Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers by Stewart F. Lane Page B
Authors: Stewart F. Lane
Tags: Drama, United States, General, History, 20th Century, Theater, New York, New York (State), Performing Arts, Jewish, Jews in Popular Culture - United States, Theater - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Jewish Entertainers, Jews in Popular Culture, Jewish Entertainers - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century, Musicals, Broadway (New York; N.Y.), Jews in the Performing Arts, Jews in the Performing Arts - New York (State) - New York - History - 20th Century
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Richard Rodgers wrote another show called No Strings in 1962 in which he attempted to be his own lyricist. While the show was not very successful, it did include the hit song “Love Makes the World Go Round.”
He would then try to team with a few other lyricists but could not find anyone the likes of the two composers with whom he had worked for so long. Rodgers died in late December of 1979.
During his long illustrious career, Rodgers married Dorothy Belle Feiner and had two daughters, Mary and Linda. One of Rodgers’ grandsons, Adam Guettel, apparently following the musical lineage, was a boy soprano at the Metropolitan Opera at the age of 13 before switching his career to that of a composer. His score and orchestrations for the 2005
Broadway hit The Light in the Piazza won him two Tony awards. Another grandson, Peter Melnick, served as composer for Adrift in Macao , which debuted at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2005 and was produced Off Broadway in 2007.
George and Ira Gershwin
The sons of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Israel and then George Gersh owitz were born in the late 1890s and grew up on New York’s crowded Lower East Side. George was the first of the brothers to show interest in music when he began playing the piano that was originally supposed to spark musical interest in his older brother Israel, better known as Ira. It was George who would leave school as a teenager to pur sue his songwriting career in Tin Pan Alley while Ira would remain in school and go on to college. George would also be the first to get his work published, in his late teens with songs such as the “Rialto Rag” and his first big hit, at the age of 21, “Swanee,” with lyrics by Irving Caesar.
At roughly the same time, Ira was asked to write lyrics for a show called Two Little Girls in Blue , co-produced by Vincent Youmans, which he wrote under the name Arthur Francis. It was while on their way to Broadway that the Gershowitz brothers would change their name to the less ethnic-sounding Gershwin.
George first saw Broadway success as he began writing the music for George White’s Scandals , in 1922, part of the ongoing series of less 62
3. The Music of Broadway
spectacular, but highly entertaining Ziegfeld-esque revues. Gershwin wrote for the first five of the thirteen reviews that would include performers the likes of W.C. Fields, Alice Faye, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Rudee Vallee, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Merman. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” was among the songs written for one of George White’s Scandals .
It was in 1924, when the brothers teamed up on the first of 14 Broadway musicals, that they would hit their stride. It was a musical comedy called Lady Be Good starring Broadway’s newest song and dance team, Fred and Adele Astaire. Cashing in on the popularity of vaudeville, the show was about vaudevillians. The 1925 follow-up, Tip Toes , featured the same creative team, except for a change of directors. Having enjoyed two hits in a row, the creative team (including the same director, John Harwood) went for the trifecta, and Oh Kay! was born. While this show was not at all about vaudeville, it was nonetheless another hit musical, starring Gertrude Lawrence.
The Gershwins were off and running and would work again with Fred and Adele Astaire in Funny Face , which also included a young Betty Comden (see Chapter 4) in the cast. By the start of the 1930s, the Gershwin Brothers were synonymous with Broadway hit musicals. Girl Crazy not only launched the decade for the Gershwins, and featured the hit song “I Got Rhythm,” but it also became the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. Three film versions were made of the popular show.
Following Strike Up the Band and Of Thee I Sing , the brothers would team on their final show, adapted from the 1925 novel Porg y by DuBose Heyward. In what would be billed as a “folk opera,” George, Ira and DuBose Heyward (as librettist) would ultimately create a Broadway
He would then try to team with a few other lyricists but could not find anyone the likes of the two composers with whom he had worked for so long. Rodgers died in late December of 1979.
During his long illustrious career, Rodgers married Dorothy Belle Feiner and had two daughters, Mary and Linda. One of Rodgers’ grandsons, Adam Guettel, apparently following the musical lineage, was a boy soprano at the Metropolitan Opera at the age of 13 before switching his career to that of a composer. His score and orchestrations for the 2005
Broadway hit The Light in the Piazza won him two Tony awards. Another grandson, Peter Melnick, served as composer for Adrift in Macao , which debuted at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2005 and was produced Off Broadway in 2007.
George and Ira Gershwin
The sons of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Israel and then George Gersh owitz were born in the late 1890s and grew up on New York’s crowded Lower East Side. George was the first of the brothers to show interest in music when he began playing the piano that was originally supposed to spark musical interest in his older brother Israel, better known as Ira. It was George who would leave school as a teenager to pur sue his songwriting career in Tin Pan Alley while Ira would remain in school and go on to college. George would also be the first to get his work published, in his late teens with songs such as the “Rialto Rag” and his first big hit, at the age of 21, “Swanee,” with lyrics by Irving Caesar.
At roughly the same time, Ira was asked to write lyrics for a show called Two Little Girls in Blue , co-produced by Vincent Youmans, which he wrote under the name Arthur Francis. It was while on their way to Broadway that the Gershowitz brothers would change their name to the less ethnic-sounding Gershwin.
George first saw Broadway success as he began writing the music for George White’s Scandals , in 1922, part of the ongoing series of less 62
3. The Music of Broadway
spectacular, but highly entertaining Ziegfeld-esque revues. Gershwin wrote for the first five of the thirteen reviews that would include performers the likes of W.C. Fields, Alice Faye, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Rudee Vallee, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Merman. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” was among the songs written for one of George White’s Scandals .
It was in 1924, when the brothers teamed up on the first of 14 Broadway musicals, that they would hit their stride. It was a musical comedy called Lady Be Good starring Broadway’s newest song and dance team, Fred and Adele Astaire. Cashing in on the popularity of vaudeville, the show was about vaudevillians. The 1925 follow-up, Tip Toes , featured the same creative team, except for a change of directors. Having enjoyed two hits in a row, the creative team (including the same director, John Harwood) went for the trifecta, and Oh Kay! was born. While this show was not at all about vaudeville, it was nonetheless another hit musical, starring Gertrude Lawrence.
The Gershwins were off and running and would work again with Fred and Adele Astaire in Funny Face , which also included a young Betty Comden (see Chapter 4) in the cast. By the start of the 1930s, the Gershwin Brothers were synonymous with Broadway hit musicals. Girl Crazy not only launched the decade for the Gershwins, and featured the hit song “I Got Rhythm,” but it also became the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. Three film versions were made of the popular show.
Following Strike Up the Band and Of Thee I Sing , the brothers would team on their final show, adapted from the 1925 novel Porg y by DuBose Heyward. In what would be billed as a “folk opera,” George, Ira and DuBose Heyward (as librettist) would ultimately create a Broadway
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