Cleaning Up the Last Post and Moving On

The first thing we would like to do is to address the issue of the George M. Cohan quote made at the curtain calls for The Four Cohans.

According to Twenty Years on Broadway And the years it took to get there, George recalled in his autobiography that in 1896 The Four Cohans could not get a booking, and Josie’s single act was carrying the family. Their big break came when the Filson and Errol team had to leave a show in Brooklyn that was being produced by Hyde and Behman. They were called to fill in and performed Googles Doll House; the act normally ran for 17 minutes; this night it took 26 minutes. The Cohans smiled through the requisite curtain calls and went downstairs to change, when the stage manager yelled to them on the stairs that the audience was demanding another curtain call. Up they went, out they went, as the audience cried:

“Speech! Speech! Nothing of this kind had ever happened before. I turned to dad, expecting him to offer a few words; but he gave me a nod of the head, so I stepped to the edge of the footlights, raised my hand for quiet, and for the first time in my life, said: Ladies and gentlemen, my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you. A howl of laughter followed this, and then another rousing round of applause went up as we left the stage. It was my first curtain speech, and got such a laugh that I never bothered writing any other for the twenty years that followed.” Harper and Brothers, First Edition, 1924.

George did not mention any other version through the rest of the book. However, thanks to Grace Pino Tons, I found that I had made a mistake and put “his father” first. Sorry George; your mother should have received the first bouquet.

In addition, thanks to Paul Galbraith, with Actors Equity, we are reminded that at the end of the musical George M, Cohan ended the quotation with “and, as for myself, that goes without saying.”

I have no idea where this second version originated, so if anyone knows where the second quote came from and when, I would very much appreciate hearing from you.

Finally, I did a bad job proofreading the draft: Bernard Herrmann’s last name is spelled with two r’s and two n’s. Thank you to Oliver Twist for catching this mistake. And don’t think that this is a small nit; a man’s name is his identity. If we want to honor Bernard, at least we ought to get the spelling correct.

Oliver also reminded me of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and of his contribution to American film scores. I started to highlight Broadway musicians who toiled in anonymity on Broadway only to find great success as a composer in Hollywood. I think we discussed the work of Alfred Newman and some other musical directors and orchestrators. Korngold never worked on Broadway, but we ought to work a few of the “masters of soundtracks” into our weekly posts. Maybe we could do a show on Tuesday and a Hollywood legend on Thursday.

Now, let’s get back to Frank Loesser and his next project, the 1952 movie, Hans Cristian Anderson. It is not a biographical movie, and the movie itself includes an introduction that states that this is not a story of his life but “a fairytale about this great spinner of fairy tales.” The movie stars Danny Kaye in a wonderfully subdued performance, along with a fine supporting cast. In addition, the book is written by Moss Hart and Ben Hecht. The following is a description of the plot of the movie, which we have “borrowed” from Wikipedia.

“In the 1830s, in the small Danish town of Odense, cobbler Hans Christian Andersen spends his day spinning fairy tales for the village children, teaching them lessons about pride, humility, love and growing up through his fanciful characters. One day, the stern schoolmaster, who believes Hans is wasting his pupils’ precious time, implores the Burgomaster and councilmen to curtail the cobbler’s habit of distracting the students with his storytelling, but even the adult citizens easily become a rapt audience for Hans’ fables. Hans finally agrees to stop distracting the children and returns to his shop, where his teenage assistant, the orphan Peter, begs him to stop causing trouble. However, later that day Hans is drawn back to the schoolhouse to see the children. As he hears the schoolchildren drone mathematical phrases, he compares an inchworm’s myopic measuring of beautiful blossoms to the schoolmaster’s blindness to beauty and creativity.”

Here is a video clip of the song “The Inch Worm.”

“On yet another day, when the children do not arrive at the sound of the school bell, the schoolmaster deduces that Hans is again distracting his pupils. When the schoolmaster then demands that the Burgomaster and the councilmen choose between him and the cobbler, they decide that Hans must leave Odense. Peter, who has witnessed the verdict, returns to the shop and secretly tries to save his friend from the shame of being exiled by eagerly suggesting Hans travel to Copenhagen. After much prodding, Peter succeeds in convincing Hans to leave that afternoon by reminding him that he will be the envy of the town for having been the first to visit the famous city. Soon after Hans begins his journey, Peter joins him on the trail, bringing all the shop’s tools to start their business anew.”

Here is a video clip showing Hans and Peter coming to Copenhagen.

“After a sea voyage, the pair arrive at the city’s harbor and find their way to the Great Square of Copenhagen, which is filled with vendors selling flowers, pots and pans and fresh foods. When Hans sets up shop and introduces himself to the crowd while standing on a statue of the king, police arrest him for defaming the image of their leader. Peter, who has sought refuge from the police by hiding near the back entrance of the Royal Theatre, overhears choreographer Niels demand that a company producer send for a cobbler and asks them to free his friend, a cobbler, from jail. Meanwhile, Hans sees a lonely young girl outside his jail cell window and offers to introduce her to his companion. By drawing on his thumb, Hans creates a puppet he calls “Thumbelina” and brings a smile to the girl’s face.

Here is a video clip of the song “Thumbelina.”

“Soon after, Hans is bailed out of jail by the theater company and taken to the theater where he becomes entranced by the beauty and talent of a Royal Danish Ballet dress rehearsal. When Niels ridicules lead ballerina Doro’s performance, she in turn complains that her shoes need adjusting. Doro gives the slippers to Hans, who is immediately smitten with the ballerina. After Hans leaves, Peter learns that Niels and Doro are a happily married couple, despite their theatrical quarrels. When Hans returns, Niels is equating his wife’s performance with an “elephant in the snow drift,” prompting Doro to break into tears. After learning that the couple is married, Hans fantasizes that he can save Doro from her horrible fate with “the cruel” Niels.”

Here is a clip from the movie with the song “No Two People.”

“Later, when Peter explains that the couple is actually in love, Hans resists the idea and writes a love letter to Doro in the form of a fable called “The Little Mermaid,” in which he tells her that she has chosen the wrong man. That night while Peter surreptitiously reads the letter, a gust of wind whisks it from his hands and carries it into the theater through an open window, where a stage doorman finds it and delivers it to Doro. The next morning, Peter tells Hans that Doro has the letter, but Hans is unconcerned, believing that Doro’s possession of the letter is a good omen. The next day, the entire ballet company sets off on their annual tour, leaving Hans bereft, but he soon finds comfort entertaining a new group of children with his stories. One day, Lars, a sad boy with a shaved head, remains behind after the other children tease him. Hans tells him the story of an ugly duckling who is ostracized by his peers until the ice melts at winter’s end, and he sees his reflection in the lake and finds he has become a handsome swan. When not with the children, Hans counts the days by making pair after pair of brightly colored satin slippers for his absent ballerina and dreaming of her love. One day, Hans receives an invitation from the Gazette newspaper office, where Lars’s father, the publisher, thanks Hans for helping his son overcome his difficulties and offers to publish “The Ugly Duckling” in the newspaper. Overjoyed by the news, Hans asks that his credit be changed from “Hans, the cobbler” to “Hans Christian Andersen” and runs down the street singing his full name with pride.”

Here is the song, “I’m Hans Christian Anderson.”

“That evening, when the ballet company returns, Doro tells Hans that they have created a ballet based on his story “The Little Mermaid,” which Hans believes is a sign of her love for him. The next evening, Peter tells Hans about the councilmen’s verdict and warns Hans that Doro will humiliate him as well. Disappointed by his friend’s attitude, Hans suggests that they part ways and leaves for the opening of the new ballet. When Hans tries to deliver Doro’s slippers backstage, Niels locks the insistent writer in a closet to prevent him from disrupting the performers. While Hans listens to the music and dreams of his story, the performance opens on stage. In the ballet, mermaids float in the ocean, while a ship carrying a handsome prince sinks to the mermaids’ garden at the bottom of the sea. The littlest mermaid helps the unconscious man to the surface, saving his life. Having fallen in love with the prince, she seeks the help of the sea witches, who transform the mermaid into a woman, so she might find the prince on land. She arrives at the palace during a masquerade ball and dances with the prince, but his attentions are for another. Heartbroken, the mermaid returns to the sea.

“The morning after the ballet, Doro sends for Hans and discovers that he is in love with her and has misunderstood her relationship with Niels. Niels inadvertently interrupts their conversation and insults Hans by offering to pay him for “The Little Mermaid.” To save face, Hans refuses Niels’s offer and claims that his writing was a fluke. Doro knowingly accepts the slippers Hans made for her and graciously allows him to leave. On the road to Odense, Hans meets Peter and renews their friendship. Upon reaching town, Hans is greeted as a celebrity and regales the citizens, including the schoolmaster, with his now famous moral tales.”

Here is a video clip of the song “Anywhere I Wander” that is set against a background of a series of scenes from the movie.

While this is not a traditional form of Broadway musical, it certainly captures the intent of the book musical, where the score is written to match songs and dances to the stories created by Hans Christian Anderson and thus let his fairy tales tell the fictional story of the man who wrote them.