(21 September 1925, Casino, 511 performances.) Music by Rudolf Friml, lyrics and book by Brian Hooker and W. H. Post. Based on Justin Huntly McCarthy’s 1901 play If I Were King, The Vagabond King featured one of Rudolf Friml’s finest scores and was a hugely lavish production. After he insults King Louis XI (Max Figman), François Villon (Dennis King) is made king for a day and must win the heart of the king’s niece Catherine de Vaucelles (Carolyn Thomson) or be killed. That day, the Burgundians attack Paris, and Villon leads the French and defeats the enemy. Villon’s former lover, the prostitute Huguette (Jane Carroll), dies saving Villon. Friml’s score included the famous love song “Only a Rose,” the rousing march “Song of the Vagabonds,” the waltz “Love Me Tonight,” Catherine’s exquisite “Some Day,” and Huguette’s earthy “Love for Sale” and “Huguette’s Waltz.” Two film versions exist: the first starring King and Jeanette MacDonald (1929) and the second with the Maltese tenor Oreste, Kathryn Grayson, and Rita Moreno (1956).
(Born Hubert Prior Vallée, 1901–1986.) Popular singer, actor, and bandleader who appeared in the 1931 and 1935 editions of George White’s Scandals and, late in life, created the role of J. B. Biggley in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1961).
The talented song-and-dance man won a Theatre World Award for his multiple roles in the revue The Girls against the Boys (1959) and a Tony Award for his portrayal of manager Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie (1960). He achieved tremendous fame as the star of the television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) and the film musicals Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), both of which have been made into live stage musicals. After nearly 19 years away from Broadway, he returned to play Harold Hill in Michael Kidd’s 1980 revival of The Music Man.
Musical comedy actress who made her Broadway debut in Music in the Air (1932) and played Babe in Anything Goes (1934), Vivian in Red, Hot and Blue! (1936), Stephanie Stephanovich in Hooray for What! (1937), and Nancy Collister in Let’s Face It! (1941). She also played Mrs. Mister in the 1947 revival of The Cradle Will Rock. Vance is best remembered for her work on television as Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy (1951–1957) and Vivian Bagley in The Lucy Show (1962–1965), appearing alongside Lucille Ball. Vance occasionally showcased her musical talents in both series.
Theatrical genre that peaked from the 1880s through the 1920s and featured a wide spectrum of entertainment, including musical numbers, comic routines, magic tricks, lectures, animal acts, operatic and dramatic excerpts, and athletic feats of various sorts. Vaudeville grew out of “variety” and differed from its predecessor by having a mixed-gender audience, promoting cultural values of the Progressive Era, and catering to the rising middle class. The penultimate place in the program went to the “headliner,” the star who was the focus of publicity efforts and the main audience draw. Many leading Broadway stars began their theatrical careers in vaudeville. The first self-proclaimed “clean” vaudeville took place in New York on 24 October 1881 under the auspices of Tony Pastor. Acts were usually booked on regional and national circuits, theatrical alliances that prefigured the system frequently used for road companies of Broadway shows.
(3 February 1919, New Amsterdam, 136 performances.) Music by Victor Herbert, lyrics by Henry Blossom, book by Fred Jackson. Based on Jackson’s farce A Full House, The Velvet Lady’s title character, nightclub singer Vera Vernon (Fay Marbe), does not appear until the last 15 minutes of the show, but in terms of characters, she was the highlight. George Howell (Ray Raymond) heads to Boston to recover letters that his sister’s fiancé once wrote to Vera. On the train back, George accidentally picks up a bag of stolen jewels rather than the letters, considerably confusing his wife, Ottilie (Marie Flynn), but the Velvet Lady appears to set things right. John Corbin, reviewing the show for the New York Times, suggested that the show’s “velvet,” until the last 15 minutes, “was mainly supplied by Victor Herbert,” especially by his waltzes “in the very best mood of the Viennese composers.” At the end, however, the Velvet Lady came on stage bearing “a radiance of charm” and carried the show. The hit song was “Life and Love.”
(Gwyneth Evelyn Verdon, 1925–2000.) The versatile actress and dancer’s Broadway credits include Claudine in Can-Can, Lola in Damn Yankees, Anna Christie in New Girl in Town, Essie Whimpole in Redhead, Charity Hope Valentine in Sweet Charity, and Roxie Hart in Chicago. Verdon’s realistic portrayal of strong females came in large part through her ability to have her singing voice emerge naturally and barely perceptible from her speaking voice.
African American actor, singer, and dancer who created the roles of Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) and Leading Player in Pippin (1972), winning a Tony Award for the latter. Notable replacement roles include Chimney Man in Jelly’s Last Jam and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked. He also appeared as a replacement in Fosse.
Many Broadway songs, especially those from the early and middle parts of the 20th century, are constructed in two fundamental parts: the verse and the refrain. The refrain is the “famous tune” that people tend to remember, while the verse is the part of the song that sets up the mood and dramatic situation for the refrain. The musical style is often closer to speech singing, and verses are often omitted in reprises. The verse’s associative nonmelodiousness (though this is certainly not always the case) is referred to in “You’re the Top” from Anything Goes. Verses can range from being fairly simple to small-scale scenes (as in “Deep in My Heart, Dear” from The Student Prince).
The most common design for Broadway songs. A verse, which is close to speech singing and often sets the mood for the song, is followed by the refrain, the part of the song that normally contains the memorable melody.
(23 December 1915, Princess, 341 performances.) Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Schuyler Greene, book by Guy Bolton and Philip Bartholomae. Based on Bartholomae’s farce Over Night, Very Good Eddie was an early show to include a somewhat believable plot and the integration of songs with the dramatic action. Set aboard the Hudson River Day Liner Catskill and at the Rip Van Winkle Inn, the plot involves two honeymooning couples: Eddie and Georgina Kettle (Ernest Truex and Helen Raymond) and Percy and Elsie Darling (John Willard and Alice Dovey). Complications ensue, causing the hotel clerk to eventually declare, “Very good, Eddie.” Among the songs were “Isn’t It Great to Be Married?,” “Wedding Bells Are Calling Me,” “If I Find the Girl,” “Babes in the Wood,” and “Size Thirteen Collar,” the latter Eddie’s lament for his small size. “Babes in the Wood” became the biggest hit. The critics gave Very Good Eddie a mixed reception. The critic for the World called it “very, very good only in the acting,” and the Press noted that the show “is not going to set any fashions in musical comedies.” Heywood Broun, writing for the Tribune, said the music “is not pretentious, and no muses leaped and clapped their hands when the book was written, but for all of that it is an agreeable entertainment.” The 1975 revival featured different songs and a campy presentation.
(25 October 1995, Marquis, 734 performances.) Music by Henry Mancini and Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, book and direction by Blake Edwards, choreography by Rob Marshall. A stage version of Blake Edwards’s successful musical film, Victor/Victoria brought Julie Andrews back to Broadway after an absence of more than 30 years. She played Victoria Grant, an English singer whose career has failed. She finds herself in Paris, where a gay friend, Carroll Todd (Tony Roberts), cooks up the wild scheme that she can become a man who works as a female impersonator. The plan succeeds, and she wows Paris of the 1930s as a nightclub entertainer. An American gangster, King Marchan (Michael Nouri), finds himself strangely attracted to this creature, who he believes to be a man, but they do get together in the end after the confusion has been resolved. Marchan’s girlfriend is Norma Cassidy, played as a ditsy, blonde bombshell by Rachel York. The cast was excellent, but many criticized other aspects of the show, including a director who was more comfortable in film. Writing in the New York Times, Vincent Canby raved about Andrews, writing that she still “looks terrific and sings with a sweet purity.” He also praised her diction, which survived the amplification, and her “grandly funny stage presence.” Since Henry Mancini, who wrote the music for the film, died before finishing the new score, Wildhorn collaborated with original lyricist Bricusse on some new songs. The most memorable songs, however, were those from the film, including the production number “Jazz Hot” and “You and Me,” the latter a soft-shoe number for Andrews and Roberts.
(20 April 2014, American Airlines, 128 performances.) An award-winning property originally produced off-Broadway in 1997, Violet ran briefly in 2014, reestablishing its reputation as a memorable piece of musical theater. Based on Doris Betts’s short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” the story chronicles Violet and her journey to find healing for a deep facial scar, an accidental injury inflicted by her father when she was young. She travels from North Carolina to Oklahoma by bus in 1964 in hopes that a televangelist will heal her face through prayer. On the way, she meets two soldiers, and after a liaison with Monty, who is white, she finds solace with Flick, who is black. Sutton Foster played the title role in a performance that, according to the New York Times reviewer, allowed her to “take her place among the first rank of Broadway musical theater performers.” The Times reviewer called Violet a “terrific, heart-stirring revival,” also praising director Leigh Silverman, designer David Zinn, and actors Colin Donnell (Monty) and Joshua Henry (Flick). Jeanine Tesori created the music and Brian Crawley the book and lyrics. The multifaceted score combined, according to the Times reviewer, the “tangy flavors of country, gospel, blues and honky-tonk rock” and included the emotive ballad “Lay Down Your Head.”
(23 April 2015, Lyceum, five performances as of 26 April 2015.) Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb hoped to bring The Visit to Broadway in 2001, though this did not happen until 2015, years after Ebb’s death. Based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1956 satirical macabre play Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit of the Old Lady), Terrence McNally’s book concerns Claire Zachanassian, a wealthy older woman who returns to her financially destitute hometown and offers to give its residents a billion dollars if they will kill the man who jilted her years ago, Anton Schell. The villagers are at first repulsed by the idea, but greed eventually wins over their collective consciousness. Chita Rivera, in her 80s, made an entrance as Claire in which “she sweeps the audience with a gaze that could freeze over hell,” according to the New York Times. The Welsh actor and director Roger Rees played Anton. The one-act musical features younger versions of the older main characters (following the inspiration of shows such as Follies) in addition to a dazzling ensemble paean to greed, “Yellow Shoes.”