Castles in the Air is a musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 comedy, with a book and lyrics by Raymond W. Peck and music by Percy Wenrich

Percy Wenrich

Percy Wenrich was a United States composer of ragtime and popular music.Born in Joplin, Missouri, he left for Chicago in 1901 and moved on to New York City around 1907 to work as a Tin Pan Alley composer, but his music retains a Missouri folk flavor...

 (additional lyrics by R. Locke). The story concerns two young men, Monty Blair and John Brown, who mistake an exclusive Westchester resort for an inn. They decide to pretend to be nobility, and Monty introduces John as a Latvian prince. Evelyn's uncle Philip decides to teach her a lesson about social climbing by taking her to Latvia, intending to expose John as an impostor. The plan backfires, though, because John really is a prince.

The musical opened on Broadway

Broadway 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...

 in the Selwyn Theatre on September 6, 1926. It moved to the Century Theatre

Century Theatre

The Century Theatre, originally the New Theatre, was a theater located at 62nd Street and Central Park West in New York City. Opened on November 6, 1909, it was noted for its fine architecture but due to poor acoustics and an inconvenient location it was financially unsuccessful...

 on December 6, 1926. The production was directed by Frank S. Merlin and choreographed by John Boyle and Julian Mitchell. It starred J. Harold Murray

J. Harold Murray

.J. Harold Murray was an American baritone. For more than a decade, during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to the development of musical theater by bridging vaudeville, operetta and the modern American musical...

 as John and Vivienne Segal

Vivienne Segal

Vivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey and introduced the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"...

 as Evelyn.

On June 29, 1927, a production opened in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

Roles and original cast

• Monty Blair – Bernard Granville
• John Brown – J. Harold Murray
  J. Harold Murray
  .J. Harold Murray was an American baritone. For more than a decade, during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to the development of musical theater by bridging vaudeville, operetta and the modern American musical...
  
  
• Evelyn Devine – Vivienne Segal
  Vivienne Segal
  Vivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey and introduced the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"...
  
  
• Philip Rodman – Stanley Forde
• General Slodak – Walter Edwin
• Count Draga – Richard Farrell
• Lieutenant – Edward Gorman
• Kemlar – William Hasson
• The Queen Regent – Thais Lawton
• Mme. Joujou Durant – Claire Madjette
• The Chancellor – Gregory Ratoff
• George Sedgwick – Allen Waterous
• Annie Moore – Joyce White
• Amos – Robert Williamson

Musical numbers

Act 1

• I Don't Blame 'Em – Annie Moore and Boys
• Love's Refrain – Mme. Joujou Durant and Ensemble
• Lantern of Love (Lyrics By R. Locke and Raymond W. Peck) – Evelyn Devine and Ensemble
• The Singer's Career, Ha! Ha! – Mme. Joujou Durant and Philip Rodman
• The Other Fellow's Girl – Monty Blair, Sextette and Ensemble
• If You Are in Love with a Girl – John Brown and Ensemble
• The Sweetheart of Your Dream – Evelyn Devine
• I Would Like to Fondle You – Annie Moore, Monty Blair, Sextette and Ensemble
• The Rainbow of Your Smile – John Brown

Act 2

• Baby – Monty Blair and Ensemble
• Latavia – John Brown and Ensemble
• Land of Romance – Evelyn Devine
• My Lips, My Love, My Soul! – John Brown and Evelyn Devine
• The Latavian Chant – Annie Moore and Ensemble

Act 3

• Girls and the Gimmies – Monty Blair, Sextette and Ensemble
• Love Rules the World – Mme. Joujou Durant and John Brown