''Excelsior, Jr.'' is an 1895 musical comedy with music by George Lowell Tracy,

A. Baldwin Sloane Alfred Baldwin Sloane (28 August 1872, Baltimore – 21 February 1925, Red Bank, New Jersey) was an American composer, considered the most prolific songwriter for Broadway musical comedies at the beginning of the 20th century. His scores were first ...

, and Edward E. Rice, and also with lyrics by Robert Ayres Barnet. After playing in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, it debuted on Broadway to a great fanfare as the first production at Hammerstein's Olympia on November 25, 1895.Shepard, Richard F. (5 November 1995)
Looking Back: Hammerstein's Gamble
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' It ran for 144 performances at the Olympia, and then moved for 24 more performances at the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

starting on March 30, 1896.The Best Plays of 1894-99
p. 154 (1955) The work is a parody based on the poem Excelsior by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

. '' The Suns opening night review called it "good entertainment, notwithstanding the worthlessness of the play itself, and the saving of it from failure was due altogether to the interpolations by the amusing members of the company."(26 November 1895)
Four New Plays Enacted
'' The Sun'' The play was the largest success of the 1895-96 Broadway season. The interpolated songs rotated over time, which was not an uncommon tactic of the period in this type of fare to keep up audience interest. Bordman, Gerald and Richard Norton
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle
pp. 163, 165 (4th ed. 2011) The cast included Irene Perry,

Theresa Vaughn Theresa Vaughn (1867-1903) was a popular American singer and comedian in the 1890s.(5 October 1903)Sorry for Death of Theresa Vaughn ''New York World'' She was a hit on Broadway in ''1492 Up to Date'', where she played banjo and sang songs in Ger ...

Fay Templeton Fay Templeton (December 25, 1865 – October 3, 1939) was an American actress, singer, songwriter, and comedian. Her parents were actors/vaudevillians and she followed in their footsteps, making her Broadway debut in 1900. Templeton excelled ...

, Walter Jones, Charles Bigelow, David Abraham,

Marie Cahill Marie Cahill (December 29, 1866 – August 23, 1933) was a Broadway stage actress and vocalist. Her parents were Irish immigrants Richard and Mary (née Groegen) Cahill. Stage career Cahill began her career in the late 1880s first in her na ...

, and Richard Carle. ''Excelsior, Jr.'' moved to the

so that Hammerstein could debut his own ''Marguerite'' in February 1896--that successor performed much worse and helped lead to Hammerstein's bankruptcy.

References

External links

* {{IBDB show, 10771, Excelsior, Jr. 1895 plays