''The Belle of New York'' is a

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 ...

in two acts, with book and lyrics by Hugh Morton and music by

Gustave Kerker Gustave Adolph Kerker (February 28, 1857 – June 29, 1923) was a German-born composer and conductor who spent most of his life in the US. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of operettas ...

, about a Salvation Army girl who reforms a spendthrift, makes a great sacrifice and finds true love. Opening 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 ...

at the Casino Theatre on 28 September 1897, it ran for only 64 performances. It subsequently transferred to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1898, where it was a major success, running for an almost unprecedented 674 performances, and became the first American musical to run for over a year in the West End.Gillan, Don
Longest running plays in London and New York
''Stage Beauty'', 2007, accessed 31 March 2011 '' The Standard'' stated that the entire Broadway cast "numbering sixty-three persons" was brought over to London, "the largest stage troupe from the other side of the Atlantic that has ever professionally visited this country."''The Standard'', 13 April 1989, p. 3 The show starred

Edna May Edna May Pettie (September 2, 1878 – January 1, 1948), known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Life and career May was ...

, whose performance as Violet made her a star in New York and London. Postcards of her in costume became ubiquitous; more photographs of her were sold in London than of any other actress in 1898."Flashes from the Footlights", ''English Illustrated Magazine'', February 1899, p. 509 In London, the piece opened on 12 April 1898, produced by J. C. Williamson and

George Musgrove George Musgrove (21 January 1854 – 21 January 1916) was an English-born Australian theatre producer. Early life Musgrove was born at Surbiton, England, the son of Thomas John Watson Musgrove, an accountant, and his wife, Fanny Hodson, an act ...

. The composer conducted at the opening night. The work had stiff competition in London in 1898, as other successful openings included ''

A Greek Slave ''A Greek Slave'' is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckto ...

'' and ''

A Runaway Girl ''A Runaway Girl'' is a musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank. It was produced b ...

''. Long runs in Paris and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

followed, and there were nine West End revivals over the next four decades. The musical was also produced regularly by amateur groups from 1920 until about 1975. Two film versions were made, in 1919 with

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

Etienne Girardot Etienne Girardot (22 February 1856 – 10 November 1939) was a diminutive stage and film actor of Anglo-French parentage born in London, England. Biography The son of French painter Ernest Gustave Girardot, he studied at an art school, but le ...

and

L. Rogers Lytton Legare Rogers Lytton (born Oscar Legare Rogers; April 9, 1867 – August 14, 1924) was an American film actor of the silent film, silent era and an architect. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1912 and 1924. Prior to entering films he h ...

, and in 1952 with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

, Vera-Ellen,

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1 ...

and Keenan Wynn that replaced the original songs with a score by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.''The Belle of New York'' (1952)
Internet Movie Database In 1921, a rewritten version of the musical called '' The Whirl of New York'' premiered on Broadway.

Synopsis

;Act 1 Ichabod Bronson is a wealthy hypocrite who preaches virtue to the young, so as to leave more scope for dissipation among the old. His son, Harry, is a feather-brained spendthrift, engaged to Cora Angelique, the Queen of

Comic Opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

. After a riotous stag night, Harry ends up with Fifi, the daughter of Fricot the confectioner. Ichabod discovers them together and disinherits Harry. Deserted by all but Fifi, Harry wanders into Chinatown in New York, where his fickle fancy is taken by a young Salvation Army woman, Violet Gray. She finds her vocation difficult because, though she tries to persuade men to follow her blameless ways, they persist in following her blameless figure. Ichabod discovers that Violet is the daughter of an old friend and announces his intention to leave his huge fortune to her. ;Act 2 Harry has taken a job as a salesman in a candy store on Broadway. Violet and her Salvationist colleagues enter the shop, all decked out in short skirts. She knows that Harry is engaged to Cora and wants the couple to be happy. She tells Harry that she is going to change Ichabod's mind about leaving his money to her. On the beach at Narragansett Casino, she sings a risqué French song, scandalising an audience including Ichabod. The effort of performing the song causes her to faint. Matters are further complicated by the persistent attempts of a German lunatic to kill people, particularly Ichabod, and by the quarrels of Portuguese twins, who keep trying to fight duels with one another. Harry has indeed been much influenced by Violet's virtue and has fallen for her. He explains to his father why Violet has behaved so uncharacteristically, and Ichabod forgives him his earlier sins on condition that he marries Violet, which he is now happy to do.

Roles and cast

According to London press reports, the West End cast (listed below) was identical to the New York original. *Ichabod Bronson (''President of the Young Men's Rescue League and Anti Cigarette Society of Cohoes'') – Dan Daly *Harry Bronson (''his son'') –

Harry Davenport Harry Davenport may refer to: * Harry Davenport (actor) (1866–1949), American film and stage actor * Harry Davenport (footballer) (1900–1984), Australian footballer * Harry J. Davenport (1902–1977), Democratic Party member of the U.S. House ...

*Karl von Pumpernick (''a polite lunatic'') – James E. Sullivan *"Doc" Snifkins – Geo. K. Fortescue *"Blinky Bill" McGuire (''a mixed ale pugilist'') – Frank Lawton *Kenneth Mugg (''low comedian of the Cora Angélique Opera Company'') – George A. Schiller *Count Ratsi Rattatoo (''of Portugal'') – William H. Sloan *Count Patsi Rattatoo (''his twin brother'') – William Gould *Billy Breeze – Edwin W. Hoff *Mr. Twiddles (''Harry's Private Secretary'') – Frank Turner *Mr. Snooper – Lionel Lawrence *Mr. Peeper – D. T. Macdonald *William – Albert Wallerstedt *Violet Gray (''a Salvation Army Girl'') –

(later Belle Harper)"At Play", ''Judy, or the London serio-comic journal'', April 1899, p. 164 *Fifi Fricot (''a little Parisienne'') –

Phyllis Rankin Phyllis McKee Rankin''M'Kee Rankin's House On Fire'', New York Times, April 2, 1891, pg. 8. (August 31, 1874 – November 17, 1934) was a Broadway actress and singer from the 1880s to the 1920s. Early life Phyllis McKee Rankin was the second dau ...

(later Toby Claude) *Kissie Fitzgarter (''a music-hall dancer'') – Mabel Howe *Cora Angelique (''the Queen of Comic Opera, Doc Sniffkins' daughter'') – Helen Dupont *Mamie Clancy (''Bill McGuire's girl'') – Paula Edwardes *Pansy Pinns (''a soubrette'') – Hattie Moore *Girls: Betty "The Bat", Myrtle Mince, Queenie Cake, Birdie Seed, Gladys Glee, Dorothy June, Marjorie May and Little Miss Flirt – Martha Franklin, Sylvia Thorne, Rose Witt, Grace Spencer, Irene Bentley, Emily Sanford, Ella Snyder and Rose Witt *Drummer Boys – Nellie Loomis and Daisy Thompson

Musical numbers

;Act 1 *When a Man Is Twenty-One – Harry and Chorus *Oh Naughty Mr. Bronson – Chorus *When I Was Born the Stars Stood Still – Cora and Chorus *Little Sister Kissie – Kenneth, Kissie and Blinky *Teach Me How to Kiss, Dear – Fifi *We Come This Way – Chorus *The Anti-Cigarette Society – Ichabod *Wine, Woman and Song – Harry and Chorus *La Belle Parisienne – Fifi and Bridesmaids *My Little Baby – Ichabod *Pretty Little China Girl – Chorus and Corps de Ballet *They All Follow Me – Violet and Chorus *She Is the Belle of New York – Blinky *She Is the Belle of New York (Reprise) – Ichabod, Harry, Violet and Chorus ;Act 2 *Oh! Sonny! – Harry and Chorus *When We Are Married – Fifi and Harry *The Purity Brigade – Violet and Chorus *I do, so there! – Violet, Ichabod and Chorus *Take Me Down to Coney Island – Blinky and Mamie *On the Beach at Narragansett – Ichabod and Others *For the twentieth time we'll drink – Chorus *Oh little Bo Peep – Chorus *At ze naughty Folies Bergere – Violet *'For in the field – Principals

Critical reception

After the New York premiere, ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "The new burlesque, or extravaganza, at the Casino is as big and showy, as frank and noisy, as highly colored, glittering, and audacious as the best of its predecessors." It found the libretto "with no great attempt at original wit in the prose dialogue, but with a few characteristically happy turns in the lyrics," and the music "reminiscent of Offenbach and Lecocq and Vasseur and Sullivan and

David Braham David Braham (1834 – April 11, 1905) was a London-born musical theatre composer most famous for his work with Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart. He has been called "the American Offenbach". Early life (1834–1873) David Braham was born in L ...

but it is always Kerkeresque.""The Belle of New York"
''The New York Times'', 29 September 1897 The London press was welcoming but nonplussed by the piece. The leading theatrical paper '' The Era'' wrote, "''The Belle of New York'' is best described as ''bizarre''. It is like nothing we have ever seen here, and it is composed of the oddest incongruities. … The music is decidedly above the average of musical play scores … it is the brightest, smartest, and cleverest entertainment of its kind that has been seen in London for a long time."''The Era'', 16 April 1898, p. 13 ''The Standard'' also thought the music "much above the average" and "distinctly Offenbachian in melody and orchestration." The paper praised all the performers, particularly "the unctuous humour of Mr. Dan Daly as the elder Bronson, the adroitness of Mr. Harry Davenport as his scapegrace son, the ''chic'' of Miss Phyllis Rankin as the Parisian soubrette, and the sweet voice of Miss Edna May as the Salvation maiden."

References

Sources

Description of show

External links

''The Belle of New York''
at the IBDB database

* ttp://www.ednamay.net/ednamay.html Edna May website {{DEFAULTSORT:Belle of New York, The 1897 musicals Broadway musicals Original musicals