Stepping Stones (musical)

Stepping Stones
Sheet Music Cover
Music	Jerome Kern
Lyrics	Anne Caldwell
Book	Anne Caldwell and R. H. Burnside

Stepping Stones is a “fantastical musical play” (musical comedy) in two acts with book by Anne Caldwell and R. H. Burnside, lyrics by Anne Caldwell, and music by Jerome Kern. The show was produced by Charles Dillingham at the Globe Theater, and opened November 6, 1923.

The musical director was Victor Baravalle and the music was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett. The show was staged by R. H. Burnside and choreographed by Mary Read and John Tiller. Scenic design by Wilhelm, Robert McQuinn, and P. Dodd Ackerman. Costume design by Robert McQuinn, Wilhelm, Cora MacGeachy, Will R. Barnes, and Brooks-Mahieu Company. It ran for 281 performances, closing on October 4, 1924.

The cast headlined Fred Stone (Peter Plug), Dorothy Stone (Roughette Hood), and Oscar Ragland (Otto DeWolfe).

The plot is basically a musical comedy version of the adventures of Roughette Hood (i.e. Little Red Riding Hood) (Dorothy Stone) with Otto DeWolfe (Oscar Ragland), a villain. She is rescued from the villain in song, dance, and acrobatic comedy by Peter Plug (Fred Stone), an errand boy and wild plumber from the Pampas.

Gerald Boardman points out that, “Most critics devoted their opening paragraphs to extolling the seventeen-year-old Dorothy Stone. . . . [Fred] Stone’s clowning and acrobatics were applauded (he parachuted down for his first entrance), and Dillingham’s lavish, tasteful hand was complimented as well. . . . In the Herald Alexander Woollcott reported that the evening was ‘abrim with sweet melodies by Jerome Kern . . .’ ”

The show was closed as a result of an actor’s strike and then had performances on the road until early 1926.

In 1948, Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers released a new recording of "Raggedy Ann", one of the songs from the musical.

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