Peggy-Ann
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Peggy Ann
Peggy Ann (1926), a musical comedy by Herbert Fields (book), Richard Rodgers (music), Lorenz Hart (lyrics). [Vanderbilt Theatre, 333 perf.] Peggy Ann (Helen Ford) drudges along, helping her mother run a boarding house, hoping to marry Guy Pendleton (Lester Cole), and spending much of her waking time daydreaming of a better life. She dreams of all sorts of riches and adventures, from shopping on Fifth Avenue to fending off pirates. Only Guy's proposal brings her back to reality. Notable songs: A Tree in the Park; Where's That Rainbow?; Maybe It's Me. The musical used the same basic story that co‐producer Lew Fields had employed in Tillie's Nightmare, a musical he had mounted in 1910 as a vehicle for Marie Dressler. But the new treatment was unusually adventurous for 1926, with no splashy opening, a quiet finale with only Peggy on stage, much use of Freudian symbolism, and sets changed as the audience watched.
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Peggy-Ann
| Peggy-Ann | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover |
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| Music | Richard Rodgers |
| Lyrics | Lorenz Hart |
| Book | Herbert Fields |
| Basis | Edgar Smith's musical Tillie’s Nightmare |
| Productions | 1926 Broadway 1927 London |
Peggy-Ann is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields, based on the 1910 musical Tillie’s Nightmare by Edgar Smith.
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Contents
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Production
The musical opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Theatre on December 27, 1926 and closed on October 29, 1927, after 333 performances. It was produced by Lew Fields (Herbert's father) and Lyle D. Andrews. Staged by Robert Milton, with musical staging by Seymour Felix, it starred Helen Ford as Peggy-Ann, Lester Cole, Lulu McConnell, and Betty Starbuck.
The musical opened in the West End at Daly's Theatre on July 29, 1927 and ran for 130 performances. Directed by Lew Fields, Dorothy Dickson starred as Peggy-Ann.[1]
The musical was considered daring for its time: there was no opening chorus and no songs for the first 15 minutes.[1] The plot, told in one long dream, focuses on Peggy-Ann’s dream fantasies. She is the niece of the owner of a boarding house in New York and the fiancée of a local boy. She escapes from a hum-drum life through dreams of herself as a wealthy adventuress, with a yacht and a husband.
Songs
- "Hello"
- "A Tree in the Park"
- "Howdy Broadway" (Howdy to Broadway)
- Act 1
- "A Little Birdie Told Me So"
- "Charming, Charming"
- "Where’s That Rainbow?"
- Act 2
- "We Pirates from Weehawken"
- "In His Arms"
- "Chuck It!"
- "I'm So Humble"
- "Havana"
- "Maybe It’s Me"
- "Give This Little Girl a Hand"
- "The Race (Peggy, Peggy)"
Critical response
The Time review praised the "Gilbertian satire, Broadway slapstick, attractive dancers... the charm of the music." However, according to Merle Secrest, none of the songs "stood the test of time", except, possibly, "Where’s That Rainbow?". This may be why, according to Armond and L. Marc Fields, Peggy-Ann is not remembered as one of the outstanding musicals of the 1920s.[2]
The New York Times reviewer wrote that the creators "have brought freshness and ideas to the musical-comedy field."[3]
References
- ^ a b Green, Stanley. Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (1980), Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-80113-2, p. 332
- ^ Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for me:a biography of Richard Rodgers (2002), Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 1-55783-581-0, p. 94
- ^ Overview of Peggy-Ann lorenzhart.org, accessed April 8, 2009
External links
- Peggy-Ann at the Internet Broadway Database
- Overview of Peggy-Ann
- Internet Broadway Database listing, Tillie's Nightmare
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Oxford Companion to American Theatre
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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