''Rio Rita'' is a 1927 stage
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
with a book 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 w ...
and
Fred Thompson, music by
Harry Tierney
Harry Austin Tierney (May 21, 1890 – March 22, 1965) was an American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as ''Irene'' (1919), Broadway's longest-running show of the era (620 performances), ''Kid Boots'' (1923) and'' ...
, lyrics by
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
, and produced by
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...
. This musical united
Bert Wheeler
Albert Jerome Wheeler (April 7, 1895 – January 18, 1968) was an American comedian who performed in Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and vaudeville acts. He was the comedy partner of Robert Woolsey, and together they formed ...
and
Robert Woolsey
Robert Rollie Woolsey (August 14, 1888 – October 31, 1938) was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey.
Early life
Robert Rollie (sometimes spelled Rolla or even Raleigh) was born on Augu ...
as a comedy team and made them famous.
It premiered on
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 ...
on February 2, 1927, at the new
Ziegfeld Theatre and, after moving to the
Lyric Theatre and
Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to:
Australia
* Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished
* Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed b ...
, closed on April 7, 1928 after 494 performances, a very long run for its time. In
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Gladys Moncrieff
Gladys Moncrieff (13 April 1892 – 8 February 1976) was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'.
Life and career
Early years
Moncrieff ...
appeared in a successful production at the St James Theatre. The musical premiered in London's
West End on April 3, 1930, at the then newly opened
Prince Edward Theatre
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London.
History
The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Ma ...
.
The musical was made into a film in 1929, ''
Rio Rita'', starring
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...
and
John Boles along with the team of
Wheeler & Woolsey
Wheeler & Woolsey were an American vaudeville comedy double act who performed together in comedy films from the late 1920s. The team comprised Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of New Jersey and Robert Woolsey (1888–1938) of Illinois.
Collaboration a ...
. Based on the success of this film, Wheeler & Woolsey were also given contracts to star in a series of comedies. Another
film based on the musical was made in 1942.
Background
''Rio Rita'' may be said to be one of the last, great, "light musical comedies" or "Follies-based" type of musical. With the introduction of ''
Show Boat
''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'', later in 1927—as well as the subsequent introduction of
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's musicals that year and through the early 1930s—the American musical became much more a dramatically cohesive "musical play". This form reached its maturity in the
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...
productions, beginning with ''
Oklahoma!
''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...
'' and culminating with ''
South Pacific''.
Synopsis
The captain of the Texas Rangers, Jim Stewart, is in San Lucar Mexico on the Rio Grande, in disguise in order to catch the notorious bandit Kinkajou. While there, he falls in love with Rita Ferguson, an Irish-American-Mexican girl who sings in the local hotel after being displaced, along with her brother, from her family ranch.
General Esteban, the Governor of the San Lucar District, also loves Rita and hates all gringos. He hatches a plot to set Jim and Rita at odds by making Rita doubt both her own brother, who may be the Kinkajou, and Jim, who may be spying on her brother through her.
Amid all of this intrigue, Chick Bean, a soap salesman, and Dolly, an American cabaret girl, arrive in San Lucar and get married. Unbeknownst to Dolly, Chick also went to Mexico to obtain a quick divorce from his unfaithful first wife, Katie. But then hours after Chick and Dolly are wed, Ed Lovett, a lawyer of dubious reputation, informs Chick that his divorce is not recognized by the U.S. Government. Complications ensue.
Original Broadway cast
*Rita Ferguson –
Ethelind Terry
Ethelind Terry (14 August 1899 – 17 March 1984) was an American stage and film actress.
Career
Terry starred in one of the most famous Broadway shows of the 1920s, the musical '' Rio Rita'' produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. She also starre ...
*Captain Jim Stewart –
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 ...
*Ed Lovett –
Robert Woolsey
Robert Rollie Woolsey (August 14, 1888 – October 31, 1938) was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey.
Early life
Robert Rollie (sometimes spelled Rolla or even Raleigh) was born on Augu ...
*Chick Bean –
Bert Wheeler
Albert Jerome Wheeler (April 7, 1895 – January 18, 1968) was an American comedian who performed in Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and vaudeville acts. He was the comedy partner of Robert Woolsey, and together they formed ...
*General Esteban –
Vincent Serrano
Vincent Serrano (February 17, 1866 – January 11, 1935) was an American actor in plays and silent films.
Biography
Serrano's best-known role was as Lieutenant Denton in the Augustus Thomas play ''Arizona'', which had its New York opening in Se ...
*Dolly Bean –
Ada-May
*Roberto Ferguson – Walter Petrie
*Carmen – Helen C. Clive
*Katie Bean –
Noel Francis
Noel Francis (born Noel Frances Sweeney, August 31, 1906 – October 30, 1959) was an American actress of the stage and screen during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Texas, she began her acting career on the Broadway stage in the mid-1920s, befor ...
*Montezuma's Daughter – Katherine Burke
*Reporter – Al Clair
*Sergeant Wilkins – Donald Douglas
Songs
Act I
*Overture
*Opening chorus ("The world loves a lover, they say")
*The Best little lover in Town - Lovett, chorus of girls
*Sweetheart - Rita, chorus of girls
*River Song ("Down By the River of My Dreams") - Rita
*Eight Little Gringos - gringo girls
*Are You There? - Dolly, Chick
*Rio Rita - Rita, Jim
*Rangers' chorus - rangers
*March of the rangers - Jim, rangers
*Spanish Shawl ("Beneath the Silken Shawl") - Carmen, serenaders
*The Kinkajou - chorus
*You're Always In My Arms" - Rita
*If You're in Love, you'll Waltz - Rita, Jim
*Moonlight ballet
*Out on the Loose - Chick, girls
*Finale, Act 1
Act II
*Opening dance
*Yo Ho and a Bottle of Rum - girls
*The Black and White Ballet - girls
*Come, take a Trip - chorus
*I can Speak Espagnol - Dolly, Lovett
*Roses - Jim, Rita
*Following the Sun Around - Jim
*You're Always in My Arms (reprise) - Rita
*The Best Little Lover in Town (reprise) - Lovett
*Rio Rita (reprise) - Jim
*Incidental music
*Following the Sun around (reprise) - katie
*Finale, Act 2 - ensemble
Notes
It was this musical that
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
was attending when he got news from the Weather Bureau that clear skies were opening over the Atlantic Ocean. Lindbergh then hurried to his hotel room, but could not sleep, and then to the Roosevelt airfield to take off on his famous flight to Paris in the ''
Spirit of St. Louis
The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...
''.
External links
Internet Broadway Database listingplot, song list, and characters
broadwayworld.com listing, London
{{Authority control
Broadway musicals
1927 musicals
Musicals by Fred Thompson (writer)