The Cabaret Girl
| The Cabaret Girl | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Music | Jerome Kern |
| Lyrics |
George Grossmith and P. G. Wodehouse |
| Book | George Grossmith and P. G. Wodehouse |
| Productions | 1922, Winter Garden Theatre, Drury Lane, London 2008, Ohio Light Opera, Wooster, OH |
The Cabaret Girl is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr. and P. G. Wodehouse. It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the Winter Garden Theatre in London's West End in September 1922 and featured Dorothy Dickson, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin (later replaced by Leslie Henson) in the leading roles.
The first performance was originally scheduled for Thursday, 14 September 1922, with Henson in a leading role, but he fell ill on the morning of the scheduled opening, which was delayed to allow Griffin to prepare for the part. The show finally opened the following Tuesday, 19 September. According to the reviewer in The Times, "Last night the piece received the warmest of receptions and thoroughly deserved it." The production ran for 361 performances, closing on 11 August 1923. Henson took over from Griffin in January 1924 and the latter then took the show on tour.
The Cabaret Girl was first given an American production in 2004 when San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon company produced a staged concert of the show. Its first full American production was in 2008, when the Ohio Light Opera gave seven performances, between 26 June and 8 August, as part of their 30th Anniversary season. The same company released a commercial recording of the work in 2009 on Albany Records. The recording is the earliest work composed by Kern to be restored and recorded in its original form. The first New York City production was given in March 2009, in a concert staging by the semi-professional troupe Musicals Tonight!
Actor-manager George Grossmith, Jr. and his partner Edward Laurillard bought the New Middlesex Theatre in London's West End in 1919 and, after its refurbishment, re-opened it as the Winter Garden Theatre. The first production was Kissing Time, written by P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and starring Grossmith and Leslie Henson. After Grossmith's partnership with Laurillard broke up two years later, Grossmith retained control of the Winter Garden where, between 1921 and 1926, in partnership with Pat Malone, he produced a series of shows, many of which were adaptations of imported shows and featured Henson. The first production by the Grossmith-Malone partnership was Sally, with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Bolton and some of the lyrics by Wodehouse, which was the London transfer of a Broadway hit. The second, with an original book, was The Cabaret Girl.
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