Yip, Yip, Yaphank
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''Yip Yip Yaphank'' is a 1918
musical revue ''Musical Revue'' is a live album featuring Prince Far I and Suns of Arqa released on ROIR Europe in 1988. The album was produced by Phil Rainford and features a live recording of Prince Far I with Suns of Arqa at Band on the Wall in Mancheste ...
by
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
. He wrote and produced the show during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, after he was drafted into the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
and was serving in
152nd Depot Brigade The 152d Depot Brigade was a training and receiving formation of the United States Army during World War I. It was successively commanded by Brigadier Generals George W. Read, John E. Woodward, George H. Estes, George D. Moore, Edward Siger ...
at
Camp Upton Camp Upton was a port of embarkation of the United States Army during World War I. During World War II, it was used as an Army induction center, an internment camp for enemy aliens, and a hospital. It was located in Yaphank, New York, in Suffo ...
in
Yaphank, New York Yaphank () is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,945 at the time of the 2010 census. Yaphank is located in the south part of the Town of Brookhaven. It is served by the ...
. The military revue was performed by the soldiers of Camp Upton. It moved to Broadway after a brief tryout at the camp.


From idea to the stage

The commanding officer at Camp Upton had wanted to build a community building on the grounds of the army base, and thought that Sgt. Berlin could help raise the $35,000 needed for its construction. Berlin's song, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," an everyman song for soldiers, was the basis of a revue full of army recruits—a source of manpower available for him to use. He called his friend and co-worker
Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run-up to World War II in 1938. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song. "Go ...
", which Berlin eventually omitted from the play for being too sticky. In July 1918, ''Yip Yip Yaphank'' had a tryout run at Camp Upton's little Liberty Theatre, before moving on to
Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...
's Century Theatre in August. The show was typical of revues and follies, featuring acrobatics, dancers, jugglers, and featured a demonstration by Lightweight Boxing Champion
Benny Leonard Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was an American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ranked ...
. Included with the performances were military drills choreographed to music by Berlin. The show had comedy, including males dressed as Ziegfeld girls, and Sgt. Berlin as the reluctant soldier not wanting to join in reveille during the "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" skit. The finale, "We're On Our Way to France", was the replacement for "God Bless America". During this act, the whole company wore their full gear, and marched out of the theater, down the aisles and out to the street. During the Century Theatre run, the "performers" stayed at an armory downtown, and usually marched right back to the armory after the evening show. In September 1918, the production had to move to the Lexington Theatre, where it eventually ended its run. On that night, the audience saw the usual ending, with the battle-ready men marching off to "war" but with a slight diversion. After the main performers marched through the aisles, Sgt. Irving Berlin and the rest of the crew were similarly dressed and marched out of the theater. This time, the men ''were'' going off to war, actually heading to France.


After the curtain

The play earned the U.S. Army $80,000 ($ million in dollars) for Camp Upton's Community Building, though the army never had it built. Irving Berlin didn't go to France, and was listed among other great songwriters and playwrights of the time, well up to the next great war.


Songs

*"You Can't Stay Up on Bevo" *"Oh! How I Hate To Get Up in the Morning" *"I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the Y.M.C.A." *"Kitchen Police" *"Dream On, Little Soldier Boy" *" Mandy" (a major song in a
blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...
number, later featured in the 1919 edition of the ''
Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...
'') *"We're On Our Way to France" *"The Girl I left Behind" *"Ragtime Razor Brigade" *"Ever Since I Put on a Uniform" *"Page Boy" *"Floradora Sextette" *"Love Interest" *"Dreams of a Soldier" *"Some Boy' *"
Darktown Strutters' Ball "Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' ...
" *"Waters of Venice" *"Baby" *"White's Pet" *"Don't Know the Half" *"Fancy Free" *"On Our Way to France" *"God Bless America" - originally written for the play but not included. It was included in the sequel to ''Yip Yip Yaphank'', ''This is the Army'' in 1943


Adaptations

The first adaptation of Yip Yip Yaphank! after being performed on Broadway was in the 1943 film ''
This Is the Army ''This Is the Army'' is a 1943 American wartime musical film, musical comedy film produced by Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis and directed by Michael Curtiz, adapted from This Is the Army (musical), the wartime stage musical of the same name, d ...
''. In this film, the character Jerry Jones is seen preparing to perform Yip Yip Yaphank! with his fellow soldiers. Most of the show is not depicted in this film, but the finale "We're On Our Way to France" is performed in the same way it was during the last show at the Lexington Theater in 1918. The soldiers are shown marching out of the theater into the streets in full field equipment where they get into military trucks to ship off to war. The film featured Berlin singing "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", as was done in the original 1918 production. The next adaptation wasn't until November 2010, when the show was revisited by American Classics. American Classics is an organization that performs historical musicals and musical revues in the
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
Area. This performance was the first ever revival of Yip Yip Yaphank! and featured all of the original songs from the 1918 production. American Classics performed another revival of the show in 2018 for its 100th anniversary. In November 2018, ''Yip Yip Yaphank'' was performed by the students of
Longwood High School Longwood Central School District covers in central Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It serves the hamlets of Ridge, Gordon Heights, Middle Island, Coram, and Yaphank, and parts of Rocky Point, Shoreham, Shir ...
, as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the show's debut. The Longwood Central School District services the town of
Yaphank Yaphank () is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,945 at the time of the 2010 census. Yaphank is located in the south part of the Town of Brookhaven. It is served by the ...
where the musical revue was originally performed and conceived. This depiction contained many of the original songs and skits from the original performance. One change made to the show was the reintroduction of the song
God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run-up to World War II in 1938. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song. "Go ...
. Extensive research was done during the production by the producer to correctly portray the intent of Irving Berlin. Producer of the adaptation Dr. John J. Gallagher stated, "A team of teachers joined me at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC for a research project during the summer of 2017. There, we obtained sheet music, some orchestrations and other personal documents from Berlin himself . . . Local historians had donated authentic photos ndletters from soldiers that have been incorporated into the production."


References


External links

* {{Irving Berlin Musicals by Irving Berlin 1918 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals about World War I Musicals set in the United States Revues Plays about the military