The Garrick Gaieties
Encyclopedia
The Garrick Gaieties is a revue
with music by Richard Rodgers
and lyrics by Lorenz Hart
, the first of many musicals
by this songwriting team
.
It debuted in 1925 on Broadway
and was the first of three Garrick Gaiety revues, which were subsequently produced in 1926 and 1930. The show parodied current subjects, such as the New York City Subway
system and the Theatre Guild
(producer of the show). The Garrick Gaieties is remembered as "bringing Rodgers and Hart their first major recognition." Their hit song "Manhattan
" was introduced in this revue.
at the Garrick Theatre on May 17, 1925, as a 2-performance benefit for the Theatre Guild
. The reviews were favorable, and Rodgers and others persuaded the Theatre Guild to continue the production, which re-opened on June 8, 1925 and ran until November 28, for 211 performances. Several writers contributed the material for the sketches, including Edith Meiser, Sam Jaffe
, Benjamin Kaye and Morrie Ryskind
.
Directed by Philip Loeb
with musical staging by Herbert Fields
, the cast included Romney Brent
, June Cochrane, Sterling Holloway
, Libby Holman
, Philip Loeb, Edith Meiser, Sanford Meisner
, Betty Starbuck and Lee Strasberg
.
with direction by Philip Loeb at the Guild Theatre, and opened, respectively, on May 10, 1926, June 4, 1930, and, in a return engagement for 10 performances, October 16, 1930. Sterling Holloway appeared in all of the sequels, and Edith Meiser appeared in all but the final one. Notable performers included Imogene Coca
and Rosalind Russell
. Ruth Tester
sang, "Sing Something Simple".
The music and lyrics for the 1926 Gaieties was written by Rodgers and Hart and introduced their famous song "Mountain Greenery
". The music and lyrics for the 1930 version were written by many, including Marc Blitzstein
, Vernon Duke
, Ira Gershwin
, and Johnny Mercer
.
, and a parody of the Scopes Trial
, which was dropped from the show after William Jennings Bryan
died. Libby Holman's solo, "Black and White" was later dropped. Sterling Holloway and June Cochrane introduced the song "Manhattan", as its "easygoing strolling melody and ingeniously rhymed lyric related all of the everyday pleasures to be found in New York". The "wittily unsentimental" "Sentimental Me" was praised by the critics and was a hit money-maker as well.
Act 1
Act 2
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
with music by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, the first of many musicals
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...
by this songwriting team
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
.
It debuted in 1925 on 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...
and was the first of three Garrick Gaiety revues, which were subsequently produced in 1926 and 1930. The show parodied current subjects, such as the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
system and the Theatre Guild
Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
(producer of the show). The Garrick Gaieties is remembered as "bringing Rodgers and Hart their first major recognition." Their hit song "Manhattan
Manhattan (song)
"Manhattan" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. It has been performed by Lee Wiley, Oscar Peterson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Martin, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, among many others....
" was introduced in this revue.
Productions and history
The revue first opened on BroadwayBroadway 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...
at the Garrick Theatre on May 17, 1925, as a 2-performance benefit for the Theatre Guild
Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
. The reviews were favorable, and Rodgers and others persuaded the Theatre Guild to continue the production, which re-opened on June 8, 1925 and ran until November 28, for 211 performances. Several writers contributed the material for the sketches, including Edith Meiser, Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (actor)
Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
, Benjamin Kaye and Morrie Ryskind
Morrie Ryskind
Morrie Ryskind was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and motion pictures, who became a conservative political activist later in life.-Biography:...
.
Directed by Philip Loeb
Philip Loeb
Philip Loeb , was an American stage, film, and television actor who was blacklisted under McCarthyism and committed suicide.- Background :...
with musical staging by Herbert Fields
Herbert Fields
Herbert Fields was an American librettist and screenwriter.Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1925 until his death, he contributed to the libretti of many Broadway musicals...
, the cast included Romney Brent
Romney Brent
Romney Brent was a Mexican-born actor, director and dramatist. Most of his career was on stage in North America, but in the 1930s he was frequently seen on the London stage, on television and in films.-Biography:...
, June Cochrane, Sterling Holloway
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...
, Libby Holman
Libby Holman
Libby Holman was an American torch singer and stage actress who also achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life.-Early life:...
, Philip Loeb, Edith Meiser, Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner
Sanford Meisner , also known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed a form of Method acting that is now known as the Meisner technique....
, Betty Starbuck and Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
.
Subsequent productions
There were two sequels, also titled Garrick Gaieties. They were produced on Broadway by the Theatre GuildTheatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
with direction by Philip Loeb at the Guild Theatre, and opened, respectively, on May 10, 1926, June 4, 1930, and, in a return engagement for 10 performances, October 16, 1930. Sterling Holloway appeared in all of the sequels, and Edith Meiser appeared in all but the final one. Notable performers included Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
and Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
. Ruth Tester
Ruth Tester
Ruth Tester was a singer and dancer in Broadway musicals of the 1920s and 1930s. Tester was born on August 17, 1903. She was married for 59 years to Fredrick Carothers. In her later years, Tester and her husband, Carothers, lived in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Carothers worked as a sales...
sang, "Sing Something Simple".
The music and lyrics for the 1926 Gaieties was written by Rodgers and Hart and introduced their famous song "Mountain Greenery
Mountain Greenery
"Mountain Greenery" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical The Garrick Gaieties . It was first performed on stage by Sterling Holloway.-Notable recordings:...
". The music and lyrics for the 1930 version were written by many, including Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
, Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke was a Russian-American composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche, "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, "April in Paris" with lyrics by E. Y...
, Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, and Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
.
Sketches and musical numbers
The opening number, "Soliciting Subscriptions" was a spoof of the Theatre Guild's "serious pretensions", along with the following song, "Gilding the Guild". Ryskind wrote skits including a satire of President and Mrs. Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
, and a parody of the Scopes Trial
Scopes Trial
The Scopes Trial—formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and informally known as the Scopes Monkey Trial—was a landmark American legal case in 1925 in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to...
, which was dropped from the show after William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
died. Libby Holman's solo, "Black and White" was later dropped. Sterling Holloway and June Cochrane introduced the song "Manhattan", as its "easygoing strolling melody and ingeniously rhymed lyric related all of the everyday pleasures to be found in New York". The "wittily unsentimental" "Sentimental Me" was praised by the critics and was a hit money-maker as well.
Songs
Note: music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart except as noted.Act 1
- Soliciting Subscriptions
- Gilding the Guild
- Butcher, Baker, Candle-Stick Maker (Lyrics by Benjamin M. Kaye, Music by Mana Zucca)
- An Old-Fashioned Girl (Lyrics by Edith Meiser)
- April Fool
- Stage Managers' Chorus (Lyrics by Hart and Dudley Digges)
- The Joy Spreader
Act 2
- Rancho Mexicano (Music by Tatanacho)
- Ladies of the Box Office
- Mr. and Mrs.
- Manhattan
- The Three Musketeers
- Do You Love Me (I Wonder)?
- Black and White
- "Sentimental Me (And Poor Romantic You)" was also in the revue although not listed in the Internet Broadway Database.