''Criss Cross'' is a musical comedy in two acts and prologue, with book and lyrics by

Otto Harbach Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading Broa ...

and

Anne Caldwell Anne Marsh Caldwell (August 30, 1867 – October 22, 1936), also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was an American playwright and lyricist. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows, sometimes working with composer Jerome Kern. Biography Anne Ma ...

and music 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 over ...

. The plot concerns a successful aviator, Christopher Cross (Fred Stone) who manages to help Captain Carleton save Dolly Day from the designing schemes of IIphrahim Benani to rob her of her birthright and a considerable fortune.Mantle, Burns, Editor, "The Best Plays of 1926–1927", Dodd, Mead & Company, pp. 401 The show was produced by

Charles Dillingham Charles Bancroft Dillingham (May 30, 1868 – August 30, 1934) was an American theatre manager and producer of over 200 Broadway shows. Biography Charles Bancroft Dillingham was born on May 30, 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut to Edmund Bancroft D ...

at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

, and opened October 12, 1926.Mantle, Burns, Editor, "The Best Plays of 1926–1927", Dodd, Mead & Company, p. 400. The cast headlined

Fred Stone Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act in vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned h ...

(Christopher Cross) and Dorothy Stone (Dolly Day) and included Roy Hoyer (Captain Carleton) and Oscar Ragland (IIphrahim Benani). The musical director was

Victor Baravalle Victor Baravalle (1885–1939) was an Italian born composer, music director, and conductor, best known for his work on both the stage and film productions of the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical, ''Show Boat''. Baravalle worked as mu ...

and the music was orchestrated by

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, ...

and Maurice DePackh. The show was staged by

R. H. Burnside Robert Hubber Thorne Burnside (August 13, 1873 – September 14, 1952) was an American actor, director, producer, composer, and playwright. He was artistic director of the 5,200-seat New York Hippodrome from 1908 to 1923. He wrote and staged h ...

and choreographed by Dave Bennett. Scenic design and costume design by James Reynolds. It ran for 210 performances, closing on April 9, 1927.''Criss Cross''
at the Internet Broadway databas As well stated by

Gerald Bordman Gerald Martin Bordman (September 18, 1931 – May 9, 2011) was an American theatre historian, best known for authoring the reference volume ''The American Musical Theatre'', first published in 1978.Simonson, Robert (12 May 2011)Gerald Bordman, Th ...

, "From the start Criss Cross was rarely perceived as a Kern show.

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Stone dominated any of his vehicles with his homey clowning and live acrobatics. ... Kern and his associates hardly ever received more than a perfunctory mention."Bordman, Gerald, ''Jerome Kern: His Life and Music'', Oxford University Press, New York, 1980, p. 271 On October 23, 1927, ''Criss Cross'' toured to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

where it was the inaugural show at the new

Erlanger Theatre The Erlanger Theatre was a live-performance theater at the northwest corner of 21st and Market Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1927 by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndi ...

Songs

Prologue * “Indignation Meeting” * “Hydrophobia Blues” * “Cinderella Girl” * “Cinderella’s Ride” * “She’s on Her Way” Act 1 * “Flap-aDoodle” * “Leaders of the Modern Regime” * “You Will – Won’t You?” * “In Araby With You” * “Travelogue” Act 2 * “Dear Algerian Land” * “Dreaming of Allah” * “The Dancers of the Café Kaboul” * “The Rose of Delight” * “The Golden Sprite” * “Dance of the Camel Boys” * “I Love My Little Susie” * “The Ali Baba Babies” * “The Four Leaf Clovers” * “Portrait Parade”

References

{{reflist 1926 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Jerome Kern Original musicals Musicals by Otto Harbach