The Cabaret Girl
Encyclopedia
The Cabaret Girl is a musical comedy
in three acts with music by Jerome Kern
and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr.
and P. G. Wodehouse
. It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the Winter Garden Theatre
in London's West End
in September 1922 and featured Dorothy Dickson
, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin (later replaced by Leslie Henson
) in the leading roles.
The first performance was originally scheduled for Thursday, 14 September 1922, with Henson in a leading role, but he fell ill on the morning of the scheduled opening, which was delayed to allow Griffin to prepare for the part. The show finally opened the following Tuesday, 19 September. According to the reviewer in The Times
, "Last night the piece received the warmest of receptions and thoroughly deserved it." The production ran for 361 performances, closing on 11 August 1923. Henson took over from Griffin in January 1924 and the latter then took the show on tour.
The Cabaret Girl was first given an American production in 2004 when San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon
company produced a staged concert of the show. Its first full American production was in 2008, when the Ohio Light Opera
gave seven performances, between 26 June and 8 August, as part of their 30th Anniversary season. The same company released a commercial recording of the work in 2009 on Albany Records
. The recording is the earliest work composed by Kern to be restored and recorded in its original form. The first New York City production was given in March 2009, in a concert staging by the semi-professional troupe Musicals Tonight!
and his partner Edward Laurillard
bought the New Middlesex Theatre
in London's West End
in 1919 and, after its refurbishment, re-opened it as the Winter Garden Theatre. The first production was Kissing Time
, written by P. G. Wodehouse
and Guy Bolton
and starring Grossmith and Leslie Henson
. After Grossmith's partnership with Laurillard broke up two years later, Grossmith retained control of the Winter Garden where, between 1921 and 1926, in partnership with Pat Malone, he produced a series of shows, many of which were adaptations of imported shows and featured Henson. The first production by the Grossmith-Malone partnership was Sally
, with music by Jerome Kern
, a book by Bolton and some of the lyrics by Wodehouse, which was the London transfer of a Broadway
hit. The second, with an original book, was The Cabaret Girl.
Kern and Wodehouse had both worked with Grossmith early in their careers and had, together with Bolton, created an innovative series of musicals for the Princess Theatre
on Broadway. In his 1933 autobiography, Grossmith described how he, Wodehouse and Kern managed their collaboration. While the two writers travelled to New York, drafting the lyrics of the ensemble numbers and finales on the boat, Kern was already at work at his home in Bronxville, New York
, composing the melodies. When the trio gathered at Bronxville, Kern began setting the completed lyrics to music, while Grossmith and Wodehouse prepared "dummy" lyrics for Kern's melodies, the actual lyrics being completed on the return voyage. The trio worked from piano or "fiddle" copies of the music, leaving Kern to follow them to London with the completed orchestration a few weeks later.
Act 1: The Showroom of Messrs Gripps & Gravvins, Music Publishers, Bond Street
Jim comes to the offices of Gripps and Gravins looking for a song to sing at his local village concert. When Marilynn also arrives, to audition for a cabaret that Gripps (George Grossmith) and Gravvins (Norman Griffin) are producing, Jim tries to persuade her to give up her career and settle with him in the country, but she refuses and suggests that they should part. Jim, however, has an idea: if he and Marilynn pretend to be married, his trustees will no longer be able to withhold their approval. Gravvins has "a little place in the country", "The Pergola" at Woollam Chersey, Hertfordshire
, and invites the young couple to visit it.
Act 2: "The Pergola", Woollam Chersey
Jim and Marilynn arrive at "The Pergola" in the guise of a honeymoon couple. The plan is that Gravvins will invite the local aristocracy to a garden party, to meet the honeymoon couple, with the intention that the Marchioness will be impressed with Marilynn's social standing. But all the notables of the district are away on holiday, so the members of the Gripps & Gravvins cabaret troupe are enlisted to impersonate them. Gravvins himself takes the part of the local vicar, but the plot is unmasked when the real vicar appears. Marilynn, thoroughly embarrassed, admits her part in the deception and announces that she will have nothing more to do with Mr James Parradine, before fleeing the scene.
Act 3: "All Night Follies" at The Cabaret
Marilynn is performing in the Gripps & Gravvins production, "All Night Follies", at The Cabaret, where Jim comes looking for her. He has realised that he cannot expect Marilynn to give up the bright city lights and is prepared to go along with her wishes if she will agree to marry him. The curtain falls before the Marchioness and her son have given their approval, but as she has expressed admiration for Marilynn and he has fallen for the charms of Lily de Jigger, another member of the cast, a happy ending seems probable.
Act 2
Act 3
Many of the numbers in The Cabaret Girl derived from, or were later modified for, other works:
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
in three acts with music by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr. was a British actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies...
and P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
. It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the Winter Garden Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in September 1922 and featured Dorothy Dickson
Dorothy Dickson
Dorothy Dickson , was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer.-Biography:Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the Silver Lining". She was also a member of the Ziegfeld Follies and made many appearances in New York and abroad...
, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin (later replaced by Leslie Henson
Leslie Henson
Leslie Lincoln Henson was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall comedian who enjoyed a long stage career...
) in the leading roles.
The first performance was originally scheduled for Thursday, 14 September 1922, with Henson in a leading role, but he fell ill on the morning of the scheduled opening, which was delayed to allow Griffin to prepare for the part. The show finally opened the following Tuesday, 19 September. According to the reviewer in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, "Last night the piece received the warmest of receptions and thoroughly deserved it." The production ran for 361 performances, closing on 11 August 1923. Henson took over from Griffin in January 1924 and the latter then took the show on tour.
The Cabaret Girl was first given an American production in 2004 when San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon
42nd Street Moon
42nd Street Moon is a professional theatre company in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in the preservation and presentation of early and lesser-known works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern,...
company produced a staged concert of the show. Its first full American production was in 2008, when the Ohio Light Opera
Ohio Light Opera
The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
gave seven performances, between 26 June and 8 August, as part of their 30th Anniversary season. The same company released a commercial recording of the work in 2009 on Albany Records
Albany Records
Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
. The recording is the earliest work composed by Kern to be restored and recorded in its original form. The first New York City production was given in March 2009, in a concert staging by the semi-professional troupe Musicals Tonight!
Background
Actor-manager George Grossmith, Jr.George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr. was a British actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies...
and his partner Edward Laurillard
Edward Laurillard
Edward Laurillard was a cinema and theatre producer in London and New York during the first third of the 20th century...
bought the New Middlesex Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in 1919 and, after its refurbishment, re-opened it as the Winter Garden Theatre. The first production was Kissing Time
Kissing Time
thumb|right|[[Leslie Henson]] and [[Phyllis Dare]] Kissing Time, an earlier version of which was titled The Girl Behind the Gun, is a musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey...
, written by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
and Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
and starring Grossmith and Leslie Henson
Leslie Henson
Leslie Lincoln Henson was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall comedian who enjoyed a long stage career...
. After Grossmith's partnership with Laurillard broke up two years later, Grossmith retained control of the Winter Garden where, between 1921 and 1926, in partnership with Pat Malone, he produced a series of shows, many of which were adaptations of imported shows and featured Henson. The first production by the Grossmith-Malone partnership was Sally
Sally (musical)
Sally is a musical comedy with music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Clifford Grey and book by Guy Bolton , with additional lyrics by Buddy De Sylva, Anne Caldwell and P. G. Wodehouse. It was originally produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, opening on December 21, 1920 at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway...
, with music by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, a book by Bolton and some of the lyrics by Wodehouse, which was the London transfer of a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
hit. The second, with an original book, was The Cabaret Girl.
Kern and Wodehouse had both worked with Grossmith early in their careers and had, together with Bolton, created an innovative series of musicals for the Princess Theatre
Princess Theatre
The Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers , producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury and actor-director Holbrook Blinn...
on Broadway. In his 1933 autobiography, Grossmith described how he, Wodehouse and Kern managed their collaboration. While the two writers travelled to New York, drafting the lyrics of the ensemble numbers and finales on the boat, Kern was already at work at his home in Bronxville, New York
Bronxville, New York
Bronxville is an affluent village within the town of Eastchester, New York, in the United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County. At the 2010 census, Bronxville had a population of 6,323...
, composing the melodies. When the trio gathered at Bronxville, Kern began setting the completed lyrics to music, while Grossmith and Wodehouse prepared "dummy" lyrics for Kern's melodies, the actual lyrics being completed on the return voyage. The trio worked from piano or "fiddle" copies of the music, leaving Kern to follow them to London with the completed orchestration a few weeks later.
Synopsis
The hero, James ("Jim") Paradene (Geoffrey Gwyther) is the nephew of the Marchioness of Harrogate. He has been left a small fortune by his father, on condition that he must marry a lady who meets with the approval of the Marchioness and her son, the Marquis of Harrogate. Unfortunately, Jim wishes to marry Marilynn Morgan (Dorothy Dickson), but his trustees disapprove of her because she is a chorus girl.Act 1: The Showroom of Messrs Gripps & Gravvins, Music Publishers, Bond Street
Jim comes to the offices of Gripps and Gravins looking for a song to sing at his local village concert. When Marilynn also arrives, to audition for a cabaret that Gripps (George Grossmith) and Gravvins (Norman Griffin) are producing, Jim tries to persuade her to give up her career and settle with him in the country, but she refuses and suggests that they should part. Jim, however, has an idea: if he and Marilynn pretend to be married, his trustees will no longer be able to withhold their approval. Gravvins has "a little place in the country", "The Pergola" at Woollam Chersey, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and invites the young couple to visit it.
Act 2: "The Pergola", Woollam Chersey
Jim and Marilynn arrive at "The Pergola" in the guise of a honeymoon couple. The plan is that Gravvins will invite the local aristocracy to a garden party, to meet the honeymoon couple, with the intention that the Marchioness will be impressed with Marilynn's social standing. But all the notables of the district are away on holiday, so the members of the Gripps & Gravvins cabaret troupe are enlisted to impersonate them. Gravvins himself takes the part of the local vicar, but the plot is unmasked when the real vicar appears. Marilynn, thoroughly embarrassed, admits her part in the deception and announces that she will have nothing more to do with Mr James Parradine, before fleeing the scene.
Act 3: "All Night Follies" at The Cabaret
Marilynn is performing in the Gripps & Gravvins production, "All Night Follies", at The Cabaret, where Jim comes looking for her. He has realised that he cannot expect Marilynn to give up the bright city lights and is prepared to go along with her wishes if she will agree to marry him. The curtain falls before the Marchioness and her son have given their approval, but as she has expressed admiration for Marilynn and he has fallen for the charms of Lily de Jigger, another member of the cast, a happy ending seems probable.
Cast
The original cast, in order of appearance, was:| Marchioness of Harrogate | Miss Fortescue | |||
| Marquis of Harrogate | Her son | Peter Haddon Peter Haddon Peter Haddon was an English actor born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England.-Filmography:*The Second Mrs. Tanqueray – Sir George Orreyed*Moulin Rouge... |
||
| Effie Dix | Vera Lennox | |||
| Miss Simmons | ) | ( | Dorothy Hurst | |
| Miss Tompkins | ) | Assistants at the firm of | ( | Dorothy Field |
| Miss Witmore | ) | Gripps & Gravvins | ( | Cecile Maule-Cole |
| Miss Brownlow | ) | ( | Eileen Seymour | |
| Commissionaire | Jack Glynn | |||
| A Customer | Dorothy Bentham | |||
| Mr Gripps | ) | Partners in a firm of | ( | George Grossmith |
| Mr Gravvins | ) | music publishers | ( | Norman Griffin |
| James Paradene | Geoffrey Gwyther | |||
| Harry Zona | ) | ( | Thomas Weguelin | |
| March | ) | Members of the | ( | Seymour Beard |
| April | ) | "All Night Follies" | ( | Enid Taylor Enid Stamp Taylor Enid Stamp Taylor was a British actress.Taylor first became known when she won a beauty pageant at a young age and this led parts in musical comedies on stage, including The Cabaret Girl , in which she was billed as simply "Enid Taylor"... |
| Little Ada | ) | cabaret troupe | ( | Heather Thatcher Heather Thatcher Heather Thatcher was an English actress in theatre and motion pictures. She was from London.-Dancer:By 1922 Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes were designed in Russia. They featured stencil slits in the waist,... |
| Lily de Jigger | ) | ( | Molly Ramsden | |
| Marilynn Morgan ("Flick") | Dorothy Dickson | |||
| Feloosi (an agent) | Joseph Spree | |||
| Quibb (a piano tuner) | Leigh Ellis | |||
| Mrs Drawbridge | Housekeeper at "The Pergola" | Muriel Barnby | ||
| The Mayor of Woollam Chersey | Claude Horton | |||
| Laburnum Brown | Molly Vere | |||
| Lilac Smith | Vera Kirkwood | |||
| Poppy Robinson | Dorothy Deane | |||
| Hyacinth Green | Monica Noyes | |||
| Tulip Williams | Betsy Shields | |||
| The Vicar of Woollam Chersey | Ernest Graham | |||
| Box Office Keeper | Fred Whitlock | |||
| Cabaret Dancer | Mr Jinos |
- Wodehouse reused some of the names from The Cabaret Girl in his later works: "Flick" and Mr Paradene are characters in Bill the ConquerorBill the ConquerorBill the Conqueror is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 14, 1924 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the United States on February 20, 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, the story having previously been serialised in the Saturday Evening Post from May 24 to...
(1924); in "Jeeves and the Impending Doom" (1926), Bertie WoosterBertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
's Aunt Agatha has a country estate at Woollam Chersey; so, too, does the hero of his play Good Morning, Bill (1928), Bill Paradene.
Musical numbers
Act 1- Overture
- Opening chorus—Chopin ad lib - chorus and girls
- You want the best seats, we have 'em - Effie and girls
- Mr Gravvins—Mr Gripps - Gravvins and Gripps
- First rose of summer - Girls, Gripps and Jim
- Journey's end - Jim and Marilynn
- Whoop-de-oodle-do! - Gravvins and cabaret troupe
- Dancing time - Quibb, Miss Simmons, Gravvins and Marilynn
- My little place in the country - Gravvins and Gripps
Act 2
- The Pergola patrol - company
- Praise for our zeal - porters, Marilynn and Jim
- Shimmy with me - Marilynn
- Those days are gone forever - Gravvins
- Looking all over for you - Jim and Marilynn
- Nerves - Gravvins, Gripps and Ada
- Finale—Act 2 - Gravvins, Gripps, Jim, Marilynn, Vicar, chorus
Act 3
- Opening: Good evening - Jim and Ada
- London, dear old London - Jim and Burthen (George Grossmith)
- Kahlua - Marilynn
- Finale—Act 3: Oriental dreams - ensemble
- Dancing time - Marilynn, Jim and chorus (an alternative has this sung in Act 1, by Marilynn and Gravvins)
Many of the numbers in The Cabaret Girl derived from, or were later modified for, other works:
- "Chopin ad lib" and "First rose of summer" were adapted from Kern's 1919 Broadway show She's a Good Fellow, the book and lyrics of which were written by Anne CaldwellAnne CaldwellAnne Caldwell , also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was a librettist and lyricist. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows including working with Jerome Kern.-External links:...
. - The duet "Mr Gravvins – Mr Gripps" was a pastiche of a hit song, "Mister Gallagher and Mister SheanMister Gallagher and Mister Shean"Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean" is one of the most famous songs to come from vaudeville. First performed by the duo of Gallagher and Shean in the early 1920s, it became a huge hit and carried Gallagher & Shean to stardom....
", from the 1922 Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld FolliesThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
. - Kern revised the music of "Journey's end" when he included it in his 1925 Broadway show, The City Chap.
- "The Pergola patrol" reappeared, shortened and with some lyrics changed, as "Is this not a lovely spot?" in Sitting Pretty.
- "Shimmy with Me" introduced London's theatregoers to a new American dance craze, the "ShimmyShimmyA shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in...
". It, too, was reused in The City Chap, as "He is the type". - Wodehouse had used a very similar version of "Nerves" in See You Later (1918).
- Kern borrowed "Oriental dreams" for Sweet AdelineSweet Adeline (musical)Sweet Adeline is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and original Orchestration by Robert Russell Bennett. It premiered on Broadway in 1929...
.