The Red Mill–Part Two
While the featured image is not very crisp, it is an authentic photograph from the 1906 production of The Red Mill.
Before we move on to Act 2, we have two selections from Act 1 contained in the 1945 Decca recording that we think you will enjoy. The first is the duet, “Isle of Our Dreams,” sung here by Felix Knight and Eileen Farrell.
The second is “Moonbeams,” which is supposed to be another duet between the two lovers, along with a male chorus; however, for some reason, it is sung only by Farrell and the chorus in the Decca recording. Eileen is so good in the role that it would be a shame not to include it; so here it is.
Moving on to Act 2, after an opening chorus, Herbert provided a very dramatic and sinister song to tell “(The) Legend of the Mill.” We found a clip from the 2012 recording by the Comic Opera Guild; Bertha is played by Carla Margolis.
The next song is Tina’s “I Want You to Marry Me.” We will come back to this song in a moment.
The next song we will highlight is sung by the Governor, with a male chorus; it is entitled, “Every Day Is Ladies’ Day With Me” and depicts the bachelor life that the Governor has led up to this point. It is also one of the best comedic songs ever written. Here is the Decca recording, sung by Wilbur Evans and male chorus. Evans is not as well known as other baritones of his era; however, his voice and timing are impeccable. It is a shame that he did not record more often.
The next song is a duet between the Governor and Bertha, the woman he does marry. This is a delightful duet between Eileen Farrell and Felix Knight, entitled “Because You’re You!” Remember, this is the same man who just sang “”Every Day Is Ladies’ Day With Me.”
The final song in Act 2 is a duet written for Montgomery and Stone. It has been picked up and used as a popular song about New York City. One thing ought to be noted; women are referred to as a “peach crop.” The slang usage stems from the 1700’s when such phrases as “pretty as a peach” were used to describe a lovely woman. In looking for the origination of the phrase, I found that “peach” is a word that “has been used colloquially in the figurative sense. It has been used to describe a particularly fine or desirable person or thing, especially an attractive young woman.” Here is Wilbur Evans and the male chorus from the 1945 Decca recording singing “The Streets of New York (In Old New York).”
Finally, let’s go back to the song we skipped earlier. Listen to the Reader’s Digest recording, part two, and you will hear, in order, “Every Day Is Ladies’ Day With Me,” “Because You’re You,” “I Want You to Marry Me (If You Love But Me)” and “The Streets of New York (In Old New York).”
It is undoubtedly true that Montgomery and Stone filled up the seats in any show that they were in and must have accounted for the extended run of The Red Mill (318 performances). As David Ewen comments: “The comic opera had the longest run of any Victor Herbert musical while the composer was still alive.” However, it was revived in 1945; according to Ewen “the text was revised and modernized but the score left untouched.” The revival had a run of 531 performances. Obviously, the quality of the score must have played a very large part in keeping the seats filled up for about 18 months. This is an incredible run for a revival.