''Make It Snappy'' was a

musical revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

that ran for 96 performances at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

in the 1922–23 Broadway season. It ran from 13 April to 1 July 1922. It starred

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

, who introduced the hit songs "

Yes! We Have No Bananas "Yes! We Have No Bananas" is an American novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn published March 23, 1923. It became a major hit in 1923 (placing No. 1 for five weeks) when it was recorded by Billy Jones, Billy Murray, Arthur Hall, Irvin ...

" and "

The Sheik of Araby "The Sheik of Araby" is a song that was written in 1921 by Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler, with music by Ted Snyder. It was composed in response to the popularity of the Rudolph Valentino feature film '' The Sheik''. "The Sheik of Araby" wa ...

Production

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 ...

and

wrote the book. Harold Atteridge wrote the lyrics to music by

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter. Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including dem ...

. Alfred Bryan and William B. Friedlander wrote additional lyrics, and Friedlander wrote additional music. The show was produced by The Winter Garden Company, with production supervised by

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 ...

and staged by Jesse C. Huffman. Louis Gress was musical director. Dell Lampe orchestrated the music and Allan K. Foster staged the musical numbers. The show ran at the Winter Garden from 13 April 1922 to 1 July 1922.

headlined with Nan Halperin,

J. Harold Murray J. Harold Murray (born Harry Rulten, February 17, 1891 – December 11, 1940) was an American baritone singer and actor. For more than a decade, during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to the development of musi ...

and Lew Hearn. Shubert sent the show on tour after it had closed on Broadway. In Philadelphia, in the last week of the tour, Cantor introduced the song ''

'', written by

Frank Silver Frank Silverstadt (September 8, 1892 – June 14, 1960), better known by his stage name Frank Silver, was an American songwriter, jazz drummer and vaudeville performer. He was best known for co-writing and co-composing the popular song "Yes! ...

and

Irving Cohn Irving Cohn (21 February 1898 in London – 12 July 1961 in Fort Lee, New Jersey) was a British- American songwriter, best known for "Yes! We Have No Bananas "Yes! We Have No Bananas" is an American novelty song by Frank Silver and Irvi ...

. The song, later recorded by Cantor for the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

, became the most popular novelty hit of the 1920s.

Synopsis

The show has been described as a "collation of froth". Some material was reused from an earlier Shubert show ''The Midnight Rounders''. Eddie Cantor played a classic comedy sketch of "Max, the Tailor", a small man having to deal with an unreasonable customer who wanted a belt in the back – and in the end got a different type of belt from the one he expected. Cantor did other sketches as a taxi driver and a very timid police academy candidate. Cantor premiered the song ''

'', lyrics by Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler, music by

Ted Snyder Theodore Frank Snyder (August 15, 1881 in Freeport, Illinois – July 16, 1965 in Woodland Hills, California), was an American composer, lyricist, and music publisher. His hits include "The Sheik of Araby" (1921) and " Who's Sorry Now?" (1923). ...

. This also became a major hit. The Eight Blue Devils put on a tumbling act. Act 2 opened with "Princess Beautiful (A Cleveland Bronner Ballet)". Ballet had been expected in all shows in the 1916–17 season, but by 1922 they were considered outdated. The show included various chorus spectacles. In one the girls were all costumed as pink roses. The girls used the runway to toss ice cream bricks to the audience in the orchestra seats.

Reception

The revue had a respectable run. It closed in July, as even the most popular New York shows did in the days before air conditioning. ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'' said of Cantor's performance that "Al Jolson now has a rival".

Cast

The full cast was: *

* Nan Halperin *Salayman Ali *M. T. Bohannon *Cleveland Bronner *Lew Browne *Marie Burke *John Byam *Evelyn Campbell *Carlos and Inez *Nell Carrington *Helen Christie *Molly Christie *Harry Cressey *Betty Dair *Muriel De Forest *Alfred DeLoraine *Rose Devere *Mae Devereaux *The Eight Blue Devils *Flo Evers *Betty Fitch *Lillian Fitzgerald *Elsie Frank *Eva Fuller *Dolly Hackett *Georgie Hale * Lew Hearn *Lebanon Hoffa *

Portland Hoffa Portland Hoffa (January 25, 1905 – December 26, 1990) was an American comedian, radio host, actress, and dancer. The daughter of an itinerant optometrist, she was named after Portland, Oregon, the city in which she was born. She began her ca ...

*Hermose Jose *Marian Joy *Grace Langdon *Mildred Lee *Madeline Levine *

Sally Long Sally Long (December 5, 1901 – August 12, 1987) was an American dancer and actress. Early years Long was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis J. Long. She graduated from Eden Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1921. Dancer Florenz Ziegfeld ...

*Polly Lux *Betty Marshall *Evelyn Martin *Elsie May *Polly Mayer *Dorothy McCarthy *Margaret McCarthy *Peggy Mermont *Gladys Montgomery *

*Vivien Nolty *Bonna O'Dear *May O'Brien *Joe Opp *Betty Palmer *Cardinal Peaires *Elsa Peterson *Nan Phillips *Chonchita Piquer *Lucille Pryor * Tot Qualters *Queene Queenen *Charlotte Schuette *Ingrid Solfeng *May Sullivan *Margaret Toomay *Marjorie Toomay *Alice Van Ryker *Alice Weaver *Teddy Webb *Vivien West *Margaret Wilson *Vera Zimeleva

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{IBDB show, 10484 Broadway musicals 1922 musicals Plays set in New York City