''The Girl Friend'' is a
musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, 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, ...
with music by
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...
, lyrics by
Lorenz Hart and book by
Herbert Fields. This was the longest running show for the trio to that date.
[Secrest, Meryle. ''Somewhere for me:a biography of Richard Rodgers'' (2002), Hal Leonard Corporation, , p. 78]
Production
''The Girl Friend'' opened on
Broadway at the
Vanderbilt Theatre on March 17, 1926, and closed on December 27, 1926, after 301 performances. Produced by
Lew Fields (Herbert's father), staged by John Harwood with musical staging by Jack Haskell, the cast starred
Sammy White,
Eva Puck and
June Cochrane. White and Puck were married and well-known
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
performers of the time.
Plot
Setting: Long Island, New York
A cyclist trains on a wheel connected to a butter churn on his dairy farm. He is in love with the daughter of a professional cyclist. He is urged to enter a six-day bicycle race by a questionable cycling promoter. Various gamblers try to cause him to lose, but he wins the race and the girl.
Characters
Songs
;Act 1
* "Hey! Hey!"
* "The Simple Life"
* "The Girl Friend"
* "Goodbye, Lenny"
* "
Blue Room"
* "Cabarets"
* "Why Do I?"
* "The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt"
* "He's a Winner"
* "Town Hall Tonight"
* "Good Fellow, Mine"
;Act 2
* "Creole Cooning Song"
* "I'd Like to Take You Home"
* "What Is It?"
Critical response
Reviewers praised the humor, dancing, and the "captivating music." The ''New York American'' reviewer wrote: "This WAS music, instead of molasses. There was a ditty called 'The Blue Room' which should be sung to exhaustion".
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References
External links
Internet Broadway Database listing
Ovrtur Page for The Girl Friend
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girl Friend, The
1926 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hart
Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties
Musicals set in New York
Musicals set on farms
Musicals by Herbert Fields
Sports musicals
Musicals set on Long Island