''Blue Eyes'' is a musical composed by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

, with a book and lyrics by

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

and Graham John. Orchestrations were by Robert Russell Bennett, and the original producer was Lee Ephraim. The musical was a historical comedy and romance set against the backdrop of Jacobite Charles Edward Stuart's attempts to restore the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

to the

British throne The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Baili ...

. In the plot of ''Blue Eyes'' a London actress disguises herself as a soldier to help her brother who has been imprisoned by the Duke of Cumberland in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. It starred

Evelyn Laye Evelyn Laye (née Elsie Evelyn Lay; 10 July 1900 – 17 February 1996) was an English actress who was active on the London light opera stage, and later in New York and Hollywood. Her first husband, actor Sonnie Hale, left her for Jessie Ma ...

, and comic relief was provided by W. H. Berry, who "disguised himself as a silly Scotsman, a flea circus owner nd aFrench dancing teacher". It was the first production at London's new

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

, opening on 27 April 1928, and transferred to

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. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

in July,Somerville, Matthew
"''Blue Eyes''"
Theatricalia.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022 before finishing its run of eight months, for a total of 327 performances. The

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

with the Piccadilly Theatre Orchestra was issued by Columbia Records. The musicologist Thomas Hischak described Kern's score for ''Blue Skies'' as featuring some "entrancing songs", particularly praising "Back to the Heather", "Charlie Is the Darling of My Heart", and the comic song "In Vodeodo". Hischak felt that the score was closer to that of an operetta than a musical comedy. The song "Do I Do Wrong" was cut from the production before the musical opened. The melody was later used for Kern's "You're Devastating" from his 1933 musical ''

Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...

''.

1928 London cast

as Nancy Anne Bellamy *George Vollaire as Jamie *

Bertram Wallis Bertram Wallis (22 February 1874 – 11 April 1952) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in plays, musical comedies and operettas in the early 20th century, first as leading men and then in character roles. He also later ...

as the Duke of Cumberland *Geoffrey Gwyther as Sir George *

Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil (c. 1898 – c. 1983) was an English singer and actress. She began her career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, with whom she performed, off and on, from 1918 until 1937. She also performed in ...

as Flora Campbell * W. H. Berry as Pilbeam

Songs

* "Back to the Heather" * "Blue Eyes" * "Bow Belles" * "Charlie Is the Darling of My Heart" * "The Curtsey" * "Fair Lady" * "The Good King James" * "Henry" * "His Majesty's Dragoons" * "In Love" * "In Vodeodo" * "Long Live Nancy" * "No One Else But You" * "Praise the Day" * "Prince Do and Dare" * "Romeo and Juliet" * "Someone" * "Trouble About the Drama" Songs as listed in Stephen Suskin's ''Show Tunes : The songs, shows, and careers of Broadway's major composers'' (2010)

References

{{Reflist 1928 musicals West End musicals Musicals by Jerome Kern 1928 in London Jacobite risings