''Blue Eyes'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

composed 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 over ...

, with a book and lyrics by

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

and Graham John. Orchestrations were by

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...

, and the original producer was Lee Ephraim. The musical was a historical comedy and romance set against the backdrop of Jacobite

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

's attempts to restore the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

to the

British throne The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

. In the plot of ''Blue Eyes'' a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

actress disguises herself as a soldier to help her brother who has been imprisoned by the Duke of Cumberland in the aftermath of the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

. It starred

Evelyn Laye Evelyn Laye (''née'' Elsie Evelyn Lay; 10 July 1900 – 17 February 1996) was an English actress and singer known for her performances in operettas and musical theatre, musicals. Born into a theatrical family, she made her professional dé ...

, and comic relief was provided by

W. H. Berry William Henry Berry (23 March 1870 – 2 May 1951), always billed as W. H. Berry, was an English comic actor. After learning his craft in pierrot and concert entertainments, he was spotted by the actor-manager George Grossmith Jr., and appeared i ...

, who "disguised himself as a silly Scotsman, a flea circus owner nd aFrench dancing teacher". It was the first production at London's new

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus, in the City of Westminster, London. It opened in 1928. In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of ...

, opening on 27 April 1928, and transferred to

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresa ...

in July,Somerville, Matthew
"''Blue Eyes''"
Theatricalia.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022 before finishing its run of eight months, for a total of 327 performances. The

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage Musical theatre, musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the ...

with the Piccadilly Theatre Orchestra was issued by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The musicologist Thomas Hischak described Kern's

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

for ''Blue Skies'' as featuring some "entrancing songs", particularly praising "Back to the Heather", "Charlie Is the Darling of My Heart", and the comic song "In Vodeodo". Hischak felt that the score was closer to that of an

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

than a musical comedy. The song "Do I Do Wrong" was cut from the production before the musical opened. The melody was later used for Kern's "You're Devastating" from his 1933 musical ''

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

''.

1928 London cast

as Nancy Anne Bellamy *George Vollaire as Jamie *

Bertram Wallis Bertram Wallis (22 February 1874 – 11 April 1952) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in plays, musical comedies and operettas in the early 20th century, first as leading men and then in character roles. He also later ...

as the Duke of Cumberland *

Geoffrey Gwyther Geoffrey Matheson Gwyther (8 October 1892 – 27 July 1944) was an English singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. Gwyther was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, where he was taught by Geoffrey Shaw and took delight in the music of Henry Purce ...

as Sir George *

Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil (c. 1898 – c. 1983) was an English singer and actress. She began her career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, with whom she performed, off and on, from 1918 until 1937. She also performed in ...

as Flora Campbell *

as Pilbeam

Songs

* "Back to the Heather" * "Blue Eyes" * "Bow Belles" * "Charlie Is the Darling of My Heart" * "The Curtsey" * "Fair Lady" * "The Good King James" * "Henry" * "His Majesty's Dragoons" * "In Love" * "In Vodeodo" * "Long Live Nancy" * "No One Else But You" * "Praise the Day" * "Prince Do and Dare" * "Romeo and Juliet" * "Someone" * "Trouble About the Drama" Songs as listed in Stephen Suskin's ''Show Tunes : The songs, shows, and careers of Broadway's major composers'' (2010)

References

{{Reflist 1928 musicals West End musicals Musicals by Jerome Kern 1928 in London Musicals set in the 1740s Musicals set in the United Kingdom Musicals set in London