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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.
William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers and performers of the era but is best remembered for his decade-long association with Jean Schwartz with whom he created many popular songs and musical shows in the 1900s and early 1910s.
The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 1404 Broadway and West 39th Street in New York City. Built in 1882, it was a leading presenter of mostly musicals and operettas until it closed in 1930.
Stanislaus Stange (1862–1917) was a playwright, librettist and lyricist who created many Broadway shows in the fin-de-siecle era and early 20th century. After minor success as an actor, Stange made his career as a writer in the musical theatre, moving towards more varied theatrical work before his death.
The Red Petticoat is a 1912 musical-comedy in 3 acts with book and lyrics by Rida Johnson Young and Paul West, music by Jerome Kern, and directed by Joseph W. Herbert. Set in the fictional town of Lost River, Nevada, the Western-genre musical starred Helen Lowell as tough lady barber Sophie Brush in the rough silver-mining town of Lost River, Nevada, who gets her man. Songs included "I Wonder", "My Peaches and Cream", "Oh You Beautiful Spring", "The Ragtime Restaurant", and "Since the Days of Grandmamma". The musical was based on a 1911 farcical melodrama by Young titled Next!. It was Kern's first complete score.
Kathryn Osterman was an American comic vaudeville actress on stage and in silent films.
Monte Cristo, Jr. is a musical in two acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz and both book and lyrics by Harold Atteridge. Additional music was by Maurice Abrahams, Fred E. Alhert and Earl Carroll, with lyrics by Earl Carroll, Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. It should not be confused with the similarly named Monte Cristo Jr. by Richard Henry.
The Jersey Lily is a musical in two acts and four scenes with music by Reginald De Koven and both book and lyrics by George V. Hobart. Additionally, composer Jean Schwartz and lyricist William Jerome contributed the song "Bedelia" to the show; and it is this song that became the popular hit of the production. The sheet music for "Bedelia" sold more than three million copies. The work was created as a starring vehicle for Blanche Ring who portrayed the title role of Liliandra. The Jersey Lily premiered on Broadway at the Victoria Theatre on September 14, 1903.
Janet Velie was an American actress who was primarily known for her performances in Broadway musicals. She first came to prominence portraying the title roles in the musicals La La Lucille (1919) and Mary (1920), and then had success in the Ed Wynn music revues The Perfect Fool (1921) and The Grab Bag (1924). In 1925 she created the role of confidence woman Penelope Martin in Irving Berlin's The Cocoanuts; a role she reprised in 1927. She was the sister of actor Jay Velie and sometimes performed in productions with him. In addition to her work in theatre, she also appeared in a few short films.
Frederick J. Eustis, sometime referred to as F. J. Eustis, was an American composer, conductor, and theatre director. He is best remembered for writing music for several Broadway musicals.
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.
The Errand Boy is a musical in two acts with lyrics by Edward P. Moore and a book by George Totten Smith. Created as a starring vehicle for vaudeville star Billy B. Van, the composer of the music for this work was never credited. Set in the town of Georges Mills, New Hampshire, the plot centers around the local errand boy Patsy Bolivar who becomes involved with a troupe of traveling performers stranded in his town.
Frederic G. Ranken was an American librettist, lyricist, and playwright for light operas and musicals staged on Broadway from 1899 through 1907. His greatest success was the libretto for Reginald De Koven's 1905 comic opera Happyland. He also wrote libretti for composers Victor Herbert and Ludwig Engländer, and was a lyricist for composers Alfred Baldwin Sloane and Gustave Kerker among others. As a playwright he wrote the books for several musicals.
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.
The Ham Tree is a "musical vaudeville" in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book by George V. Hobart. A popular success from its debut in 1905, the work toured for several years; including three separate runs on Broadway. 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. The work incorporated several of their prior popular routines and sketches from their work on the vaudeville stage in order to appeal to their fan base. The concept of a "ham tree", along with other humorous trees like an "egg tree", was a repeating gag in their works dating back to their performances in The Georgia Minstrels in the 1890s and early 1900s. Following its initial tour, the work was revived by McIntyre and Heath several times, and was later heavily revised and retitled Hello, Alexander for a Broadway staging in 1919.
Mrs. Delaney of Newport is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz and both book and lyrics by William Jerome. Written as a starring vehicle for the comedian Kate Elinore and her sister May Elinore, it was the first of several musicals created by the songwriting team of Schwartz and Jerome. The musical premiered on September 15, 1903, at the Collingwood Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York. The production was produced by the firm of Hyde and Benham.
Up and Down Broadway is a musical revue in two acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book Edgar Smith. The musical's loose plot concerns the god Apollo who arrives in New York City in the accompany of other Greek deities vowing to improve the theatrical tastes of the American public. In the end they decide Broadway knows more about great entertainment than the Greek gods do. The musical was written as a starring vehicle for Eddie Foy who portrayed the main servant of Apollo, Momus, and provided much of the work's comedic thrust.
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Bordman, Gerald Martin; Norton, Richard (2010). "Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!!". American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199729708.
- Dietz, Dan (2022). "Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!!". The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781538168943.
- Gamwell, Lynn (2002). Exploring the Invisible: Art, Science, and the Spiritual; Second Edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691121123.
