George Gershwin "PARDON MY ENGLISH" Jack Pearl / Lyda Roberti 1933 FLOP Playbill

Description

This is a rare February 20th, 1933 playbill from the closing week of the Original Broadway production of the GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN and HERBERT FIELDS musical comedy "PARDON MY ENGLISH" which played the Majestic Theatre in New York City. (The production opened January 20th, 1933 and closed February 25th, 1933 after only 43 performances.) ..... Production History:
Producers ALEX A. AARONS and VINTON FREEDLEY approached GEORGE and IRA GERSHWIN to create a showcase for the talents of English
music hall
star JACK BUCHANAN,
and linked them with HERBERT FIELDS and MORRIE RYSKIND, whose book required the actor to appear in dual roles, lower-class German thug "Golo Schmidt" and upper-crust British nobleman "Michael Bramleigh". The sophisticated Buchanan had no problem portraying "Bramleigh" but was unable to capture the essence of "Schmidt". The show opened in Philadelphia to critical pans
. Rather than proceed to
Broadway
, the creative team added characters and expanded the role of police commissioner "Bauer", played by radio's "
Baron Munchausen
", JACK PEARL.
The revised production opened in
Newark, New Jersey
on January 2nd, 1933, but it was obvious that Buchanan was still a major problem. They bought out his contract and
the producers replaced him with dialect comedian GEORGE GIVOT. The production opened on Broadway on January 20th, 1933 at the
Majestic Theatre
. The book was directed by JOHN McGOWAN, the production was staged by producer VINTON FREEDLEY, and the musical numbers staged by GEORGE HALE. In addition to Givot and Pearl, the cast included JOSEPHINE HUSTON as Bauer's daughter "Ilse" and musical-comedy star LYDA ROBERTI
(her speciality was a "polyglot of Polish, German, and near-Hungarian") as "Gita Gobel".
According to
Ben Brantley
, "By the time it hit Broadway it was a desperately stitched patchwork that ran for 43 performances before exiting into oblivion. It was, Ira Gershwin later wrote, 'a headache from start to finish'." The critics unanimously condemned it. (Wikipedia) .....
In addition to JACK PEARL, LYDA ROBERTI and JOSEPHINE HUSTON, the cast included TONY BLAIR, ELEANOR SHALER, JACK DAVIS, ROBERT SPENCER, WILLIAM LILLING, CLIFF "CHARLIE" HALL, BETTY HAMILTON, CARL RANDALL, BARBARA NEWBERRY, HARRY T. SHANNON, JOSEPH SANTLEY, GERALD OLIVER SMITH, RUTH URBAN, WILMA ROELOFF, GEORGE SHIELDS, JOHN CORTEZ, BEAU TILDEN and JACK CARVER ..... CREDITS: Book by HERBERT FIELDS; Music by GEORGE GERSHWIN ("Girl Crazy", "Lady, Be Good!", "Of Thee I Sing", "Oh, Kay!", "Rosalie", "Funny Face", "Porgy and Bess", "George White's Scandals"); Lyrics by IRA GERSHWIN; Choreographed by GEORGE HALE; Sets designed by JOHN WENGER; Costumes designed by ROBERT TEN EYCK STEVENSON; Book Directed by JOHN McGOWAN; Staged by VINTON FREEDLEY; Produced by ALEX A. AARONS and VINTON FREEDLEY ..... DETAILS: The 30 page playbill measures 7" X 9 1/2" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers, bios of each of the leading actors and wonderful vintage advertising but with the exception of the front cover, no cast photos ..... CONDITION: With the exception of a light vertical crease and minor edge wear, this rare playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.