Lyrics Cole Porter Productions 1919 Broadway Composer Cole Porter | Book George V. Hobart Lyricist Cole Porter | |
Similar Cole Porter plays, Musicals | ||
Hitchy-Koo of 1919 is a musical revue with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by George V. Hobart. This revue was third in a series of four Hitchy-Koo revues from 1917 to 1920 produced by, and starring, Raymond Hitchcock. The original Broadway production of this version played in 1919. The revue received favourable reviews.
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Production history
The show had tryouts in Atlantic City, New Jersey in August 1919 and the Colonial Theatre, Boston in September 1919 prior to its Broadway premiere. The revue debuted on Broadway at the Liberty Theatre on October 6, 1919 and closed on November 22, 1919, running for a total of 56 performances. The show later toured the United States. It starred, and was produced by, Raymond Hitchcock, who also produced and starred in versions of Hitchy-Koo in 1917, 1918, and 1920.
Some of the songs were written while Porter was in Paris, during World War I. As Porter was returning to the United States by ship, he met Hitchcock. After hearing some of Porter's songs, Hitchcock engaged Porter for the 1919 show. The song "When I Had a Uniform On", helped launch the stage career of the Broadway comic, Joe Cook. One of the songs, "Old-Fashioned Garden" became Porter's first hit. (The song used the surplus flower costumes the producers had bought from Florenz Ziegfeld.)
The large cast included Lucille Ager, Maurice Black, Dan Brennan, Chief Eagle Horse, Sylvia Clark, Joe Cook, Lillian Kemble Cooper, James J. Doherty, Raymond Hitchcock, Charles Howard, Waneta Means, Ruth Mitchell, Florence O'Denishawn, Ursula O'Hare, Elaine Palmer, Eleanor Sinclair, Mark Sullivan, and Charles Witzell.
Songs
"Old-Fashioned Garden" and "Peter Piper" were recorded in 1919 by Prince's Band / Orchestra (Columbia A-2874). "Old-Fashioned Garden" was recorded again the same year by Olive Kline (Victor 45201). The following year, "Old-Fashioned Garden" was recorded by Joseph M. Knecht (Emerson 10319), Yerkes Jazarimba Band (Paramount 200043) and Palace Trio (Victor 35696).
Critical reception
The revue was well received. The New York Times critic wrote: "The music and lyrics are the work of Cole Porter, who has made a particularly clever job of the lyrics and a good tinkling one of the music.
Hitchy-Koo Revues
There were 4 Hitchy-Koo revues that ran on Broadway:
The Hitchy-Koo of 1922 began tryouts on October 10, 1922 at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre, Philadelphia, but ran for less than two weeks. The music and lyrics were by Cole Porter and book by Harold R. Atteridge. This was the last in the series and the only show not to play on Broadway, but it did tour the United States.