The New Yorkers
Encyclopedia
The New Yorkers is a musical
written by Cole Porter
(lyrics and music) and Herbert Fields
(book). The musical premiered on Broadway
in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno
and E. Ray Goetz
. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers
, thieves and prostitutes during Prohibition
. The musical includes Porter's famous, sad song about a prostitute, "Love for Sale". The original Broadway production received some good reviews, but the song was banned from the radio for its frank lyrics, and the show closed after 168 performances.
, indisputably featured special material (songs as well as bits) that wouldn't scan without Schnozzola himself delivering it."
Ray Goetz, who was the producer of the show as well as production supervisor, wanted to help audiences forget the Great Depression
and so made The New Yorkers "as bright and sparkley as possible-from the variegated costumes and the Arno settings to the large and dynamic cast...He also featured a young group that had never appeared on Broadway and had not yet made any commercial recordings as the stage band for the show: Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians." The clean-cut band sang as well as played instruments.
Alice Wentworth has a romantic interlude with Al Spanish, a nightclub
owner and bootlegger
. During their time together, they escape from the police and go to the bootlegging factory, among other adventures. Jimmy Deegan and his buddies Ronald and Oscar aid in their escapades, invent a new alcoholic drink, murder Feet McGeehan and assist with the gangland wedding of Al and Alice, while offering tributes to money, wood, and "The Hot Patata". Jokes and songs about alcohol, and how far people will go to get it, such as "Drinking Song" and "Say It With Gin", reflect the musical's origin from the Prohibition period
.
Act 1
Act 2
on November 24, 1930.
The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre
on December 8, 1930, this theatre's first stage production, and closed on May 2, 1931 after 168 performances. Direction was by Monty Woolley
, choreography by George Hale, special numbers staged and directed by Fred Waring
, and production supervised by E. Ray Goetz
. Costumes were by Peter Arno and Charles Le Maire, and the set design was by Dale Stetson, based on sketches by Peter Arno
. The conductor was Max Meth
. The cast featured Frances Williams as the hostess Mona Low, Charles King
as Al Spanish, Hope Williams as Alice Wentworth, Ann Pennington
as Lola McGee, Marie Cahill as Gloria Wentworth, the Fred Waring Orchestra
, Lou Clayton as Cyril Gregory, Eddie Jackson as Ronald Monahan, Jimmy Durante
as Jimmie Deegan, Kathryn Crawford
as May (later replaced by Elisabeth Welch
), and Oscar Ragland as Mildew. (Clayton, Jackson, and Durante were an early comedy team.)
The musical was performed at the Marriott Theatre
in Lincolnshire
in 1996. "Musicals Tonight!" presented the musical as a staged concert in April 2003 in New York City. The "Lost Musicals" series presented The New Yorkers at Sadler's Wells Theatre
, London, in March and April 2009, starring Anna Francolini
as Alice and Dawn Spence as Mona Low.
, theatre critic for The New York Times
wrote that the musical "manages to pack most of the madness, ribaldry, bounce and comic loose ends of giddy Manhattan into a lively musical." As for Porter's songs, "most...hold well to the average of song-and-dance scores."
The song "Love for Sale" was sung by an actress playing the role of a prostitute ("appetizing young love for sale"). As recounted by Charles Schwartz in his biography Cole Porter, the critic for the World, Charles Darnton, "excoriated" the song and called it "in the worst possible taste." The song was subsequently banned from the radio.
The reviewer of the "Musicals Tonight!" 2003 concert noted that Peter Arno (who provided the story) was a cartoonist whose drawings appeared on the cover and pages of the magazine The New Yorker. "His subjects were jazz babies, society dames, gangsters, café habitues, with a specialization in the lusty and lustful. Herb Fields's book...is full of that kind of sexuality, with a heaping helping of puns and double (and triple) entendres."
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...
written by Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
(lyrics and music) and 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...
(book). The musical premiered 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...
in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno
Peter Arno
Peter Arno was a U.S. cartoonist.-Biography:Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. in New York, New York, and educated at the Hotchkiss School and Yale University, his cartoons were published in The New Yorker from 1925–1968. They often depicted a cross-section of New York society from the 1920s through...
and E. Ray Goetz
E. Ray Goetz
Edward Ray Goetz was an American composer, songwriter, author and producer. He was a charter member of ASCAP in 1914, and was a director until 1917. Goetz appeared in the films Somebody Loves Me , The Greatest Show On Earth and For Me And My Gal . He wrote the songs "Toddling The Todalo" and "For...
. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
, thieves and prostitutes during Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
. The musical includes Porter's famous, sad song about a prostitute, "Love for Sale". The original Broadway production received some good reviews, but the song was banned from the radio for its frank lyrics, and the show closed after 168 performances.
History
The musical was "built to order around star comic Jimmy DuranteJimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
, indisputably featured special material (songs as well as bits) that wouldn't scan without Schnozzola himself delivering it."
Ray Goetz, who was the producer of the show as well as production supervisor, wanted to help audiences forget the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and so made The New Yorkers "as bright and sparkley as possible-from the variegated costumes and the Arno settings to the large and dynamic cast...He also featured a young group that had never appeared on Broadway and had not yet made any commercial recordings as the stage band for the show: Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians." The clean-cut band sang as well as played instruments.
Synopsis
Wealthy New York socialiteSocialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Alice Wentworth has a romantic interlude with Al Spanish, a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
owner and bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
. During their time together, they escape from the police and go to the bootlegging factory, among other adventures. Jimmy Deegan and his buddies Ronald and Oscar aid in their escapades, invent a new alcoholic drink, murder Feet McGeehan and assist with the gangland wedding of Al and Alice, while offering tributes to money, wood, and "The Hot Patata". Jokes and songs about alcohol, and how far people will go to get it, such as "Drinking Song" and "Say It With Gin", reflect the musical's origin from the Prohibition period
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
.
Musical numbers
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter except as notedAct 1
- Go Into Your Dance – Mona Low, Lola McGee and Toro Girls
- The Hot Patata (Music and Lyrics By Jimmy Durante) – Jimmie Deegan, Ronald Monahan and Cyril Gregory
- Where Have You Been? – Al Spanish and Alice Wentworth
- Say It With Gin – Ensemble and Trainor Brothers
- Venice – Alice Wentworth, Ronald Monahan, Jimmie Deegan and Cyril Gregory
- Love for Sale – May and Three Girl Friends
- I'm Getting Myself Ready for You – Mona Low, James Livingston, Lola McGee and Alfredo Gomez
- Drinking Song (Lyrics By Charles Henderson, Music By Fred Waring)–Waring's Pennsylvanians
- The Great Indoors – Mona Low and Girls
- Money (Music and Lyrics By Jimmy Durante) – Jimmie Deegan, Ronald Monahan and Cyril Gregory
- Wood (Music and Lyrics By Jimmy Durante) – Jimmie Deegan, Ronald Monahan, Cyril Gregory and Company
Act 2
- Sheikin Fool (Music and Lyrics By Jimmy Durante) – Jimmie Deegan, Ronald Monahan and Cyril Gregory
- Let's Fly Away – James Livingston, Alice Wentworth and Ensemble
- I Happen to Like New York – Mildew
- Let's Fly Away (Reprise) – James Livingston, Alice Wentworth and Ensemble
- Sing Sing for Sing Sing – Al Spanish and Waring's Pennsylvanians
- Sing Sing for Sing Sing (Reprise) – Mona Low, Three Girl Friends and Waring's Pennsylvanians
- Data (Music and Lyrics By Jimmy Durante) – Jimmie Deegan, Ronald Monahan, Cyril Gregory and Waring's Pennsylvanians
- Sing Sing for Sing Sing (Reprise) – Waring's Pennsylvanians
- Take Me Back to Manhattan – Entire Company
Productions
The New Yorkers began pre-Broadway tryouts at the Chestnut Street Opera House, Philadelphia, on November 12, 1930 and then moved to the Shubert Theatre, NewarkNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
on November 24, 1930.
The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
on December 8, 1930, this theatre's first stage production, and closed on May 2, 1931 after 168 performances. Direction was by Monty Woolley
Monty Woolley
Monty Woolley was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his best-known role in the stage play and 1942 film The Man Who Came to Dinner...
, choreography by George Hale, special numbers staged and directed by Fred Waring
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
, and production supervised by E. Ray Goetz
E. Ray Goetz
Edward Ray Goetz was an American composer, songwriter, author and producer. He was a charter member of ASCAP in 1914, and was a director until 1917. Goetz appeared in the films Somebody Loves Me , The Greatest Show On Earth and For Me And My Gal . He wrote the songs "Toddling The Todalo" and "For...
. Costumes were by Peter Arno and Charles Le Maire, and the set design was by Dale Stetson, based on sketches by Peter Arno
Peter Arno
Peter Arno was a U.S. cartoonist.-Biography:Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. in New York, New York, and educated at the Hotchkiss School and Yale University, his cartoons were published in The New Yorker from 1925–1968. They often depicted a cross-section of New York society from the 1920s through...
. The conductor was Max Meth
Max Meth
Max Meth was a Broadway musical director and conductor for over 40 years . He came to the United States from Austria...
. The cast featured Frances Williams as the hostess Mona Low, Charles King
Charles King (vaudevillian)
Charles King was a vaudeville and Broadway actor who also starred in several movies. He starred as the leading actor in the hit MGM movie, The Broadway Melody , the first all-talking film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.-Early Life:Charles J...
as Al Spanish, Hope Williams as Alice Wentworth, Ann Pennington
Ann Pennington (Ziegfeld star)
This article is about Ann Pennington, the stage actress. For the Playboy model of the same name, go to Ann Pennington .Ann Pennington was an actress, dancer, and singer who starred on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, notably in the Ziegfeld Follies and George White's Scandals.She became famous for...
as Lola McGee, Marie Cahill as Gloria Wentworth, the Fred Waring Orchestra
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
, Lou Clayton as Cyril Gregory, Eddie Jackson as Ronald Monahan, Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
as Jimmie Deegan, Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford
Kathryn Crawford, also spelled Katherine Crawford, was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s....
as May (later replaced by Elisabeth Welch
Elisabeth Welch
thumb|right|200pxElisabeth Welch was an American born singer, actress, and entertainer whose career spanned seven decades, many years of which she was based in Britain....
), and Oscar Ragland as Mildew. (Clayton, Jackson, and Durante were an early comedy team.)
The musical was performed at the Marriott Theatre
Marriott Theatre
The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA is a respected Chicago area regional theatre. Attached to the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, the theatre produces an average of five musicals each year, presented in the round, as well as productions aimed at younger audiences...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire, Illinois
Lincolnshire is a village in the Vernon Township region of Lake County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The village is a suburb of Chicago, a city in the adjacent Cook County. Its population was 6,108 at the time of the 2000 census. Lincolnshire was incorporated on August 5, 1957, from the...
in 1996. "Musicals Tonight!" presented the musical as a staged concert in April 2003 in New York City. The "Lost Musicals" series presented The New Yorkers at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, London, in March and April 2009, starring Anna Francolini
Anna Francolini
Anna Francolini is an English actress of the stage and screen. She was born in Chertsey, Surrey and studied theatre at the University of Warwick...
as Alice and Dawn Spence as Mona Low.
Response
Brooks AtkinsonBrooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
, theatre critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that the musical "manages to pack most of the madness, ribaldry, bounce and comic loose ends of giddy Manhattan into a lively musical." As for Porter's songs, "most...hold well to the average of song-and-dance scores."
The song "Love for Sale" was sung by an actress playing the role of a prostitute ("appetizing young love for sale"). As recounted by Charles Schwartz in his biography Cole Porter, the critic for the World, Charles Darnton, "excoriated" the song and called it "in the worst possible taste." The song was subsequently banned from the radio.
The reviewer of the "Musicals Tonight!" 2003 concert noted that Peter Arno (who provided the story) was a cartoonist whose drawings appeared on the cover and pages of the magazine The New Yorker. "His subjects were jazz babies, society dames, gangsters, café habitues, with a specialization in the lusty and lustful. Herb Fields's book...is full of that kind of sexuality, with a heaping helping of puns and double (and triple) entendres."
External links
- The New Yorkers at the Cole Porter Reference Guide