As Thousands Cheer
Encyclopedia
As Thousands Cheer is a revue
with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, first performed in 1933. The revue contained satirical sketches and witty or poignant musical numbers, several of which became standards, including "Heat Wave
", "Easter Parade
" and "Harlem on my Mind." The sketches were loosely based on the news and the lives and affairs of the rich and famous, and other people of the day, such as Joan Crawford
, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
, Noel Coward
, Josephine Baker
, and Aimee Semple McPherson
.
and was Marilyn Miller
's last stage appearance before her death. It was also the first Broadway show to give an African-American star Ethel Waters
equal billing with whites.
Moss Hart said that he and Irving Berlin did not want to write the typical revue with "blackout sketches" and musical numbers, and they had the idea of doing a topical revue "right off the front pages of the newspapers." Berlin deferred his own fees as composer, lyricist, and theater owner, keeping the cost of the show to a "restrained" $96,000.
leaving the White House, with the President giving his cabinet a Bronx cheer; "Supper Time", an African-American woman's lament for her lynched husband; John D. Rockefeller
refusing to accept Radio City Music Hall
as a birthday gift; commercials interrupting the singing during a Metropolitan Opera broadcast (P.D.Q. Bach later did this); a hotel staff falling under the influence of Noël Coward
; and a Supreme Court
decision that says musicals cannot end with reprises, resulting in a new number, "Not For All The Rice In China" (satirizing Barbara Hutton
's relationship with Alexis Mdivani
), as a finale.
† Omitted from 1998 revival
at the Music Box Theatre
on September 30, 1933 and became a hit, running for 400 performances, which was rare during the Great Depression
. It was staged by Hassard Short
with choreography by Charles Weidman
. The musical starred Helen Broderick
, Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb
and Ethel Waters, and featured José Limón
as the lead dancer. The London based version of the show, retitled Stop Press, opened on February 21, 1935 at the Adelphi Theatre
.
The Drama Department presented the revue at the off-Broadway
Greenwich House Theater from June 2, 1998 through June 14, 1998. Directed by Christopher Ashley
with musical staging by Kathleen Marshall
, the cast included Kevin Chamberlin
, Judy Kuhn
, Howard McGillin
, Paula Newsome, Mary Beth Peil
and B. D. Wong. Reviews were extremely positive. The show has had a number of other revivals both in the U.S. and internationally.
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, first performed in 1933. The revue contained satirical sketches and witty or poignant musical numbers, several of which became standards, including "Heat Wave
Heat Wave (song)
"Heat Wave" is a popular song. It was written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer, and introduced in the show by Ethel Waters....
", "Easter Parade
Easter Parade (song)
"Easter Parade" is a popular song that was written by Irving Berlin and was published in 1933. The lyrics describe the singer's involvement in an American cultural event called the Easter parade....
" and "Harlem on my Mind." The sketches were loosely based on the news and the lives and affairs of the rich and famous, and other people of the day, such as Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. was a major philanthropist and a pivotal member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the sole son among the five children of businessman and Standard Oil industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the father of the five famous Rockefeller brothers...
, Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, and Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson , also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles, California evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church...
.
History
The revue was a successor to the creators' Face the MusicFace the Music (musical)
Face the Music is a musical, the first collaboration between Moss Hart and Irving Berlin . Face the Music opened on Broadway in 1932, and has had several subsequent regional and New York stagings...
and was Marilyn Miller
Marilyn Miller
Marilyn Miller was one of the most popular Broadway musical stars of the 1920s and early 1930s. She was an accomplished tap dancer, singer and actress, but it was the combination of these talents that endeared her to audiences. On stage she usually played rags-to-riches Cinderella characters who...
's last stage appearance before her death. It was also the first Broadway show to give an African-American star Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
equal billing with whites.
Moss Hart said that he and Irving Berlin did not want to write the typical revue with "blackout sketches" and musical numbers, and they had the idea of doing a topical revue "right off the front pages of the newspapers." Berlin deferred his own fees as composer, lyricist, and theater owner, keeping the cost of the show to a "restrained" $96,000.
Synopsis
Each of the 21 scenes was preceded by a related newspaper headline, and the sketches poked fun a wide variety of subjects, including the marital woes of Barbara Hutton, Gandhi, and British royalty; the weather report was turned into a song ("Heat Wave"); President and Mrs. HooverHerbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
leaving the White House, with the President giving his cabinet a Bronx cheer; "Supper Time", an African-American woman's lament for her lynched husband; John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
refusing to accept Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
as a birthday gift; commercials interrupting the singing during a Metropolitan Opera broadcast (P.D.Q. Bach later did this); a hotel staff falling under the influence of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
; and a Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision that says musicals cannot end with reprises, resulting in a new number, "Not For All The Rice In China" (satirizing Barbara Hutton
Barbara Hutton
Barbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
's relationship with Alexis Mdivani
Mdivani
Mdivani is the name of a family of nobility, originating from the nation of Georgia. The best known bearers of this name were the children of Zakhari and Elizabeth Mdivani. The five siblings fled to Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and became known as the "Marrying Mdivanis", as they...
), as a finale.
Selected musical numbers
- "Majestic Sails at Midnight" -- Helen Broderick, Leslie Adams, Jerome Cowan, Hal Forde, Harry Stockwell
- "How's Chances?How's Chances?"Hows Chances?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer, where it was introduced by Marilyn Miller.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook...
" -- Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb - "The Funnies" -- Marilyn Miller
- "Easter ParadeEaster Parade (song)"Easter Parade" is a popular song that was written by Irving Berlin and was published in 1933. The lyrics describe the singer's involvement in an American cultural event called the Easter parade....
"† -- Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb - "Our Wedding Day" -- Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb
- "Heat Wave Hits New YorkHeat Wave (song)"Heat Wave" is a popular song. It was written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer, and introduced in the show by Ethel Waters....
" -- Ethel Waters - "To Be Or Not To Be" -- Ethel Waters
- "Supper TimeSupper Time"Supper Time" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer, where it was introduced by Ethel Waters.It is about a wife's reaction to news of her husband's lynching.-Notable recordings:...
" -- Ethel Waters - "Harlem on my Mind" -- Ethel Waters
- "Lonely Heart" -- dance
- "Not for All the Rice in China" -- Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb
† Omitted from 1998 revival
Productions
The revue opened on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
on September 30, 1933 and became a hit, running for 400 performances, which was rare during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. It was staged by Hassard Short
Hassard Short
Hubert Edward Hassard Short , usually known as Hassard Short, was an actor, stage director, set designer and lighting designer in musical theatrewho directed over 50 Broadway and West End shows between 1920 and 1953...
with choreography by Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman is a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of Modern Dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a uniquely American style of movement...
. The musical starred Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick.-Career:...
, Marilyn Miller, Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
and Ethel Waters, and featured José Limón
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...
as the lead dancer. The London based version of the show, retitled Stop Press, opened on February 21, 1935 at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
.
The Drama Department presented the revue at the off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
Greenwich House Theater from June 2, 1998 through June 14, 1998. Directed by Christopher Ashley
Christopher Ashley
Christopher Ashley is a stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse.In 1997, he completed The Drama League program for directors....
with musical staging by Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...
, the cast included Kevin Chamberlin
Kevin Chamberlin
- Life :Chamberlin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in Moorestown Township, New Jersey, moving there as a nine-year old. Chamberlin graduated from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting.- Career :...
, Judy Kuhn
Judy Kuhn
-Life and career:Kuhn was born in New York City and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. She attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.She entered Oberlin College in 1976. Although she was very interested in singing and theater, she began Oberlin in the College, not the Conservatory. After taking...
, Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
, Paula Newsome, Mary Beth Peil
Mary Beth Peil
Mary Beth Peil is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Born in Davenport, Iowa in 1940, Peil trained as an opera singer at Northwestern University under Lotte Lehmann. There she became a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority...
and B. D. Wong. Reviews were extremely positive. The show has had a number of other revivals both in the U.S. and internationally.