''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts by A. M. Willner and

Fritz Grünbaum Franz Friedrich 'Fritz' Grünbaum (7 April 1880 in Brünn (Brno), Moravia – 14 January 1941 at the Dachau concentration camp, Germany) was an Austrian Jewish cabaret artist, operetta and popular song writer, actor, and master of ceremonies ...

(after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...

(from the 1907 ''

Die Dollarprinzessin ' is an operetta by Leo Fall. The German libretto was by Alfred Maria Willner and Fritz Grünbaum. Performance history It was first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 2 November 1907, conducted by the composer and starring Mizz ...

''), with music by

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...

and lyrics by

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

. It opened in London at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances. The London production starred

Lily Elsie Elsie Cotton (''née'' Hodder, 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962), known professionally as Lily Elsie, was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's ...

Joseph Coyne Joseph Coyne (27 March 1867 – 17 February 1941), sometimes billed as Joe Coyne, was an American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years, from 1883-1931. A popular performer in the U.S., he achieved major s ...

W. H. Berry William Henry Berry (23 March 1870 – 2 May 1951), always billed as W. H. Berry, was an English comic actor. After learning his craft in pierrot and concert entertainments, he was spotted by the actor-manager George Grossmith Jr., and appeared ...

and

Gabrielle Ray Gabrielle Ray (born Gabrielle Elizabeth Clifford Cook, 28 April 1883 – 21 May 1973), was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actresse ...

. The young

Gladys Cooper Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television. Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...

played a small role. It also had a very successful run on Broadway, with a new book and lyrics by

George Grossmith, Jr. George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important inn ...

and additional numbers 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 ...

, opening on 6 August 1909 and running for 288 performances.

Valli Valli Valli Valli, born Valli Knust (11 February 1882 – 4 November 1927), was a musical comedy actress and silent film performer born in Berlin, Germany. She was descended from an old English family and lived most of her life in England. Her bro ...

Adrienne Augarde Adrienne Adele Augarde (12 May 1882 – 17 March 1913) was an English actress and singer popular for nearly a decade on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, primarily for her roles in Edwardian musical comedy. She began her career in 1898 in pant ...

and

Louie Pounds Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds (12 February 1872 – 6 September 1970) was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in musical comedies and in mezzo-soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Originally intended for ...

starred in the New York production. In late Victorian and Edwardian Britain, "Dollar Princess" was the nickname given to American heiresses. ''Playgoer and Society Illustrated'' wrote, "To the average playgoer there is something very attractive in watching the antics of the vulgar when surrounded by the refinement of art which he can neither understand nor appreciate.... Miss Lily Elsie, as Alice, shows even an improvement on her performance in ''The Merry Widow.'' The inimitable Mr. Joseph Coyne has put a lot more into his part than was possible on the first night.... He is great! His American accent is a thing to listen to...."''Playgoer and Society Illustrated'', Vol I No 2, November 1909

Roles and London cast list

*Freddy Fairfax –

Robert Michaelis Robert Armand René Michaelis (22 December 1878 – 29 August 1965) was a French-born actor and singer who worked in musical theatre, mainly in England, but he also made appearances on Broadway. By 1901, Michaelis and his parents had settled in ...

*Harry Q. Conder (''a multi-millionaire'') –

*Mr. Bulger (''Conder's confidential clerk'') –

*Dick (''cousin to Conder'') – Evelyn Beerbohm *John, Earl of Quorn (''Conder's groom'') – Basil S. Foster *Sir James Mcgregor (''Conder's footman'') –

Willie Warde Willie Warde (1857 – 18 August 1943) was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a ...

*Duke of Stonehenge (''Conder's butler'') – F. J. Blackman *Vicomte de Brésac (''Conder's chef'') – Garnet Wilson *Lieut. Grant (''U.S.A.'') – Harold Deacon *Olga (''a lion queen'') –

Emmy Wehlen Emily "Emmy" Wehlen (1887–1977) was a German-born Edwardian musical comedy and silent film actress who vanished from the public eye while in her early thirties. Biography Wehlen was born in Mannheim, Germany, where, as a teenager, she recei ...

*Daisy (''Dick's sister'') –

*Dulcie Du Cros (''a Californian girl'') – May Kinder *Sadie Von Tromp (''her friend'') –

*Lady Augusta – Phyllis Le Grand *Lady Dorothy – May Hobson *Lady Gwendoline – Gertrude Glyn *Lady Margaret – Marion Lindsay *Hon. Editha Dalrymple – Dolly Dombey *Alice (''Conder's sister'') –

Synopsis

;English version: A young American oil tycoon, when recruiting domestic staff, takes on a succession of impoverished members of the European aristocracy. But the servants he selects are all very well connected. "Tho' we came here in the steerage, all are members of the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

." His sister, who has money, later follows the course of true love and takes a job in another household pretending to be impoverished. ;American version: Three plot lines take place concurrently: First, an American girl, the daughter of the President of the Coal Trust (the Dollar Princess), falls in love with a young Englishman and tries to win his heart. Meanwhile, the millionaire father has an affair with a supposed Countess, who turns out to be a lion tamer. Also, his niece, Daisy, marries a young

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

, but she refuses to be anything but his friend.

Musical numbers

;Act I - Conder's House in New York. *No. 1 - Chorus - "We're the household of the great Mister Harry Conder, drawn from ev'ry ancient state over the ocean yonder!" *No. 1a - Alice - "A self-made Yankee maiden, she isn't greatly drawn to castles mortgage-laden, and coronets in pawn!" *No. 2 - Daisy and Quorn - "I'm very sorry if you've thought I do not serve you as I might! ... Oh, no! Not that, but still you might be more attentive" *No. 3 - Freddy - "A little maiden by the way, so simple, sweet and fair, is not the love for whom I pray, you meet her ev'ry where!" *No. 4 - Alice and Freddy - "The people round that I am paying must be good-looking, that's my whim! It's what papa is always saying" *No. 5 - Olga, Conder, Dick and Bulger - "Myself the Countess I'll introduce: Olga Alaska Tabasco Kachewska! ... Can you repeat it, please?" *No. 6 - Finale Act I - "And now assemble all my household here! Let ev'rybody instantly appear! Before in feast we give our joy expansion, I'll introduce" ;Act II - Garden Court, Conder's House. *No. 7 - Chorus - "In afternoon of sunny June across the lawn the net is drawn. You take your racquet and your ball, and men and maidens say: Love all!" *No. 8 - Conder and Girls - "Mister, Mister Conder, whither will you wander? You are like a child again! Why are you so very juvenile and merry?" *No. 9 - Alice and Freddy - "A secretary such as you is nothing to his betters; and he can write, is that not true? Their most intimate letters!" *No. 10 - Daisy and Sir James - "I may be going rather soon on an extensive honeymoon, so I suppose I must buy clothes ... Ladies at times wear those" *No. 11 - Bulger - "Some women may have loved me for my face - I do not know. And some for that 'Je ne sais quoi' I call my 'Touch and go'" *No. 12 - Alice and Conder - "Many a time, my brother, we have laughed and cried. We both were very naughty, then we used to run and hide!" *No. 13 - Olga and Conder - "Ah! Ah! I'm Queen of men, Parisienne, la fine fleur de Paris. Ah! Ah! Tout de même, je vous aime! Do you care for me?" *No. 14 - Alice, Daisy, Quorn and Freddy - "Who are the girls that glitter and glance, full in the sun of joy? Life is to them like a marvellous dance" *No. 15 - Finale Act II - "We're delighted here invited to attend these gorgeous fêtes! Quite surprising, and out classing those of European states" ;Act III - Freddy's Bungalow in California. *No. 15a - Entr'Acte *No. 16 - Opening of Act III *No. 17 - Daisy and Bulger - "We are a couple of happy tramps, low on scamps, happy tramps; everywhere we will pitch our camps" *No. 18 - Daisy and Quorn - "Please my lord and master, you'll be true to me? ... Yes, my little darling, I will be. Shall we find when married" *No. 19 - "Hip, hip, hurrah! ... So ring the merry wedding bells to hail this day! ... Hip, hip, hurrah! ... For we're the most tremendous swells in U. S. A!" *No. 20 - Alice and Freddy - "Then you go? ... And you stay! ... What must I do? ... You act for me when I'm away, just as I used to do for you!"

Notes

References

List of roles, list of songs and other information
by the ''New York Times'', dated 7 July 1909

External links

Information about an exhibition on "Dollar Princesses" in Bath, England
* ttp://www.lily-elsie.com/gallery-d2.htm Numerous photos from the original production of ''The Dollar Princess''br>Information from IBDB about the New York productionThe Dollar Princess costume designs, circa 1909
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...