Maytime 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...

 with music by Sigmund Romberg

Sigmund Romberg

Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...

 and lyrics and book by Rida Johnson Young

Rida Johnson Young

Rida Johnson Young was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist. In her career, Young wrote over thirty plays and musicals, and over 500 songs. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970...

, and with additional lyrics by Cyrus Wood. The musical is based on the 1913 German operetta Wie einst im Mai, composed by Walter Kollo

Walter Kollo

Walter Kollo was a German composer of operettas, Possen mit Gesang, and Singspiele as well as popular songs. He was also a conductor and a music publisher.Kollo was born in Neidenburg, East Prussia...

, with words by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolf Schanzer. Maytime introduced songs such as "The Road to Paradise", "Will You Remember?" and "Jump Jim Crow". It was the second longest-running book musical in the 1910s, and established Romberg as one of the leading creators of operettas.

The story, set in New York, is told in episodes covering a long period of time, from 1840 to the twentieth century. Wealthy young Ottillie van Zand is in love with Richard Wayne, an apprentice in her father's cooperage. Her father prefers her to marry a wealthy "drunken libertine". Though Ottillie and Richard are never able to consummate their love, their descendants eventually meet and marry.

Productions

The original 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...

 production opened at the Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre (Broadway)

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

 on August 16, 1917 and later moved to 44th Street Theatre

44th Street Theatre

The 44th Street Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre from 1912 to 1945 in the United States of America. It was located on Broadway, at West 44th Street. Architect was William A. Swansea. Built by the Shuberts, and first named Weber and Fields' Music Hall, its name was changed when the...

, Broadhurst Theatre

Broadhurst Theatre

The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...

 and Lyric Theatre

Lyric Theatre (New York)

The Lyric Theatre was a prominent Broadway theatre built in 1903 in Manhattan, New York City in the 42nd Street Theatre District. It had two entrances, one at 213 West 42nd Street and another at 214-26 West 43rd Street and was one of the few New York houses that had two formal entrances. In 1934,...

, running for a total of 492 performances. It starred Peggy Wood

Peggy Wood

Peggy Wood was an American actress of stage, film and television.-Early career:She was born Mary Margaret Wood in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Eugene Wood, a journalist, and Mary Gardner, a telegraph operator. She was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone...

 and Charles Purcell and featured Ralph Herbert, William Norris and Gertrude Vanderbilt. The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

gave the show a rave review, saying that it had "delicate charm" and also blended "the tragedy of the individual" with "the eternal comedy of living".

It was adapted to film twice, in 1923

Maytime (1923 film)

Maytime is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring Ethel Shannon, Harrison Ford and William Norris. The film also features one of Clara Bow's earliest cinema roles...

 and again in 1937. The earlier version was thought to have been lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

, but was found in 2009 in the New Zealand Film Archive

New Zealand Film Archive

The New Zealand Film Archive is a charitable trust dedicated to the collection, preservation and viewing of mainly New Zealand films and videos made between 1895 to the present day.- Background :...

 and is undergoing restoration. The 1937 version had a changed story and score. The Ohio Light Opera

Ohio Light Opera

The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

 released a recording of the musical in 2005.

Musical numbers

Act 1

• In Our Little Home, Sweet Home – Ottillie and Richard Wayne
• It's a Windy Day at the Battery – Matthew Van Zandt, Alice Tremaine and Girls
• Gypsy Song – Rudolfo
• Will You Remember (Sweetheart)? – Signor Vivalla, Ottillie, Dicky Wayne and Richard

Act 2

• Jump Jim Crow – Matthew and Chorus
• The Road to Paradise – Ottillie and Matthew
• Spanish Dance – Estrella Amorita
• Will You Remember (Sweetheart)? – Signor Vivalla, Ottillie, Dicky and Richard

Act 3

• Odd Lots, Job Lots – Ensemble
• Reminiscence – Little Dick Wayne

Act 4

• Selling Gowns (Lyrics by Cyrus Wood) – Ottillie and Girls
• Dancing Will Keep You Young (Lyrics by Cyrus Wood) – Ermintrude D'Albert and Matthew
• Only One Girl for Me – Dicky and Girls
• Will You Remember (Sweetheart)? – Signor Vivalla, Ottillie, Dicky and Richard

Settings and characters

Act 1 - 1840 - The Van Zandt home in Washington Square, New York City.

John Wayne, Colonel van Zandt, Ottillie (his daughter), Richard Wayne (an apprentice), Mathilda van Zandt, Alice Tremaine, Claude van Zandt, Matthew van Zandt, Maria, Rudolfo

Act 2 - 1855 - Mme. Delphine's Night Club.

Madame Delphine, Hannaford, Stuyvesant, Doorman, Claude van Zandt, Angelica (Matthew's second wife), Matthew van Zandt, P. T. Barnum

P. T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....

, Estrella Amorita, Signor Vivalla, Ottillie van Zandt, Alice Tremaine, Richard Wayne

Act 3 - In the 1880s - The Back Parlor of the Van Zandt house in Washington Square.

Madame Delphine, Matthew van Zandt, Lizzie (Matthew's third wife), Little Dick Wayne (Age 5), Richard Wayne, John Rutherford, Mr. Hicks (auctioneer), Algernon, Ottillie

Act 4 - Twentieth Century - Mlle. Brown's Dressmaking Establishment.

Ottillie (known as Mlle. Brown), Hortense (a model), Letty, Estelle (forewoman), Ermintrude d'Albert, Winifred St. Albans, Matthew van Zandt, Dicky Wayne