''Dearest Enemy'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

with a book by

Herbert Fields Herbert Fields (July 26, 1897March 24, 1958) was an American librettist and screenwriter. Biography Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1 ...

, lyrics by

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, ...

, and music by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

. This was the first of eight book musicals written by the songwriting team of

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

and writer Herbert Fields, and the first of more than two dozen Rodgers and Hart Broadway musicals. The musical takes place in 1776, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

, when

Mary Lindley Murray Mary Lindley Murray is known in the American Revolution as the Quaker woman who in 1776 held up British General William Howe after the British victory against American forces at Kips Bay. Life Mary Lindley was the daughter of Thomas Lindley ...

detained British troops long enough in Manhattan to give George Washington time to move his vulnerable troops.

Production and background

Hart got the idea for the musical from a plaque in Manhattan about Murray. He, Rodgers and Fields first took their musical to Fields' father,

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber. He also produced shows on his own and starred in come ...

, to produce, but he declined, thinking a Revolutionary War story would not be commercial.Green, Stanley. ''The world of musical comedy'' (1984), Da Capo Press, , pp 116-117 At the time, Rodgers and Hart were unknown young songwriters, but in May 1925, they wrote songs for a charity

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

, ''

The Garrick Gaieties ''Garrick Gaieties'' is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first successful musical by this songwriting team. It debuted in 1925 on Broadway and was the first of three ''Garrick Gaiety'' revues, which were subse ...

'', which became a surprise success, and their songs were a hit.MacKellan, Greg
"Dearest Enemy (1925)"
, 42nd Street Moon, accessed December 7, 2014 Ultimately George Ford, husband of

Helen Ford Helen Ford (born Helen Isabel Barnett; June 6, 1894, Troy, New York–January 19, 1982, Glendale, California) was an American actress. Biography Ford's father was a manufacturer in Troy, and she was considered a musical prodigy as a child. S ...

, a star of the show, agreed to produce it. The musical had been variously described as an operetta and a genuine comic opera in the press. Ford presented a tryout of the musical, titled ''Dear Enemy'' at the Ohio Colonial Theatre in July 1925. After rewrites, it played for a week in Baltimore in early September 1925.''Dearest Enemy''
New World Records, 2013, accessed February 7, 2016 Dearest Enemy with Helen Ford and Charles Purcell NYPL 1814209 (cropped)

Dearest Enemy with Helen Ford and Charles Purcell NYPL 1814209 (cropped)

The

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production opened on September 18, 1925 at the Knickerbocker Theatre and closed on May 22, 1926, after 286 performances. Directed by

John Murray Anderson John Murray Anderson (September 20, 1886 – January 30, 1954) was a Canadian theatre director and producer, songwriter, actor, screenwriter, dancer and lighting designer, who made his career in the United States, primarily in New York City and ...

, the cast included Flavia Arcaro as Mary, Helen Spring as Jane, John Seymour as Captain Harry Tryon, Helen Ford as Betsy Burke, Charles Purcell as Captain Sir John Copeland, Alden Gay as Caroline, Marian Williams as Annabelle, Jane Overton as Peg, Andrew Lawlor Jr. as Jimmy Burke, William Eville as General Henry Clinton, Harold Crane as

General William Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB PC (10 August 172912 July 1814) was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brot ...

, Detmar Poppen as General John Tryon, Arthur Brown as Lieutenant Sudsby, Percy Woodley as General

Israel Putnam Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...

, James Cushman as Major Aaron Burr, Jack Shannon as Private Peters, Mark Truscott as Private Woods, Percy French as Private Lindsay, Frank Lambert as Envoy, and H. E. Eldridge as George Washington. The success of the show led to many more Rodgers and Hart musicals. Despite a good run with very favorable reviews and a national tour, revivals afterwards were few. The musical was seen in 1976 at the

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

, as an American bicentennial production, and in 1996 at

42nd Street Moon 42nd Street Moon is a professional theatre company in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in the preservation and presentation of early and lesser-known works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, ...

in San Francisco. It was given an on-book concert in 1999 by the Musicals Tonight! troupe with piano accompaniment. In 2002, for the Richard Rodgers centennial, New York's amateur Village Light Opera Group (VLOG) produced the show conducted by Ron Noll with an orchestration reconstructed by Larry Moore. A television musical special featuring

Cyril Ritchard Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...

Anne Jeffreys Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was noted as the female lead in the 1950s TV series '' Topper''. Career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichae ...

Robert Sterling Robert Sterling (born William Sterling Hart; November 13, 1917 – May 30, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Topper'' (1953–1955). In 1960, Sterling was honored with a star on the Hollywo ...

, and

Cornelia Otis Skinner Cornelia Otis Skinner (May 30, 1899 – July 9, 1979) was an American writer and actress. Biography Skinner was the only child of actor Otis Skinner and actress Maud Durbin. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College (1 ...

as Mrs. Murray, in an adaptation by Neil Simon, was broadcast on November 26, 1955, and the soundtrack is still available. A

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

of that broadcast was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

in 1997. In 2013,

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.David Brophy, with

Kim Criswell Kim Criswell (born July 19, 1957) is an American musical entertainer and actress. Life and career Criswell was born in Hampton, Virginia, United States, and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After she graduated from Hixson High School in subur ...

as Mrs. Murray. According to Steven Suskin, writing in ''Playbill'', it "couldn't be bettered".Suskin, Steven
"On the Record: Rodgers and Hart's Early Musical ''Dearest Enemy''"
''Playbill'', October 27, 2013, accessed December 7, 2014

Plot

The story is based on an

incident in September 1776 when

, under orders from General George Washington, detained General William Howe and his British troops by serving them cake, wine and conversation in her

Kips Bay, Manhattan Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to the south, and Third Aven ...

home long enough for some 4,000 American soldiers, fleeing their loss in the

Battle of Brooklyn The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

, to reassemble in Washington Heights and join reinforcements to make a successful counterattack. Patriot Mary Murray (of the Murray Hill Murrays) and her young ladies are working to sew uniforms for American soldiers, but they are sad at the absence of their young men. Mary's flirty daughter Jane leads British General Tryon's son Harry to her house; she finds him charming. His commander, General Howe, and some British officers commandeer Mary's house as their temporary headquarters. Mary instructs the houseful of beautiful young ladies to discourage the British soldiers, but the girls are eager to engage the enemy in more than just conversation. George Washington sends word to Mary asking her to try to detain Howe and his officers overnight. Mary's feisty, feminist Irish niece Betsy Burke comes home wearing only a barrel after a dog steals her clothes while she is swimming. British Captain Sir John Copeland has gallantly supplied the barrel. Though divided by nationality and Copeland's sexism, they fall in love ("Here In My Arms"). Mary gives a ball for the British officers, promising to show them some of the beauties of the local countryside. The British soldiers are happy to spend time consuming refreshment and indulging in music, dancing and flirtation at the Murray mansion. Betsy and Sir John dream of being together when the war is over as Jane and Harry also fall in love ("Bye and Bye"). Mary's messenger is captured, and Betsy volunteers to take an update to General Washington. She is told to return to Mary's house and, when the coast is clear for the American soldiers to move, to light a lantern then put it out. Upon her return, Sir John and she acknowledge their love for each other. When Sir John falls asleep, Betsy lights the signal. The American soldiers march North safely. Sir John is captured but, in the post-war epilogue, he is freed and reunited with Betsy.

Songs

;Act I * "Heigh-Ho, Lackaday!" – Mrs. Murray and Girls * "War Is War" – Mrs. Murray and Girls * "I Beg Your Pardon" – Jane and Harry * "Cheerio" – Sir John and Officers * "Full Blown Roses" – Mrs. Murray, Officers and Girls * "The Hermits" – Mrs. Murray and General Tryon * " Here in My Arms" – Betsy and Sir John * Finale – Ensemble ;Act II * Gavotte – Officers and Girls * "I'd Like to Hide It" – Betsy and Girls * "Where the Hudson River Flows" – Mrs. Murray, Howe, Tryon, Officers and Girls * "Bye and Bye" – Betsy and Sir John * "Old Enough to Love" – General Tryon and Girls * "Sweet Peter" – Officers and Girls * "Here's a Kiss" – Betsy and Sir John ;Act III * "Opening" – Ensemble * "Here in My Arms" (reprise) – Betsy :''Note'': During the tryouts, numerous songs were cut from the production, including Ale, Ale, Ale!, "Duet (in the barrel)" (which became the solo song "Oh, Dear"), "Girls Do Not Tempt Me", and "The Three Musketeers". The duet "Dear Me" (formerly "Oh, Dear") is believed to have been cut from the show because Mrs. Ford could not dance in only a barrel costume while holding a parasol.

Critical response

The critic of ''

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 ...

'' "waxed rhapsodic over ongs'that are as uncommon as most of them are beautiful'", and the ''

New York Evening World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publ ...

'' called the book "wise and truly witty and genuinely romantic" and praised the beauty and freshness of the songs. Historian Stanley Green wrote that there was a "well-sustained attempt" to match the music to the plot and period. The ballads were "dainty, charming pieces." The ''Telegram'' reviewer wrote that "We have a glimmering notion that someday they will form the American counterpart of the once great triumvirate of Bolton, Wodehouse, and Kern."

References

External links

*
Overview of show, lorenzhart.org
* ttp://www.allmusic.com/album/dearest-enemy-mw0000235937 Soundtrack of the 1955 broadcastat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{Herbert Fields 1925 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals inspired by real-life events Musicals by Rodgers and Hart Fiction set in 1776 Musicals by Herbert Fields Plays about the American Revolution