''The Cabaret Girl'' 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 three acts 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 ...

and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr. 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 ...

. It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

in London's West End in September 1922 and featured

Dorothy Dickson Dorothy Dickson (July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995) was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer, and a centenarian. Biography and Career Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the S ...

, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin (later replaced by

Leslie Henson Leslie Lincoln Henson (3 August 1891 – 2 December 1957) was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall come ...

) in the leading roles. The first performance was originally scheduled for Thursday, 14 September 1922, with Henson in a leading role, but he fell ill on the morning of the scheduled opening, which was delayed to allow Griffin to prepare for the part. The show finally opened the following Tuesday, 19 September. According to the reviewer in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', "Last night the piece received the warmest of receptions and thoroughly deserved it." The production ran for 361 performances, closing on 11 August 1923. Henson took over from Griffin in January 1924 and the latter then took the show on tour. ''The Cabaret Girl'' was first given an American production in 2004 when

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 ...

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 ...

company produced a staged concert of the show. Its first full American production was in 2008, when the

Ohio Light Opera The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the lat ...

gave seven performances, between 26 June and 8 August, as part of their 30th Anniversary season. The same company released a commercial recording of the work in 2009 on

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. See also * List of record labe ...

. The recording is the earliest work composed by Kern to be restored and recorded in its original form. The first New York City production was given in March 2009, in a concert staging by the semi-professional troupe Musicals Tonight!

Background

Actor-manager George Grossmith, Jr. and his partner

Edward Laurillard Edward Laurillard (20 April 1870 – 7 May 1936) was a cinema and theatre producer in London and New York City during the first third of the 20th century. He is best remembered for promoting the cinema early in the 20th century and for Edwardian ...

bought the New Middlesex Theatre in London's West End in 1919 and, after its refurbishment, re-opened it as the Winter Garden Theatre. The first production was ''

Kissing Time ''Kissing Time'', and an earlier version titled ''The Girl Behind the Gun'', are musical comedies with music by Ivan Caryll, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey. The story is based on the 19 ...

'', written by

and

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 starring Grossmith and

. After Grossmith's partnership with Laurillard broke up two years later, Grossmith retained control of the Winter Garden where, between 1921 and 1926, in partnership with Pat Malone, he produced a series of shows, many of which were adaptations of imported shows and featured Henson. The first production by the Grossmith-Malone partnership was ''

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting na ...

'', with music by

, a book by Bolton and some of the lyrics by Wodehouse, which was the London transfer of a

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 ...

hit. The second, with an original book, was ''The Cabaret Girl''. Kern and Wodehouse had both worked with Grossmith early in their careers and had, together with Bolton, created an innovative series of musicals for the Princess Theatre on Broadway.Byrnside, Ronald and Andrew Lamb
"Kern, Jerome (David)"
''Grove Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 10 May 2010 (requires subscription). In his 1933 autobiography, Grossmith described how he, Wodehouse and Kern managed their collaboration. While the two writers travelled to New York, drafting the lyrics of the ensemble numbers and finales on the boat, Kern was already at work at his home in Bronxville, New York, composing the melodies. When the trio gathered at Bronxville, Kern began setting the completed lyrics to music, while Grossmith and Wodehouse prepared "dummy" lyrics for Kern's melodies, the actual lyrics being completed on the return voyage. The trio worked from piano or "fiddle" copies of the music, leaving Kern to follow them to London with the completed orchestration a few weeks later.

Synopsis

The hero, James ("Jim") Paradene is the nephew of the Marchioness of Harrogate. He has been left a small fortune by his father, on condition that he must marry a lady who meets with the approval of the Marchioness and her son, the Marquis of Harrogate. Unfortunately, Jim wishes to marry Marilynn Morgan, but his trustees disapprove of her because she is a chorus girl. Act 1: The Showroom of Messrs Gripps & Gravvins, Music Publishers, Bond Street Jim comes to the offices of Gripps and Gravins looking for a song to sing at his local village concert. When Marilynn also arrives, to audition for a cabaret that Gripps and Gravvins are producing, Jim tries to persuade her to give up her career and settle with him in the country, but she refuses and suggests that they should part. Jim, however, has an idea: if he and Marilynn pretend to be married, his trustees will no longer be able to withhold their approval. Gravvins has "a little place in the country", "The Pergola" at Woollam Chersey, Hertfordshire, and invites the young couple to visit it. Act 2: "The Pergola", Woollam Chersey Jim and Marilynn arrive at "The Pergola" in the guise of a honeymoon couple. The plan is that Gravvins will invite the local aristocracy to a garden party, to meet the honeymoon couple, with the intention that the Marchioness will be impressed with Marilynn's social standing. But all the notables of the district are away on holiday, so the members of the Gripps & Gravvins cabaret troupe are enlisted to impersonate them. Gravvins himself takes the part of the local vicar, but the plot is unmasked when the real vicar appears. Marilynn, thoroughly embarrassed, admits her part in the deception and announces that she will have nothing more to do with Mr James Parradine, before fleeing the scene. Act 3: "All Night Follies" at The Cabaret Marilynn is performing in the Gripps & Gravvins production, "All Night Follies", at The Cabaret, where Jim comes looking for her. He has realised that he cannot expect Marilynn to give up the bright city lights and is prepared to go along with her wishes if she will agree to marry him. The curtain falls before the Marchioness and her son have given their approval, but as she has expressed admiration for Marilynn and he has fallen for the charms of Lily de Jigger, another member of the cast, a happy ending seems probable.

Cast

The original cast, in order of appearance, was: * Wodehouse reused some of the names from ''The Cabaret Girl'' in his later works: "Flick" and Mr Paradene are characters in ''

Bill the Conqueror ''Bill the Conqueror'' (subtitled ''His Invasion of England in the Springtime'') is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 13 November 1924 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the United States on 20 February 1925 by ...

'' (1924); in "Jeeves and the Impending Doom" (1926),

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...

's Aunt Agatha has a country estate at Woollam Chersey; so, too, does the hero of his play ''Good Morning, Bill'' (1928), Bill Paradene.

Musical numbers

;Act 1 * Overture * Opening chorus—Chopin ad lib - chorus and girls * You want the best seats, we have 'em - Effie and girls * Mr Gravvins—Mr Gripps - Gravvins and Gripps * First rose of summer - Girls, Gripps and Jim * Journey's end - Jim and Marilynn * Whoop-de-oodle-do! - Gravvins and cabaret troupe * Dancing time - Quibb, Miss Simmons, Gravvins and Marilynn * My little place in the country - Gravvins and Gripps ;Act 2 * The Pergola patrol - company * Praise for our zeal - porters, Marilynn and Jim * Shimmy with me - Marilynn * Those days are gone forever - Gravvins * Looking all over for you - Jim and Marilynn * Nerves - Gravvins, Gripps and Ada * Finale—Act 2 - Gravvins, Gripps, Jim, Marilynn, Vicar, chorus ;Act 3 * Opening: Good evening - Jim and Ada * London, dear old London - Jim and Burthen (George Grossmith) * Kahlua - Marilynn * Finale—Act 3: Oriental dreams - ensemble * Dancing time - Marilynn, Jim and chorus (an alternative has this sung in Act 1, by Marilynn and Gravvins) Day 2004, p. 314 Many of the numbers in ''The Cabaret Girl'' derived from, or were later modified for, other works: :* "Chopin ad lib" and "First rose of summer" were adapted from Kern's 1919 Broadway show ''She's a Good Fellow'', the book and lyrics of which were written by

Anne Caldwell Anne Marsh Caldwell (August 30, 1867 – October 22, 1936), also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was an American playwright and lyricist. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows, sometimes working with composer Jerome Kern. Biography Anne Ma ...

. :* The duet "Mr Gravvins – Mr Gripps" was a pastiche of a hit song, " Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean", from the 1922 ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

''. :* Kern revised the music of "Journey's end" when he included it in his 1925 Broadway show, '' The City Chap''. :* "The Pergola patrol" reappeared, shortened and with some lyrics changed, as "Is this not a lovely spot?" in '' Sitting Pretty''. :* "Shimmy with Me" introduced London's theatregoers to a new American dance craze, the "

Shimmy A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are quickly alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. History In 1917, a dance-song titled "Shim-Me-Sha ...

". It, too, was reused in ''The City Chap'', as "He Is the Type". :* Wodehouse had used a very similar version of "Nerves" in ''See You Later'' (1918). Day 2004, p. 309 :* Kern borrowed "Oriental dreams" for '' Sweet Adeline''.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabaret Girl 1922 musicals Musicals by Jerome Kern Musicals by P. G. Wodehouse Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties