The Passing Show

The Passing Show was a musical revue in three acts, billed as a "topical extravaganza", with a book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and music by Ludwig Engländer and various other composers. It featured spoofs of theatrical productions of the past season. The show was presented in 1894 by George Lederer at the Casino Theatre. It was one of the first musical revues on Broadway and led the fashion for such productions. The Casino Theatre produced a revue each summer thereafter for several seasons.

In 1912, Lee and Jacob J. Shubert began an annual series of elaborate Broadway revues using the name The Passing Show of 19XX, designed to compete with the popular Ziegfeld Follies.

Although a few entertainments that could be called revues had already been presented by such showmen as John Brougham, The Passing Show was the first American revue to use the term, spelling it "review". Its now-familiar structure was to use a thin story line to link together songs and sketches. The show was choreographed by Barney Fagan and Augusto Francioli.

The revue opened at the Casino Theatre on May 12, 1894 and ran for 145 performances. The piece burlesqued theatrical productions of the past season. Among many other sketches, Paul Arthur spoofed Henry Miller, Adele Ritchie portrayed the singer Rosamund, Gus Pixley parodied Rummel, Grace Filkins parodied Rose Coghlan, Mrs. Kendal and Ada Rehan, and Mabel Stephenson appeared as Hannele in a parody of the Kilyani films. John E. Henshaw and Queenie Vassar played, respectively, the character Laf Quickstep and Chollie Keal.

The songs (by Rosenfeld and Englander, except as noted) included:

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