Peggy-Ann is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers

Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

, lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Lorenz Hart

Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...

 and book by Herbert Fields

Herbert Fields

Herbert Fields was an American librettist and screenwriter.Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1925 until his death, he contributed to the libretti of many Broadway musicals...

, based on the 1910 musical Tillie’s Nightmare by Edgar Smith.

Production

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...

 at the Vanderbilt Theatre

Vanderbilt Theatre

The Vanderbilt Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa for producer Lyle Andrews. It opened in 1918, located at 148 West 48th Street. The theatre was demolished in 1954....

 on December 27, 1926 and closed on October 29, 1927, after 333 performances. It was produced by Lew Fields

Lew Fields

Lew Fields , born as Moses Schoenfeld, was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager and producer....

 (Herbert's father) and Lyle D. Andrews. Staged by Robert Milton, with musical staging by Seymour Felix, it starred Helen Ford as Peggy-Ann, Lester Cole

Lester Cole

Lester Cole was an American screenwriter.Born in New York City, Lester Cole began his career as an actor but soon turned to screenwriting. His first work was "If I had a Million." In 1933, he joined with John Howard Lawson and Samuel Ornitz to establish the Writers Guild of America.In 1934, Cole...

, Lulu McConnell, and Betty Starbuck.

The musical opened in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 at Daly's Theatre

Daly's Theatre

Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...

 on July 29, 1927 and ran for 130 performances. Directed by Lew Fields, Dorothy Dickson

Dorothy Dickson

Dorothy Dickson , was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer.-Biography:Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the Silver Lining". She was also a member of the Ziegfeld Follies and made many appearances in New York and abroad...

starred as Peggy-Ann.

The musical was considered daring for its time: there was no opening chorus and no songs for the first 15 minutes. The plot, told in one long dream, focuses on Peggy-Ann’s dream fantasies. She is the niece of the owner of a boarding house in New York and the fiancée of a local boy. She escapes from a hum-drum life through dreams of herself as a wealthy adventuress, with a yacht and a husband.

Songs

• "Hello"
• "A Tree in the Park"
• "Howdy Broadway" (Howdy to Broadway)

Act 1

• "A Little Birdie Told Me So"
• "Charming, Charming"
• "Where’s That Rainbow?"

Act 2

• "We Pirates from Weehawken"
• "In His Arms"
• "Chuck It!"
• "I'm So Humble"
• "Havana"
• "Maybe It’s Me"
• "Give This Little Girl a Hand"
• "The Race (Peggy, Peggy)"

Critical response

The Time review praised the "Gilbertian satire, Broadway slapstick, attractive dancers... the charm of the music." However, according to Merle Secrest, none of the songs "stood the test of time", except, possibly, "Where’s That Rainbow?". This may be why, according to Armond and L. Marc Fields, Peggy-Ann is not remembered as one of the outstanding musicals of the 1920s.

The New York Times reviewer wrote that the creators "have brought freshness and ideas to the musical-comedy field."

External links

• Overview of Peggy-Ann
• Internet Broadway Database listing, Tillie's Nightmare