''The Midnight Sons'' is a 1909 American

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

that was popular upon its release. The music was by

Raymond Hubbell John Raymond Hubbell (June 1, 1879 – December 13, 1954) was an American writer, composer and lyricist. He is best known for the popular song, " Poor Butterfly". Life and career Hubbell was born in Urbana, Ohio. He attended schools in Urba ...

with a book by

Glen MacDonough Glen MacDonough (1870 – March 30, 1924) was an American writer, lyricist and librettist. He was the son of theater manager Thomas B. MacDonough and actress/author Laura Don. Glen MacDonough married Margaret Jefferson in 1896 in Buzzard's Bay, ...

.(16 May 1909)
The Midnight Sons by Glen MacDonough and Raymond Hubbell, Opens at the Broadway Saturday
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Opening on May 22, 1909, it ran for 257 performances at the old

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

.(5 June 1909)
"The Midnight Sons" is the Aurora Borealis of the New York Summer Stage
''Ogden Standard''(23 May 1909)
Midnight Sons on View
''The Sun''

Plot

Senator Constant Noyes has four sons who are compelled to find jobs, and the loose plot follows these attempts.(26 April 1911)
"The Midnight Sons"
''Rock Island Argus'' (brief summary of plot)Golden, Eve
Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution
pp. 14-15 (2007)(July 1909)
Some Old and New Plays
''The Theatre'', Vol. 10, No. 101, pp. 2-3(August 1909)
"The Midnight Sons" (review)
''The Green Book Album'', pp. 441-42. Act 2 opened with the audience facing a false theater set filled with actors and wax dummies, before which the cast would give little performances with their back to the real audience. The set audience included likenesses of famous New Yorkers including theatre critics. Arthur Voegtlin was the set designer.(May 1910
Plays and Players, The Cost of Musical Comedy
''The American Magazine'', Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 105, 111. Blanche Ring's performance of '' I've Got Rings On My Fingers (And Bells On My Toes)'' became the hit of the show.Borman, Gerald & Richard Norton
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle
p. 294 (4th ed. 2011)

Reception

Staged by

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber. He also produced shows on his own and starred in c ...

as a "summer" offering, it had preview performances outside New York and (13 May 1909)
"The Midnight Sons" Staged
''

'' (performances at

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

started May 12, 1909) play opened on May 22, 1909, at the old

. The play was quite popular with audiences and critics. After running for 257 performances on Broadway, it went on tour starting on January 1, 1910. After cast member Lotta Faust died in early 1910 of pneumonia,(26 January 1910)
Lotta Faust Dead: Talented Musical Comedy Actress Last Appeared in "The Midnight Sons"
''

'' a benefit performance of the play was performed at the Broadway in May 1910 for her mother.(2 May 1910)
$3,500 for Mrs. Faust
''

Broadway cast

* Senator Constant Noyes ... George A. Schiller * Jack ... Joseph M. Ratliff * Dick .... Harry Fisher * Harry ... Denman Maley * Tom ... Fritz Williams * Merri Murray ... Lotta Faust * Rose Raglan ... Norma Brown * Claire Voyant ... Linden Beckwith * Pansy Burns ... George Monroe * Lily Burns ... Lillian Lee * A. Case Daly ...

Taylor Holmes Taylor Holmes (May 16, 1878 – September 30, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his screen performances, which he began in silent films in ...

* Souseberry Lushmore ...

Vernon Castle Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...

* Miss Beatrice Ballast ... Blanche Sherwood * Lady Fire Fly ... Gladys Moore * Mlle De Leon ... Maybelle Meeker * The Cynical Owl ... Berchard Dickerson * The Baby Owl ... Johnnie Hines * Mercedes Panhard ... Nan J. Brennan * Katherine Knockwell ... Florence Cable * Mrs. Carrie Margin ... Blanche Ring(23 May 1909)
"The Midnight Sons" has two good parts; Its Bright Features are Blanche Ring's Songs and Vernon Castle's Comedy
''

'' (review and cast listing)

Other

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

references the musical in his 1928 short story "The Captured Shadow", describing a sheet music cover from the play with "three men in evening clothes and opera hats sauntering jovially along Broadway." One of these men would have been dancer

.Adams, Jane
'The Melody Lingers On': Dance, Music, and Film in F. Scott Fitzgerald's Short Fiction
Ph.D. Thesis, University of Leicester (2015)

References

External links

The Midnight Sons at Internet Broadway Database

I've got rings on my fingers
recordings at the Library of Congress, including 1909 recording by Blanche Ring {{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight Sons, The 1909 musicals Broadway musicals