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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
Up and Down Broadway premiered at the Casino Theatre on July 18, 1910, where it ran for a total of 72 performances;[4] closing on September 17, 1910.[5] The show is most famous for introducing the popular standard "Chinatown, My Chinatown[6][7] and the tune "Oh, that Beautiful Rag" by Irving Berlin and Ted Snyder, which experienced a succinct period of popularity on phonograph cylinder covers.[8][9][10]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ Fields, p. 182
- ^ Bordman & Norton, p. 303
- ^ Dietz, p. 28-29
- ^ Suskin, p. 39
- ^ Dietz, p. 27
- ^ Lasser, p. 1840
- ^ Garrett, p. 246
- ^ That Beautiful Rag - Arthur Collins (Columbia A853) (1910). Retrieved 2024-05-02 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ That Beautiful Rag by Collins & Harlan (Nov. 1910). Retrieved 2024-05-02 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ That Beautiful Rag (Stella Mayhew and Billie Taylor). Retrieved 2024-05-02 – via www.youtube.com.
Bibliography
edit- Bloom, Ken (2013). Routledge Guide to Broadway. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135871161.
- Bordman, Gerald Martin; Norton, Richard (2010). "Up and Down Broadway". American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199729708.
- Dietz, Dan (2021). "Up and Down Broadway". The Complete Book of 1910s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781538150283.
- Fields, Armond (2009). Eddie Foy: A Biography of the Early Popular Stage Comedian. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786443284.
- Garrett, Charles Hiroshi (2008). Struggling to Define a Nation: American Music and the Twentieth Century. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520254879.
- Lasser, Michael (2014). America's Songs II: Songs from the 1890s to the Post-War Years. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415810074.
- Suskin, Steven (2010). "Up and Down Broadway". Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780195314076.
External links
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