The Girl Friend

*The Girl Friend*
The Girl Friend
	Sheet Music
Music	Richard Rodgers
Lyrics	Lorenz Hart
Book	Herbert Fields
Productions	1926 Broadway

The Girl Friend is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. This was the longest running show for the trio to that date.^[1]

Production

The Girl Friend opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Theatre on March 17, 1926, and closed on December 27, 1926, after 301 performances. Produced by Lew Fields (Herbert's father), staged by John Harwood with musical staging by Jack Haskell, the cast starred Sammy White, Eva Puck and June Cochrane. White and Puck were married and well-known vaudeville performers of the time.

Plot

Setting: Long Island, New York

A cyclist trains on a wheel connected to a butter churn on his dairy farm. He is in love with the daughter of a professional cyclist. He is urged to enter a six-day bicycle race by a questionable cycling promoter. Various gamblers try to cause him to lose, but he wins the race and the girl.

Characters

Characters
Name	Gender	Vocal Range
Ellen	Female	Example
Jane Talbot	Female	Example
Duffy	Male	Example
Wynn Spencer	Female	Example
Irene Covel	Female	Example
Fanny Silver	Female	Example
Arthur Spencer	Male	Example
Donald Litt	Male	Example
Frank	Male	Example
Thomas Larson	Male	Example
Mike	Male	Example
Mme. Ruby DeLilly	Female	Example
Henry	Male	Example
Mollie Farrell	Female	Example
Eddie	Male	Example
Jim	Male	Example
Ann	Female	Example
Bill	Male	Example

Songs

Act 1

"Hey! Hey!"
"The Simple Life"
"The Girl Friend"
"Goodbye, Lenny"
"Blue Room"
"Cabarets"
"Why Do I?"
"The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt"
"He's a Winner"
"Town Hall Tonight"
"Good Fellow, Mine"

Act 2

"Creole Cooning Song"
"I'd Like to Take You Home"
"What Is It?"

Critical response

Reviewers praised the humor, dancing, and the "captivating music." The New York American reviewer wrote: "This WAS music, instead of molasses. There was a ditty called 'The Blue Room' which should be sung to exhaustion".^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for me:a biography of Richard Rodgers (2002), Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 1-55783-581-0, p. 78

External links

[meryle-1] Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for me:a biography of Richard Rodgers (2002), Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 1-55783-581-0, p. 78

[1]

v t e Rodgers and Hart
Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart
Musicals	Fly with Me Poor Little Ritz Girl The Garrick Gaieties Dearest Enemy The Girl Friend Peggy-Ann A Connecticut Yankee Present Arms Chee-Chee Ever Green Simple Simon America's Sweetheart Jumbo On Your Toes Babes in Arms I'd Rather Be Right The Boys from Syracuse I Married an Angel Too Many Girls Higher and Higher Pal Joey By Jupiter
Songs	"Manhattan" "Mountain Greenery" "Here in My Arms" "Blue Room" "My Heart Stood Still" "Thou Swell" "To Keep My Love Alive" "You Took Advantage of Me" "With a Song in My Heart" "A Ship Without a Sail" "Dancing on the Ceiling" "Ten Cents a Dance" "He Was Too Good to Me" "I've Got Five Dollars" "Isn't It Romantic?" "Lover" "Mimi" "You Are Too Beautiful" "Blue Moon" "It's Easy to Remember (And So Hard to Forget)" "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" "My Romance" "Little Girl Blue" "There's a Small Hotel" "Glad to Be Unhappy" "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" "Where or When" "I Wish I Were in Love Again" "My Funny Valentine" "Johnny One Note" "The Lady Is a Tramp" "Have You Met Miss Jones?" "I'll Tell the Man in the Street" "Spring Is Here" "Falling in Love with Love" "This Can't Be Love" "Sing for Your Supper" "I Like to Recognize the Tune" "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" "Give It Back to the Indians" "You're Nearer" "It Never Entered My Mind" "I Could Write a Book" "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" "Ev'rything I've Got" "Wait till You See Her"