Let 'Em Eat Cake
Encyclopedia
Let 'Em Eat Cake is a Broadway
musical that opened October 21, 1933 at the Imperial Theatre, New York
, USA and ran for 89 performances. It had music by George Gershwin
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
, and book by George S. Kaufman
and Morrie Ryskind
. The cast included William Gaxton
, Victor Moore
, Philip Loeb
, and Lois Moran
. The no longer extant orchestrations were by Edward Powell.
Although it was the sequel to Of Thee I Sing
, and had the same producer, writers, and stars, the tone of Let 'Em Eat Cake was much darker and the issues more complex - Wintergreen is defeated for reelection, and he and Throttlebottom form an incipient Fascist movement to take over the government.
The show carried a message that audiences did not want to hear and it was a failure. However, it did have one outstanding song: "Mine". Several musical themes from Of Thee I Sing are reused in Let 'Em Eat Cake, including the Supreme Court Judges' song and the campaign song "Wintergreen for President", which includes parts of folk and patriotic songs such as Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever", and "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here
."
A concert version of the show was performed on BBC Radio in 1994 (with a cast that included: Denis Quilley
, Kim Criswell
, Joss Ackland
, Henry Goodman
, and Louise Gold
), and Opera North
staged the show, along with a revival of Of Thee I Sing, during its 2008-9 season. The Opera North production was broadcast by BBC Radio 3
on Saturday, 26 September 2009, as part of its Opera on 3 series.
President Wintergreen is up for reelection, but due to the continuing Great Depression
, loses in a landslide to John P. Tweedledee. Wintregreen makes an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court
to overturn the election results. It is also revealed that Diana Deveraux divorced Throttlebottom to marry the French Ambassador. After the end of his term, Wintergreen, Throttlebotton, and their associates start a business selling his wife Mary's blue shirts on "Union Square." At Union Square, Kruger, an agitator, is proclaiming his doctrine "Down with Everything That's Up." After talking with Kruger, Wintergreen decides that to increase shirt sales they should promise a revolution or their money back, citing the European Brown Shirts and Black Shirts. With business now booming ("Shirts by Millions"), Mary appeals to the women to join the New Blue D.A.R. ("Climb up the Social Ladder"). Wintergreen now needs the support of the Union League Club, because General Snookfield is a member. Throttlebottom persuades them by saying they are at war the British again ("Comes the Revolution Reprise"). Having secured the Union League Club support, The Blue Shirts meet with Snookfield to plan the overthrow of the government ("On and On and On"). At nine o'clock on July 4, when the Blue Shirts arrive, Snookfield will give the signal for his soldiers to seize Tweedledee. On the Fourth, at the White House
grounds, Tweedledee is giving a speech, when Snookfield leaves with Trixie for a party. The Blue Shirts arrive only to find the general is missing and the soldiers don't know what to do. Tweedledee promises the army a "dollar day which (he) may not pay." Wintergreen promises the army the war debts owed by the League of Nations
, which the soldiers accept. Tweedledee is deposed, and Wintergreen establishes a "dictatorship of the proletariat" ("Let 'Em Eat Cake").
Act II
The White House is being painted "Blue, Blue, Blue." The Supreme Court, now in chains, are brought before Wintergreen. He decides to show leniency because the Court officiated his marriage ceremony. The Court is reorganized into a baseball team. When the League of Nations arrives to discuss repayment of the war debts, they "No Comprenez, No Capish, No Versteh" when the issue is raised; only Finland repays their debt. Kruger, now head of the army following Snookfield's disgrace, is also putting pressure on Wintergreen to remember his promise. Wintergreen offers a solution where the debts will be settled by a baseball game for double or nothing. If the League loses, they will have another conference to discuss it. Kruger accepts the League's offer of Finland
's money as a side bet. Throttlebottom, hesitatingly accepts an offer to be the game's umpire. On the date of the ballgame the Supreme Ball Players, the League, and Kruger's army try to influence Throttlebottom to bend the rules their way.
The United States loses the game after a controversial call by umpire Throttlebottom. In the "Trial of Throttlebottom" a military tribunal is underway. Kruger, the Army, and the Ball Players, call for Throttlebottom's execution. Wintergreen and his associates object, until the army levels the guns at them. Kruger and the army want to know when they are going be paid ("A Hell of a Hole"). After Wintergreen offers them a share of the shirt business, the army is going to take it all. Despite pleading he tried his best to get the money ("It Isn't What You Did"), Kruger sentences Wintergreen and his cronies to death by beheading. Mary and the condemned's wives enter and proclaim they are pregnant. Kruger says this may have worked four years ago during Wintergreen's impeachment hearings, but it doesn't work with the army. Trixie, who controls the Navy, arrives and joins forces with Kruger ("First Lady and First Gent"). Kruger proclaims "Let 'em Eat Caviar."
Execution day arrives, and the crowds gather to watch the executions ("Hanging Throttlebottom in the Morning"). A guillotine bought from France is unveiled, and Snookfield is shown to be the executioner. Since Throttlebottom is not married, he will be executed first. After a series of mishaps with the guillotine, Mary interrupts the proceedings. She presents a "Fashion Show" with dresses that arrived on the boat that brought the guillotine. After being reminded that the color of the revolution is blue, and they cannot wear the new fashions, the women revolt. Kruger objects, but the soldiers seize him after Trixie reminds them of an upcoming party.
Wintergreen tells the soldiers to shoot Kruger. When Kruger reveals he used to be in the dress making business, Wintergreen decides to go into business with him. Wintergreen decides to leave the revolution business and restores the republic and the Supreme Court. Tweedledee shows up and Wintergreen gives his vice-president, Throttlebottom, to him, since he can't remember his. Tweedledee declines the Presidency, since he is going to be President of Cuba. Throttlebottom is now the President. After Wintergreen promised the people cake and Kruger promised them cavair, Throttlebottom promises them pistache ice cream, which he formerly detested.
Act II
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...
musical that opened October 21, 1933 at the Imperial Theatre, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA and ran for 89 performances. It had music by George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, and book by George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and Morrie Ryskind
Morrie Ryskind
Morrie Ryskind was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and motion pictures, who became a conservative political activist later in life.-Biography:...
. The cast included William Gaxton
William Gaxton
William Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
, Victor Moore
Victor Moore
Victor Frederick Moore was an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a comedian, writer, and director.-Personal life:...
, Philip Loeb
Philip Loeb
Philip Loeb , was an American stage, film, and television actor who was blacklisted under McCarthyism and committed suicide.- Background :...
, and Lois Moran
Lois Moran
Lois Moran was an American film actress.She was born Lois Darlington Dowlin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and died in Sedona, Arizona.-Short career:...
. The no longer extant orchestrations were by Edward Powell.
Although it was the sequel to Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing is a musical with a score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical lampoons American politics; the story concerns John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President of the United States on the "love" platform...
, and had the same producer, writers, and stars, the tone of Let 'Em Eat Cake was much darker and the issues more complex - Wintergreen is defeated for reelection, and he and Throttlebottom form an incipient Fascist movement to take over the government.
The show carried a message that audiences did not want to hear and it was a failure. However, it did have one outstanding song: "Mine". Several musical themes from Of Thee I Sing are reused in Let 'Em Eat Cake, including the Supreme Court Judges' song and the campaign song "Wintergreen for President", which includes parts of folk and patriotic songs such as Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever", and "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here
Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here
"Hail, hail, the gang's all here" is the popular refrain from the 1915 American song, "Alabama Jubilee" made famous by Fred Astaire.The lyrics were written by D. A. Esrom to a tune originally written by Arthur Sullivan for the 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance...
."
A concert version of the show was performed on BBC Radio in 1994 (with a cast that included: Denis Quilley
Denis Quilley
Denis Clifford Quilley OBE was an English theatre, television and film actor who was long associated with the Royal National Theatre....
, Kim Criswell
Kim Criswell
Kim Criswell is an American musical entertainer and actress.- Life and career :Criswell was born in Hampton, Virginia, but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After she graduated from high school, she studied musical theatre at the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music...
, Joss Ackland
Joss Ackland
Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE , known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films and numerous television roles.-Early life:...
, Henry Goodman
Henry Goodman
Henry Goodman is a British theatre actor. He trained at RADA in London alongside Jonathan Pryce.In 1988, he played George Green's brother-in-law Cyril in London's Burning. He played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill...
, and Louise Gold
Louise Gold
Louise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials...
), and Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
staged the show, along with a revival of Of Thee I Sing, during its 2008-9 season. The Opera North production was broadcast by BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
on Saturday, 26 September 2009, as part of its Opera on 3 series.
Plot
Act IPresident Wintergreen is up for reelection, but due to the continuing 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...
, loses in a landslide to John P. Tweedledee. Wintregreen makes an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
to overturn the election results. It is also revealed that Diana Deveraux divorced Throttlebottom to marry the French Ambassador. After the end of his term, Wintergreen, Throttlebotton, and their associates start a business selling his wife Mary's blue shirts on "Union Square." At Union Square, Kruger, an agitator, is proclaiming his doctrine "Down with Everything That's Up." After talking with Kruger, Wintergreen decides that to increase shirt sales they should promise a revolution or their money back, citing the European Brown Shirts and Black Shirts. With business now booming ("Shirts by Millions"), Mary appeals to the women to join the New Blue D.A.R. ("Climb up the Social Ladder"). Wintergreen now needs the support of the Union League Club, because General Snookfield is a member. Throttlebottom persuades them by saying they are at war the British again ("Comes the Revolution Reprise"). Having secured the Union League Club support, The Blue Shirts meet with Snookfield to plan the overthrow of the government ("On and On and On"). At nine o'clock on July 4, when the Blue Shirts arrive, Snookfield will give the signal for his soldiers to seize Tweedledee. On the Fourth, at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
grounds, Tweedledee is giving a speech, when Snookfield leaves with Trixie for a party. The Blue Shirts arrive only to find the general is missing and the soldiers don't know what to do. Tweedledee promises the army a "dollar day which (he) may not pay." Wintergreen promises the army the war debts owed by the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, which the soldiers accept. Tweedledee is deposed, and Wintergreen establishes a "dictatorship of the proletariat" ("Let 'Em Eat Cake").
Act II
The White House is being painted "Blue, Blue, Blue." The Supreme Court, now in chains, are brought before Wintergreen. He decides to show leniency because the Court officiated his marriage ceremony. The Court is reorganized into a baseball team. When the League of Nations arrives to discuss repayment of the war debts, they "No Comprenez, No Capish, No Versteh" when the issue is raised; only Finland repays their debt. Kruger, now head of the army following Snookfield's disgrace, is also putting pressure on Wintergreen to remember his promise. Wintergreen offers a solution where the debts will be settled by a baseball game for double or nothing. If the League loses, they will have another conference to discuss it. Kruger accepts the League's offer of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's money as a side bet. Throttlebottom, hesitatingly accepts an offer to be the game's umpire. On the date of the ballgame the Supreme Ball Players, the League, and Kruger's army try to influence Throttlebottom to bend the rules their way.
The United States loses the game after a controversial call by umpire Throttlebottom. In the "Trial of Throttlebottom" a military tribunal is underway. Kruger, the Army, and the Ball Players, call for Throttlebottom's execution. Wintergreen and his associates object, until the army levels the guns at them. Kruger and the army want to know when they are going be paid ("A Hell of a Hole"). After Wintergreen offers them a share of the shirt business, the army is going to take it all. Despite pleading he tried his best to get the money ("It Isn't What You Did"), Kruger sentences Wintergreen and his cronies to death by beheading. Mary and the condemned's wives enter and proclaim they are pregnant. Kruger says this may have worked four years ago during Wintergreen's impeachment hearings, but it doesn't work with the army. Trixie, who controls the Navy, arrives and joins forces with Kruger ("First Lady and First Gent"). Kruger proclaims "Let 'em Eat Caviar."
Execution day arrives, and the crowds gather to watch the executions ("Hanging Throttlebottom in the Morning"). A guillotine bought from France is unveiled, and Snookfield is shown to be the executioner. Since Throttlebottom is not married, he will be executed first. After a series of mishaps with the guillotine, Mary interrupts the proceedings. She presents a "Fashion Show" with dresses that arrived on the boat that brought the guillotine. After being reminded that the color of the revolution is blue, and they cannot wear the new fashions, the women revolt. Kruger objects, but the soldiers seize him after Trixie reminds them of an upcoming party.
Wintergreen tells the soldiers to shoot Kruger. When Kruger reveals he used to be in the dress making business, Wintergreen decides to go into business with him. Wintergreen decides to leave the revolution business and restores the republic and the Supreme Court. Tweedledee shows up and Wintergreen gives his vice-president, Throttlebottom, to him, since he can't remember his. Tweedledee declines the Presidency, since he is going to be President of Cuba. Throttlebottom is now the President. After Wintergreen promised the people cake and Kruger promised them cavair, Throttlebottom promises them pistache ice cream, which he formerly detested.
Songs
Act I- Overture - Orchestra
- Opening Act 1
- Wintergreen for President - Ensemble
- Tweedledee for President - Ensemble
- Union Square Scene
- Union Square - Ensemble
- Down With Everyone Who's Up - Kruger and Agitators
- Store Scene
- Shirts by Millions - Wives and Ensemble
- Comes the Revolution - Alexander Throttlebottom and Ensemble
- Mine - John P. Wintergreen, Mary Wintergreen and Ensemble
- Climb Up the Social Ladder - Mary Wintergreen, Wives and Ensemble
- Cloistered from the Noisy City (The Union League) - President of the Union League Club and Club Members
- Comes the Revolution (Reprise) - Union League Club
- On and On and On - John P. Wintergreen, John P. Wintergreen, Mary Wintergreen, Mary Wintergreen, Company and Company
- Finale Act 1
- I've Brushed My Teeth - Gen. Adam Snookfield, U.S.A. and Dignitaries
- On and On and On (Reprise) - Blue Shirts
- The General's Gone to a Party - John P. Tweedledee, John P. Wintergreen, Lieutenant and Men
- All the Mothers of the Nation - Mary Wintergreen, Wives and Girls
- Yes, He's a Bachelor - John P. Wintergreen, Blue Shirts and Lieutenant
- There's Something We're Worried About - Lieutenant, Army, Women, John P. Tweedledee and Kruger
- What's the Proletariat? - Mary Wintergreen, Wives, Committee, Army and All
- Let 'Em Eat Cake - John P. Wintergreen and Company
Act II
- Opening Act 2
- Blue, Blue, Blue - Wives and Ensemble
- Who's the Greatest? - John P. Wintergreen and Ensemble
- The League of Nations
- No Comprenez, No Capish - League of Nations, John P. Wintergreen, Mary Wintergreen and Ensemble
- Who's the Greatest? (Reprise) - John P. Wintergreen and Ensemble
- Ball Park Scene
- Play Ball - Girls
- When the Judges Doff the Ermine - President of the Union League Club and Blue Shirts
- Up and at 'em - Ensemble
- Oyez, Oyez, Oyez - Soldiers and Spectators
- Trial of Throttlebottom
- That's What He Did - Alexander Throttlebottom, Kruger and Ensemble
- I Know a Foul Ball - Alexander Throttlebottom
- Throttle Throttlebottom - Kruger and Ensemble
- Trial of Wintergreen
- A Hell of a Hole (A Hell of a Fix) - John P. Wintergreen, Kruger and Soldiers
- Down With Everyone Who's Up (Reprise) - Kruger and Ensemble
- It Isn't What You Did - John P. Wintergreen and Ensemble
- Mine (Reprise) - John P. Wintergreen, Mary Wintergreen and Ensemble
- Let 'Em Eat Caviar - Kruger and Ensemble (music missing)
- First Lady and First Gent - cut - replaces Caviar in modern performances
- Hang Throttlebottom in the Morning - Lieutenant and Ensemble
- Fashion Show - Ensemble
- Finale (Reprise of either Let 'Em Eat Cake or Of Thee I Sing) - Ensemble
External links
- Let ‘Em Eat Cake
- Let 'Em Eat Cake at Ovrtur.com