''The City Directory'' is an 1889 American musical comedy play with a book by
Paul M. Potter and music by W.S. Mullaly.
Potter's first play, it opened at the
Chicago Opera House
The Chicago Opera House was a theater complex in Chicago, Illinois, designed by the architectural firm of Cobb and Frost. The Chicago Opera House building took the cue provided by the Metropolitan Opera of New York as a mixed-used building: it h ...
in May 1889, and featured "Russell's Comedians."
[(30 May 1889)]
Musical and Dramatic Notes
''America'', p. 284[(21 November 1889)]
Dramatic Notes
''America'', p. 252 (reporting that the show "continues to attract large audiences" at the Chicago Opera House) After a successful run in Chicago, it ran for 152 performance at the
Bijou in Manhattan from February to June 1890, making it one of the biggest hits of the 1889-90 season in New York.
[Bordman, Gerald & Richard Norton]
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (4th ed.)
p. 116 (2011)
According to a biography of theatrical producer
Charles Frohman, when Frohman put
Bronson Howard's ''Shenandoah'' on the road, the ''
Chicago Tribune''s critic disliked the play, which was a disappointment. Potter, who was a friend of Howard, was then able to get a positive Sunday spread in the ''Tribune'' about the play, and Potter and Frohman thus became acquainted. Then, when the ''City Directory'' opened, it was feared that despite Potter's friendly relations with Chicago critics, the piece would be condemned. Instead, a few minutes into the opening performance, uproarious laughter came from box where Frohman and Howard were watching—to help out their friend Potter. Thus, the biography suggests, the critics "were so impressed that they praised the farce and started ''The City Directory'' on a career of remarkable success."
[Marcosson, Isaac Frederick & Daniel Frohman]
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man
pp. 124-25 (1916)
The New York ''
Sun'' called the show an "outgrowth of the public demand for that type of funny writing that which is harmless and valueless at the same time, with more song than satire, and with the punctuations of specialities of the
vaudeville order."
[(9 February 1890]
News of the Theatres
''The Sun'' (New York City)
Plot
A modern description of the New York production describes the plot as focusing on the confusion caused when Chicago detective John Smith (played by Charles Reed) travels to New York to arrest a crook, also named John Smith. A bunch of other "John Smiths" get into the act as they travel around Manhattan.
Not atypical of farces of the period, the content of the show and musical numbers were subject to updating over time. On its 100th performance in New York, the show was advertised as being "rejuvenated" with new parts and music.
Broadway cast
The Broadway cast for the February 10, 1890 New York premiere included:
[(8 February 1890)]
"The City Directory" Makes Its Initial Bow at the Bijou
''Evening World
''The Evening World'' was a newspaper that was published in New York City from 1887 to 1931. It was owned by Joseph Pulitzer, and served as an evening edition of the ''New York World.''
History
The first issue was on October 10, 1887. It was publ ...
''
* Charles Reed
* John W. Jennings
* Alf Hampton
* Ignacio Martinelli
* William Collier
* William F. Mack
* Joseph Jackson
*
Josie Sadler
* Helen Reimer
* Marguerite Fish
* Maud Wilson
* Sadie Kirby
* Ollie Archmere
* Amelia Glover
[(10 February 1910)]
Amelia Glover Dead: Was Noted Dancer and Beauty Years Ago
''Evening Star''
* Julia Glover
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Directory, The
American plays
1889 plays
Broadway plays