Reilly and the Four Hundred

Reilly and the Four Hundred (1890), a musical comedy by Edward Harrigan (book, lyrics), David Braham (music). [Harrigan's Theatre, 202 perf.] Wiley Reilly (Harrigan), an immigrant pawnbroker, has watched his lawyer son Ned (Harry Davenport) rise in society and successfully court a socially acceptable lady. But all his plans and dreams could be shattered by Herman Smeltz (Harry Fisher), a sausage tycoon who has somehow wheedled his way into the “400.” Wiley knows a dark, long‐kept secret about Smeltz and uses it to see that everything ends happily. Notable song: Maggie Murphy's Home. The first show to play Harrigan's own new theatre, it enjoyed the longest run of any of his plays, but was virtually his last success. The play propelled Ada Lewis, who portrayed a roughneck girl, to fame.