Sitting Pretty (1924)

Sitting Pretty (1924)

Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse
Book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse

Directed by Greg MacKellan

Playbill Notes

Jerome Kern's biographer Gerald Boardman lists three Kern musicals which he feels have been unjustly neglected and belong side-by-side with his finest work: 1917's Oh Boy!, 1924's Sitting Pretty, and 1934's Three Sisters. Additionally, Boardman and his fellow musical theatre historians Stanley Green and Ethan Mordden feel that Sitting Pretty represents the "missing link" between Kern's light-hearted early work and more mature, harmonically adventurous music that he wrote for shows such as Show Boat, The Cat and the Fiddle, and Music in the Air.

Sitting Pretty, which represented the final reunion of the fabled "Princess Theatre" trio of Bolton, Wodehouse, and Kern, in fact started out as a Wodehouse-Irving Berlin vehicle. The idea had been to fashion a musical comedy specifically for the popular vaudeville team of the Duncan Sisters. Delays set in, and the Duncans danced their way into the long-running Topsy and Eva. Having lost his stars, Berlin's interest waned and Wodehouse and co-librettist Guy Bolton turned to their erstwhile collaborator Kern.

Barely a decade earlier, the trio had revolutionized-in fact, created-the American Musical theatre by setting out to write a series of shows for the tiny Princess Theatre which told a coherent (if frequently silly) story and had songs which were driven by the needs of the plot. They popularized the "show tune in 2/4" and ended the dominance of the European "Waltz-operettas" on Broadway stages with such sprightly fare as Very Good Eddie, Oh, Boy!, Oh, Lady!, Lady!!, Leave it to Jane, and Have a Heart. Personality differences ended the parternship in 1919, but by 1924, the rift had been mended and they approached the new project with enthusiasm.

The out-of-town try-out for Sitting Pretty went well, marked most notably by the deletion of the title song to suit the needs of actor Dwight Frye. Frye, later known as Renfield in the film of Dracula, had a pronounced speech impediment that gave an unfortunate coloring to the phrase "sit and sit and sit." (One other deleted song, "You Alone Would Do" has been restored for tonight's production.) Queenie Smith, as Dixie, made a particularily noteworthy appearance and was widely proclaimed a star.

Unfortunately, Kern had developed a great dislike for the new musical sound of Jazz and, hoping to avoid unwanted reinterpretations of his music, restricted the Sitting Pretty score from being played on the radio, in nightclubs, and on recordings. The boycott backfired, however: despite generally good reviews, without hit songs to generate interest the show couldn't last more than three months on Broadway. (A subsequent national tour stayed on the road for more than a year.)

Sitting Pretty literally disappeared until the orchestrations were discovered in the Warner Bros. Music "Seacaucus Warehouse" discoveries of the early 80's. Conductor John McGlinn put the show back together for a 1989 concert production at Carnegie Hall (starring Davis Gaines, Paige O'Hara, and Jason Graae) which was then recorded. Songs like "On A Desert Island," "There Isn't One Girl," and the charming title tune show Kern and Wodehouse in exceptional form, and more than justify Sitting Pretty's re-entry into the musical theatre repetoire.

Plot Summary

Sitting Pretty involves a family inheritance up for grabs, budding romances for a pair of orphaned twins, and a "New Yoik" con artist with plans to abscond with the family jewels. Wealthy Mr. Pennington decides to adopt an uncouth young man named Horace. However, Horace’s uncle, who is a jewel thief, also comes along. Horace’s adoption is part of Uncle Jo’s plan to rob the Pennington estate. Over the next six months, the Pennington’s educated and civilize Horace. In the end, Uncle Jo almost makes off with the jewels, but a newly reformed Horace manages to foil his escape. (stage agent)

Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (24 June 1999) -- 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco presenters of "lost" musical theatre, continues its seventh season ofconcert-style presentations with a Jerome Kern/P.G. Wodehouse classic from the 1920's: Sitting Pretty. Charming and lively, the score for Sitting Pretty also harbors a surprising emotional depth which clearly foreshadows Kern's work three years later in Show Boat. Sitting Pretty, directed by 42nd Street Moon founder Greg MacKellan with music direction by Brandon Adams, plays August 4 (press opening: August 6) through August 22 at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center.

Originally conceived as a vehicle for vaudeville's famous Duncan Sisters, Sitting Pretty's unlikely but enjoyable plot line involves a family inheritance up for grabs, budding romances for a pair of orphaned twins, and a "New Yoik" con artist with plans to abscond with the family jewels. The lovely score by Jerome Kern (music) and P.G. Wodehouse (lyrics) includes "A Year From Today," "All You Need is a Girl," "On a Desert Island With You," the hilarious "Tulip Time in Sing Sing," and the delightful title song, and meshes beautifully with the romantic comedy of Guy Bolton's book.

Although Sitting Pretty ultimately played in Broadway's Fulton Theatre, this 1924 show was designed to be the last of the great "Princess Theatre" musicals created by this trio, which set the standard for modern musical comedy. Between 1915 and 1918 the legendary triumvirate created Very Good Eddie, Oh Lady! Lady!!, Have a Heart, Oh, Boy!, and Leave It to Jane, creating the first set of shows which moved musical comedy away from its standard revue format while still keeping characters and scenarios familiar to American audiences. Each of these shows was created for the Princess Theatre, an intimate jewel box of a theater on 39th Street in New York City, and all were characterized by a delicate charm and close attention to detail. By 1920 the three had seperated to work on different projects. The score for Sitting Pretty was actually intended to be composed by Irving Berlin; Berlin, however, delayed in beginning the project, which resulted in losing the services of the Duncan sisters, which in turn lost Berlin's interest in the show. Kern, whose own career was suffering from a series of flops, was eager to pick up the project, and the trio was happily reunited one more time.

Sitting Pretty turned out to represent an important stage for Kern, whose style had been evolving in response to the changing attitudes of post-World War I audiences. Up until then, a Broadway score was composed mainly of dance tunes, which meant greater popularity for the show as dance orchestras outside the theater performed them. Kern, however, felt strongly that scores should be heard only in the theater, in the context for which they were created (he even issued an edict banning the score of Sitting Pretty to be broadcast or recorded by dance bands). With Sitting Pretty, he chose to create longer songs with greater vocal ranges, and more connection to the story line. This revolutionary new style, focusing on unity throughout the score, would take a leap forward in Sitting Pretty, and would reach new heights in his Show Boat of 1927.

The cast chosen for this charming production features audience favorites Caroline Altman and Dyan McBride as the twins, May and Dixie Tolliver. Martin Lewis, fresh from the Curran Theatre cast of Phantom of the Opera will play Bill Pennington, joined by Don Cima as family patriarch William Pennington, Steven Rhyne as Horace Peabody, and Stephen Pawley as "Uncle Jo." Rounding out the melodious cast will be Anandah Carter, Susan Powers, Greg Grabow, Catherine Sheldon, John-Elliott Kirk, Sara Clark, Karen Walsh, and Ed Simonick.