''Stepping Stones'' is a "fantastical musical play" (musical comedy) in two acts with book by

Anne Caldwell Anne Marsh Caldwell (August 30, 1867 – October 22, 1936), also known as Anne Caldwell O'Dea, was an American playwright and lyricist. She wrote both pop songs and Broadway shows, sometimes working with composer Jerome Kern. Biography Anne Ma ...

and

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 ...

, lyrics by

, and music by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

. The show was produced by

Charles Dillingham Charles Bancroft Dillingham (May 30, 1868 – August 30, 1934) was an American theatre manager and producer of over 200 Broadway shows. Biography Charles Bancroft Dillingham was born on May 30, 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut to Edmund Bancroft D ...

at the Globe Theater, and opened November 6, 1923.Mantle, Burns, Editor, "The Best Plays of 1923–1924", Dodd, Mead & Company, p. 348. The musical director was

Victor Baravalle Victor Baravalle (1885–1939) was an Italian born composer, music director, and conductor, best known for his work on both the stage and film productions of the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical, ''Show Boat''. Baravalle worked as mu ...

and the music was orchestrated by

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, ...

. The show was staged by

and choreographed by Mary Read and

John Tiller John Thomas Ibbotson Tiller (13 June 1854 in Blackburn, Lancashire – 22 October 1925 in New York) was a musical theatre director who was credited with inventing precision dance and was the originator of the ' Tiller Girls'. Biography John Til ...

. Scenic design by Wilhelm, Robert McQuinn, and P. Dodd Ackerman. Costume design by Robert McQuinn, Wilhelm, Cora MacGeachy, Will R. Barnes, and Brooks-Mahieu Company. It ran for 281 performances, closing on October 4, 1924. The cast headlined

Fred Stone Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act in vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned h ...

(Peter Plug), Dorothy Stone (Roughette Hood), Oscar Ragland (Otto DeWolfe), and Jack Whiting (Captain Paul). The plot is basically a musical comedy version of the adventures of Roughette Hood (i.e. Little Red Riding Hood) (Dorothy Stone) with Otto DeWolfe (Oscar Ragland), a villain. She is rescued from the villain in song, dance, and acrobatic comedy by Peter Plug (Fred Stone), an errand boy and wild plumber from the Pampas. Gerald Boardman points out that, "Most critics devoted their opening paragraphs to extolling the seventeen-year-old Dorothy Stone. . . .

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Stone's clowning and acrobatics were applauded (he parachuted down for his first entrance), and Dillingham's lavish, tasteful hand was complimented as well. . . . In the Herald

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio p ...

reported that the evening was 'abrim with sweet melodies by Jerome Kern... The show was closed as a result of an actor's strike and then had performances on the road until early 1926. In 1948,

Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers were an American smooth harmony popular music singing group of the mid-20th century consisting of Carroll (a female singer) and the Satisfiers (three male singers, Bob Lange, Ted Hansen and Art Lambert) Helen Carr ...

released a new recording of "Raggedy Ann", one of the songs from the musical.

Songs

Act 1 * "The Nursey Clock" * "Little Angel Cake" * "Because You Love the Singer" * "Little Red Riding Hood" * "Wonderful Dad" * "Pie" * "Babbling Babette" * "In Love with Love" * "The Wood Nymphs" * "Our Lovely Rose" Act 2 * "Once in a Blue Moon" * "The Mystic Hussars" * "The Skeleton Janitor" * "Raggedy Ann" * "Dear Little Peter Pan" * "Stepping Stones"

References

{{reflist 1923 musicals Broadway musicals Original musicals