''The Oolah'' is an 1889

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

which starred Francis Wilson and

Marie Jansen Marie Jansen (born Harriet Mary Johnson;"Made $500,000, Marie Jansen Went Through It All", ''Lowell Sun'', Lowell, Massachusetts, June 2, 1904, p. 11 November 18, 1857 – March 20, 1914At her death, ''The New York Times'' reported that Jansen wa ...

on Broadway.

Production

The opera is an adaptation of

Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable succ ...

's ''La Jolie Persane'', with a liberal adaptation of the libretto by

Sydney Rosenfeld Sydney Rosenfeld (1855–1931) was an American playwright who wrote numerous plays, and adapted many foreign plays. Close to fifty of his creations played on Broadway. Some of his better known plays (though none achieved long-lasting popularit ...

, and

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...

ing by J. Cheever Goodwin. Wilson, Francis
Recollections of a Player
pp. 56-63 (1897)(Dec. 1896)
The Stage
''Munsey's Magazine'', p. 371(1 August 1891)
Our Gallery in Players
''The Illustrated American'', p. 499 Wilson originally planned to debut the play at the Casino Theatre (where Wilson had been a performer), but other obligations for that venue and contractual disputes caused delay and eventual failure. Thus, ''The Oolah'' opened at the former

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

on 41st Street on May 13, 1889. The show marked Wilson's debut as a manager of his own company and as a Broadway star.(12 May 1889)
Mr. Wilson's New Venture
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''(13 May 1889)
Advertisement
''

The Sun (New York) ''The Sun'' was a New York newspaper published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, ''The New York Times'' and the '' New York Herald Tribune''. The Sun was the first successf ...

'', p. 6, col. 4 (advertisement for opening night)Dale, Alan (14 May 1889)
"The Oolah" (review)
''The Evening World'' The opening night did not go very well. Wilson had risked much of his money on the production, and was distraught. Rosenfeld refused to make changes without a new contract and a cut of the profits. This led to Godwin's immediate work to revise the text (including expanding Wilson's parts, as he was clearly an audience favorite), and to radical changes in the music, including three new songs from

Woolson Morse Henry Woolson Morse (February 24, 1858 – May 3, 1897), usually credited as Woolson Morse, was an American composer of musical theatre. Often working with librettist J. Cheever Goodwin, he produced several scores for Broadway productions in the ...

, and two from

John Braham John Braham may refer to: * John Braham (MP) (1417), MP for Suffolk *John Braham (tenor) John Braham ( – 17 February 1856) was an English tenor opera singer born in London. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. ...

,(22 August 1889)
Dramatic and Musical Notes
''America'', p. 668(February 1902)
About Francis Wilson
''The Junior Munsey'', pp. 875-76 and likely the scoring by Sousa mentioned below. One periodical commenting on the revisions noted

Steele MacKaye James Morrison Steele MacKaye ( ; June 6, 1842 – February 25, 1894) was an American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous and popular plays and theatrical spectaculars of the day ...

's observation that "Plays are not written; they are rewritten," and concluded that "this seems to apply to comic operas especially." Rosenfeld later sued Wilson over song rights.(14 November 1889)
Songs in "The Oolah": Sydney Rosenfeld's Latest Suit Against Comedian Francis Wilson
''

'' In any event, the changes worked, and the play had a successful run of 154 performances over 22 weeks,(6 October 1889)
Francis Wilson, Manager; The Career of "The Oolah" and its Coming Tour in the Country
''

'' closing on October 12,(12 October 1889)
Advertisement
''The Evening World'' (advertisement for "farewell night") and then went on tour.Chicago program
(week of November 4, 1889)(21 December 1889)
Massachusetts
''

New York Clipper The ''New York Clipper'', also known as ''The Clipper'', was a weekly entertainment newspaper published in New York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, including circuses, dance, music, the outdoors, sports, and theatre. It had a ...

'' (it played a month in Boston at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

) A letter opener souvenir was given out to ticket holders at the 100th performance, a number of which are still extant.Letter Opener
/ref> The next season Wilson and Jansen had success with another French adaptation, ''

The Merry Monarch The Merry Monarch (1842 – after 1859) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. In a career that lasted from July 1844 to May 1846 he ran four times and won only one race. That race, however, was the 1845 E ...

''.

Sousa's role

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

likely orchestrated the music for Wilson, though this was not advertised. Wilson did not say in his autobiography who provided "the infusion of some whistlish and hummable melodies that set the audience in fine humor and their feet to keeping time," or who prepared "the orchestral arrangement to which had just come to hand as a performance began." Yet, Wilson claimed that some of the new music "was written by a composer while he was being whirled away to Chicago on the Pennsylvania 'Limited' train... he handed the manuscript to messenger awaiting him at Pittsburg, who hurried back to New York and placed it in our hands." And then it was performed the next evening.Warfield, Patrick
Making the March King: John Philip Sousa's Washington Years, 1854-1893
p. 136 (2013)Bierley, Paul E
The Works of John Philip Sousa
p. 165 (1984)

Songs

The popular songs of the show included "A Little Peach in an Orchard Grew" or "Listen to My Tale of Woe", a Wilson-Jansen duet which had previously been used in ''Nadjy''. The lyrics which originated from

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

and music and alterations by Hubbard T. Smith. Other popular songs included "Nobody Knows", as well as "Be Good", which Jansen performed, and was considered too suggestive by some."The Oolah" Will Have Fiftieth Performance
''The Evening World'' (noting that 50th show will be Monday July 1, 1889; citing "Be Good" as "Marie Jansen's much discussed effort.")Whitney, Carrie Westlake
Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People 1808-1908, Volume 1
pp. 379-81 (1908)

Plot

The play is set in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where it is claimed that the marriage laws require a divorced wife who wishes to return to a husband must first marry another man, and then divorce that second spouse. "The Oolah" is the person who performs that role. However, the Oolah seeks to retire from his job to marry for real, yet he has one more professional marriage to accomplish first.Bordman, Gerald, and Richard Norton
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle 4th ed.
p. 113 (2011) The Oolah's most popular comedic lines included "think twice about divorcing once", and "I have been married a hundred and fifteen times and not once deceived. I have known men who have been married but once, but who were deceived a hundred and fifteen times."

Original Broadway cast

*Boolahgoolah, the Oolah – Francis Wilson *The Prince of Eriven – Hubert Wilke *Akhalzakek – Charles Plunkett *Nejef – Thomas H. Persse *The Cadi – Harry MacDonough *The Fig Dealer – Benjamin F. Johnson *The Barber – Carlo Segelini *The Tailor – W. Carr *The Watchman – Henry Hoffman *The Baker – H. Ledbury *Darinoora – Laura Moore *Bampoora – Elma Delaro *Altoora – Ida Fitzhugh *Shimrana – Ida Kissing *Velis – Josie Winner *Tourouloupi –

References

Sherman H. Dudley Sherman Houston Dudley (1872 – March 1, 1940) was an African-American vaudeville performer and theatre entrepreneur. He gained notability in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as an individual performer, a composer of ragtime songs, ...

(1901), National Jukebox at Library of Congress (see als
other recordings
at Library of Congress) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oolah, The 1889 plays Adaptations of works by French writers Plays set in Iran