''Big Boy'' is a 1925 musical written by

Harold R. Atteridge Harold Richard Atteridge (July 9, 1886 – January 15, 1938) was an American composer, librettist and lyricist primarily for musicals and revues. He wrote the book and lyrics for over 20 musicals and revues for the Shubert family, including sev ...

, music by

James F. Hanley James Frederick Hanley (February 17, 1892 – February 8, 1942) was an American songwriter and author. Biography Hanley was born in Rensselaer, Indiana on February 17, 1892. He attended Champion College and the Chicago Musical College. He serve ...

and Joseph Meyer, and lyrics by

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Re ...

. The show featured

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

as Gus, a downtrodden African-American stable boy who ends up as a jockey winning the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

.Thomas S. Hischak ''What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went to Hollywood''. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004 0810850184 p.57 "Big Boy (1925) was a loosely structured stage vehicle in which Jolson's Gus was a put-upon Negro stable boy who ends up as a jockey winning the Kentucky Derby. Singing songs such as "Keep Smiling at Trouble" and "It All Depends on You .." The all-but-one-man show, which introduced the standard "

It All Depends on You "It All Depends on You" is a 1926 popular song with music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song, written for the musical '' Big Boy'', was published in 1926. It was featured in the hit 1928 Warner Bros. film '' The S ...

", was turned into a film in 1930.

References

External links

* 1925 musicals American plays adapted into films Kentucky Derby Musicals set in Kentucky Broadway musicals Horse racing musicals {{musical-theatre-stub