''Sinbad'' is a

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 ...

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 and lyrics by

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 music by

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moon'' (1928). Earl ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

and others. Jolson plays a porter in old Bagdad where he meets a series of characters from the

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

, including Sinbad. He is transported to various exotic settings. The musical was produced by

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

J. 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 ...

and staged by

J. C. Huffman Jesse C. Huffman (1869–1935) was an American theatrical director. Between 1906 and 1932 he directed or staged over 200 shows, mostly for the Shubert Brothers. Many of them were musical revues, musicals or operettas. He is known for ''The Passi ...

and J. J. Shubert. After a tryout in

New Haven, Connecticut 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 ...

, the

production opened on February 14, 1918 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 ...

, where it ran for 164 performances. The cast included Jolson (in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

), Kitty Doner, Constance Farber and Forrest Huff. This show was a “musical comedy” with little purpose other than to provide a vehicle for Jolson, who sang specialty songs that were written for him by himself and others, while Romberg's songs held the show together. As with Jolson's previous shows, songs were interpolated during the run and for the national tour, which ran for nearly two years."Jolson on Stage!"
The Museum of Family History, 2008, accessed November 18, 2013

Synopsis

At a Long Island country club, Nan Van Decker, a wealthy socialite, struggles to choose which of two men to entrust with a financial matter. She consults a crystal ball, and the ball reveals to her exotic Arabian scenes and people, including Inbad the porter and a middle-eastern version of the Long Island valet, Gus. Fantasy sequences follow, and Inbad meets a series of characters from the Arabian Nights, including Sinbad the Sailor.

Songs

Music by Romberg and lyrics by Atteridge, except as otherwise indicated: ;Act 1 *On Cupid's Green – Mildred and Boy and Girl Golfers *A Little Bit of Every Nationality – Patricia De Trait and Our Allied Beauties *Our Ancestors – Prince Stubb Talmage, Princess Audrey Van Decker and Cave Men and Girls *A Thousand and One Arabian Nights – A Cobbler, A Slave Girl and Van Rennsellar Sinbad *Where Do They Get Those Guys? – Tessie Verdear *Beauty and the Beast – A Court Lady, Winter Garden Blue Ribbon Girls and Meehan's Leaping Hounds *

Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular song written by Jean Schwartz, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was introduced by Al Jolson in the Broadway musical '' Sinbad'' and published in 1918. Probably the best-k ...

(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 ...

; lyrics by Joe Young and

Sam M. Lewis Sam M. Lewis (October 25, 1885 – November 22, 1959) was an American singer and lyricist. Career Lewis was born Samuel M. Levine in New York City, United States. He began his music career by singing in cafés throughout New York City, and be ...

) – Inbad the Porter *Take the Night Boat to Albany (music by Schwartz; lyrics by Lewis and Young) – Inbad *Bagdad – A Cobbler and Arabian Desert Girls *The Rag Lad of Bagdad (music by Jolson and Romberg) – Stubb, Audrey, Frank, Grace, Kickem and Rag Lad Girls *A Night in the Orient – Amina and Oriental Dreams *I Hail from Cairo – Tessie and Cairo Girls *Love Ahoy! – Jeanette Verdear, Kickem, Tapem and Love Ahoy Sailor Girls *The Bedalumbo (music by Jolson) – Stubb, Kickem, Tapem and Yama Yama Girls ;Act 2 Mymammy

*Isle of Youth – Love and Beauties of Greece *I'll Tell the World (music and lyrics by Atteridge and

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Re ...

) – Van Rennsellar Sinbad and Isle of Youth Dreams *It's Wonderful – Audrey and Some Wonderful Girls *Raz-Ma-Taz (music by Jolson) – Stubb, Frank, Johnny and Jazz Girls ;Later songs interpolated: * Darktown Dancin’ School (lyric by

Jack Yellen Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs "Happy Days Are Here Again", which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the theme ...

, music by Albert Gemble) – * I'm Not Jealous (words by Harry Pease, music by Ed G. Nelson and Fred Mayo) – *

My Mammy "My Mammy" is an American popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis. Though associated with Al Jolson, who performed the song very successfully, "My Mammy" was performed first in 1918 by William Fra ...

(words by Young and Lewis, music by

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Song ...

) – * Tell That To the Marines (words by Atteridge, music by Schwartz and Jolson) * I'll Say She Does (by DeSylva,

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

and Jolson) – * Hello, Central, Give Me No Man's Land (by Young, Lewis and Schwartz) – * Chloe (by DeSylva and Jolson) – * Swanee (by

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for Tw ...

and

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 ' ...

) –

References

External links

*
''Sinbad''
at Ovrtur.com, listing interpolated songs {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinbad 1918 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Sigmund Romberg Works based on Sinbad the Sailor