| A Winsome Widow | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover to Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee | |
| Music | Raymond Hubbell |
| Lyrics | Unknown (pastiche) |
| Book | Charles Hale Hoyt |
| Basis | A Trip to Chinatown by Charles Hale Hoyt |
| Premiere | April 11, 1912: Moulin Rouge |
| Productions | 1912 Broadway |
A Winsome Widow is a 1912 musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., which was a revised version of Charles Hale Hoyt's 1891 hit, A Trip to Chinatown , with a score by Raymond Hubbell.
The show debuted at the Moulin Rouge on April 11, 1912, and ran into September, with a total of 172 performances. [1] (A pre-opening performance was presented at Parson's Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut on April 8, 1912. [2] ) The production's sets were designed by Ernest Albert. [3]
One of its featured songs was "Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee" by Stanley Murphy and Henry I. Marshall. The musical was a big hit, and featured a finale with real ice skating. [4]
The large cast featured Emmy Wehlen, Leon Errol, the Dolly Sisters, Elizabeth Brice, Frank Tinney, and Charles King. A young Mae West played a small role, though she quit after five performances. [4] [5] [6]
Though well received by audiences, the show had mixed reviews. The New York Clipper called it "a spectacle of gayety and gorgeousness", but The New York Times was bored of its "sameness", and critic Sime Silverman of Variety said it was "at least forty minutes too long, draggy with superfluous people." [5] [7]
The Ziegfeld Follies were 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 Air.
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Fania Borach, known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. She is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series The Baby Snooks Show.
Nathaniel Davis Ayer was an American composer, pianist, singer and actor. He made most of his career composing and performing in England in Edwardian musical comedy and revue. He also contributed songs to Broadway shows, including some of the Ziegfeld Follies.
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David Burns was an American Broadway theatre and motion picture actor and singer.
Leon Errol was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in films.
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Alex Timbers is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He also received the 2019 Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award for Directing. He was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award. For his work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Timbers won a 2021 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.
(not to be confused with -->Emily Ann Wellman)
Ida Adams, sometimes credited as Ida M. Adams, was an American-born actress and singer who worked chiefly in musical theatre.
Frank Aloysius Robert Tinney was an American blackface comedian and actor.
Harry Conor was an American comic actor, best known for playing the role of Welland Strong in A Trip to Chinatown.
Bernard R. Granville was an American actor, singer and minstrel show performer who was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld and was known as "the twentieth century comedian".
Elizabeth Brice was an American musical-comedy singer and dancer.
Tot Qualters was an American actress, dancer, and singer in musical theatre.
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Carmen Regina Revnes, known professionally as Sybil Carmen, was an American actress, dancer, and Ziegfeld girl.
Ernest Albert was an American painter, illustrator, and scenic designer. He was a prolific scenic designer, first in Saint Louis and Chicago and then on Broadway. He is considered a major American landscape painter and was elected the first president of the Allied Artists of America in 1919.