''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' is a musical with music by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) 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 ove ...

, a book by

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

and

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story concerns an engaged young man, Bill, whose ex-fiancée arrives unexpectedly on his wedding day. Bill works to convince his old flame that he was not worthy to marry her, but his clumsy efforts do not make him look good to his new fiancée, whose mother already dislikes Bill. A couple of crooks cause further complications. The original cast starred

Vivienne Segal Vivienne Sonia Segal (April 19, 1897 – December 29, 1992) was an American actress and singer. Early years Segal was born on April 19, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the elder daughter of Jewish parents Bernhard Segal, a physician, ...

as Mollie Farringdon. The songs include "Not Yet", "When Ships Come Home", "Greenwich Village", the innovative "Moon Song" and "Our Little Nest". The song "

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

", later famous in ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'', was cut before the production opened.

Background

The Princess Theatre was a small

house that seated only 299 people. Theatre agent

Elisabeth Marbury Elisabeth "Bessie" Marbury (June 19, 1856 – January 22, 1933) was a pioneering American theatrical and literary agent and producer who helped shape business methods of the modern commercial theater, and encouraged women to enter that industry. ...

urged composer

and librettist

, later joined by British humorist and lyricist/playwright

to write a series of musicals tailored to the theatre, with an intimate style and modest budgets. These "Princess Theatre shows" had coherent, clever plots that provided an alternative to the other musical entertainments that then dominated Broadway: star-studded

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 popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

s and extravaganzas of Florenz Ziegfeld, thinly-plotted,

musical comedies 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, movemen ...

, Gilbert and Sullivan revivals and gaudy adaptations of European operettas.Bloom and Vlastnik, pp. 230–31 Bordman, Gerald. "Jerome David Kern: Innovator/Traditionalist", ''The Musical Quarterly'', 1985, Vol. 71, No. 4, pp. 468-73 After a modest success, ''Nobody's Home'' (1915), Kern and Bolton had a hit with an original musical called ''

Very Good Eddie ''Very Good Eddie'' is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Philip Bartholomae, music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Schuyler Greene, with additional lyrics by Elsie Janis, Herbert Reynolds, Harry B. Smith, John E. Hazzard, Ring Lardner and Je ...

'' (1915).Kenrick, John.
"History of The Musical Stage 1910-1919: Part I", ''Musicals 101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film''
accessed May 27, 2008Slonimsky, Nicholas and Laura Kuhn (ed)
Kern, Jerome (David)"
''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Volume 3 (Schirmer Reference, New York, 2001), accessed May 10, 2010 (requires subscription) Wodehouse joined the team for another hit, '' Oh, Boy!'' (1917), which ran for an extraordinary 463 performances. Two more of their shows written for the theatre ran at other theatres during the long runs of ''Very Good Eddie'' and ''Oh, Boy!'' The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes (one set for each act) to suit the small theatre, eschewing operetta traditions of foreign locales and elaborate scenery. The collaboration was much praised. According to

Gerald Bordman Gerald Martin Bordman (September 18, 1931 – May 9, 2011) was an American theatre historian, best known for authoring the reference volume ''The American Musical Theatre'', first published in 1978.Simonson, Robert (12 May 2011)Gerald Bordman, Th ...

, writing in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'',

Productions

''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' debuted in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

on January 7, 1918 at Bleecker Hall. After some revisions and touring, the musical opened at the Princess Theatre on February 1, 1918, to uniformly rave reviews and ran for 219 performances, finishing its run at the Casino Theatre. The production was produced by William Elliott and F. Ray Comstock and directed by Robert Milton and Edward Royce, who also choreographed. It starred

as Mollie Farringdon, one of her earliest roles, and Carl Randall as Bill Finch. Florence Shirley played Fanny Welch, a jewel thief. Early drafts of the show were called ''Say When'', but the title of the show was eventually taken from a

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

catch-phrase. Not Yet cover

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 ...

'' previewed the show, calling the plot "measurably novel" with bright lines and lyrics, said the music demonstrated "easy gaity" and praised the show's casting and "artistic excellence". The paper called Segal "wonderfully pleasing" and praised both her and Randall's dancing. Its review began: "Once more Comstock, Elliott, and Gest have shown their allegiance to the policy of supplying popular entertainment which is mitigated by all availabie talent and good taste". In April 1918,

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

wrote in '' Vanity Fair'': One of Segal's songs, ''Bill'', was cut just two days before the show opened. In the song, Mollie reflects on her love for a young man that her mother dislikes. Kern used the song nine years later, with the music slightly revised and the lyrics correspondingly revised by Oscar Hammerstein II, in ''

'' (1927). Financial disagreements arose between Wodehouse and Kern, and ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' proved to be the last success in the series, The collaborators went on to other projects, with each of Kern and Wodehouse continuing to work separately with Bolton. The trio combined for one more show together in 1924, ''Sitting Pretty'', at the

Fulton Theatre The Fulton Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 210 West 46th Street in Manhattan, New York City, that was opened in 1911. It was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1955. The theatre was demolished in 1982. Since the former Little Theatre be ...

. Recent productions include one by the Musicals Tonight troupe in New York City in 2006 and one by

42nd Street Moon 42nd Street Moon is a professional theatre company in San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern Californi ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 2007.

Plot summary

;Act I Debonair but penniless Willoughby "Bill" Finch is set to marry Long Island society gal Molly Farringdon, although he has not charmed his formidable future mother-in-law. Bill's sassy former fiancée, May, has met and piqued the interest of his affable friend and best man, Hale. Hale recognizes Bill's valet, Spike, as an ex-convict; Spike is guarding the pearls that Bill has bought for Molly as her wedding gift. Spike's sticky-fingered girlfriend, Fanny, tries to persuade him to pocket the wedding gifts, but he wishes that they could put their old prison days behind them. May calls unexpectedly on Bill's wedding day, to say that she will soon arrive, and she points out that they are still engaged. Bill and Hale scheme to convince her that he is a ladies' man, and not worthy to marry her. Hale catches Fanny trying to pocket the pearls and forces her to agree to help with Bill's charade. May arrives; it turns out that she has been hired as a dressmaker for the wedding by Molly's mother. May admits that she is no longer interested in Bill and wishes him well, and she returns Hale's interest. But when Molly returns, she is confronted by Fanny, who is pretending to be Bill's girlfriend – and the pearls are missing. ; Act II That night, Hale hosts a party on the roof of Bill's Greenwich Village apartment. Molly's mother has called off the wedding. May is flirting with various men, making Hale jealous. Spike and Fanny arrive to announce that they are now married. Fanny tells Spike that she does not have the pearls, but she is very nervous when a British private detective shows up. Molly comes to talk with Bill, and they have a romantic moment before her mother shows up. Bill awkwardly tries to explain to Mrs. Farrington what happened, and Hale asks May to marry him. But Molly and her mother find May at Bill's bedroom door and conclude that Bill had been entertaining her in his apartment. Finally, the real thief confesses, Molly finds out that May and Hale are engaged, and a happy ending ensues with a double wedding.

Roles and original cast

*Mollie Farrington –

*Mrs. Farrington, ''her mother'' – Margaret Dale *Willoughby "Bill" Finch – Carl Randall *Hale Underwood, ''Bill's friend'' – Harry C. Browne *Spike Hudgins, ''an ex-con valet'' – Edward Abeles *Fanny Welch, ''Spike's pick-pocket sweetheart'' – Florence Shirley *May Barber, ''Willoughby's ex-fiancée'' – Carroll McComas *Cyril Twombley, ''a clueless British detective'' – Reginald Mason *William Watty, ''a building superintendent'' – Harry Fisher *Mollie's friends

Musical numbers

;Act 1 *I'm to Be Married Today – Mollie Farrington and Girls *Not Yet – Mollie and Bill Finch *Do It Now – Spike Hudgins, Hale Underwood and Bill *Our Little Nest – Spike and Fanny Welch *Do Look at Him! – Mollie and Girls *Oh, Lady! Lady! – Bill and Girls *You Found Me and I Found You – May Barber and Hale ;Act 2 *Moon (The Moon Song) – Hale and Chorus *Waiting Around the Corner – May and Boys *Little Ships Come Sailing Home – Mollie and Girls *Before I Met You – Bill and Mollie *Greenwich Village – Bill, Spike and Fanny *Wheatless Days – Hale and May *It's a Hard, Hard World for a Man – Bill, Hale and Cyril Twombley

Adaptations and recordings

In 1920 the musical was adapted into a silent film, '' Oh, Lady, Lady'' starring

Bebe Daniels Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...

. In 1927 Wodehouse adapted the book of "Oh, Lady, Lady" into a novel called ''

The Small Bachelor ''The Small Bachelor'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 28 April 1927 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the United States on 17 June 1927 by George H. Doran, New York.McIlvaine (1990), A37, pp. 51–53. ...

''. A recording of a concert performance is available from the Comic Opera Guild."Comic Opera Guild Recordings"
Comic Opera Guild, accessed October 1, 2014

Notes

References

*Bloom, Ken and Vlastnik, Frank. ''Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of all Time.'' Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York, 2004. *Green, Benny. ''P. G. Wodehouse – A Literary Biography'', Pavilion Books, London, 1981.

External links

''Oh, Lady! Lady!!''
at the Internet Broadway Database
New York Times review of the Carnegie Hall 1985 concert production
{{P. G. Wodehouse Broadway musicals 1918 musicals Original musicals Musicals by Jerome Kern