The Cat and the Fiddle (musical)

The Cat and the Fiddle is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach. The story is about love and conflict between an American popular music composer and a European classical composer. Hit numbers from the show included "Try to Forget", "She Didn't Say Yes", "The Breeze Kissed Your Hair" and "The Night Was Made for Love."^[1]

The original Broadway production opened on October 15, 1931, and ran for 395 performances, a long run for the time period. A 1932 London production followed at the Palace Theatre. A 1934 film adaptation with a substantially altered storyline starred Jeanette MacDonald and Ramon Novarro.

Productions[]

The original Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 15, 1931, moved to the George M. Cohan Theater on May 24, 1932, and ran for a total of 395 performances, an unusual success for the Depression years. It was produced by Max Gordon and staged by José Ruben. The show featured Bettina Hall as Shirley Sheridan, Georges Metaxa as Victor Florescu, George Meader as Pompineau, Odette Myrtil as prima donna Odette, and Flora Le Breton as Maizie Gripps.^[2] Eddie Foy Jr. and Lawrence Grossmith were also in the original cast. Ensemble dances were staged by Albertina Rasch and featured the Albertina Rasch Dancers.

The 1932 London production by C. B. Cochran at the Palace Theatre featured Alice Delysia, Peggy Wood and Francis Lederer.^[3][4]

Summary[]

In the 1930s, Shirley Sheridan, an American popular song composer, comes to Brussels to study music. She meets Romanian classical composer Victor Florescu, who is writing an operetta, The Passionate Pilgrim. Shirley and Victor fall in love, but they find themselves in conflict when the producer of the operetta says that Victor's score is too traditional and asks that Shirley's uptempo jazzy songs be interpolated into it. All ends well.

Roles and original cast[]

• Alexander Sheridan – Eddie Foy Jr.
• Shirley Sheridan – Bettina Hall
• Pompineau – George Meader
• Victor Florescu – Georges Metaxa
• Angie Sheridan – Doris Carson
• Odette – Odette Myrtil
• Constance Carrington – Margaret Adams
• Maizie Gripps – Flora Le Breton
• Jean Colbert – Peter Chambers
• Claudine – Lucette Valsy
• Major Sir George Wilfred Chatterly – Lawrence Grossmith

Musical numbers[]

Act One

• "The Night Was Made for Love" – Pompineau
• "The Breeze Kissed Your Hair" – Victor Florescu
• "The Love Parade" – Pompineau and Maizie Gripps
• "Try to Forget" – Shirley Sheridan, Alexander Sheridan and Angie Sheridan
• "Poor Pierrot" – Jean Colbert and Claudine
• "The Passionate Pilgrim" – Odette, Claudine, Constance Carrington and Jean

Act Two

• "She Didn't Say Yes" – Shirley
• "A New Love Is Old" – Victor
• "One Moment Alone" – Shirley and Victor
• "Hh! Cha! Cha!" – Shirley and Others
• "She Didn't Say 'Yes'" (reprise) – Pompineau, Victor and Shirley

Musical analysis[]

Kern and Harbach aimed to create a modern operetta set in contemporary Brussels "in which music and story were indispensable to each other."^[1] Kern's goal was to provide almost continuous music throughout The Cat and the Fiddle, and many passages of dialogue feature musical underscoring.^[5]

Adaptations[]

A black and white film version was made in 1934 by MGM, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Ramon Novarro.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• The Cat and the Fiddle at Internet Broadway Database