Robinson Crusoe, Jr.

For the 1941 Looney Tunes animated short, see Robinson Crusoe, Jr. (film).

Musical

Robinson Crusoe, Jr.

Sheet music cover (cropped)

Music| Sigmund Romberg and James Hanley
Lyrics| Harold Atteridge
Book| Edgar Smith
Productions| 1916 Broadway

Robinson Crusoe, Jr. is a musical with a book by Edgar Smith, lyrics by Harold Atteridge, and music by Sigmund Romberg and James Hanley.

## Production

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Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was an extravaganza that opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on 17 February 1916.[1] The original Broadway production was produced by Lee Shubert and Jacob J. Shubert, directed by J. C. Huffman and choreographed by Helen Tamiris.[citation needed] Music was by Sigmund Romberg and the book and lyrics were by Harold R. Atteridge.[2] The show was the last major musical that Jacob J. Shubert staged during World War I, and he instructed Romberg to avoid any of his Austro-Hungarian musical idioms.[3]

The cast included Al Jolson, Kitty Doner, Claude Flemming, and Isabelle Rodrigues.[4] The show was built around Jolson, and was a vehicle for Jolson.[5][a] A company of two hundred supported Al Jolson in ten major scenes.[2] The show included songs from a number of sources, including some written by Jolson. He often added or removed songs from one show to another. Atteridge created a simple framing story that unified the acts.[1] The show ran on Broadway for 139 performances.[7] It then went on the road in the fall. Jolson sometimes performed twice or three times in one day in one city before moving on.[2]

## Synopsis

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Scene from the show

Setting: Long Island, New York and Robinson Crusoe's Island

Hiram Westbury, a millionaire, is exhausted by some film makers who want to use his estate as a film location. He falls asleep. In his dream, he imagines he is Robinson Crusoe, Jr. His chauffeur, played by Al Jolson, is his Good Friday.[1] Jolson played the chauffeur in blackface.[2] The dreams make up most of the show.[8] After the opening scene the pair travel to Crusoe's island, which is given a haunted forest, and to a pirate ship crewed by chorus girls.[9] The "glittering galaxies of gorgeous, glorious, gladsome girlies mirthfully monopolized the mad, merry hours and the ten tremendous tumultuous scenes of Robinson Crusoe, Jr."[10] At one point in the story trees woke up and began to sway to the music. Jolson has comic interactions with a goat and a crocodile.[11] The shorter second act was set back in the millionaire's home.[10]

There were 27 musical numbers in the show, including five specialty dances. Many of the huge cast danced in Minstrel Days. Jolson himself did not play a major role in the musical numbers, and was always alone on the stage when he sang.[10] According to Jolson's biographer Michael Freedland, Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was "the nearest Jolson had yet come to a show with a real plot ... although from opening night on, it was quite plain that the story was not going to interfere with his domination on stage."[11]

## Songs

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* Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night? (Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young (w), George W. Meyer (m))
* Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula (E. Ray Goetz & Joe Young (w), Pete Wendling (m))
* Where the Black-Eyed Susans Grow (by Dave Radford and Richard Whiting)

## References

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Notes

1. ^ Al Jolson's roots in show business came from performing in a carnival and a traveling circus, and then in vaudeville. He mostly worked in blackface, a convention that originated with minstrel shows. His breakthrough came with La Belle Paree in 1911.[6]

Citations

1. ^ a b c Everett 2008, p. 62.
2. ^ a b c d Hirsch 2000, p. 103.
3. ^ Hirsch 2000, p. 118.
4. ^ "Internet Broadway Database". ibdb.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
5. ^ Mordden 1988, p. 32.
6. ^ Browne & Browne 2001, p. 445.
7. ^ Everett 2008, p. 297.
8. ^ Everett 2008, p. 64.
9. ^ Hirsch 2000, p. 103-104.
10. ^ a b c Hirsch 2000, p. 104.
11. ^ a b Bordman 2010, p. 363.

Sources

* Bordman, Gerald Martin (2010). American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972970-8. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
* Browne, Ray Broadus; Browne, Pat (2001). The Guide to United States Popular Culture. Popular Press. ISBN 978-0-87972-821-2.
* Everett, William A. (2008-10-01). Sigmund Romberg. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13835-1. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
* Hirsch, Foster (2000-09-05). The Boys from Syracuse: The Shuberts' Theatrical Empire. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 978-1-4616-9875-3. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
* Mordden, Ethan (1988). Broadway Babies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536375-3. Retrieved 2014-06-03.

## External links

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* ​Robinson Crusoe, Jr.​ at the Internet Broadway Database

* v
* t
* e

Musicals by Sigmund Romberg

* Blossom Time (Das Dreimäderlhaus) (arranger)
* The Blue Paradise
* Bombo
* The Desert Song
* Maytime
* May Wine
* My Maryland
* The New Moon
* The Passing Show of 1916
* The Passing Show of 1918
* Princess Flavia
* Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
* Rosalie
* Sinbad
* The Student Prince
* Up in Central Park

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