, 265, 512 Hallam, Grace, 17
Hallee, Royal, 139 Harris, Ralph, 523

Haller, Herman, 61, 146–47 Harris, Sam H., 15, 293, 295, 486
Halliday, Frances, 78, 395 Harris, Winifred, 167, 264, 404
Halliday, John, 554 Harrison, Bertram, 109, 165, 238, 459, 490
Halliday, Robert, 237, 296, 341, 468 Harrison, Louis, 225
Halperin, Nan, 167 Harrison, Stanley, 3
Hamill, Kathryn, 369 Harrold, Orville, 4–5, 282–83
Hamilton, Edgar, 116 Harrold, Patti, 240, 282–83, 366
Hamilton, Grace, 92, 129 Hart, Lorenz, 20, 271, 273, 308–9, 346–47, 349–50, 417,
Hamilton, James, 305–6 438–39, 453–54, 471, 515, 518, 547
Hamilton, John, 547 Hart, Vivian, 232, 354, 356
Hamilton, Laura, 364 Hartley, Arthur, 455
Hamilton, Reed, 478 Hartley, Jack, 227
Hammerstein, Arthur, 1–2, 23, 42, 96, 115, 149, 181, 216– Hartman, Don, 550
17, 298, 335, 424–26, 461, 508–9, 532 Hartman, Ferris, 266
Hammerstein, Oscar I, 1, 425 Hartman, Grace, 279
Hammerstein, Oscar II, 1–2, 23, 42, 115–16, 127, 149, 181, Hartman, Paul, 279
216, 232, 276, 298, 335, 341, 424–25, 430, 435–36, 461, Harvey, Clarence, 63
468, 492–94, 532, 534 Harvey, Walter, 256, 261, 386
Hammerstein, Reginald, 424–25, 461, 532 Harvey (Ward) Studios, 414
Hammerstein (Theodore) Inc., 212 Harwood, John, 104, 128, 256, 296, 308, 325, 336, 361,
Hammond, Percy, 78, 86–87, 91–93, 100, 110, 163, 177, 410, 467, 508, 557
194, 200–201, 249, 251, 272, 303, 305, 314–15, 378, 404, Hascall, Lon, 102, 557
418, 421, 434, 439, 448, 452, 485, 487, 504, 511, 518, Haskell, Jack, 125, 298, 300, 308, 410, 471, 482, 508
529, 534, 545 Hassell, George, 374, 376, 471
Hampton, Earl, 420 Hassert, Bernard, 199
Hampton, Hope, 226, 408–9 Hatch, Frank, 310
Hampton, Myra, 195 Hathaway, Dorothy, 247
Hampton, Stewart, 488 Haussain, Mohammed, 162
Hanky Panky Land, 93–94 Havel, Arthur, 477
Hanley, James, 32, 108, 206, 240, 323, 404 Havel, Morton, 476–77
Hanley, Matthew, 246, 314 Havel, Tommy, 476
Hanlon, Bert, 105 Haver, June, 48
Hann, W. A., 213 Haverstick, Mme., 144, 215
Hanneford, Poodles, 375–76 Haviland, Kenneth, 286
Happy, 427–28 Havrilla, Al, 250
Happy Go Lucky, 327–28 Havrilla, Alois, 287
Harak, Buddy, 482 Hawkins, Bill, 96
Harbach, Otto, 23, 37, 42, 57, 81, 96–97, 118, 149, 153, Hawkins, John F., Jr., 417, 471
174, 183, 185, 216, 238, 267, 276, 298, 310, 330, 335, Hawkins, William, 47
341, 344, 369, 424, 461 Hawley, Monte, 525
Harburg, E. Y., 319, 364 Hay, Mary, 45, 98, 181–82, 490–92
Harcourt, George, 412 Hayakawa, Sessue, 385–86
Hards, Ira, 127, 139, 170, 187 Hayden, John, 364
Hardt-Warden, Bruno, 248 Hayes, Catherine, 274
Hardwicke, Cedric, 435 Hayes, Grace, 137
Hardwicke, Clarice, 218, 549 Hayes, Helen, 382
Harger, Burt, 477 Haynes, John, 537, 540
Harker, Joseph and Philip, 30–31 Hays, Will, 518
Harkrider, John W., 361, 430, 440, 442, 451, 497, 499, 527 Hayseed Productions, Inc., 137
Harlem Productions, Inc., 259 Hayward, Ina, 402, 474
Harling, W. Franke, 230, 328, 330, 459 Hayworth, Rita, 9
Harlowe, Beatrice, 252 Hazell, Hy, 247
Harnden, Red, 514 Hazzard, John E., 7–8, 101, 179–80, 212, 501, 541
Harnick, Sheldon, 267 Head Over Heels, 168
Harper, Fred, 371 Heads Up!, 547–50
Harper, Mary, 24 Healy, Dan, 349, 559
Harris, Ben, 158 Healy, Daniel, 24
Harris, Marion, 359, 361, 539 Hearn, Lew, 255
Index 627
Hearn, Sam, 255, 461 Higgins, Robert, 141

Hearst, William Randolph, 252 Hight, Pearl, 344
Heath, Thomas, 111–12 Hill, C. Wesley, 174
Hecht, Albert, 262 Hill, Gus, 252
Heckinger, Clif, 314 Hill, Westley, 259
Hector, Louis, 451 Hillebrand, Fred, 50, 157
Hedges, Florence, 94 Hilliam, B. C., 60
Heerman, Victor, 487 Himes, Ross, 455
Heggie, O. P., 279 Hines, Dixie, 228, 234, 236, 272, 278, 303, 306, 312,
Hein, Silvio, 9–10, 13–15 314–15, 317, 319, 321, 327–28, 345, 363, 367, 376, 383,
Heindl, Anton, 13, 130, 274, 428, 486 389–90, 413, 442, 445, 447, 460, 464
Heinly, Althea, 527 Hines, Elizabeth, 53, 81, 131, 133, 206–8, 265, 401, 433
Heisler, Jack, 427 Hird, Thora, 270
Helder, Fred, 93 Hirsch, Louis A., 37–38, 81, 238, 240
Helen, 54 Hirschfeld, Max, 27, 141, 246
Helen of Troy, New York, 165–66 Hirst, George, 261, 484
Hello, Daddy!, 505–6 Hit the Deck!, 376–79
Hello Lola!, 301–3 Hitchcock, Raymond, 413
Hello Yourself!!!!, 488–90 Hitchy Koo, 146
Helton, Percy, 427 H.J.M., 262–63, 272, 275, 278, 280, 283, 285, 289, 291,
Hemmer, Carl, 271, 352 294, 297, 299, 302, 305
Henderson, Charles, 537 H.L., 239–40
Henderson, Katherine, 388 Hoban, Stella, 7
Henderson, Lucius, 352 Hobart, George V., 36, 76, 108
Henderson, Ray, 392, 400, 482, 484, 510 Hobbs, Jack, 278
Henderson, Slim, 388 Hobbs, Robert, 352, 530
Hendricks, Ben, 301 Hobin, William, 419
Hendricks, John, 114 Hodge, Eddie, 550
Heneker, David, 199 Hodge, Edwin, 296
Hennequin, Maurice, 344, 445 Hoey, Dennis, 333
Henning, Leo, 252, 402 Hoey, Evelyn, 394, 553
Henry, Grace, 516 Hoff, Fred, 147, 192
Henry, Joshua, 69 Hoffman, Aaron, 208–9
Henry, Richard, 30 Hoffman, Max, Jr., 127, 266
Henry, S. R., 26 Hoffman, Pauline, 349
Henson, Leslie, 47, 187, 257, 421, 512 Hogue, Roland, 247
Hepburn, Audrey, 421 Holbrook, Harry, 282, 476, 550
Hepburn, Katharine, 62 Hold Everything!, 481–83
Her Family Tree, 48–49 Holden, Stephen, 298
Herbert, Evelyn, 242, 287, 289, 397, 399, 468, 471, 504, Holden, William, 160
546 Holiner, Mann, 496, 512
Herbert, Hugh, 535 Holka Polka, 282–84
Herbert, Joseph, 113, 406 Holland, Jack, 237
Herbert, Joseph, Jr., 74 Holland, Maurice, 98, 113, 264, 463
Herbert, Joseph W., 27 Holland, Maurie, 87
Herbert, Thomas, 286 Holland, Mildred, 382
Herbert, Victor, 5–6, 19–20, 45, 122–23, 210–11, 249 Hollander, Frederick, 125
Herblin, David, 359 Holloway, Stanley, 378
Here’s Howe!, 455–57 Holloway, Sterling, 309
Hermsen, Harry, 399 Hollywood Shop, 292
Herndon, Richard, 26, 198 Holm, Hanya, 276
Herrett, Emery J., 412 Holman, Libby, 397, 493–95
Hersey, Louise, 17 Holmes, Frank, 85
Herz, Ralph, 1 Holmes, Rapley, 54
H.H., 221, 234, 247, 415, 456, 470, 473, 504 Holmes, Taylor, 104, 106, 327
H.H.T., 344 Holt, Vivian, 111–12
Hibbard, Edna, 128 Holtum, Christian, 139
Hickman, Alfred, 26 Holtz, Lou, 256–57, 400–402
Hickson of New York, 36, 60 Honey Girl, 15–16
Honeydew, 27–28 Hughes, John, 173

Honeymoon Lane, 323–25 Hughes, Revella, 174
Hooker, Brian, 57–58, 97, 137–38, 262–63, 274, 428 Hull, Warren, 397, 447
Hoover, Peggy, 488 Hundley, John, 279, 308, 477, 508, 510, 519, 547
Hope, Anthony, 287 Hunnewell, Clyde, 165
Hope, Bob, 406, 481, 555 Hunt, Bradford, 139
Hope, Florence, 56–57 Hunt, Eleanor, 500
Hopkins, Arthur, 328 Hunt, Estelle, 559
Hopkins, Miriam, 167 Hunter, Alberta, 435
Hopper, DeWolf, 463 Hunter, Eddie, 158, 313
Hopwood, Avery, 97 Hunter, Glenn, 519
Horan, Mary, 550 Hunter, Jacquelyn, 115
Horn, Frank, 463 Hunter, Louise, 426
Horne, Lena, 436, 540 Hunter, Nina, 159
Horton, Edward Everett, 279 Huntley, G. P., 198, 220–21
Horton, Mr., 93 Hurley, Arthur, 341
Horwitz & Duberman, 444 Hussey, Jimmy, 349, 351
The Hotel Mouse, 104–6 Hutchinson, Edward, 9
Hough, Will B., 28 Hutchinson, Mary, 317
House of Flowers, 260, 540 Hymer, John B., 52
The Houseboat on the Styx, 501–2 Hyson, Carl, 13, 36
Houston, George, 516, 518
How Come?, 158–60 I Told You So (aka Piggy), 356–57
Howard, Estelle, 77 Ibee, 269
Howard, Esther, 24–25, 149, 276 Ibsen, Henrik, 309
Howard, Eugene, 247, 250 Idare et Cie, 542
Howard, Joseph E., 434 I.K., 142, 149
Howard, Olin, 58, 149–50 I’ll Say She Is!, 201–3
Howard, Sydney, 421, 549 Illo, Frank, 313
Howard, Tom, 447–49 Imhof, Roger, 154
Howard, William, 9 Inescort, Frieda, 279
Howard, Willie, 47, 247, 249–50 Ingersoll, William, 39
Howard-Tripp, June, 508–10 Intropidi, Ethel, 444
Howell, Harry, 181 Intropidi, Josie, 108, 120
Howell, Helen, 477 Inverclyde, Lord, 510
Howell, Lottice, 358 Irving, Irma, 344
Howell, Virginia, 406 Irving, Margaret, 254, 486
Howes, Bobby, 97 Irving, Paul, 40
Howland, Jobyna, 186–87, 230, 327 Irving, Robert, 540
Howland, Olin, 106–7 Isham, Frederic S., 153, 155, 406
Howson, Frank, 530 Isqueth, Louis I., 199
Hoyer, Roy, 176 Ito, Michio, 443
Hoyt, Peggy, 139 Itow, Michie, 371
Hoyt (Peggy) Inc., 440 It’s Up to You, 55–57
Hubbard, Lucien, 219 Iverson & Henneage, 58, 230
Hubbell, John Raymond, 359 Ives, David, 471
Hubbell, Raymond, 76, 78, 359, 484
Hubert of Paris, 242 Jack and Jill, 153–55
Hudak, Julia, 385–86 Jackson, Alfred, 356
Huddleson, Floyd, 69 Jackson, Arthur, 101
Hudgins, Johnny, 260–61 Jackson, Eddie, 528
Hudson, Rochelle, 170 Jackson, Fred, 58, 100, 199, 255
Hudson, Travis, 535 Jacobi, Victor, 39, 83
Hudson Production, Inc., 109 Jacobs, Ira, 104, 199, 254, 320
Huett, E. J., 402 Jacobson, Leopold, 333
Huff, Forrest, 85 Jacques, Nita, 256
Huffman, J. C., 63, 78, 85, 102, 128, 144, 210, 234, 240, Jacquet, H. Maurice, 555
264, 287, 321, 333, 374, 397, 408, 415, 436 Jakobs, Ned, 501
Hughes, J. J., 354 James, Alfred P., 45
Index 629
James, Harry, 108 Jones, T. L., 414

James, Paul, 459, 461 Jones, Tom, 512
James, Philip, 5 Jones, Walter F., 116
Jane, Mary, 402 Jordan, Bert, 34, 176
Janney, Russell, 98, 274, 428 Jordan, Dorothy, 490
Janssen, Walter, 142–44 Jordan, Joe, 507
Janssen, Werner, 87, 108–9, 512, 514 Jordan, Lee, 270
Janvier, Emma, 58, 118, 168 Jordan, William, 379
J.B., 407 Joseph, 108, 144, 304, 535
Jeans, Ursula, 411 Joseph, Edmund, 366
Jefferson, William Winter, 10 Josephine, Lois, 57
Jeffreys, Anne, 273 Joseph’s (of New York), 9, 374, 512
Jenkins, 230, 341 Josette, Mme., 427
Jenny of Paris, 419 Joy, Leatrice, 140
Jerome, Ben, 406 Joyce, Paul, 555
Jessel, George, 165 Joyce, Peggy Hopkins, 366
Jessup, Stanley, 58 J.R.D., 174
J.H.L., 367 Jubilee Sisters, 241
Jim Jam Jems, 32–33 Judd, Carl, 71
Jimmie, 42–43 Judels, Charles, 37, 101, 149, 154
Jimnolds, 165 Judy, 364–66
Jochim, Andy, 527 Juliette, 400
Johannsen, Sigurd, 463 June, 508–10
Johanson, Robert, 471 June Days, 264–65
John, Graham, 535 June Love, 57–58
Johns, Brooke, 153, 356 Just a Minute, 476–78
Johnson, Chic, 554 Just Because, 106–7
Johnson, Edward, 367–68 Just Fancy!, 412–13
Johnson, Freddie, 259 J.V.A.W., 107, 188
Johnson, Gertrude, 386
Johnson, Howard, 74, 194, 354 Kahn, Gus, 282, 497, 500, 527, 547
Johnson, James P., 134, 174–75, 449 Kahn, Roger Wolfe, 455, 457
Johnson, Naomi, 451 Kahn & Bowman, 192
Johnson, Noble, 238, 343 Kalfin, Robert, 267
Johnson, Nunnally, 114–16, 119–20 Kalkhurst, Eric, 478
Johnson, Orrin, 87 Kalman, Emmerich, 125–26, 321, 323, 374, 376, 424
Johnson, Philander, 36 Kalmar, Bert, 165, 208, 282–83, 305, 325, 327, 339, 369–
Johnson, Robert, 488 70, 410, 438, 461, 463, 486, 556
Johnson, Walter, 247 Kane, Helen, 461–63, 549
Johnston, Mabel (E.), 148, 167, 191, 359, 361, 369, 402, Kane, John, 327, 427
467, 486, 537, 559 Kane, Lida, 364
Johnstone, Miss, 201 Kanin, Garson, 273
Johnstone, Tom, 94, 118–19, 199–200, 203, 281 Kaper, Bronislaw, 464
Johnstone, Will B., 94, 201, 203 Kappeler, Alfred, 244
Jolley, James, 356 Karle, Theo, 516
Jolson, Al, 85–87, 240–41, 249, 528–30 Karloff, Boris, 419
Jones, A. L., 208, 447 Katja, 333–34
Jones, Allan, 436, 546 Katzman, Louis, 254
Jones, Byron, 449 Kaufman, Frederick, 371
Jones, Frederick, 266 Kaufman, George S., 165, 220–21, 293, 486
Jones, Frederick, III, 153 Kaye, A. P., 440
Jones, Gattison, 496 Kaye, Judy, 271, 534
Jones, Hugh Willoughby, 308 Kaz, Aysa, 429
Jones, John Price, 29, 89, 180, 197, 292, 392, 514–15 Kearney, Jack, 220
Jones, Josie, 381–82 Kearney, John, 162, 305, 359
Jones, Kenneth, 520 Kearns, Allen, 23, 74, 76, 142, 167, 254, 296–97, 317, 349,
Jones, Robert Owen, 267 351, 420, 455–56, 505
Jones, Starr, 374 Kearns, Jack, 239
Jones, Stephen, 168, 206, 266, 386 Keaton, Buster, 173
Keats, Mildred, 29, 85, 171, 212 King, Charles, 55, 133, 377, 411, 453
Keel, Howard, 219 King, Dennis, 216, 218–19, 274–76, 435, 451–53, 504
Keeler, Madam, 237 King, Henry, 382
Keeler, Marion, 429–30 King, Jane, 108
Keeler, Ruby, 189, 269, 358–59, 369, 405–6, 500, 528–30 King, John L., 415
Keene, Dick, 404, 519, 521 King, John Michael, 219
Keene, Margaret and Elizabeth, 181 King, Leslie, 292
Keene, Mattie, 397 King, Mary, 108
Keene, Richard, 301–2 King, Mollie, 51
Keener, Suzanne, 198–99 King, Rose, 422
Keep, Phil, 535 King, Walter Woolf. See Woolf, Walter
Keep Shufflin’, 449–51 King, William G., 556
Keeshon, Grace, 71 Kingdon, Frank, 254, 404, 510
Kelety, Julia, 1–2, 58, 395 The King’s Henchman, 367–68
Kellam, William, 12 Kingsbury, Carol, 516
Kelley, Jack, 535 Kirby, John, 338
Kelley, Louise, 9 Kirby, Max, 543
Kelley, Marie, 465 Kirkbride, Bradford, 60, 113
Kelly, Ann, 339 Kirkland, David, 118
Kelly, Fred, 54 Kirkland, Jack, 549
Kelly, Gene, 54 Kirsten, Dorothy, 471
Kelly, Harry, 129–30 Kiss Me!, 389–91
Kelly, Kitty, 181 Kissing Time, 35–37
Kelly, Mimi, 168 Kitt, Eartha, 199
Kelly, Nell, 480–81, 512, 535 Kitty’s Kisses, 310–12
Kelly, Orrin, 395 Kiviat, Yvette, 17
Kelly, Patsy, 189, 269–70, 485 Kiviette, 17, 165, 171, 189, 213, 222, 230, 266, 296, 392,
Kelly, Vivian, 274 419, 455, 480, 482, 490, 492, 510, 514, 519, 547, 557
Kelsey, Carleton, 427 Klages, Raymond, 120, 459
Kelsey, Carlton, 247 Kleeman, Paul, 198
Kelton, Pert, 47, 277–78, 411 Klein, Charles, 108
Kempner, Nicholas, 267, 535, 537 Klein, James, 242
Kendall, Kuy, 27, 51, 178, 334 Klein, Manuel, 55
Kennedy, Charles, 189 Kleinecke, Gus, 74
Kennedy, Mack, 43–44 Knapp, Dorothy, 516
Kennedy, Madge, 168–69 Kneeland, Frank, 234
Kennel and Entwistle, 373 Knight, Percival, 13
Kent, Mildred, 205 Knoch, Ernest, 65
Kent, Walter, 303 Knox, 96, 497
Kent, William, 29, 172, 216, 218–20, 232, 420–21, 480 Koch, Raymond, 443–44
Kenyon (C.) Company, 29 Koeck, Karl, 223
Kerker, Gustave, 71, 73 Kohlmar, Lee, 264
Kern, Jerome, 7–8, 45, 47–48, 88, 90, 135, 137, 176–77, Kolinski, Joseph, 267
195, 197, 222–23, 232, 265, 276, 278, 284–85, 330, 332– Kollo, Walter, 62–63, 128, 478
33, 369–70, 430, 434–36, 532–34 Kornblum, I. B., 51
Kernell, William B., 301 Kosai Studios, 385
Kerns, Brian, 123 Kosher Kitty Kelly, 261–62
Kerr, Walter, 260 Kosloff, Alexis, 242, 276
Kerrigan, J. M., 262 Kosta, Tessa, 12–13, 60, 102–3, 147, 233–34, 298, 300
Kessler, Richard, 389 Koud, William, 252
Keyes, Evelyn, 449 Kraatz, Curt, 480
Kid Boots, 184–87 Krakauer, Richard W., 206
Kidd, Michael, 394 Kraushaar, Arnold A., 43
Kidder, Hugh, 366, 382 Kreuger, Miles, 395, 426
Killeen, Madelyn, 387 Kroll, Louis, 233
Kimball, Robert, 67 Krueger, Miles, 436
Kimbrough, Charles, 271 Kuhler, Edna, 385
King, Allyn, 148, 191 Kummer, Clare, 179, 223, 225–26
King, Carlotta, 343 Kummer, Frederic Arnold, 5
Index 631
Künneke, Eduard (Charles), 147, 242, 290 Law, Evelyn, 252

Kurton, Peggy, 89 Law, Robert, 148
Kusell, Daniel, 116, 356, 386, 466 Law (H. Robert) Studios, 9, 21, 55, 58, 94, 106, 131, 137,
201, 220, 246, 261
L. de C., 95, 102, 105, 131, 143, 214–15, 307–8 Lawford, Ernest, 463
La Penna, James, 414 Lawford, Peter, 395
La Penner, James, 304 Lawley, Cooper, 242
La Redd, Cora, 459–61 Lawlor, Andrew J., Jr., 10, 271
Lace Petticoat, 354–56 Lawlor, Mary, 180, 183, 317, 392, 395, 467, 505–6
Lackaye, Wilton, 512 Lawrence, Charles, 39, 83, 165–66, 389, 521, 525
Lady, Be Good!, 230–32 Lawrence, Gertrude, 336, 338–39, 490–92
Lady Billy, 43–45 Lawrence, Vincent, 427, 490
Lady Butterfly, 142–44 Lawson, Claude, 525
Lady Do, 373–74 Lawson, Mark, 13
Lady Fingers, 514–16 Laye, Evelyn, 38–39, 471, 543–46
The Lady in Ermine, 123–25 Layton, Joe, 452
Lafitte, Jean, 531 Layton, Turner, 10–11
Lahr, Bert, 219, 482–83 Le Clair, Blanche, 537
Laine, Cleo, 435 Le Soir, George, 96
Lait, Jack, 64 Leach, Archie, 424, 512–13, 537, 540, 542
Lake, Harriette, 483 Leach, Marjorie, 521, 523
Lalor, Frank, 91–92, 465 Leaders, Bonnie, 500
Lambert, John, 176, 484 Lean, Cecil, 9–10, 99
Landis, Jessie Royce, 470 Leavitt, Douglas, 55
Landry, Cy, 520 LeBaron, William, 39, 83, 125, 127, 191
Lane, Bradley F., 415 LeBreton, Flora, 453
Lane, Liliian, 444 Lederer, George W., 19
Lane, Lupino, 40–42, 125, 321, 426 Ledova, Stasia, 490
Lane, Marjorie, 183, 402, 474 Lee, Beatrice, 267
Lane, Richard, 453 Lee, Bert, 310, 319
Lang, Gertrude, 395, 521, 523 Lee, Buddy, 232
Lang, Harry, 43 Lee, Dorothy, 327, 364, 488, 490
Lang, Peter, 15, 141 Lee, Gypsy Rose, 121
Langan, Vincent, 292 Lee, Harriette, 148
Langdon, Harry, 32 Lee, Laura, 558
Langdon, Rose, 32 Lee, Lawrence, 43
Lange, Arthur, 323, 404 Lee, Lovey, 228, 296
Langer, Lawrence, 541 Lee, Margaret, 510, 512
Langner, Lawrence, 74–75 Lee, Paula, 205
Lannin, Paul, 58, 101, 230, 377, 455, 537 Lee, Richard, 512
Lanning, Don, 539 Lee, Sammy, 26, 116, 181, 189–90, 230–31, 256–57, 266–
Lanvin, Jeanne, 478 67, 293, 295–97, 317, 325, 336, 349, 351, 361, 386, 388,
Lanza, Mario, 236, 344 395, 406, 430, 455–56, 467–68, 514
Laramy, Howard, 443 Lee, Vanessa, 546
Larson, Lisby, 411 Leedom, Edna, 436–38
Laska, Edward, 435 Leffler, Ben, 205
Lassie, 12–13 LeFre, Albert, 169
The Last Waltz, 63–65 Leftwich, Alexander, 240, 247, 377, 417, 422, 447, 453,
Latel, Alfred, 93 471, 505, 519, 539, 549, 555
Latell, Blanche, 344 LeGrand, Phyllis, 122
Latham, Fred G., 7, 39, 125, 135, 147, 160, 179, 195, 206, Lehrain, George C., 290
242, 247, 320, 327–28 Leighton, Isabel, 254, 321, 333, 508
Latouche, John, 464 Leighton’s Inc., 199, 400
Lauder, Harry, 249 LeMaire, Charles, 23, 102, 115, 131, 149, 168, 178, 181,
Laurence, Georgie, 77 195, 198, 206, 216–17, 228, 238, 256, 279, 293, 304,
Laurence, Jeanne, 317 325, 339, 349, 361, 408, 410, 415, 422, 436, 447, 468,
Laurie, Joe, Jr., 199, 201 484, 488, 493, 497, 505, 516, 532, 550
LaVella, Gertrude, 252 LeMaire, George, 210, 304
LaVonne, Helen, 171 LeMaire, Rufus, 137, 165, 206, 238, 304–5
Lenief, 478 Littell, Robert, 466, 470, 485, 495, 506, 513–14, 520, 534,
Lennox, Fred, 284 546
Leonard, Benny, 146 Little Jessie James, 166–68
Leonard, Billie, 555 Little Miss Charity, 26
Leonard, David A., 382 Little Nellie Kelly, 131–33
Leonard, P. A., 74 Littlefield, Catherine, 252
Leonard, Robert, 261 Littlefield, Lucien, 270
Leonard, Robert Z., 411 Liza, 133–35
Leonardi, Leon, 321 Lloyd, Frank, 488
Leone, P., 230 Lloyd, Virginia, 290
LeRoy, Mervyn, 219, 338, 535, 558 L.M., 167
Leroy, Nat, 252 Locher, Robert, 153
Lertora, Joseph, 24, 165, 193, 250, 339, 373, 459, 521, 540 Locher, Robert E., 262
Leslie, Doree, 401 Locke, Edward, 415
Leslie, Fred, 304 Locke, Harry, 482
Lester, Edward, 142 Locke, Ralph, 199
Lester, Mark, 512 Lockhart, Helen, 476
Let ‘Er Go, Letty, 108 Lockridge, Richard, 495
Letterman, David, 427 Loesser, Emily, 298
Letty Pepper, 107–9 Loesser, Frank, 247
Levenson, Lew, 514 Logan, Stanley, 503, 521
Levey, Ethel, 97, 109–11 Lohmuller, Bernard, 286, 559
Levey, Harold, 44, 139–40, 170–71, 187, 228, 307–8, 436 Lollipop, 187–89
Levinson, J. J., 389 London, David, 402
Levy, Harold A., 43 Long, Avon, 69
Lewin, B. N., 65 Long, Lois, 383, 460
Lewis, Ada, 7–8, 89–90, 179–80 Long, Nick, Jr., 188–89, 311–12, 438, 535
Lewis, Flo, 240 Lonsdale, Frederick, 123, 333–34
Lewis, Frederick, 225 Look for the Silver Lining, 46, 48, 119
Lewis, Harold, 205 Look Who’s Here, 9–10
Lewis, Jessie, 19 Lopez, Matilde, 92
Lewis, Nat, 45, 130, 189, 373 Lopokova, Lydia, 51
Lewis, Sam M., 186, 373, 520 Lorber, Martha, 74
Lewis, Ted, 435 Lord, Del, 238
Lewis, Tom, 99, 165 Lord, Philip, 281
Lewis, William, 276 Lord & Taylor, 459
Lichtenstein Miller Company, 83 Loretta, Dee, 42
Lichtenstein’s of Fifth Avenue, 39 Loring, Eugene, 421
Lidwig, Arthur, 216 Lorraine, Harriett, 373
Liebman, Harriet, 290 Lorraine, Lillian, 96–97
Liebman, Max, 273, 344, 419 Lorraine, Ted, 63
Lief, Max, 459, 465 Lorraine Sisters, 192
Lief, Nat, 459, 465 Losch, Tilly, 542
Lightner, Winnie, 483 Lotty and Brice, 116
Lilac Time, 81 Loudon, Dorothy, 535
Lili, 525 Loughrane, Basil, 261
Lilliard, James A., 388 Louie the 14th, 250–52
Lillie, Beatrice, 338, 344–46, 435, 438–40 Louise, Emily, 93
Lilliford, Harry, 195 Louisiana Lady, 76
Lind, Jenny, 353 Love, Margaret, 262
Lind, Paula, 429 Love Birds, 53–54
Linda, 404 The Love Call, 415–16
Lindbergh, Charles, 485 Love Dreams, 87–88
Lindsay, Earl, 290, 296, 357, 404, 415, 480 The Love Letter, 83–84
Ling, Richie, 77 The Love Song, 242–44
Link, Carl, 30 Lovejoy, Alec, 159
Linn, Bambi, 419 Lovely Lady, 436–38
Linthicum, Lotta, 356 Lovreiglio, Chevalier, 381
Lipshutz, Jack L., 488 Lowe, Alan, 471
Lipson, Arthur, 222, 486 Lowe, John V., 63
Index 633
Lowrie, Renee, 237 Mack, Russell, 1–2, 13, 15, 85, 109, 116, 227, 387
Loy, Myrna, 125 Mackaill, Dorothy, 232
Lubitsch, Ernst, 125, 236 Mackaye, Dorothy, 216, 218, 298, 300
Lucas, Mary, 157 MacKenzie, Alice, 365, 501, 555
Lucas, Nick, 304 Mackey, Joseph, 47
Lucas, Rupert, 493 Mackey, Percival, 319
Luce, Clair, 222 MacLaine, Shirley, 479
Luce, Edna, 53 MacQuinn, W. E., 34
Lucile, 45, 96, 109, 144, 199, 276 MacRae, Gordon, 270, 343–44
Luckee Girl, 464–66 Madame Pompadour, 225–27
Lucky, 368–71 The Madcap, 444–45
Lucky Sambo, 259–61 Madjette, Claire, 316
Lucy, Arnold, 406 The Magic Ring, 170–71
Ludlow, Patrick, 543 Magni, G., 381
Lugosi, Bela, 554 The Magnolia Lady, 228–30
Luker, Rebecca, 271, 312, 534 Maguire, Reed, 178
Lunt, Alfred, 170 Mahieu, 9, 32, 109, 116, 382, 391, 449, 476, 488
Lupino, Barry, 416, 503 Mahoney, Will, 422–24
Lupino, Ida, 41, 321 Maison, Alice, 60
Lupino, Stanley, 92, 320–21, 352–53 Malbro, Doris, 382
Luz, Franc, 500 Mallard H. Frane’s Sons, 507
L.V., 132, 146, 171, 177, 180, 182, 192, 199, 214, 236, 343, Mallas, Louis J., 512
359 Malloy, Francetta, 495
L.V.A., 123, 249 Maltin, Bernard, 525
Lyle, Herbert (Henry), 374 Maltin, Leonard, 28, 426
Lyles, Aubrey, 66, 68–69, 174–76, 449–50, 537 Manatt, Fred, 27
Lynch, George R., 9 Mandel, Frank, 9, 23–24, 37, 42, 81, 127, 189, 265–67, 341,
Lynd, Helen, 447, 493 392, 468, 505, 510, 512
Lynn, Bambi, 47 Mander, Miles, 547
Lynn, Ralph, 39 Manhattan Mary, 400–402
Lynn, Robert, 414 Mankiewicz, Herman J., 230, 262–63, 272, 275, 278, 280,
Lyon, Esther, 282 283, 285, 289, 291, 294, 297, 299, 302, 305
Lyon, Milton, 273 Manley, Mitti, 178, 244
Lyon, Wanda, 225, 356 Mann, Louis, 72–73
Lyons, Helen, 50 Mann, Martin, 130
Lyons, Joe, 447 Manners, J. Hartley, 198
Lytton, Rogers, 73 Manners, Jane, 402
Manning, Hallie, 194
M. E. McL., 323 Manning, Irene, 343
Mac, Charles, 144 Manning, Maybelle, 404
MacArthur, Claude, 120 Mantle, Burns, 66, 68, 97, 99, 105–6, 114, 116, 118–20,
Macaulay, Joseph, 170, 335, 390, 415, 451 124–25, 127, 143, 156, 158, 161, 167, 169, 172, 175,
MacDonald, Ballard, 53, 108, 171, 303 177, 186–88, 190–92, 194, 197, 208–9, 211, 218, 221,
MacDonald, Donald, 153 225–27, 231, 236, 241, 243–44, 249, 251, 262, 264–65,
MacDonald, Frances, 173 267, 278, 280, 283, 289, 295, 297, 299, 303, 309, 312,
MacDonald, Jeanette, 9, 74, 170–71, 219, 276, 296–97, 321, 325, 330, 348, 351, 353–55, 361, 363, 370, 372,
406–7, 445, 465–66, 471, 496–97, 512–14, 547 375–77, 383, 386, 393, 402–4, 410–11, 418, 421, 423–24,
MacDonough, Glen, 3 426, 430, 434, 439, 442, 445, 447, 456, 460, 462, 468,
Macfarlane, Elsa, 257 470, 473, 481, 485, 491, 499, 504, 510, 513, 515, 520,
MacFarlane, George, 307–8 522, 526, 529, 534, 536, 545–46, 551, 553
MacGeachy, Cora, 21, 127, 176, 179, 183, 402, 422 Manton, Kevitt, 305
Macgowan, Kenneth, 22 Manville, Lorraine, 199–201
MacGregor, Edgar, 24, 32, 53, 116, 137, 155, 162, 189, 246, Manville, Tommy, 366
266, 323, 357, 359, 373, 392, 404, 419, 480, 510, 514, 516 Maple, Audrey, 233, 320, 496
Mack, Betty, 53 Mara, Alma, 12
Mack, Cecil, 134, 174 Marbe, Fay, 104
Mack, George E., 195, 244, 399 Marbury, Elisabeth, 459
Mack, Joe, 173–74 Marcelle, Melba, 530
Mack, Ollie, 252 Marchand, Nancy, 535
Mack, Roy, 343, 520, 555 Marchante, Marian, 414–15
Marchante, Marion, 523 Mast, Charles, 34, 250

Marcus, D. Frank, 525 Masterson, Valerie, 546
Mardi Gras!, 531 Mathews, Bert, 486
Margetson, Arthur, 144, 187, 257, 478, 480, 549 Mathews, William H., 516
Marguerite and Strauss, 373 Mathison, A. E., Mrs., 259
Marianne, 470 The Matinee Girl, 305–6
Marinka, 110 Matlock, Ruth, 354
Marion, George, 3, 74, 463, 496, 512 Matray, Ernst, 547
Marjolaine, 97–99 Matthews, Ben A., 24
Marjorie, 206–8 Matthews, Jessie, 47
Markam, Genevieve, 115 Matthews, Roger, 66
Markert, Russell, 447, 476, 486, 506 Matthews, William H., 19, 98, 228, 555
Markey, Enid, 314 Mature, Victor, 270
Marks, Alfred, 247 Maule-Cole, Cecile, 543
Marks, Maurice, 447 Maurel, Victor, Mrs., 122
Marks, Robert, 1, 32 May, Edna, 72–73
Marlowe, James (C.), 37, 82, 109 May, Leah, 192
Marlowe, Mary, 252 May, Olive, 173
Marlowe, Raymond, 236 Maybaun, Edith, 237
Marr, Graham, 385 Mayer, Adolphe, 212
Marrow, Macklin, 262 Mayer, Al, 66
Mars, Kenneth, 479 Mayfield, Cleo, 9, 99
Marsh, Howard, 78, 80–81, 234, 236, 371, 430, 434 Mayflowers (May Flowers), 290–91
Marshall, Boyd, 170 Mayhew, Stella, 377–78
Marshall, Everett, 236 Maynard, Dorothy, 36
Marshall, Garry, 394 Mayne, Frank, 3, 137
Marshall, James, 287, 371 Mayo, Harry, 115
Marshall, James R., 91–92 Mayo, Martha, 57
Marshall, Robert, 496 Mazuz, Robert, 162
Marston, Lawrence, 94, 301, 395 M.B.D., 190, 208
Martan, Nita, 246, 281 McAuliffe, Jere, 26
Martial, 478 McCann, Frances, 275
Martin, Al, 71 McCarthy, Alicia, 9–10
Martin, Dorothy, 339 McCarthy, Dorothy, 516
Martin, Ethel, 228 McCarthy, Joseph, 41, 130–31, 141, 154, 185, 464, 467
Martin, Evelyn, 194 McCarthy, Justin Huntly, 274
Martin, Leila, 273 McCarthy, Margaret, 516
Martin, Quinn, 114, 118, 125, 190, 193, 201 McCarthy, Mary, 9–10
Martin, Sara, 388 McCarthy, W. J., 339
Martin, Tony, 379, 436 McCarthy, William, 438
Martinetti, Ignacio, 123, 552 McClellan, Jacn, 373
Martyn, Kathlene, 222, 230 McClendon, Rose, 329
Martyn, Marjorie-May, 505 McConnell, Lulu, 21, 154, 347, 467–68, 549
Marvenga, Ilse, 234, 236 McCord, Mary, 62
Marvin, Johnny, 323 McCormack, Pearl, 523
Marvin, Roy, 139 McCown, Ellen, 303
Marwick, Irma, 155–56 McCoy, Mary, 540–41
Marx, Chico, 201, 203, 293, 295, 486 McCrea, Joel, 411
Marx, Groucho, 201, 203, 293, 295, 486–87 McCullough, Paul, 326–27
Marx, Gummo, 202 McCurdy, Jane, 205
Marx, Harpo, 201, 203, 293, 295, 486 McDaniel, Hattie, 436
Marx, Zeppo, 201, 293, 295, 486 McDonald, Audra, 69
Mary, 37–39 McDonald, Gertrude, 296, 420, 490
Mary Jane McKane, 181–83 McDonald, Mary, 501
Mason, Jack, 63, 99, 113, 123, 194, 220, 321, 397, 402 McDonald, T. B., 185, 250, 527
Mason, John, 388 McEvoy, J. P., 527
Mason, Pauline, 323 McGill, Aline, 188
Massey, Daniel, 273 McGillin, Howard, 554
Massine, Leonide, 559–60 McGlinn, John, 197, 271, 279, 436, 534
Index 635
McGowan, Jack, 37, 102, 183, 265 Mercer, Johnny, 73

McGowan, John, 482, 547, 549 Mercer, Ruby, 471
McGraw, Jack, 453 Merkyl, John, 137
McGregor, Edgar, 317 Merle, Margaret, 397
McGregor, Eugene, 171 Merley, Heinz, 521
McGuire, William Anthony, 185, 349, 440, 443, 451–52, Merlin, Frank S., 316
497, 527, 540 Merman, Ethel, 402
McGuirk, Frederick, 329 Merode, Jean, 106
McGurn, Ned, 493 Merrick, David, 214, 338
McGushion, Dorothy, 465 Merrill, Blanche, 153
McGushion, Gertrude, 465 Merrill, Bob, 303
McHorter, Evelyn, 157, 185, 199, 422 The Merry Countess, 541
McHugh, Augustin, 55 The Merry Malones, 402–4
McHugh, Frank, 558 Merry Merry, 279–80
McHugh, Jimmy, 505 Mershon, Bernice, 552
McIntyre, Frank, 317, 512 Merson, Billy, 218
McIntyre, James, 111–12 Messel, Oliver, 260
McKay, George, 15–16 Metaxa, Georges, 544
McKee, Harry, 129 Metcalfe, 149–50, 156, 171, 180
McKee, John, 43, 87 Metcalfe, Edward, 201, 203
McKinney, John, 267 Methot, Mayo, 537–39
McLellan, G. M. S., 71 Metropolitan Opera Company, 4, 367
McLennon, Oliver, 349 Metternich, Klemens von, 522
McManus, George, 252 Meyer, Billy, 512
McManus, John, 310, 503 Meyer, Joe, 381
McManus, John L., 55, 194, 238, 264, 304, 445 Meyer, Joseph, 69, 171, 240, 304, 455, 457, 514–15
McNamara, Ted, 141 Meyer, Pieter, 3
McNaughton, Harry, 205, 356, 379 Meyer, Timothy S., 422
McNeil, Lily, 247 Meyer-Forster, Wilhelm, 234
McNulty, Dorothy, 247, 249–50, 395 Meyers, 54
McQuinn, Robert, 176 Meyers, Louise, 15–16
M.D.B., 314 Meyers, Z., 51
Meade, Ada, 155 M.H.K., 336, 338, 347
Meader, George, 367 Michaelis, Robert, 122
Meakins, Beth, 330 Michaels, Edwin, 317
Mealey, John, 429 Michel, Frank, 55
Mears, John Henry, 364 Michel, Lillian, 387
Mears, Stannard, 301 Michelena, Vera, 87
Mecca, 30–32 Middleton, George, 508
Medcraft, Russell, 77 Midgley, Raymond, 233, 281, 503
Meehan, Aileen, 209, 310 Milburn, Ann, 371
Meehan, John, 183, 208 Milburn, Mary, 19, 118, 304–5
Meehan, John, Jr., 541 Miles, Emily, 247
Meek, Donald, 408 Miles, Lotta, 201
Meeker, George, 364 Miley, Kathryn, 32
Megley, Macklin, 118 Milgrim, 109, 130, 144, 210, 227, 250, 267, 292, 296, 305–
Meilhac, Henri, 540 6, 310, 349, 356, 392, 406, 417, 440, 453, 480
Meiser, Edith, 347 Milgrim, Ann, 249
Mejia, Carlos, 415 Miljan, John, 232
Mele, Louise, 233 Millars, Ariel, 461
Melford, Austin, 171 Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 367–68
Mellish, Fuller, 234, 335 Miller, Alice Duer, 228, 264–65
Mellish, Fuller, Jr., 347, 453 Miller, Ann, 379
Mellish, Mary, 246 Miller, Duquesne, 459–61
Melville, Winnie, 275 Miller, Edward A., 304
Melvin, Crissie, 201 Miller, Flournoy, 66, 68–69, 174–76, 449–50, 537
Mence, Len, 335, 424 Miller, Gilbert, 478
Mendez, Lucille, 279 Miller, Gladys, 192, 292
Mercenary Mary, 254–55 Miller, Harry, 555
Miller, Henry, 228 Moore, Monette, 259

Miller, Irvin C., 133–35 Moore, Robert, 264
Miller, Joseph, 274 Moore, Tim, 259
Miller, Louis E., 321 Moore, Tom, 140
Miller, Marilyn, 45–47, 232, 276–79, 440, 442, 547 Moore, Victor, 336–38, 420–21, 482–83, 547–49
Miller, Mary Ann, 445, 447, 449, 452, 455, 490, 509 Moore, William, 505–6
Miller, Midgie, 366 Mooring, Mark, 220, 271, 298, 335, 341, 347, 377, 424,
Miller, Quintard, 133 461, 508
Miller, Wynne, 273 Morange, E. A. (Edward), 10, 88, 135, 149, 181, 194, 216,
Millership, Florrie, 37 532, 537
Mills, Jerry, 449 Moreno, Rita, 276
Mills, Royce, 338 Morgan, Dennis, 343
Mills, Ruth, 63 Morgan, Dickson, 237
Milton, Robert, 264, 347 Morgan, Frank, 48, 319, 440, 443
Minehart, Glory, 237 Morgan, Helen, 435–36, 532–34
Minehart, Murray, 123 Morley, Victor, 5, 22, 91–92, 96
Miner, Jan, 199 Morn, Edna, 10, 120
Minnelli, Liza, 539 Morosco, Oliver, 87, 108, 142
Minnevitch, Borrah, 351, 462 Morris, David D., 555
Minton, Augustus, 135 Morris, Eddie, 169
Mirande, Yves, 96, 179 Morris, Joe, 178
Miss America Dance Frock Company, 444 Morris, Phil, 476
Mr. Battling Buttler, 171–73 Morris, Ruth, 466, 492, 494, 497, 504, 506, 508
Mitchell, Brian (Stokes), 69, 338 Morrison, Ann, 199
Mitchell, Charles, 13 Morrison, Ethel, 444
Mitchell, Dodson, 15 Morrison, Florence, 48, 127
Mitchell, Earle, 341, 468 Morrison, Lee, 17
Mitchell, Fanny Todd, 496, 512, 521, 540 Morrison, Priestly, 101
Mitchell, Geneva, 422 Morrison, Russell, 314
Mitchell, Julian, 3, 37, 81, 96, 115, 118, 125, 131, 137, 183, Morriss, Ruby, 218
213, 276, 316 Morrissey, Madelyn, 185
Mitchell, Sidney D., 71, 127 Morrissey, Will, 366
Mitzi, 43–44, 170–71, 320–21, 444–45 Morscher, Sepp, 328
Miura, Tamaki, 385–86 Morse, Robert, 303
M.M., 321 Morton, Harry K., 24–25, 87, 130, 242, 321, 508, 535
Moana, Ralph, 429 Morton, Hugh, 71
Mobley, Ross, 17, 109 Morton, James C., 282, 354
Mode Costume Company, 62, 78, 85 Morton, Lew (Lewis), 71, 333, 352, 371, 415, 465, 521, 540
Moffat, Alice, 210 Morton, Martha, 323
Molloy, Francetta, 290 Moscowitz, Jennie, 261
Molloy, James Lyman, 262 Moss, Marjorie, 285
Molly Darling, 118–20 Moulan, Frank, 26, 106
Molnar, Ferenc, 83–84 Mowbray, Henry, 369
Monagas, Lionel, 313 Moyle, Gilbert, 443
Monroe, Lucy, 330, 508 Mud Donahue & Son, 119
Monroe, Marilyn, 463 Mudge, Gertrude, 62
Montagas, Lionel, 174 Mulhall, Jack, 232
Montanye, C. S., 113 Mulhare, Edward, 381
Montgomery, Frank, 158 Mulligan, Charles, 205
Montgomery, James, 141, 155, 284, 406 Mulligan, Ralph, 27, 50, 198
Montrose, Helen, 54 Mulqueen, Catherine, 118
Moonlight, 191–92 Mulvey, Ben, 115
Moore, Colleen, 47, 338 Mulvey, Benjamin, 23
Moore, Gerald, 354 Munnell, Frank, 54
Moore, Gertie, 259 Munro, Leigh, 471
Moore, Grace, 95, 471 Munroe, Walter E., 555
Moore, Herbert, 540 Munson, Ona, 339–40, 400–401, 482
Moore, James, 254 Murdock, Janet, 170
Moore, McElbert, 93, 160, 199, 305, 427 Murphy, Francis, 222
Moore, Menlo, 118 Murphy, George, 133, 394
Index 637
Murphy, Owen, 111, 215, 306, 447 The New Moon, 468–71
Murphy, Ralph, 205 New York Calcium Light Company, 308, 417, 447, 505,
Murray, Elizabeth, 53, 404 514
Murray, George, 192 Newberry, Barbara, 527, 547
Murray, J. Harold, 71, 129, 147, 244–45, 266–67, 301, Newbold, Robinson, 81–82, 191, 244, 402, 474
316–17, 361 Newcomb, Jessamine, 62
Murray, James, 219 Newcombe, Jean, 43
Murray, John T., 126 Newdahl, Clifford, 443
Murray, Kathi, 151 Newell, Dorothy, 131
Murray, Vangi, 151 Newman, Alfred, 153, 208, 210, 325, 389, 419, 490, 519–
Music in May, 521–23 20, 547
The Music Man, 182 N.F., 416, 454, 492, 549
Musicomedies, Inc., 314 Nicholas, Jack, 206
My Girl, 227–28 Nichols, Alberta, 496
My Golden Girl, 5–6 Nichols, Anne, 87–88
My Magnolia, 313–14 Nichols, George A., 99, 183
My Maryland, 397–99 Nichols, Guy, 137
My One and Only, 422 Nichols, Robert, 271
My Princess, 408–9 Nicholson, John, 30
My Vaudeville Man!, 119 Niclas, Emmy, 78
Myer, Pieter, 74 Niemeyer, Joseph, 131
Myers, Henry, 461 Night Birds, 541
Myers, Richard, 488 The Night Boat, 7–9
Myrtil, Odette, 242, 321, 463–64 The Nightingale, 352–54
Nikko Producing Company, 66
Nack, Allie, 146, 201 Nip, Tom, 447
Nador, Michael, 242 Nirska, Mira, 382–83
Nadzo, Guido, 461 Nit, Johnny, 134, 160
Nair, Evelyn, 488 N.J., 145, 167, 175
Nairn, Ralph, 12 No, No, Nanette, 267–71
Namara, Marguerite, 244, 289 No Other Girl, 208–10
Namiko-San, 385–86 Noble, Ray, 173, 551
Nance, Clarence, 488 A Noble Rogue, 530–31
Nardi, 51, 276, 341 Noll, Christiane, 471
Nares, Owen, 483 Noon, Paisley, 239, 307
Natalie, Ninon, 373 Norde, Helen, 371, 373
Nathan, 356 Nordstrom, Clarence, 57, 99, 119, 317–18, 467
Nathan, George Jean, 293, 426, 439, 495 Nordstrom, Marie, 304
Nation, Carrie, 531 Norman, Karyl, 373–74
Natja, 246–47 Norris, Ethel, 447
Naughty Riquette, 319–21 Norris, William, 36–37, 417
Navarro, Ramon, 236 North, Clyde, 359
Neagle, Anna, 270, 279, 547 North, Madge, 170
Neal, M., 480 Norton, Jack, 287
Nedell, Bernard, 363 Nothing But the Truth, 155
Negri, Pola, 241 Novello, Ivor, 136, 153, 155, 510
Nell, Edward, Jr., 468, 555 Novelty Scenic Studios, 133
Nelson, Alfred, 497 Nugent, Moya, 453
Nelson, Duane, 444 Nunder, Caroline, 76
Nelson, Eddie, 178, 512, 559 Nurock, Kirk, 453
Nelson, Edgar, 359 Nyitray, Emil, 254, 267
Nelson, Kenneth, 303, 435
Nelson, Rudolf, 63 Oakie, Jack, 379
Nemetz, Lenora, 436 Oakland, Dagmar, 179
Nemeyer, Fred, 319 Oberon, Merle, 464
Nesbit, Evelyn, 534–35 O’Brien, Virginia, 153, 183, 436
Nesor Costume Company, 379 The O’Brien Girl, 81–82
Nesor-Booth-Willoughby, Inc., 453 Ochs, Al, 422
Nettum, William, 234 O’Connor, Charles F., 262
Nevins, Frances, 412 O’Connor, Gertrude, 94
O’Connor, Robert, 5, 99, 141, 284, 374 Osgood, Pearl, 521

O’Dea, June, 474 O’Shea, Helen, 191
Odell, Maude, 120, 210, 373 Oshrin, Harry S., 386
O’Denishawn, Florence, 325 Osterman, Phillip, 422
Oden-Waller, William, 400 Osterreicher, Rudolf, 333
Oelheim, Helen, 443 Oswald, Raymond, 17
Oenslager, Donald, 392, 394, 468, 510, 547 Otto, Frank, 131
O’Farrell, Shaun, 192 Otvos, Adorjan (A. Dorian), 171, 194
Offenbach, Jacques, 242 Our Nell, 137–39
Oh, Ernest!, 379–81 Overman, Lynne, 15, 264, 445
Oh, Kay!, 336–39 Overton, Jane, 271
Oh, Please!, 344–46 Owin, Rita, 43
Oh! Oh! Nurse, 292–93
O’Hara, Fiske, 404 P. Dodd Ackerman Studios, 17
O’Hara, Geoffrey, 395 Pacchierotti, Ubaldo, 237
O’Hara, Jill, 476 Page, Anne, 60
Ohman, Phil, 421 Page, Brett, 29, 129–30, 134, 138–39, 143, 160–61, 174,
Oh . . . Rosalinda!, 542 182, 184, 193–95, 197, 199–200, 203, 206, 208, 210, 212,
O’Keefe, Walter, 476–77 214–15, 218, 221, 225, 227, 231, 238, 251, 262, 282
Oldham, Derek, 218, 275 Page, Rita, 363
Oldridge, Harry, 400 Page, William A., 192
Oliven, Fritz, 61, 146–47 Paint Your Wagon, 325
Oliver, Clarence, 440 Painter, Eleanor, 64, 125, 192–93, 352–54
Oliver, Edna May, 39–40, 430, 443 Palmer, Clara, 120, 210, 352
Oliver, Julian, 385 Pan, Hermes, 379, 428
Oliver, Roland, 391 Panero, Hugh, 535
Oliver, Susan, 273 Pansy, 523–24
Olivette, 93, 190 Pape, Lionel, 142
Olivette, Nina, 482–83 Papi, Gennaro, 4
Ollmann, Kurt, 339 Paradise Alley, 194–95
Olsen, George, 186, 278, 285, 393, 395, 500 Parcher, William, 471
Olsen, Irene, 115 Pardello, Leo, 516
Olsen, Ole, 554 Paris, 478–80
Olsson, Jack, 264 Parisette, Mildred, 343, 382
O’Moore, Colin, 12 Park, John, 27, 192
One Kiss, 179–80 Parker, Barnett, 104, 147, 503
O’Neal, William, 290, 341, 471 Parker, Dorothy, 11, 14, 16–17, 20, 24, 31–32, 41, 43–44,
O’Neal, Zelma, 394, 510–12 51–52, 55, 58–59, 61–62, 64, 73, 76, 78, 80, 82, 86, 90,
O’Neil, Alice, 30, 45, 81, 83, 185, 195 97, 100–101, 103–5, 107–10, 114, 116, 119, 121, 125,
O’Neil, Bobby, 114 133–34, 140, 142–44, 146, 149–50, 154, 156, 218
O’Neil, J. R., 530 Parker, Florence, 414
O’Neil, Peggy, 199 Parker, Louis N., 97
O’Neil, Sally, 121, 173 Parker, Madeline, 411
O’Neill, Bobby, 183 Parks, John, 13
O’Neill, Peggy, 255, 412, 490 Parson, Carola, 91, 96
O’Neill, William J., 22 Parsons, Donovan, 171
Operti, Le Roi, 391–92 Parsons, Percy, 39
Oppenheimer, Jacob, 382 Pascaud (Mme.), 3, 45, 242
O’Ramey, Georgia, 153–54, 267 Pasch, Reginald, 424
Orange Blossoms, 122–23 Patch, William Moore, 24, 55–56
Orange Manufacturing Company, 333, 488, 497 Pateau, 144
Ordynski, Richard, 4 Patston, Doris, 250–51, 333
Oreste, 276 Patterson, Helen, 476
Orlob, Harold, 173, 386, 478 Patterson, Starke, 304, 471
Orry-Kelly, 395, 512, 521, 535, 540 Paul, Priscilla, 106
Ortmann, Will, 282–83 Paulton, Edward, 9
O’Ryan, Anna Wynne, 106 Paulton, Edward A., 36, 55
Osborne, Hubert, 376 Pauncefort, George, 323
Osborne, Vivienne, 451 Pawle, Lennox, 98, 153
Index 639
Payne, John, 394, 512 Pitkin, Robert (G.), 131, 555

Payton, Lew, 213 Pitt, Charles D., 91
Peacock, Bertram, 78, 80, 501 Pitter Patter, 28–29
Peacock (Ada) of Paris, 323, 327 Pitts, ZaSu, 270
Pearce, Phyllis, 330 Plain Jane, 199–201
Pearson, Bud, 422 Platt, Livingston, 208, 282–83, 301, 310, 459
Pearson, Jack, 422 Pleasure Man, 473
Pearson, Molly, 12 Plimmer, Walter, Jr., 490
Peck, Raymond (W.), 54, 316 Plunkett, William, 559
Peck and Peck, 185 Pockriss, Lee, 381
Pedrick, Lloyd, 326, 557 Poe, Aileen, 21
Peg o’My Dreams, 198–99 Pogany, Willy, 13, 225, 286, 317, 501
Peggy-Ann, 346–49 Pogany-Teichner Studios, 281
Pekelner, Celia, 385 Pointing, Audrey, 543
Pember, Clifford, 76, 96, 115 Poiret, Paul, 3, 40–41, 122, 135, 157
Pemberton, Henry, 493 Pola, Edward, 559
Pene Du Bois, Raoul, 270 Pollack, Ben, 506
Penella, Manuel, 92 Pollock, Alice Leal, 4–5
Penfield, Mrs., 517 Pollock, Arthur, 22, 73, 78, 90, 92–93, 97, 99, 109–10,
Penn, Nina, 119, 215 137, 154, 158–61, 166, 169, 174, 177, 179–80, 194–97,
Pennington, Ann, 154, 236 200, 203, 206, 209–11, 226–27, 229, 231, 239, 241, 243,
Peple, Edward, 317 245, 249, 262–63, 265, 272–73, 278, 283, 295, 299, 309,
Percyval, T. Wigney, 135 311–12, 319, 321, 330, 340, 343, 346, 358–59, 361, 371,
Perez, Julio, 92 380, 383, 388–89, 394, 402, 409, 418, 426, 438–39, 442,
Perez, Ray, 307, 414, 501 447–48, 450, 452, 454, 456, 466, 470, 473, 475, 485,
Perkins, Alberta, 314 487, 492, 494, 506, 511–12, 517, 520, 524, 533, 537,
Perkins, Bobby, 349, 486 542, 546, 551, 553, 558
Perkins, Ray, 459 Pollock, Lew, 71
Perleno, Hilda, 525 Pollock, Muriel, 153
Perrin, Adrian S., 530 Polly, 508–10
Perrin, Constance, 543 Polly of Hollywood, 366–67
Perry, Antoinette, 262 Poole, Ed, 239
Perry, Flo, 465 Poor Little Ritz Girl, 20–22
Peters, Brandon, 215 Poppen, Detmar, 123, 451
Peterson, Marjorie, 389, 503 Poppy, 168–70
Petit, Charles, 471 Porcasi, Paul, 42
Petricoff, Elaine, 267 Porta-Povitch, 399
Petrie, Walter, 361 Porter, Arthur, 66, 259
Pettes, Marie, 62 Porter, Arthur D., 174
Philipp, Adolf, 36 Porter, Billy, 69
Phillips, H. I., 173 Porter, Cole, 3, 144, 443, 478–79, 552–55
Phillips, Harold, 433 Porter, Ellis, 373
Phillips, Michael, 123 Porter, Paul, 261, 286
Phillips, Murray, 427 Post, W. H., 57, 274, 304, 428
Phillips, Sian, 199 Powell, Eleanor, 319, 443
Phillips (S.) & Sons, 301 Powell, Jane, 379
Phoebe of Quality Street, 61–63 Powell, Michael, 542
Physioc, Joseph, 23, 42, 305, 530–31 Powers, James T., 142
Picco, Millo, 4 Powers, Lou, 465
Pidgeon, Walter, 125, 379 Powers, Tom, 87
Pierce, Betty, 55 Praed, Michael, 453
Pierce, Billy, 395 Preminger, Otto, 125
Pierce, Wesley, 436 Present Arms, 453–55
Pierre, Edna, 74 Presley, Elvis, 427
Piggy (aka I Told You So), 356–57 Press, Jack, 530
The Pink Slip, 162 Pressburger, Emeric, 542
Pinkard, Maceo, 133, 135, 523 Preston, Walter J., 129
Pinsuti, Ciro, 262 Previn, Charles, 21, 58, 153
Piquer, Conchita, 92–93, 146 Price, Alonzo, 181, 211–12, 508, 555
Price, Dennis, 542 Randolph, Amanda, 213

Price, Lucy Jeanne, 365 Randolph, Clemence, 52
Price, Vincent, 276 Randolph, Elsie, 278, 512
Pries, W. H., 131 Rapee, Erno, 12
Prince, Charles A., 408 Raphaelson, Samson, 125
Princess April, 233–34 R.A.S., 330, 368, 386
Princess Flavia, 287–90 Rasch, Albertina, 361, 369, 408, 443, 451, 527, 550
Princess Virtue, 60–61 Raskin, Judith, 344
Pringle, William, 287 Rath, E. J., 497
Prinz, LeRoy, 343, 516, 537, 555, 557 Rathburn, Roger, 270, 411
Prior, Allan, 125, 236, 242–43, 333–34, 429–30, 537 Rathburn, Stephen, 520
Prior, Roger, 232 Ratoff, Gregory, 317
Proctor, Warren, 62, 246 Rawlins, W. H., 40
The Prodigal, 539 Rayfield, Florence, 71, 111
Prouty, Jed, 13 Raymond, Frederick, Jr., 26
Puck, Eva, 308–9, 430 Raymond, George, 532
Puck, Harry, 74, 227, 279, 339, 444, 465 Raymond, Ray, 51, 108, 281
Pugh, Ted, 411 Raymond, Ruth, 256
Puliti, George, 381 Razaf, Andy, 449
Pulsifer, Ken, 537 Rea, Stephen, 273
Purcell, Charles, 21–22, 50–51, 364, 378, 539 Read, Mary, 176, 187, 330, 359, 438, 484
Purcell, Gertrude, 412, 444, 465 Reader, Ralph, 264, 359, 371, 422, 445, 504
Purcell, H. V., 81 Reagan, Marie, 7
Purcella, Frank, 71–72 Reams, Lee Roy, 436
Purcella, Raymond, 72 Rebiroff, Jacques, 45
Purdom, Edmund, 236 Red Pepper, 111–12
Pyle, Richard, 19 The Red Rose, 502–5
Redcott, Eileen, 310
Quayle, Anthony, 542 Reddick, Betty, 488
Queen High, 317–19 Redding, Edwin, 392
Queen o’Hearts, 127–28 Redding, Harry, 54
Quinlan, John, 225–27 Redfield, Henry C., 395
Quinland, Dan, 111 Redgrave, Michael, 542
Quinson, Gustave, 96 Reed, Carl, 282, 459
Quixano, Dave, 9 Reed, Luther, 364, 379
Reeves-Smith, H., 266
R. de R., 556 Regan, Walter, 141, 158
Radin, Oscar, 63, 78, 225, 333, 391, 397, 482 Regay, Pearl, 216, 218, 341
Rae, Miss, 374 Reicher, Frank, 298
Rae, Phyllis, 438 Reichert, Heinz, 78
Raft, George, 285 Reidy, Ktty, 151
Ragland, Oscar, 34, 176, 484 Reimherr, George, 192–93, 246–47
Rain or Shine, 447–49 Reinhard, John, 19
Rainbow, 492–95 Reinhardt, Gottfried, 541
Rainbow Rose, 306–8 Reinhardt, Max, 541
Raines, Ron, 219 Reisenfeld, Hugo, 16
Rainger, Ralph, 318–19 Reisig, Theodore, 65
Raitt, John, 133, 436, 539 Remo, Roy, 144
Raleigh, Evangeline, 445 Renaud, William, 194
Rambeau, Zella, 61 Repole, Charles, 500
The Ramblers, 325–27 Reschiglian, Vincenzo, 4
Rambova, Natacha, 482 Revel, Harry, 121
Ramey, Georgia, 116 Revere, Amy, 296, 400
Ramsey, Packer, 133 Revere, Eugene, 135, 195
Randall, Carl, 48, 76–78, 321, 446 Reynolds, Debbie, 379, 463
Randall, F. J., 142 Reynolds, Elizabeth, 102
Randall, Tony, 535 Reynolds, James, 222, 250, 271, 274–76, 284, 330, 344,
Randall Sisters, 48 369–70, 428, 430, 471, 552
Randol, George, 313 Reynolds, Richard J., Jr., 396
Index 641
Reynolds, Sydney, 233 Rodriguez, Isabelle, 125

Reynolds, Zachary Smith, 397 Roeckel, Joseph Leopold, 262
R.F.S., 228, 289 Rogati, Marius, 274
R.G.D., 475 Rogers, Alex (C.), 151–52, 178–79, 313–14
Rhodes, Billy, 74 Rogers, Allan, 540
Rhodes, Harrison, 371 Rogers, Anne, 270, 290
Rhodes, Robert, 30 Rogers, Arthur, 321
Riano, Rene, 15–16 Rogers, Charles “Buddy,” 512, 549
Rice, Gitz, 60 Rogers, Ginger, 319, 379, 402, 538, 557–58
Richards, Gordon, 530 Rogers, Gladys, 449
Richardson, Henry, 488 Rogers, Hilda, 313
Richardson, Jane, 29, 106 Rogers, Howard E., 111
Richardson, Robert E., 199 Rogers, Wayne, 485
Richman, Arthur, 290 Rogers, Will, 35, 419, 485–86
Richman, Harry, 127 Rogers, William, 139
Richmond, Wyn (Wynn), 210, 265, 301–2 Rolando, Rose, 50
Ridabock & Co., 453 Rolland, Yvette, 93
Riddell, George, 262 Roltner, Robert, 555
Rideamus, 61 Romaine, Worthington, 17
Rideamus, Edward, 146–47 Romberg, Sigmund, 20, 22, 53–54, 78, 85, 99–100, 102,
Ridges, Stanley, 155, 181, 212, 420, 512–13 104, 123, 128, 144, 147, 160, 206, 211, 223, 234–36,
Ridley, Mabel, 507 250–52, 287–89, 341, 343, 371–72, 397–99, 408, 415–16,
Riesenfeld, Hugo, 17 440, 442, 468–71
Riggs, Ralph, 261, 314, 379–80 Rome, Harold, 264
The Right Girl, 54–55 Romero, Cesar, 125
Ring, Blanche, 501 Romilli, G., 516–17
Rio Rita, 361–64 Rooney, Mickey, 303
Rip, 3 Rooney, Pat, 53–54
Ripley, Lou, 130 Roos, Ann, 91
Ripolles and Martin, 92 Rosalie, 440–43
Ripple, Pacie, 468 Rosalinda, 541
The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly, 183–84 Rose, Billy (William), 516, 537
Ritchard, Cyril, 273 Rose, Edward E., 287
Ritz Brothers, 287 Rose, Irving, 63
Rivera, Chita, 290 Rose, Morris, 51
Rives, Amelie, 459 Rose, R. A., 530
R.J., 497 Rose, S. Lee, 305
Roberts, Al, 48 Rose, Sam, 482, 525
Roberts, C. Luckyeth “Lucky,” 151–52, 178–79, 313–14 The Rose Girl, 49–51
Roberts, J. Frederic, 443 The Rose Masque, 541
Roberts, Joan, 168 The Rose of Stamboul, 102–4
Robertson, Guy, 115, 149, 151, 298, 374, 376, 433, 436–38, Rosebrook, Leon, 173, 354, 540
463–64, 535–36 Rosedale, Lillian, 111–12
Robertson, William, 488 Roselle, William, 417
Robeson, Paul, 433, 435–36 Rose-Marie, 216–20
Robi, Armand, 205 Rosemont, Walter L., 171
Robin, Leo, 125, 276, 364, 376, 381, 412, 488 Rosen, 167–68
Robinson, Clarence, 449 Rosenberg, Mme., 325
Robinson, Clark, 198, 271, 347, 447, 516, 559 Rosenberg, Sonia, 480
Robinson, Harry, 325 Rosenblum, Edmund, Jr., 305
Robinson, Norah, 418 Rosenfeld, Sydney, 541
Robson, Mary, 160 Rosing, Vladimir, 443
Roccardi, Albert, 118 Rosley, Adrian, 436
Rocke, Ben, 417, 447 Rosoff, Charles, 364
Rockne, Knute, 395 Ross, Adrian, 357
Roder, Milan, 98 Ross, Allie, 525
Rodgers, Eileen, 479 Ross, Clark, 292
Rodgers, Richard, 2, 20, 22, 271, 273, 308, 347, 349–50, Ross, Joe, 474
417–18, 438–39, 453, 471, 473–74, 515, 519–20, 547 Ross, Lanny, 520
Ross, Vera, 10, 92 Saloman & Weimer, 333

Rosse, Herman, 505 Salzer, Eugene, 15, 51, 155
Rossiter, P. T., 379 Salzer, Gene, 57, 127, 438, 480, 552
Roth, Lillian, 230, 276, 420, 488 Salzer, Gus, 26, 32, 45, 122, 168, 198, 222–23, 250, 276,
Rothacker, Louise and Stella, 385 344, 366, 369, 410, 451, 497, 532
Rothe & Teichner, 155 Samuels, Arthur, 168
Routon, Mme., 144, 147 Samuels, Lesser, 547
Routon, Yvonne, 123 Samuels, Maurice V., 382
Rowland, Roy, 379 Sanchiz Lazar, V., 92
Roy, Dorothy, 347, 505 Sand, George, 464
Royce, Edward, 12–13, 36, 45, 83, 88, 122, 135, 157–58, Sanders, Alma (M.), 74–76, 155, 192, 211–12, 233, 292, 501
185, 223, 225, 250, 402, 438, 474 Sanders, George, 547
Roye, Dorothy, 471 Sanders (N.) & Co., 74
Royle, Edwin Milton, 428 Sanderson, Julia, 74, 76, 338
Royston, Roy, 97, 133, 198, 206–8, 264–65, 310, 480 Sandlin, Dorothy, 343
Ruben, José, 502–4, 540 Sands, Ann, 167
Rubens, Maurice (Maurie), 247, 290, 319, 333, 444, 465, Sands, George, 171
521 Sanford, Charles, 273
Rubin, Benny, 279, 395–97 Sanger, Eugene, 201
Ruby, Harry, 165, 208, 282–83, 305, 325, 327, 339, 369–70, Santley, Frederic (Fred), 58, 261, 389, 427
410, 438, 461, 463, 486, 557 Santley, Joseph, 57, 290–91, 335, 369, 412–13
Rudisill, Ivan, 10, 106, 116, 189, 266, 317, 521, 557 Santoyo, Matias, 361
Ruffalo, Madeline, 201 Sanville, Margaret de Cordova, 450
Ruggles, Charles, 171–72, 317–19, 493, 519–20 Sara, Ilda, 382
Ruick, Barbara, 339 Sarafini, Enzo, 381
Runnel-Amend, Inc., 133, 158 Saratoga, 540
Runnin’ Wild, 174–76 Sarony, Leslie, 363, 484
Rush, Madge, 9 Saunders, Gertrude, 66, 133
Ruskin, Harry, 537 Savage, Henry W., 43, 139–40, 170
Russeka, 296 Savage (Henry) Inc., 187
Russek’s, 261 Savin, M., 26
Russell, Eddie, Jr., 389–90 Sawyer, Charles Pike, 22, 114
Russell, Irene, 232 Sawyer, Ida, 412–13
Russell, Miss, 93 Sawyer, Ivy, 39, 57, 290–91
Russell, Zella, 129, 242 Sawyer, Mike, 199
Russell Uniform Company, 12, 419, 519, 547 Saxon, Marie, 171, 227, 279, 326, 480
Ruth, Joan, 397 Say When, 459–61
Rutherford, John, 185, 284, 317, 499–500 Sayers, Evelyn and Loretta, 438
Ruysdael, Basil, 237, 293, 295, 399 Scanlon, Edward, 397
Rye, Frank, 523 Scanlon, Walter, 1
Ryley, Phil, 45 Scannell, J. Kevin, 500
Ryskind, Morrie, 293, 486 Scannell, John, 7
Schaefer, George, 290
Sabel, Josephine, 344 Schaff, George, 328
Sackett, Albert, 55, 212 Schaffner, Walter, 244, 292
Saddler, Donald, 269–70, 338 Schanzer, Rudolph, 123, 128, 225, 319–20
Sager, David, 329 Scheck, Max, 62, 94, 104, 234, 242, 287, 327–28, 333, 459
St., Theodore, 478 Scheff, Fritzi, 359, 541
St. Clair, Stewart, 354 Schertzinger, Victor, 549–50
St. Germaine, 399 Schiller, George A., 320
St. Helier, Ivy, 544, 547 Schloss, Irving, 333
St. James, William, 242 Schmeides, Frank, 293
St. John, Betta, 236 Schneider-Anderson, 12, 15, 26, 34, 37, 168, 170, 183, 187,
St. Leger, Frank, 443 267, 276, 284, 307, 323, 330, 349, 369, 400, 402, 408,
Sakall, S. Z. “Cuddles,” 236, 270 422, 440, 484, 497, 535
Saki, Marion, 304, 508 Schofield, Charles, 139
Saks-Fifth Avenue, 419, 455, 480, 482, 490, 519, 527, 547, Scholl, Jack, 343
552, 557 Scholl, John Jay, 66, 155
Sally, 45–48 Schrader, Frederick F., 263, 275, 278, 295, 303, 305, 307,
Sally, Irene and Mary, 120–21 309, 312, 321, 323, 325, 327, 330, 332, 334, 338, 340,
Index 643
346, 357, 359, 363, 368, 371–74, 378, 388, 399, 407, Shaw, Edna, 26
413, 416, 418, 423, 426, 438, 440, 447, 450, 455–56, Shaw, Neeka, 507
464, 466, 468, 473, 481, 487, 490, 492, 497, 499, 506, Shaw, Oscar, 58, 89–90, 179–80, 222–23, 295, 336, 410–11
515, 518, 523–24, 529, 536, 542, 549, 551, 554, 556, Shaw, Winifred, 535
558, 560 Shaw, Winn, 178
Schrader, Marie B., 92 Shayne, Edith, 327
Schrapps, Ernest (E. R.; Schraper, Schraps), 242, 287, 301, Shayne (C.C.) & Co., 96
333, 371, 374, 397, 415, 436, 463, 465, 496, 503, 521, Shean, Al, 349
540 Shearer, Norma, 236
Schubert, Franz, 78 Sheehan, Jack, 333, 511
Schwab, Laurence, 116, 189, 265–66, 317, 341, 392, 468, Sheehan, John, 392, 510
510, 512 Shelby, Virginia, 39
Schwartz, Al, 419 Sheldon, Edward, 408
Schwartz, Arthur, 319 Shelley, Gladys, 168
Schwartz, Ben, 382 Shepard, Constance, 305
Schwartz, Jean, 160, 224, 445 Shepard, Karin, 531
Schwarzwald, Milton, 118, 220, 357, 412 Sheppard, Madelyn, 106
Scott, Cyril, 144, 146 Sheppard, Martin, 516
Scott, Jimmy, 400 Sheridan, Phil M., 40
Scott, Kenyon, 530 Sherman, Hiram, 270
Scott, Lydia, 135, 330 Sherman, Shirley, 307, 427
Scribe, Eugene, 17 Sherri (Andre) Inc., 51
Scudder, Eugene, 381 Sherwood, Gale, 344, 419
Seabury, William, 254, 508 Sherwood, Lorraine, 391
Sears, 55 Sherwood, Robert E., 273
Sears, Harry, 29 Sherwood, Walter, 314
Sears, Zelda, 43–44, 139–40, 170, 187–88, 307 She’s My Baby, 438–40
Sedley, Roy, 292 Shevelove, Burt, 269, 474
Segal, Vivienne, 125–26, 162, 287, 316–17, 341–42, 418, Shevlin, James, 24
426–27, 451–52, 495 Shields, Ruth, 535
Seidel, Virginia, 500 Shipman, Helen, 147, 194–95, 261
Seiter, William A., 121, 279 Short, Frank Lea, 400
Seldes, Gilbert, 123, 138, 197, 546 Short, Harry, 55, 185
Sellery, William, 389 Short, Hassard, 27, 48, 50, 198–99, 228, 276, 344, 369, 445
Selwyn, Arch, 76, 171, 542 Show Boat, 430–36
Selwyn, Edgar, 76, 96, 171, 222 Show Girl, 527–30
Selwyn Studio, 54 Shubert, J. J., 301
Sennott, Ruth, 488, 490 Shubert, Messrs., 62–63, 71, 78, 80, 85, 99, 102–4, 111,
Sentner, David P., 494, 499 120, 123, 125, 128, 144, 147, 160, 210, 234, 236, 240,
Serafin, Tullio, 367 242, 247, 264, 287, 290, 301, 320–21, 333, 352, 371,
Sergieff, Serge, 385–86 374, 397, 415, 436, 444, 463–65, 496, 503, 512, 521,
Serrano, Vincent, 361 540, 542
Setti, Giulio, 367 Shuffle Along, 66–69
Seventeen, 303 Shuffle Along, or The Making of the Musical Sensation of
Sexton, Al, 104, 304, 323, 488, 514, 559 1921 and All That Followed, 69
Seymour, Deming, 526–27, 531, 536, 539, 549, 551, 553, Shuffle Along of 1933, 69
556, 558 Shutta, Ethel, 206–8, 251–52, 498, 500–501
Seymour, G. D., 479, 509, 517–18 Shy, Gus, 305, 335, 392, 395, 468, 470–71
Seymour, John, 271 Sidewalds of New York, 404–6
Shackelford, Harry, 374 Sidman, Sam, 476
Shackleton, Robert, 47 Siegel, Arthur, 187
Shaffner, Walter, 212 Sieger, Charles, 137, 301
Shanks, 130 Sievers, Harry F., 239
Shannon, Effie, 461 Sillman, Leonard, 508
Shannon, Eileen, 113 Sills, Frank, 412
Shannon, Harry, 482 The Silver Swan, 555–56
Sharaff, Irene, 273 Silvernail, Clarke, 488
Sharland, Reginald, 169 Silvers, Louis, 3, 165
Sharlee, 178–79 Simmons, Bartlett, 459, 521, 523, 540
Sharon, Ula, 298, 453 Simmons, Danny, 252
Simmons (B. J.) & Co., 542 Snow, Nelson, 344

Simms, Margaret, 133 Snyder, Milton V., 556
Simms, William, 133 Somerset, Pat, 122
Simon, Louis, 51, 191, 357–58 Sonderson, Lora, 151
Simon, Max, 389 Sondheim-Levy Co., 527, 530
Simon, Neil, 273, 344, 419 Song of the Flame, 298–301
Simon, Robert A., 330, 368, 386, 480, 541 Sonny (Sonny Boy), 76–78
Simon (Franklin) & Co., 210 Sons o’ Guns, 550–52
Simons, Seymour, 48–49 Sorin, Louis, 391–92
Simonson, Lee, 74, 189 Sothern, Ann, 348, 483
Simpson, Grant, 347 South, Dorothy, 92–93
Sinatra, Frank, 436, 479, 539 Southern Light Opera Company, 65
Sinclair, Charles, 18, 123, 271 Sovey, Raymond, 222, 325, 438, 484, 486, 557
Singer, Dolf, 414 Spalding (A. G.) Co., 392, 510
Singha, Kumara, 369 Sparks, Ned (A.), 5, 32–33, 535
Singleton, Daisy, 444 Sparling, Herbert, 39
Singleton, Penny, 247, 249–50, 395 Specht, Paul, 205–6
Sinnott, Frank, 321 Spelvin, George, 279
Siretta, Dan, 500 Spelvin, Gordon, 27
Sisk, Robert F., 388, 397, 402, 426, 440, 445, 455–56, 462, Spencer, Anna, 3, 21
466, 468, 475–76, 509, 511, 520, 546 Spencer, Page, 94
Sissle, Noble, 66, 68–69, 155, 213–14 Spencer, Robert, 453
Sitting Pretty, 195–97 Spencer (Anna) Inc., 94, 96, 106, 116, 128
Six Brown Brothers, 137 Spiegel, Max, 127
Skelly, Hal, 7, 20, 122, 181, 239 Spiegel’s Productions, 9
Skelton, Red, 463 Spina, Harold, 121
Skinner, Cornelia Otis, 273 Spinelli, Maria, 381
Skipworth, Alison, 459, 496 Spiner, Brent, 453
Sky High, 247–50 Spiro, Leonoria, 320
Slater, Bob, 524 Spree, Joseph, 320, 354
Sloane, A. Baldwin, 244, 246, 347 Spring, Helen, 271
Sloane, Paul, 140, 327 Spring Is Here, 518–21
Smith, Adele, 497 Springtime of Youth, 128–30
Smith, Al, 404, 406, 485 Spurr, Horton, 326
Smith, Alison, 389, 434 Squire, Jack, 160, 171, 206, 305, 307–8
Smith, Bernard, 444 Squires, Gil, 519
Smith, Bessie, 159, 524 Squires, Jack, 29, 327, 359, 559
Smith, Clifford, 465 Stachel, Blanche, 516
Smith, Edgar, 71, 111, 347, 535 Stadlen, Lewis J., 298
Smith, Gerald Oliver, 230, 336 Stagers, Inc., 262
Smith, Harry B., 16, 128, 146, 242, 246, 287, 303, 319, 321, Stahl, Rose, 108
356, 371–72, 374, 395, 397, 415, 463–64, 502 Stallings, Laurence, 328, 330, 492
Smith, Joe, 72 Stammers, Frank, 55
Smith, Kate, 324–25, 378 Stamper, Dave, 422, 436
Smith, Mark, 94 Stanbrough, Joan, 543
Smith, Martin, 546 Stange, Hugh Stanislaus, 301
Smith, Matthew, 527 Stanhope, Frederick, 148, 286
Smith, Paul Gerard, 414, 419, 455, 547 Stanley, Jack, 359
Smith, Queenie, 106–7, 122, 157–58, 165–66, 195–97, Stanley, Pat, 411
220–21, 296–97, 365, 378, 436, 535–37 Stanley, “Red,” 478–79
Smith, Robert B., 19 Stanley, Truman, 81
Smith, Stanley, 230, 395, 402 Stanton, Paul, 400
Smith, Virginia, 188, 279, 427 Starbuck, Betty, 347, 471, 505–6, 547
Smith, Winchell, 284 Starbuck, James, 273
Smithfield, George, 488 Stark, Leo, 65, 408
Smithson, Frank, 53, 63, 99, 111, 120 Starling, Lynn, 10, 12
Smoller, Dorothy, 95 Starr, Jean, 449
Smythe, Christian, 123 Steck, Olga, 114, 245, 305–6
Snelson, Floyd G., Jr., 260 Steele, John, 317
Index 645
Steele, Porter, 262 Strauss, Johann, 540–41

Steger, Julius, 73 Strauss and Company, 131
Steichen, Gerald, 48 Strauss (S.) Inc., 24
Steiger, James, 414 The Street Singer, 535–37
Stein & Blaine, 74 Stremel, Henry, 144
Steiner, Max, 36, 50, 62, 162, 195, 210, 256, 282, 284, Stroman, Susan, 500
339–40, 415, 493, 506, 550 Stroud, Gregory, 47
Stengel, Norman, 300 Stryker, Muriel, 228
Stephens, Cora, 302 Stuart, Katherine, 185
Stephens, George, 174 Stuart, Leslie, 124
Stepping Stones, 176–78 The Student Prince in Heidelberg, 234–37
Sterling, Ford, 125, 338 Sue, Dear, 113–14
Sterling, Jan, 273 Sullivan, Arthur, 262, 581–82
Sterling, Robert, 273 Sullivan, Ed, 427
Stern, Professor, 542 Sullivan, Henry, 537
Sterngold Brothers, 444 Sullivan, John Maurice, 281
Stetson, 497 Sullivan, Margaret, 303
Stevens, Josephine, 151 Sully, William, 209, 326
Stevens, Marti, 338 Summerhays, Jane, 338
Stevens, Merle, 274 Summers, Cecil, 118
Stevens, Ruth, 314 Summers, Joan, 1
Stevenson, Douglas, 148 Summers, Sam, 559
Stevenson, Robert, 357, 389, 404 Sun Showers, 148–49
Stevenson, Scott, 535 Sunny, 276–79
Stevenson, W. Douglas, 157–58 Sunny Days, 445–47
Stevenson, Wanda, 527 Sunny River, 110
Stewart, Charles G., 17 The Sunset Trail, 443–44
Stewart, Dink, 313 Sunshine, Marion, 96, 115
Stewart, Grant, 29 Suskind, Milton, 286
Stewart, James, 219 Sutcliffe, Steven, 419
Stewart, Katharine, 83 Sutherland, Greenleaf, 210
Stewartson, Jerome, 237 Suzette, 91–92
Stillman, Henry B., 22 Suzette Producing Company, 91
Stinnette, Juanita, 507–8 Swaffer, hannen, 349
Stoddard, George (E.), 32, 108, 151, 178, 244, 292 Swan, Gilbert, 481, 523, 539
Stoddard, Marie, 408 Swan, Lea, 237
Stolz, Robert, 247–48, 376 Swan, Mark, 99, 142, 364
Stone, Allene (Crater), 177–78, 330, 332 Swanson, Beatrice, 160
Stone, Carol, 178, 332 Swanson, Marcella, 160, 247, 444
Stone, Charles, 443 Swanstrom, Arthur, 550
Stone, Dorothy, 176–78, 330, 332, 484–85, 528, 555 Swarbrick, Carol, 500
Stone, Fred, 34–35, 176–78, 330, 332, 485 Sweet, George, 222
Stone, Georgie, 301 Sweet Adeline, 531–35
Stone, John E., 250, 286 Sweet Little Devil, 189–91
Stone, Paula, 177–78, 332 The Sweetheart Shop, 24–26
Stone, Peter, 422 Sweetheart Time, 303–5
Stone, William, 162 Sweetser, Norman, 173
Stothart, Herbert (P.), 1–2, 23, 42–43, 96, 115–16, 149, 181, Swete, E. Lyall, 30
189, 206, 216, 218, 298, 300, 335, 424, 461, 508 Swift, Kay, 459, 461
Stover, Maud Ream, 168 Sylva, Marguerita, 424
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 237
The Strand Electric and Engineering Company, 542 Tabor, Desiree, 374, 376, 470
Stratas, Teresa, 436 Taiz, Lillian, 519–20
Stratford, 392 Take a Chance, 174
Stratford Clothes, 266, 317 Take Me Along, 303
Strathmore, Violet (Violette), 3, 99 Take the Air, 422–24
Stratton, Chester, 419 Tales of Rigo, 382–83
Stratton, Clare, 215 Talese, Maryanne, 471
Straus, Oscar, 63–64, 319–21 Talk About Girls, 386–88
Talliaferro, Edith, 36 Thompson, W. H., 92

Tangerine, 73–76 Thompson, Woodman, 293, 328, 341
Tannen, Julius, 48 Thomson, Archie, 412
Tappe, 109, 276, 330, 369 Thomson, Arline, 275
Tarasoff, 369 Thomson, Carolyn, 54–55, 83, 274–75
Tarasoff, Ivan, 410, 514 Thomson, Jack and Tommy, 60
Tarbox, Russell, 187 Thorngren, Jane, 471
Tarkington, Booth, 301–2 Thorpe, Richard, 236
Tarrazona Brothers, 13 Thorpe (Jay) Inc., 552
Taurog, Norman, 402 Three Cheers, 484–85
Taylor, Andy, 298 The Three Musketeers, 65–66, 451–53
Taylor, Avonne, 185 3 Showers, 10–12
Taylor, Billie, 118–20 Thress, Frances, 410
Taylor, Billy, 118–20, 244, 506, 537, 549 Throckmorton, Cleon, 262
Taylor, Clement, 516 Thropp, Clara, 167
Taylor, Deems, 127, 367–68 Thurber, J. Kent, 391
Taylor, Elizabeth, 523 Tibbett, Lawrence, 367–68, 471, 539
Taylor, Eva, 388 Tichenor, Billy, 307
Taylor, Jane, 227, 387 Tickle Me, 23–24
Taylor, Jeannine, 267 Tierney, Dorothy, 5, 51
Taylor, Laurette, 52, 198 Tierney, Harry, 41, 130–31, 141, 154, 185, 224, 361, 467
Taylor, Ron, 453 Tiffany, Marie, 4
Taylor, Trix, 205 Tilden, Georgina, 310
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich, 246–47, 474 Till the Clouds Roll By, 48
Tcherina, Ludmilla, 542 Tiller, John, 176, 187, 276
Tea for Two, 270–71 Tiller, Tom, 270
Teek, Angela, 338 Timberg, S., 535
Teichner, Joseph, 286 Tindal, Muriel, 62
Tell Me More, 255–57 Tinney, Frank, 23–24, 115–16
Teller, Frank L., 373 Tip-Toes, 296–98
Temple, Paula, 65 Tip-Top, 34–35
Temple, Richard (W.), 65–66, 104, 215, 550 Titheradge, Dion, 136, 155
Templeton, Fay, 38 T.M.C., 206
Templeton, Mercer, 16, 197 Toback, Hannah, 546
Teppe, Herman Patrick, 88 Tobin, Genevieve, 222–23, 552
Terris, Norma, 127–28, 221, 430, 435 Todd, Clarence, 449
Terry, Ethelind, 28, 186, 361, 363 Toler, Sidney, 211–12
Teuber, Max, 516 The Tom Cat, Inc., 391
Thacker, Russ, 297–98 Tombes, Andrew, 21, 51, 82, 207–8, 256–57, 296, 387,
Thaw, Harry K., 534 484–85, 535–36
Thayer, Pat, 290 Tomkins, Don, 510, 512
Theatrical Art Studios, 523, 525 Tomlinson, Raymond, 354
Thenon, George Gabriel, 3 Toner, Joseph, 287, 374, 521, 523
Theodore, Flavio, 477 Top Hole, 215–16
Thery, Jacques, 444 Top Speed, 556–59
Thomas, A. E., 137, 228, 412 Topsy and Eva, 237–38
Thomas, Augustus, 415 Tormé, Mel, 395
Thomas, Calvin, 527 Torpey, William, 484
Thomas, John Charles, 84 Torriani, Aimee, 237
Thomas, Ruth, 461 Tours, Frank (E.), 30–31, 290, 293, 542
Thomas, T. F., 404 Townly, Barry, 233
Thomas, William, 206 Towse, J. Ranken, 186–87
Thompson, Charlotte, 57 Tozzi, Giorgio, 219, 344
Thompson, Fred, 40, 206, 230, 255, 296, 361, 409, 419, Trabert, George, 142
455, 490, 550 Tracy, Royal, 126
Thompson, Harlan, 166–68, 227, 279–80, 339–40 Trapp, William O., 462
Thompson, Jack, 347, 362, 417, 552 Travers, Richard C., 381–82
Thompson, Kay, 421 Treasure Girl, 490–92
Thompson, May, 39 Trent, Jo, 516
Index 647
Tresmand, Ivy, 334, 378 Vanesse, O. J., 341

Trett, Vera, 410 Vanity Fair Costumes, 120, 128, 144, 147, 160, 199, 205,
Trevor, Austin, 544 234, 247, 292, 333, 374
Trevor, Hugh, 327 Varley, Anne, 346
Triangle Scenic Studio, 19, 246, 323, 373 Varnel, M. H., 374
Tribble, Andrew, 160 Varnel, Marcel, 537
Trini, 144, 423–24 Veber, Pierre, 344, 445
Tripler, 195 Vecsey, Armand, 104, 352–53
Tripler (F. R.) & Co., 505 Velie, Janet, 37, 212, 293, 484, 521, 547, 549
Troughton, John M., 199 Velie, Jay, 167
Trowbridge, Charles, 106 The Velvet Lady, 325
Troy, Charles, 516 Veneroni, Mme., 382
Truesdale, Howard, 42 Vera-Ellen, 73, 418
Truex, Ernest, 29, 224, 411 Verba, Vahrah, 410
Tucker, Anne Youmans, 270 Verina, Winifred, 65, 153
Tugend, Harry, 121 Verneuil, Louis, 512
Tully, Richard Walton, 52 Vernille, Nitzi, 152
Tunberg, Karl, 121 Vernon, Shirley, 392, 550
Tunbridge, Joseph, 280 Vestoff, Valodia, 334
Tune, Tommy, 422 Vicars, Harold, 19, 39
Tunstall, Fred, 259 Vici, Berni, 476
Turner, Maidel, 519 Viele, Sheldon K., 165, 187, 404, 484
Tutt, J. Homer, 507 Vigal, John, 449
Tuttle, Frank, 187 Villarias, Carlos, 92
Twain, Mark, 417 Villasana, Juan, 361
Twiggy, 422 Vimnera, August, 382, 389, 391
Twinkle Twinkle, 339–41 Vincent, Nat, 133, 135
Two Little Girls in Blue, 58–60 Vincent, Walter, 165, 220
Vinton, Doris, 459
Unger, Gladys, 215, 436, 444, 541 Vitalis, Roy, 374
United Plays Company, 63 Vitolo-Pearson Studios, 148
United Scenic Studios, 120 Vivara, 210
Unitt, Edward G., 15, 81 Vivian, George, 57
Unitt & Wicks, 37 Vivian, Percival, 12
Up in the Clouds, 94–95 Vizard, Harold, 131, 281
Up She Goes, 130–31 Vodery, Will, 158, 430, 449
Ups-A-Daisy, 480–81 Vokes, Elsie, 93
Upshaw, Dawn, 339 Vokes, May, 223, 282
Upton, Frances, 387, 498 Vollaire, George, 232
Urban, Gretel, 250 Von Stade, Frederica, 436
Urban, Joseph, 45, 83–84, 125, 192, 252, 298–99, 335, 349, Von Tilzer, Albert, 15–16, 116, 118, 162, 357, 359
359, 361, 367, 424, 430, 440, 451, 490, 492, 497, 499, Von Wymetal, Wilhelm, 367
508, 510, 527, 529, 550 Vonnegut, Marjorie, 262
Voorhees, Don, 447
The Vagabond King, 273–76 Voorhees, Donald, 286
Vail, Edwin, 314 V.R., 226
Valentine, William, 484 Vreeland, Frank, 363
Van, Billy B., 162–63, 210–11, 446
Van, Bobby, 189, 269 Waara, Scott, 554
Van Alst, Dorothy, 358 Waddell, Joan Carter, 480
Van Biene, Eileen, 109, 352 Wadsworth, F. Wheeler, 281, 308
Van Buren, A. H., 261 Wagner, Chuck, 453
Van Dyke, W. S., 219, 443, 547 Wagner, Nate, 321
Van Kirk, Florence M. P., 385 Wagner, Nathaniel, 139, 233, 399
Van Rensselaer, Hal, 94, 120 Wagstaff, Joseph, 474–75
Vanasse, O. J., 266 Waites, James A., 373
Vanderbilt, Gertrude, 22, 292 Wakefield, Hugh, 250
Vanderbilt Producing Company, 141 Walbrook, Anton, 542
Vandewart Co., 247 Wald, Jerry, 552
Waldron, Marga, 399–400 Wayne, William, 189, 470

Walke, Hughie, 525 W.B., 434, 481
Walker, Ethel Jane, 516 Weathersby, Jennie, 130
Walker, James J., 285, 382, 406, 459, 461 Weaver, Marjorie, 121
Walker, June, 264 Weaver, William, 50, 192, 194, 212, 233, 252, 400
Walker, Margaret, 307 Webb, Clifton, 3–4, 136, 153, 155, 276, 438, 490–92
Walker, Polly, 379, 402, 474 Webb, Kenneth, 501
Walker, Robert, 48 Webb, Lilyan, 34
Walker, Walter, 94, 215 Webb, Lyda, 174–75
Wallace, Richard, 232 Webb, Roy, 347, 417, 453, 471, 514
Wallace, Rona, 142 Webb, Teddy, 71
Waller, Jack, 280 Webber, Florence, 21
Waller, Oden, 422 Weber, A. Lawrence, 357
Waller, Thomas “Fats,” 449, 451, 467 Weber, Joe, 27
Walsh, Barry, 550 Weber, L. Lawrence, 167, 191, 254, 415
Walsh, Brownie, 410 Webster, Harry R., 43
Walsh, Thomas, 108 Webster, Paul Francis, 236
Walsh, Thommie, 422 Weeks, Ada May, 32–33, 81, 187–88, 267, 512
Walters, Bill, 104 Weeks, Al, 48
Walters, Charles, 73, 395 Welch, Ben, 42
Walters, Dorothy, 194–95, 261, 400 Welch, Elizabeth, 175, 214
Walters, Harry, 201 Welchman, Harry, 287–88, 343, 471
Walton, Gladys, 264 Weldon, Bunny, 391
Walton, Lester A., 68 Weldon, M. Francis, 160
Walzer, Willie, 282 Weldy, Max, 478
Warburg, James Paul, 459 Weldy of Paris, 234, 333, 374, 400
Ward, Dorothy, 62–63, 71–73 Welford, Dallas, 181
Ward, Ed, 301 Welford, Nancy, 157–58, 340, 373, 447, 520–21
Ward, Eddie, 125 Welisch, Ernest, 123, 225, 319–20
Ward, Herbert, 3, 118, 127, 142, 162 Weller, Carroll, 262
Ward, Polly, 549 Weller, Ted, 43
Ward, Solly, 521 Wells, Bee, 488
Ward and Harvey, 377–79, 453, 514, 555 Wells, Bernard, 26
Warde, Arthur F., 381 Wells, Cynthia, 535
Wardell, Harry, 5 Wells, John, 537
Waring, Fred, 489 Wells, Lawrence, 234
Waring, Tom, 537 Wells, Marie, 495
Warner, Albert, 29 Wells, Peavey, 262
Warnick, Clay, 273 Wells, William K., 255, 400
Warren, Harry, 73, 520 Welsh, Elizabeth, 214
Warren, Julie, 418 Wenger, John, 296, 336, 356–57, 419, 455–56, 461–62, 480,
Warren, Paul, 98 519
Warren, Ruth, 189 Wenrich, Percy, 54–55, 316
Warwick, Henry, 102 Werau, A., 63
Washington, George, 155 Werba, Louis F., 162, 339
Washington, Isabell, 525–26 West, Arthur, 194, 266
Waterous, Allen, 316 West, Buster, 480
Waterous, Herbert, 514 West, Fay, 212
Watson, Alfred, 326 West, Harold, 176
Watson, Bobby, 183, 223, 225, 402, 467 West, Mae, 473
Watson, Harry, Jr., 296 West, Will, 83
Watson, Mamie, 483 West Point Knitwear Mills, 557
Watson, Milton, 486, 550 Western, Burke, 119
Watson, Minor, 229 Westley, Helen, 279, 436
Watson, Susan, 270 Weston, Jack, 338
Watt, G. Howard, 497 Weston, R. P., 310, 319
Watts, Virginia, 501 Wever, Edward H., 227
Wayburn, Ned, 21, 58, 60, 142 Weyburn, Ned, 7
Wayne, Rollo, 128, 144, 215, 463 Weyman, Stanley, 502
Index 649
W.G.H., 199, 236 Wilhelm, 125, 176, 225

Wheaton, Anna, 10–12 Wilhelm, G., 34
Wheeler, Bert, 55, 327, 363–64 Wilhelm, Julius, 250
Wheeler, Hugh, 236 Wilk, Ralph, 260, 285, 287, 367, 442, 464, 475, 479, 485,
Wheeler, Ruth, 391 494, 499, 504, 511
When You Smile, 281–82 Wilkeison, Biddy, 410
Whiffen, Thomas, Mrs., 413 Wilkes, Mattie, 174
Whipper, Leigh, 259 Wilkes, Tom, 237
The Whirl of New York, 71–73 Wilkins, Jean, 65
Whistler, Edna, 131 Wilkinson, Dudley, 127
Whitaker & Company, 276 Wilkof, Lee, 298
Whitcomb, Cliff, 377 Willard, Edmund, 549
White, Alice, 530 Willemetz, Albert, 179
White, E. B., 390 Williams, Bert, 162
White, Frances, 42–43, 104–6, 359 Williams, Clarence, 388–89
White, George, 174, 400–402 Williams, Lucille, 26
White, Gladys, 329 Williams, Marian, 271
White, Henry, 83, 391 Williams, Waldine, 488
White, Joyce, 316 Williams, William, 471
White, Lillian (Lilyan), 89, 135 Williamson, Robert, 316
White, Lucien H., 135, 152, 160 Williamson, Ruth, 89, 106
White, Marjorie, 301–3, 483, 515 Willner, Alfred M., 78
White, Mortimer, 126 Willoughby, Hugh, 213, 254, 316, 356–57, 364
White, Philip, 51 Willson, Meredith, 182
White, Richard, 436, 471 Wilmer, Sidney, 165, 220
White, Rosa, 507 Wilner, Max R., 53
White, Sammy, 308, 430, 436 Wilson, Charles Cahill, 162
White, Stanford, 534 Wilson, Edwin, 394
White, Thelma, 519 Wilson, Hansford, 307, 399–400
White, W. H., 234 Wilson, Jack, 391–92
The White Eagle, 428–30 Wilson, Jay, 220
White Lights, 413–15 Wilson, Jeannette, 17
White Lilacs, 463–64 Wilson, Joseph, 43
The White Sister, 381–82 Wilson, Lena, 259
Whitehead, Ralph, 240, 327–28, 349, 389 Wilson, Lester, 453
Whiteley, Thomas, 352 Wilson, Lois, 118
Whiteman, Paul, 370–71 Wilson, Walter, 10, 54, 118, 307
Whiting, Jack, 176, 281–82, 307–8, 406–7, 438, 482, 540, Wilson, William J., 290, 335, 379
547, 558 Wimazal, Gus, 327
Whitmore, Dorothy, 78, 183, 220, 333, 407 Wimperis, Arthur, 3, 250
Whitney, B. C., 213, 246 Winchell, Walter, 393, 418, 426, 499, 502, 508, 511, 517,
Whitney, F. C., 246 524, 558
Whitney, Salem, 507 Winchester Company of New York, 185
Whittaker, James, 68, 98, 107 Wingo, Eva, 488
Whittell, Josephine, 17, 180, 267, 269 Winninger, Charles, 133, 267, 269, 406, 433, 436
Whittemore, Henry, 293 Winninger, G, 430
Whittier, John Greenelaf, 398 Winslow, Herbert Hall, 254
Whoopee, 497–501 Winslow, Leah, 215
Wickes, Joseph, 15, 81, 98, 402, 474 Winston, Bruce, 333
Wickes (Joseph) Studio, 131, 183 Winter, Michael, 310
Wilcox, Carol, 267 Winters, Julian, 30
Wilcox, Herbert, 270, 279, 547 Winters, Percy, 525
The Wild Cat, 92–93 Winthrop, Eddie, 148
The Wild Rose, 335–36 Winwood, Estelle, 109–10
Wilde, Cornel, 464 Wise, Tom, 352
Wilde, Oscar, 379, 381 Witchie, Katharine, 379
Wilder, Alec, 381 Withee, Mabel, 102, 293
Wildflower, 149–51 Wodehouse, P. G., 45, 195, 197, 336, 338, 435, 440, 451
Wiley, Lee, 520, 549 Wohlk (Alfred) & Co., 267
Wolfson, Martin, 399 Wrightson, Earl, 471

Wolfson and Scandiffio, 467 Wulff, Derick, 282, 389
Wollcott, Alexander, 416 Wyart, Albert, 195
A Wonderful Night, 540–42 Wylie, Lauri, 549
Wood, Alice, 486 Wymore, Patrice (Patricia ), 270
Wood, Cyrus, 71, 99, 120, 123, 128, 160, 264, 436, 535, 559 Wynn, Ed, 401–2
Wood, Douglas, 358 Wynn, Virginia, 50
Wood, Larry, 129
Wood, Leo, 108, 134, 175 Yakovleff, Alexander, 81–82
Wood, Lois, 104 The Yankee Princess, 125–27
Wood, Peggy, 139–40, 354, 544 Yarbo, Billie, 476
Woodruff, Charlotte, 239, 463 Yartin, Paul, 171, 488
Woodruff, Helen S., 106–7 Yellen, Jack, 121, 447
Woodruff, Roland, 406 Yellenti, Nicholas, 205
Woods, A. H., 208 Yes, Yes, Yvette, 406–8
Woods, Donald, 535 Yorkshire, Charles, 87
Woods, Franker, 127, 366, 377, 379, 453, 481 Youmans, James, 150
Woodson, Arthur, 66 Youmans, Vincent, 58–59, 149, 181, 183, 187, 189, 267,
Woodward, Matthew C., 128 270, 344–46, 376–78, 492–93, 537–40
Woof, Woof, 559–60 Young, Emily M., 111
Woolcott, Alexander, 62, 64 Young, Halford, 395, 440
Woolf, Edgar Allen, 53–54 Young, Joe, 186, 373, 520
Woolf, Walter, 33, 63–64, 123–24, 210–11, 289, 321, 323, Young, John E., 338
426, 503–4 Young, Rida Johnson, 210
Woollcott, Alexander, 4, 12–13, 26, 31, 35, 46–47, 50–52, Young, Roland, 270
54, 56, 58–61, 73, 77–78, 80, 86, 91, 96–98, 103–4, 108– Young, Stark, 434
9, 119, 123, 161, 169, 186, 195, 203, 211, 221, 229, 245, Young, Tammany, 414
249, 275, 297, 330, 348, 394, 402, 418, 434, 439 Yours Truly, 359–61
Woolley, Monty, 552, 554 Yvain, Maurice, 179–80, 465
Woolsey, Robert, 54–55, 96–97, 125, 168–69, 211, 291,
327, 361, 363–64, 408 Zenda, 289–90
Wootton, Miriam, 408 Zender, Marguerite, 23, 155–56
Worster, Howett, 151, 435, 471 Ziegfeld, Florenz, 45, 185, 223–25, 250, 349–51, 361–63,
Worth of Paris, 542 430, 433–35, 440, 451–52, 497, 527–28, 530, 542, 547
Wright, Fred E., 381 Ziemba, Karen, 554
Wright, Saul, 387, 389 Zimbalist, Efrem, 27–28
About the Author
Dan Dietz was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Virginia, and the subject of his graduate thesis
was the poetry of Hart Crane. He taught graduate and undergraduate courses in composition, world literature,
and the history of modern drama at Western Carolina University, and later served with the U.S. Government
Accountability Office and the U.S. Education Department. He is the author of Off-Broadway Musicals, 1910–
2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows (2010),
which was selected as one of the outstanding reference sources of 2011 by the American Library Association.
He is also the author of The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals (2018), The Complete Book of 1940s
Broadway Musicals (2015), The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals (2014), The Complete Book of
1960s Broadway Musicals (2014), The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals (2015), The Complete
Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals (2016), The Complete Book of 1990s Broadway Musicals (2016), and The
Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals (2017), all published by Rowman & Littlefield.
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The Complete Book of

1920s Broadway Musicals

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

6 Tinworth Street, London, SE11 5AL, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dietz, Dan, 1945– author.

™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

Printed in the United States of America

BROADWAY MUSICALS OF THE 1920s

A Chronology of Book Musicals (by Season) 561

L Theatres 593

Adrienne 162 The Chocolate Dandies 213

The Girl in the Spotlight 19 Lady Fingers 514

Oh, Ernest! 379 Sons o’ Guns 550

Theatre: Central Theatre

THE NIGHT BOAT

LOOK WHO’S HERE

Theatre: 44th Street Theatre

THE GIRL FROM HOME

Theatre: Casino Theatre

Based on an unidentified comedy by Eugene Scribe.

THE GIRL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

POOR LITTLE RITZ GIRL

Theatre: Selwyn Theatre

THE SWEETHEART SHOP

Theatre: Knickerbocker Theatre

LITTLE MISS CHARITY

Theatre: Belmont Theatre

Theatre: Casino Theatre

Theatre: Longacre Theatre

Theatre: Century Theatre

JIM JAM JEMS

Theatre: Cort Theatre

Theatre: Globe Theatre

Theatre: Knickerbocker Theatre

THE HALF MOON

Theatre: Apollo Theatre

Theatre: Liberty Theatre

Mitzi Hajos) (The Countess Antonia-Celestina-Elizabeta-Selana-Wilhelmina of Pardove, aka Master Billy),

Theatre: New Amsterdam Theatre

HER FAMILY TREE

THE ROSE GIRL

Theatre: Ambassador Theatre

Book and Lyrics: William Cary Duncan

The musical was presented in two acts.

THE RIGHT GIRL

Theatre: Casino Theatre

TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE

Theatre: Cohan’s Theatre

PHOEBE OF QUALITY STREET

Music: Walter Kollo

THE LAST WALTZ

THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Theatre: Manhattan Opera House

Theatre: 63rd Street Music Hall

THE WHIRL OF NEW YORK

Theatre: Winter Garden Theatre

Theatre: Casino Theatre

SONNY (aka SONNY BOY)

Theatre: Cort Theatre

THE O’BRIEN GIRL