Jerome David Kern

First compositions For a time, Kern worked as a rehearsal pianist in Broadway theatres and as a song-plugger for Tin Pan Alley music publishers. While in London, he secured a contract from the American impresario Charles Frohman to provide songs for interpolation in Broadway versions of London shows. He began to provide these additions in 1904 to British scores for An English Daisy, by Seymour Hicks and Walter Slaughter, and Mr. Wix of Wickham, for which he wrote most of the songs. Angela Lansbury sings "How'd you like to spoon with me?" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) In 1905, Kern contributed the song "How'd you like to spoon with me?" to Ivan Caryll's hit musical The Earl and the Girl when the show transferred to Chicago and New York in 1905. He also contributed to the New York production of The Catch of the Season (1905), The Little Cherub (1906) and The Orchid (1907), among other shows. From 1905 on, he spent long periods of time in London, contributing songs to West End shows like The Beauty of Bath (1906; with lyricist P. G. Wodehouse) and making valuable contacts, including George Grossmith Jr. and Seymour Hicks, who were the first to introduce Kern's songs to the London stage. In 1909 during one of his stays in England, Kern took a boat trip on the River Thames with some friends, and when the boat stopped at Walton-on-Thames, they went to an inn called the Swan for a drink. Kern was much taken with the proprietor's daughter, Eva Leale (1891–1959), who was working behind the bar. He wooed her, and they were married at the Anglican church of St. Mary's in Walton on October 25, 1910. The couple then lived at the Swan when Kern was in England. In May 1915, Kern was due to sail with Charles Frohman from New York to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but Kern missed the boat, having overslept after staying up late playing poker. Frohman died in the sinking of the ship. The "Princess Theatre shows" were unique on Broadway not only for their small size, but their clever, coherent plots, integrated scores and naturalistic acting, which presented "a sharp contrast to the large-scale Ruritanian operettas then in vogue" or the star-studded revues and extravaganzas of producers like Florenz Ziegfeld. Earlier musical comedy had often been thinly plotted, gaudy pieces, marked by the insertion of songs into their scores with little regard to the plot. But Kern and Bolton followed the examples of Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe in integrating song and story. "These shows built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre. The "Princess Theatre shows" were unique on Broadway not only for their small size, but their clever, coherent plots, integrated scores and naturalistic acting, which presented "a sharp contrast to the large-scale Ruritanian operettas then in vogue"[3] or the star-studded revues and extravaganzas of producers like Florenz Ziegfeld. Earlier musical comedy had often been thinly plotted, gaudy pieces, marked by the insertion of songs into their scores with little regard to the plot. But Kern and Bolton followed the examples of Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe in integrating song and story. "These shows built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization."] The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre. The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl (1912 play; starring Billie Burke) – incidental music The Red Petticoat (1912) – Kern's first complete score To-Night's the Night (1914) – contributor of two songs to this Rubens musical The Girl from Utah (1914) – added five songs to the American production of this Rubens musical Nobody Home (1915) – the first "Princess Theatre show" Very Good Eddie (1915; revived in 1975) Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 (1916; a revue; the first of many) – contributed four songs Theodore & Co (1916) – contributed four songs to young Ivor Novello's London hit. Miss 1917 - the musical comedy Miss Springtime (1917) – contributor of two songs to this Emmerich Kalman success Have a Heart (1917) – composer and contributor of some lyrics[62] Love O' Mike (1917) Oh, Boy! (1917) – the most successful Princess Theatre show Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 (1917) – contributor of "Because You Are Just You (Just Because You're You)" Leave It to Jane (1917; revived in 1958 Off-Broadway) Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918) – the last Princess Theatre hit "Oh, My Dear" (1918) – contributed one song to this last "Princess Theatre show" The Night Boat (1920) Hitchy-Koo of 1920 (1920) – revue Sally (1920; revived in 1923 and 1948) – one of Kern's biggest hits The Cabaret Girl (London 1922) The Bunch and Judy (1922) – Kern's first show with Fred Astaire Stepping Stones (1923) During the last phase of his theatrical composing career, Kern continued to work with his previous collaborators but also met Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, with whom Kern wrote his most lasting, memorable, and well-known works. The most successful of these are as follows: