Sheet music for a song from the production, sung by Theresa Vaughn
Date premiered
November 25, 1895 (Broadway)
Original language
English
Genre
Musical comedy
After playing in New Haven, it debuted on Broadway to a great fanfare as the first production at Hammerstein's Olympia on November 25, 1895.[1] It ran for 144 performances at the Olympia, and then moved for 24 more performances at the Broadway Theatre starting on March 30, 1896.[2]
The work is a parody based on the poem Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Sun's opening night review called it "good entertainment, notwithstanding the worthlessness of the play itself, and the saving of it from failure was due altogether to the interpolations by the amusing members of the company."[3] The play was the largest success of the 1895-96 Broadway season. The interpolated songs rotated over time, which was not an uncommon tactic of the period in this type of fare to keep up audience interest.[4]
Excelsior, Jr. moved to the Broadway Theatre so that Hammerstein could debut his own Marguerite in February 1896--that successor performed much worse and helped lead to Hammerstein's bankruptcy.[4]
Referencesedit
^Shepard, Richard F. (5 November 1995). Looking Back: Hammerstein's Gamble, The New York Times
excelsior, 1895, musical, comedy, with, music, george, lowell, tracy, baldwin, sloane, edward, rice, also, with, lyrics, robert, ayres, barnet, sheet, music, song, from, production, sung, theresa, vaughndate, premierednovember, 1895, broadway, original, langua. Excelsior Jr is an 1895 musical comedy with music by George Lowell Tracy A Baldwin Sloane and Edward E Rice and also with lyrics by Robert Ayres Barnet Excelsior Jr Sheet music for a song from the production sung by Theresa VaughnDate premieredNovember 25 1895 Broadway Original languageEnglishGenreMusical comedyAfter playing in New Haven it debuted on Broadway to a great fanfare as the first production at Hammerstein s Olympia on November 25 1895 1 It ran for 144 performances at the Olympia and then moved for 24 more performances at the Broadway Theatre starting on March 30 1896 2 The work is a parody based on the poem Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Sun s opening night review called it good entertainment notwithstanding the worthlessness of the play itself and the saving of it from failure was due altogether to the interpolations by the amusing members of the company 3 The play was the largest success of the 1895 96 Broadway season The interpolated songs rotated over time which was not an uncommon tactic of the period in this type of fare to keep up audience interest 4 The cast included Irene Perry Theresa Vaughn Fay Templeton Walter Jones Charles Bigelow David Abraham Marie Cahill and Richard Carle 3 Excelsior Jr moved to the Broadway Theatre so that Hammerstein could debut his own Marguerite in February 1896 that successor performed much worse and helped lead to Hammerstein s bankruptcy 4 References edit Shepard Richard F 5 November 1995 Looking Back Hammerstein s Gamble The New York Times The Best Plays of 1894 99 p 154 1955 a b 26 November 1895 Four New Plays Enacted The Sun a b Bordman Gerald and Richard Norton American Musical Theatre A Chronicle pp 163 165 4th ed 2011 External links edit Excelsior Jr at the Internet Broadway Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Excelsior Jr amp oldid 1167588965, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
