John Raymond Hubbell (June 1, 1879 – December 13, 1954) was an American writer, composer and lyricist. He is best known for the popular song, "

Poor Butterfly "Poor Butterfly" is a popular song. It was inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera ''Madame Butterfly'' and contains a brief musical quote from the Act two duet ''Tutti i fior'' in the verse. The music was written by Raymond Hubbell, the lyrics by ...

Life and career

Hubbell was born in

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He attended schools in Urbana and studied music in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he formed a dance band. He worked for Charles K. Harris Publishers as a staff

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. His first compositions for stage

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

were the songs for ''Chow Chow'' (lyrics and book by

Addison Burkhardt Addison Burkhardt (August 12, 1879 – January 25, 1937) was a librettist and lyricist from about 1903 to 1922 and a Hollywood script and scenario writer thereafter. Biography Addison Burkhardt’s birth name was Abraham; he was the sixth of seve ...

), which ran for 127 performances in Chicago in 1902. Renamed and revised as ''The Runaways'' in 1903, the show ran for 167 days in New York and then toured for several years. Hubbell began composing music for the Ziegfeld Follies in 1911 and eventually scored seven editions. In 1915 he was hired as musical director for the

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...

after the previous music director,

Manuel Klein Manuel Joachim Klein (6 December 1876 – 1 June 1919) was an English-born composer of musical theatre and incidental music who worked primarily in New York City. Biography Klein was born in London, to parents Herman and Adelaide (née Soman ...

, left abruptly after a disagreement with

Lee Shubert Lee Shubert (born Levi Schubart; March 25, 1871– December 25, 1953) was a Lithuanian-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the eldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family. Biography Born to a Jewish family, the so ...

and

Jacob J. Shubert Jacob J. Shubert (c. 1879 – December 26, 1963) was an American theatre owner/operator and producer and a member of the famous theatrical Shubert family. Biography Born in Vladislavov, in the Suwałki Governorate of Congress Poland, a part o ...

. Hubbell also wrote the score for "Good Times", which ran for 456 performances at the

. He continued composing for the theater until 1923. The song he is most remembered for, "

", was written for one of the first shows he wrote for the Hippodrome, ''The Big Show''. According to his obituary,R. Hubbell Dead; Composer Was 75, ''New York Times'', December 14, 1954, 34. he thought his best song was "The Ladder of Roses", written for the 1915 Hippodrome hit, ''Hip-Hip-Hooray''. His last

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

work was the score for the 1928 musical ''Three Cheers'', starring

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

. In reviewing the show,

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

wrote "Most of the music is unpretentiously melodious." Soon after he retired to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He was one of the nine founding members of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

in 1914. For 23 years he was head of the membership committee, and for 7 years was its treasurer. At the age of 50, Hubbell opted for retirement

Death

Hubbell suffered a mild

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on March 7, 1947. He suffered a serious stroke on November 28, 1954, and died on December 13. He was survived by his wife Estelle, whom he married in about 1914.

Partial list of works

* ''The Runaways'' (1903) (first played as ''Chow Chow'' in Chicago) * ''Fantana'' (1905) * ''

A Knight for a Day (play) ''A Knight for a Day'' is a 1946 Disney short film starring Goofy, which is loosely based on the novel ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Directed by Jack Hannah, this 7-minute animated comedy short was scripted by Bill Peet. While ...

'' (1907) * ''

The Midnight Sons ''The Midnight Sons'' is a 1909 American musical comedy that was popular upon its release. The music was by Raymond Hubbell with a book by Glen MacDonough.(16 May 1909)The Midnight Sons by Glen MacDonough and Raymond Hubbell, Opens at the Broadwa ...

'' (1909) * ''The Bachelor Belles'' (1910) * ''The Jolly Bachelors'' (1910) * ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

'' for 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1917 * ''

A Winsome Widow ''A Winsome Widow'' is a 1912 musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., which was a revised version of Charles Hale Hoyt's 1891 hit, ''A Trip to Chinatown'', with a score by Raymond Hubbell. History The show debuted at the Moulin Rouge on April ...

'' (1912) * ''Hip! Hip! Hooray!'' (1915) * ''Ladder of Roses'' (1915) (with

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 ...

) * ''For the Honor of the Flag'' (1916) (with

) * ''The Big Show'' (1916) (featuring the song ''

'') * ''Cheer Up, Liza'' (1917) (with John L. Golden) * ''I'll Be Somewhere in France'' (1917) (with

Gene Buck Edward Eugene Buck (August 7, 1885 – February 24, 1957) was an American illustrator of sheet music, musical theater lyricist, and president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Early career Buck was born in De ...

George V. Hobart George Vere Hobart (1867 – 1926) was a Canadian-American humorist who authored more than 50 musical comedy librettos and plays as well as novels and songs. At the time of his death, Hobart was "one of America's most popular humorists and playwr ...

) * ''Melody Land'' (1917) (with John L. Golden) * ''Follow the Flag'' (1918) (with John L. Golden &

) * ''The Kiss Burglar'' (1918) * ''Everything'' (1918) * ''We'll Stand by Our Country'' (1918) (with John L. Golden) * ''Happy Days'' (1919) * ''I Want to Go Back to the War'' (1919) (with

Henry Blossom Henry Martyn Blossom (May 10, 1866 – March 23, 1919) was an American playwright and lyricist. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he teamed with Victor Herbert on several popular operettas. His first Broadway musical project was ''The Yank ...

) * ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' (1920) * ''Better Times'' (1922) * ''Yours Truly'' (1927) * ''Three Cheers'' (1928)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbell Raymond 1879 births 1954 deaths American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists Male musical theatre composers Songwriters from Illinois