The Red Mill
Encyclopedia
The Red Mill is an operetta
written by Victor Herbert
, with a libretto
by Henry Blossom
. It premiered on Broadway
on September 24, 1906 at the Knickerbocker Theatre
and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone
and David Montgomery. It was revived on October 16, 1945, opening at the Ziegfeld Theatre
, and running for 531 performances. The show also had a London run and toured extensively.
In 1906, producer Charles Dillingham made theatrical history by placing in front of the Knickerbocker Theater a revolving red windmill powered and lit by electricity. This was Broadway's first moving illuminated sign. The Red Mill includes the famous songs Every Day is Lady's Day with Me, The Streets of New York, You Never Can Tell About a Woman, and Because You're You.
A 1927 silent movie version
starred Marion Davies
and was directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle under the pseudonym of William Goodrich- The situation of Gretchen and the Captain is retained from the operetta, but it is made a sub plot. Marion Davies plays a character invented for the film.
The Burgomaster's daughter, Gretchen, loves Captain Doris van Damm while her father wishes her to marry the Governor of Zeeland. The Americans agree to help Gretchen and the Captain to elope. Willem overhears the lovers' plot and tells the Burgomaster. He locks Gretchen in the mill, where she pines away for the man she loves. Kid and Con try to rescue her, but the Burgomaster has made all arrangements for the marriage of his daughter to the governor. The two Americans appear at the wedding festivities in various disguises in an attempt to delay the wedding. When it is discovered that Captain Van Damm is heir to a large fortune, all resistance to him collapses. The lovers are united, and the Americans return home to New York.
Act II
recorded six selections (on three 10-inch 78-RPM records) in 1945. The recording featured Eileen Farrell
, Wilbur Evans
, and Felix Knight with a chorus and orchestra conducted by Jay Blackton. This album was reissued on one side of a 12-inch Lp (Babes in Toyland
was on the reverse) in 1957. This edition stayed in print until 1969. After a long absence from the catalogue, Decca Broadway
reissued the complete album on CD (again paired with Babes) in 2002.
Also in 1945, RCA Victor issued an album based on the hit Broadway revival but using studio singers (and Al Goodman
's orchestra) instead of the Broadway cast. These eight highlights were issued on Lp by RCA Victor (1951) and on their budget label RCA Camden (1958) but have been unavailable in any format since 1960.
A Capitol album starring Gordon MacRae
was issued as part of a series of recordings based on MacRae's popular Railroad Hour program, which featured potted operettas and musicals. The first release was a 10-inch Lp, it was later reisued on one side of a 12-inch Lp (with Naughty Marietta
on the reverse.) This version has been released on CD along with selections from Naughty Marietta and Sweethearts.
A stereo recording was made by Reader's Digest for their 1963 album Treasury of Great Operettas. Each of the 24 operettas in the set is condensed to fill one Lp side. The Red Mill selections have not been re-released on CD.
In the 1920s, Chandler Goldwaithe "recorded" selections from The Red Mill on a paper roll for use in an E. M. Skinner player organ. A CD of this roll playing on a 1929 Skinner organ was released by JAV Recordings in 2001.
In 2001 the Ohio Light Opera
commissioned a new critical edition of the opera from Quade Winter
, based on the composer's original manuscripts in the Library of Congress
. A complete recording was issued by Albany Records
.
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
written by Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
, with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Henry Blossom
Henry Blossom
Henry Martyn Blossom was the lyricist for several Victor Herbert musicals, including The Yankee Consul , Mlle. Modiste , The Red Mill , Eileen , and Kiss Me Again , and was a master at puzzle solving and cipher writing.Born in St...
. It premiered 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...
on September 24, 1906 at the Knickerbocker Theatre
Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)
The Knickerbocker Theatre — previously known as Abbey's Theatre and Henry Abbey's Theatre — was a Broadway theatre located at 1396 Broadway in New York City. It operated from 1893 to 1930...
and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone
Fred Stone
Fred Andrew Stone was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act on vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Biography:He was particularly famous for appearing...
and David Montgomery. It was revived on October 16, 1945, opening at the Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld Theatre
The Ziegfeld Theatre was a Broadway theater located at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1927 and, despite public protests, was razed in 1966....
, and running for 531 performances. The show also had a London run and toured extensively.
In 1906, producer Charles Dillingham made theatrical history by placing in front of the Knickerbocker Theater a revolving red windmill powered and lit by electricity. This was Broadway's first moving illuminated sign. The Red Mill includes the famous songs Every Day is Lady's Day with Me, The Streets of New York, You Never Can Tell About a Woman, and Because You're You.
A 1927 silent movie version
The Red Mill (film)
The Red Mill is a 1927 comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle and written by Frances Marion. The film never had a VHS release, though it aired on the network channel Turner Classic MoviesTCM on January 3, 2008, which was the birthday of leading role actress Marion Davies...
starred Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
and was directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle under the pseudonym of William Goodrich- The situation of Gretchen and the Captain is retained from the operetta, but it is made a sub plot. Marion Davies plays a character invented for the film.
Synopsis
In a village in Holland, two American vaudevillians, Con and Kid, who have been travelling in Europe but itch to get back to New York, are stranded penniless in the little inn, "The Sign of the Red Mill". Trying to sneak out of the inn without paying their bill, they are caught and thrown into jail. The Innkeeper, however, pities them and arranges for their release to work at the inn until the debt owed is paid off.The Burgomaster's daughter, Gretchen, loves Captain Doris van Damm while her father wishes her to marry the Governor of Zeeland. The Americans agree to help Gretchen and the Captain to elope. Willem overhears the lovers' plot and tells the Burgomaster. He locks Gretchen in the mill, where she pines away for the man she loves. Kid and Con try to rescue her, but the Burgomaster has made all arrangements for the marriage of his daughter to the governor. The two Americans appear at the wedding festivities in various disguises in an attempt to delay the wedding. When it is discovered that Captain Van Damm is heir to a large fortune, all resistance to him collapses. The lovers are united, and the Americans return home to New York.
Roles
- Con Kidder, Kid Connor - Two Americans "doing" Europe
- Burgomaster Jan van Borken - of Katwyck-aan-Zee
- Bertha - his sister
- Gretchen - his daughter
- Willem - innkeeper at the "Red Mill"
- Tina - his daughter
- Captain Doris van Damm
- Franz - the sheriff of Katwyck-aan-Zee
- The Governor of Zeeland
- Joshua Pennyfeather - an English solicitor
- Countess de la Fère - an automobilist
- Flora, Dora, Lena, Anna, Phyllis, Madge, etc.
Musical numbers
Act I- By the Side of the Mill - Chorus
- Mignonette - Tina and Girls
- You Can Never Tell About a Woman - Jan Van Borkem and Willem
- Whistle It - Kid Conner, Con Kidder and Tina
- A Widow Has Ways - Bertha
- (In) The Isle of Our Dreams - Captain Doris Van Damm and Gretchen
- (Always) Go While the Goin' Is Good - Con Kidder, Kid Conner, Tina and Bertha
- An Accident - Countess de La Tere, Tina and Chorus
- Moonbeams - Gretchen, Captain Doris Van Damm and Male Chorus
Act II
- Gossip Song - Bertha and Chorus
- (The) Legend of the Mill - Bertha and Chorus
- Good-a-bye, John (Lyrics By Harry Williams, Music By Egbert Van Alstyne) - Con Kidder and Kid Conner
- I Want You to Marry Me! - Tina and Chorus
- Every Day Is Ladies' Day With Me - The Governor of Zeeland and Male Chorus
- Because You're You - Bertha and The Governor of Zeeland
- The Streets of New York (In Old New York) - Con Kidder, Kid Conner and Chorus
- The Wedding Song (Wedding Bells) - The Governor of Zeeland and Chorus
- The Streets of New York (In Old New York) - Entire Company
Recordings
Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
recorded six selections (on three 10-inch 78-RPM records) in 1945. The recording featured Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60 year long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances...
, Wilbur Evans
Wilbur Evans
Wilbur "Wib" Evans was an American actor and singer who performed on the radio, in opera, on Broadway, in films, and in early live television.-Biography:...
, and Felix Knight with a chorus and orchestra conducted by Jay Blackton. This album was reissued on one side of a 12-inch Lp (Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland (operetta)
Babes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough , which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza. The creators wanted to cash in on the extraordinary success of The Wizard of Oz,...
was on the reverse) in 1957. This edition stayed in print until 1969. After a long absence from the catalogue, Decca Broadway
Decca Broadway
Decca Broadway Records is an American record label specializing in musical theater recordings founded in 1999 by Decca Records and is a unit of Universal Music Group....
reissued the complete album on CD (again paired with Babes) in 2002.
Also in 1945, RCA Victor issued an album based on the hit Broadway revival but using studio singers (and Al Goodman
Al Goodman
Al Goodman was a conductor, songwriter, stage composer, musical director, arranger, and pianist....
's orchestra) instead of the Broadway cast. These eight highlights were issued on Lp by RCA Victor (1951) and on their budget label RCA Camden (1958) but have been unavailable in any format since 1960.
A Capitol album starring Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
was issued as part of a series of recordings based on MacRae's popular Railroad Hour program, which featured potted operettas and musicals. The first release was a 10-inch Lp, it was later reisued on one side of a 12-inch Lp (with Naughty Marietta
Naughty Marietta
Naughty Marietta is a 1935 film based on the operetta of the same name by Victor Herbert: Jeanette MacDonald stars as a vivacious Princess who trades places with her maid Marietta in order to avoid an arranged marriage...
on the reverse.) This version has been released on CD along with selections from Naughty Marietta and Sweethearts.
A stereo recording was made by Reader's Digest for their 1963 album Treasury of Great Operettas. Each of the 24 operettas in the set is condensed to fill one Lp side. The Red Mill selections have not been re-released on CD.
In the 1920s, Chandler Goldwaithe "recorded" selections from The Red Mill on a paper roll for use in an E. M. Skinner player organ. A CD of this roll playing on a 1929 Skinner organ was released by JAV Recordings in 2001.
In 2001 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...
commissioned a new critical edition of the opera from Quade Winter
Quade Winter
Quade Winter is an American composer, musical restorer and translator, specializing in the light operas of Victor Herbert. Earlier in his career, he sang opera for over two decades.-Early years and singing career:...
, based on the composer's original manuscripts in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. A complete recording was issued by Albany Records
Albany Records
Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
.