''Mother Goose'' 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 ...

in three acts with music by

Frederick Solomon Frederick Charles Solomon (31 August 1853 – 9 September 1924), sometimes given as Fred Solomon or Frederic Solomon, was a British-born American composer, conducting, conductor, actor, librettist, playwright, theatre director, and multi-instrume ...

, lyrics by George V. Hobart, and a book by John J. McNally that was adapted from Arthur Collins and

J. Hickory Wood Jay Hickory Wood (died 26 August 1913, Purley, Kent) was an English playwright, novelist, and biographer. Born in Manchester, he was best known as the author of many pantomimes; several of them written in collaboration with Arthur Collins. His firs ...

's libretto for the 1902

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

of the same name. The work's plot pulled loosely from several

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

and

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

s, including

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

and

Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...

. The work also contained many songs interpolated into the production by other writers, including two songs by

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

: "Rube" and "Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye".

History

Produced by

Klaw & Erlanger Klaw and Erlanger was an entertainment management and production partnership of Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger, Abraham Lincoln Erlanger based in New York City from 1888 through 1919. While running their own considerable and multi-faceted theatric ...

, '' Mother Goose'' premiered at

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 Stre ...

New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 214 West 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan in New York City, New Yor ...

on December 3, 1903; closing at that theatre on February 27, 1904, after 105 performances. The work was an Americanized version of Collins and Wood's British Christmas

that was originally staged at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

in 1902.Gänzl, p. 1356 In keeping with its British roots, the role of Mother Goose was performed in

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

by the actor

Joseph Cawthorn Joseph Bridger Cawthorn (March 29, 1868 – January 21, 1949) was an American stage and film comic actor. Biography Born on March 29, 1868, in New York City to a minstrel-show family, Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debu ...

. Likewise, the role of Colin was a

trouser role In theater, a breeches role or breeches part (also pants role, pants part, trouser role, trouser part, and Hosenrolle) is a role in which a female actor performs in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were a standard male g ...

portrayed by the actress Viola Gillette. Others in the cast included

Leila McIntyre Leila McIntyre (December 20, 1882 – January 9, 1953) was an American actress and vaudeville performer. Early life Leila McIntyre was from Vermont, She was on stage from childhood. Career Leila McIntyre was a vaudeville performer, first as ...

as Jill, Harry Bulger as Jack, W.H. Macart as The Laird of Borderland, Allan Ramsay as King Goose, George Clennett as Vicomte Boreham, Edith Hutchins as the Fairy Queen, Charles A. Fuller as the Demon King, and Clifton Crawford as the Mayor of Chatham.Dietz, p. 195

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* Broadway musicals 1903 musicals Musicals based on fairy tales Musicals by George V. Hobart Musicals by John J. McNally {{musical-theatre-stub