A Trip to Chinatown is a musical comedy in three acts with a book by Charles H. Hoyt, music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt. In addition to the Gaunt and Hoyt score, many songs were interpolated into the score at one time or another during the run, as was fashionable for musicals of the era. The story concerns a widow who accidentally maneuvers several young suburban couples into a big city restaurant and brings romance to them and herself, as in Hello, Dolly!
After almost a year of touring, the musical opened at Broadway’s Madison Square Theatre on November 9, 1891, and ran for 657 performances, or just short of two years. This was the longest-running Broadway musical in history up to that time (although London had seen a few longer runs), and it held that record until Irene in 1919. The show was such a hit that several road companies played it throughout the country simultaneously with the Broadway production, and at one point a second company was even opened in New York while the original company was still performing on Broadway. The cast included Trixie Friganza and Harry Conor, who introduced "The Bowery".
Hoyt was born in 1859 in Concord, New Hampshire. In the 1870s, he became the music and drama critic for The Boston Post. Beginning in 1883, he began a career as a playwright, producing a series of twenty farcical comedies (roughly one per year until his death) and a comic opera. Hoyt had his own theater, the Madison Square Theatre, where A Trip to Chinatown premiered.
sheet music cover
A Trip to Chinatown was Hoyt's 10th stage work. His plays and musicals emphasized individualized characters drawn from the everyday experiences of ordinary people. Most of his plays were non-musical farces. Two of the songs from A Trip to Chinatown are still known, "The Bowery" and "Reuben and Cynthia". There were many interpolations of songs into A Trip to Chinatown written for the many touring companies, the most famous being Charles K. Harris's "After the Ball", which was not part of the 1891 Broadway production but became a big hit and was later interpolated into Show Boat to exemplify the 1890s style.[2]
Versions of the script can be found in the 1941 Princeton University Press collection, Five Plays by Charles Hoyt edited by Douglas L. Hunt. In addition the George Washington University has microfiche copies of three versions of Hoyt's script, which changed as the cast changed, and differed from tour to tour.
Synopsisedit
A group of young people in San Francisco tell their wealthy guardian, Uncle Ben, that they are going sightseeing in Chinatown. They really plan a night out on the town. They have engaged a chaperone, Mrs. Guyer, but her letter of acceptance is received by Uncle Ben, who misinterprets it as an invitation to a rendezvous. At "The Riche", the restaurant mentioned in the letter, where the young people have booked a table, he gets drunk. He does not see the young couples or Mrs. Guyer, and it turns out that he has forgotten his wallet, which leads to humorous complications. Ben is unable to scold the young people for deceiving him, as they point out that they know about his own night out.
Roles and original Broadway castedit
A poster with lyrics to "The Bowery", 1890
Welland Strong (a man with one foot in the grave) - Harry Conor
Ben Gay (a wealthy bachelor) - George A. Beane, Jr.
^The 1897 musical A Trip to Coontown, by Bob Cole, spoofed the title of the show. See Moon, Krystyn R., David Krasner and Thomas L. Riis. "Forgotten Manuscripts: A Trip to Coontown", African American Review, Saint Louis University, Vol. 44, Numbers 1-2, Spring/Summer 2011, pp. 7-24
^"After the Ball" at the Tin Pan Alley Project, 2008
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A Trip to Chinatown is a musical comedy in three acts with a book by Charles H Hoyt music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt In addition to the Gaunt and Hoyt score many songs were interpolated into the score at one time or another during the run as was fashionable for musicals of the era The story concerns a widow who accidentally maneuvers several young suburban couples into a big city restaurant and brings romance to them and herself as in Hello Dolly A Trip to ChinatownCover of Vocal ScoreMusicPercy GauntLyricsCharles H HoytBookCharles H HoytProductions1891 Broadway After almost a year of touring the musical opened at Broadway s Madison Square Theatre on November 9 1891 and ran for 657 performances or just short of two years This was the longest running Broadway musical in history up to that time although London had seen a few longer runs and it held that record until Irene in 1919 The show was such a hit that several road companies played it throughout the country simultaneously with the Broadway production and at one point a second company was even opened in New York while the original company was still performing on Broadway The cast included Trixie Friganza and Harry Conor who introduced The Bowery A version of the show was produced in 1912 under the title A Winsome Widow and a film adaptation featuring Anna May Wong was made in 1926 1 Contents 1 Background 2 Synopsis 3 Roles and original Broadway cast 4 Musical numbers 5 1912 revision 6 1926 film 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksBackground editHoyt was born in 1859 in Concord New Hampshire In the 1870s he became the music and drama critic for The Boston Post Beginning in 1883 he began a career as a playwright producing a series of twenty farcical comedies roughly one per year until his death and a comic opera Hoyt had his own theater the Madison Square Theatre where A Trip to Chinatown premiered nbsp sheet music cover A Trip to Chinatown was Hoyt s 10th stage work His plays and musicals emphasized individualized characters drawn from the everyday experiences of ordinary people Most of his plays were non musical farces Two of the songs from A Trip to Chinatown are still known The Bowery and Reuben and Cynthia There were many interpolations of songs into A Trip to Chinatown written for the many touring companies the most famous being Charles K Harris s After the Ball which was not part of the 1891 Broadway production but became a big hit and was later interpolated into Show Boat to exemplify the 1890s style 2 Versions of the script can be found in the 1941 Princeton University Press collection Five Plays by Charles Hoyt edited by Douglas L Hunt In addition the George Washington University has microfiche copies of three versions of Hoyt s script which changed as the cast changed and differed from tour to tour Synopsis editA group of young people in San Francisco tell their wealthy guardian Uncle Ben that they are going sightseeing in Chinatown They really plan a night out on the town They have engaged a chaperone Mrs Guyer but her letter of acceptance is received by Uncle Ben who misinterprets it as an invitation to a rendezvous At The Riche the restaurant mentioned in the letter where the young people have booked a table he gets drunk He does not see the young couples or Mrs Guyer and it turns out that he has forgotten his wallet which leads to humorous complications Ben is unable to scold the young people for deceiving him as they point out that they know about his own night out Roles and original Broadway cast edit nbsp A poster with lyrics to The Bowery 1890 Welland Strong a man with one foot in the grave Harry Conor Ben Gay a wealthy bachelor George A Beane Jr Tony Gay his ward Avery Strakosch Rashleigh Gay his nephew Lloyd Wilson Norman Blood chum of Rashleigh Arthur Pacie Willie Grow a gilded youth a trouser role Blanche Arkwright later Queenie Vassar Noah Heap waiter Harry Gilfoil Slavin Payne Ben s servant Harry Gilfoil Turner Swift runs the ice crusher W S Lewis Isabel Dame friend of the Gays Geraldine McCann Hoffman Price manager of Cliff House Frank E Morsk Mrs Guyer a widow Anna Boyd Flirt Mrs Guyer s maid Patrice DancersMusical numbers editThe Bowery Reuben and Cynthia The Widow Push Dem Clouds Away an African cantata The Chaperone Out for a Racket After the Ball The Sunshine of Paradise Alley Love Me Little Love Me Long Do Do My Huckleberry Do 3 Keep A Knockin Riding on the Golden Bike Her Eyes Don t Shine like Diamonds Only One Girl in the World for Me Then Say Good Bye She s My Best Girl Back among the Old Folks Once Again 4 McGee s Back Yard1912 revision editIn 1912 a revised version of the musical was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr with a score by Raymond Hubbell called A Winsome Widow 5 1926 film editMain article A Trip to Chinatown film A silent film adaptation of the musical was released in 1926 called A Trip to Chinatown starring Margaret Livingston and featuring Anna May Wong and Charles Farrell The screenplay was by Beatrice Van based on Hoyt s book and the film was directed by Robert P Kerr Notes edit The 1897 musical A Trip to Coontown by Bob Cole spoofed the title of the show See Moon Krystyn R David Krasner and Thomas L Riis Forgotten Manuscripts A Trip to Coontown African American Review Saint Louis University Vol 44 Numbers 1 2 Spring Summer 2011 pp 7 24 After the Ball at the Tin Pan Alley Project 2008 Do Do My Hucklerberry Do Music 1893 by Dillon Brothers Sheet music for this song indicates that it was composed by J W Wheeler with words by Dave Reed Jr Boardman Gerald Martin American Musical Theatre A Chronicle pp 322 23 2011 ed References editInformation about the musical Archived 2009 10 23 Profile of the musical and photo of a programExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to A Trip to Chinatown A Trip to Chinatown at the Internet Broadway Database A Trip to Chinatown at the IMDb database Profile and poster of the musical List of longest running plays Preceded byAdonis Longest running Broadway show1893 1920 Succeeded byLightnin Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Trip to Chinatown amp oldid 1174224310, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
