The Belle of New York (theatre)

The Belle of New York
Vocal score
Music	Gustave Kerker
Lyrics	Hugh Morton
Book	Hugh Morton
Productions	1897 Broadway 1898 West End

The Belle of New York is a musical comedy in two acts, with book and lyrics by Hugh Morton and music by Gustave Kerker, about a Salvation Army girl who reforms a spendthrift, makes a great sacrifice and finds true love.

Opening on Broadway at the Casino Theatre on 28 September 1897, it ran for only 64 performances. It subsequently transferred to London in 1898, where it was a major success, running for an almost unprecedented 674 performances, and became the first American musical to run for over a year in the West End.The Standard stated that the entire Broadway cast "numbering sixty-three persons" was brought over to London, "the largest stage troupe from the other side of the Atlantic that has ever professionally visited this country."

The show starred Edna May, whose performance as Violet made her a star in New York and London. Postcards of her in costume became ubiquitous; more photographs of her were sold in London than of any other actress in 1898. In London, the piece opened on 12 April 1898, produced by J. C. Williamson and George Musgrove. The composer conducted at the opening night. The work had stiff competition in London in 1898, as other successful openings included A Greek Slave and A Runaway Girl.

Long runs in Paris and Berlin followed, and there were nine West End revivals over the next four decades. The musical was also produced regularly by amateur groups from 1920 until about 1975. Two film versions were made, in 1919 with Marion Davies, Etienne Girardot and L. Rogers Lytton, and in 1952 with Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Marjorie Main and Keenan Wynn that replaced the original songs with a score by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.

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