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Jean Schwartz was a Hungarian-born Jewish American composer and pianist. He is best known for his work writing the scores for more than 30 Broadway musicals, and for his creation of more than 1,000 popular songs with the lyricist William Jerome. Schwartz and Jerome also performed together on the vaudeville stage in the United States and in Europe; sometimes in collaboration with Maude Nugent, Jerome's wife, and the Dolly Sisters. Schwartz was married to Jenny Dolly from 1913-1921.
Julius Tannen was a monologist in vaudeville. He was known to stage audiences for his witty improvisations and creative word games. He had a successful career as a character actor in films, appearing in over 50 films in his 25-year film career. He is probably best known to film audiences from the musical Singin' in the Rain, in which he appears as the man demonstrating a talking picture early in the film.
Dream City is an operetta in two acts with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Edgar Smith. The show contained a one-act musical burlesque The Magic Knight which parodies Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.
The Little Show was a musical revue with lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It was the first of 11 musicals that featured the songs of Dietz and Schwartz. The revue opened at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on April 30, 1929 and ran for 321 performances until February 1930.
Mary Arnaud "May" Naudain was an American musical theatre actress and singer.
Louis Harrison was an actor, playwright, comedian, lyricist, librettist, and theatre director. As both a performer and playwright, he was mainly active within the genres of musical theatre and light opera.
Ernest Albert, born Ernest Albert Brown, was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, and scenic designer. He was a prolific scenic designer, first in St. 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.
The Billionaire is a musical in three acts with music by Gustave Kerker, and both book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. The show was written with the backing of producers Klaw and Erlanger and was made specifically for the talents of Jerome Sykes who portrayed "The Billionaire", John Doe. The action of the musical begins in Nice, France during Carnival where the billionaire Sykes meets a young American girl, Pansy Good, studying to be an actress. Impressed with her talents, he buys her Doe's Theatre in New York City and establishes her as a star. Later, Doe attempts to ride a horse in a race at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, but is too fat to succeed. Pansy rides the horse instead and wins the race.
Coming Thro' The Rye is a "satiretta" or musical in two acts with both lyrics and book by George V. Hobart and music by A. Baldwin Sloane and J. Sebastian Hiller.
Gates and Morange was a New York City based firm of designers and builders established in 1894 by brothers Frank E. Gates and Richard H. Gates, and the artist Edward A. Morange. The firm had a prolific career as scenic designers for Broadway from the 1890s through the 1930s; creating sets for more than 50 productions. The firm also created designs for trade shows, exhibitions, and businesses. While the organization's work as set designers ended after the mid-1930s, the firm continued to operate in other capacities until it closed in 1953.
The White Hen is a musical in two acts with music by composer Gustav Kerker, a book by Roderic C. Penfield, and lyrics co-authored by Penfield and Paul West. Set in Tyrol, Austria, the story takes place at an inn, 'The White Hen', owned by Hensie Blinder. The musical begins after Blinder returns from a trip to Vienna in which he engaged a matrimonial agency to help him find a wife. Upon his return to the inn, several women arrive in response to the advertisement placed by the agency and a comedy of errors ensues; including Blinder mistakenly believing he has committed the crime of bigamy.
Paul West was an American playwright, lyricist, newspaper editor, journalist, screenwriter, author, and talent agent. After working as a journalist in Massachusetts from 1888 to 1892, he began his career in the theatre as a press representative for Charles H. Hoyt; followed by a season as the business manager for the opera singer and actress Camille D'Arville and the comedian Frank Daniels. From 1898 to 1911 he worked on the editorial staff The New York Sunday World during which time be began a career as a prolific lyricist for both Broadway musicals and Tin Pan Alley publishers of popular song; publishing more the 500 songs during his lifetime. He also worked as a playwright, penning both plays and the books for several musicals. More than 15 of his stage works were mounted on Broadway between the years 1902–1913. In 1904 his children's book The Pearl and the Pumpkin was published; a work which he later adapted into a 1905 musical.
Otis C. Sheridan was an American character actor who had a five decade long career on the stage from the 1890s into the early 1940s. He made his Broadway debut in 1901 as Ludwig Dollar in Thomas Q. Seabrooke's revival of the musical The Rounders. He appeared in several more Broadway musicals and plays into the late 1930s, and was also active in regional theatre until his retirement from the stage in 1941. In addition to a career in the theater, he appeared in the films The Night Angel (1931) and Sweet Surrender (1935).
Otho Herbert Dilley, better known by his stage and pen name Herbert Dillea, was an American composer, songwriter, and conductor. He composed the music to three Broadway musicals: The Floor Walkers (1900), The Head Waiters (1902), and My Wife Won't Let Me (1906). As a songwriter, Dilley was best known as the composer to the popular standard "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" ; a work which was recorded multiple times by singer Harry Macdonough and cornetist Jules Levy for records made for the Victor Talking Machine Company and Columbia Records from 1902 through 1905, and later was recorded by Wayne King in 1947. He was also the composer of the ragtime piece Rag time society which was recorded several times by the Metropolitan Orchestra for Victor in 1901 and 1902.
John J. McNally was an American playwright, journalist, and drama critic. As a playwright he is best known for penning the books for many Broadway musicals staged between the years 1895–1909. Many of these were crafted for the Rogers Brothers, or were created in collaboration with the songwriting team of Jean Schwartz and William Jerome. He was a longtime drama critic and editor for various Boston newspapers.
Fritz in Tammany Hall is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book by John J. McNally. The musical takes place in 1905 in New York City and on Long Island. It was a political spoof of New York City politics of that period.
Lola from Berlin is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book by John J. McNally. The musical was created as a starring vehicle for actress Lulu Glaser who portrayed the title role in the original production. The work is about the German girl Lotchen von Breckenhaussett, aka "Lola", who travels from Berlin to New York City to collect an unexpected inheritance from a distant American relation.
In Hayti is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book by John J. McNally. It premiered at Broadway's Circle Theatre on August 30, 1909. It closed after 56 performances on October 16, 1909. Produced by Klaw and Erlanger, the show was directed by A. H. Holbrook and choreographed by Julian Alfred. The work was created as a starring vehicle for vaudeville and minstrel show stars James McIntyre and Thomas Heath who were known for their work as blackface performers. It was the second musical created by the songwriting team of Schwartz and Jerome for McIntyre and Heatth; the first being the tremendously popular 1905 musical The Ham Tree.The plot of the show revolves around Colonel Scott's attempt to control the chicken market in Haiti in the midst of a revolution.
The Silver Star is a musical in three acts with both book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith and music by many composers. A Christmas musical, the work was created for the Danish dancer Adeline Genée who portrays the central character of Viola.
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Benjamin, Ruth; Rosenblatt, Arthur (2006). Who Sang what on Broadway, 1866-1996: The singers (A-K). McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786421893.
- Bloom, Ken (1985). "Lifting the Lid". American Song: Songwriters, The complete companion to Tin Pan Alley Song. Facts on File. ISBN 9780028655895.
- Dietz, Dan (2022). "Lifting the Lid". The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781538168943.
- Mantle, Burns; Sherwood, Garrison P.; Chapman, John Arthur (1944). "Lifting the Lid". The Best Plays of 1899-1909. Dodd, Mead & Co.
