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[0:08] David Armstrong: Welcome to another episode of Broadway Nation, the podcast that tells the remarkable story of how immigrant, Jewish, queer, and black artists invented the Broadway musical and how they changed America in the process.

[0:22] David Armstrong: I'm David Armstrong, and I call this episode the Silver Age of the Broadway Musical Part One.

[0:29] David Armstrong: Many historians label the entire period from the 1920s and into the 1960s as the Golden Age of Broadway, but I find it more useful to make a distinction between the Golden Age and what I call the Silver Age.

[0:43] David Armstrong: In my way of thinking, the Silver Age spans roughly from the end of World War I to the opening of Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma in 1943.

[0:53] David Armstrong: During the Silver Age, more than 300 musical comedies, operettas, and reviews opened on Broadway, and overwhelmingly they were the creation of a second wave of Jewish, Irish, queer, and black artists, including a significant contribution from women.

[1:09] David Armstrong: Many of these artists were second generation children of immigrants, and in a big shift from the previous generation, many of them had attended college.

[1:25] David Armstrong: This era's rich trove of perfectly crafted, wonderfully expressive, endlessly captivating, and incredibly enduring works of art have come to be known as the Great American Songbook.

[1:37] David Armstrong: Jazz music also emerged during the same period, but I don't consider jazz music and Broadway music to be exactly the same thing.

[1:44] David Armstrong: They are, however, very closely related, completely mixed up with one another, and their roots are the same.

[1:50] David Armstrong: And in addition, Broadway music was strongly influenced by jazz, and elements of jazz were incorporated into Broadway show tunes.

[1:57] David Armstrong: Conversely, the core repertoire of nearly every leading jazz musician and vocalist has largely consisted of Broadway show tunes.

[2:05] David Armstrong: Even so, the intention behind a jazz composition and a Broadway composition is very different.

[2:10] David Armstrong: The goal of a jazz composer, much like a classical composer, is to create musical impact, and the lyrics of a pure jazz composition, if there even are any, are secondary to the music.

[2:21] David Armstrong: In contrast, the principal intention of a Broadway songwriter is to tell the story, or enrich the depiction of a character within a story, and the words are always of equal, if not even greater importance than the music.

[2:34] David Armstrong: The story of how African American music and Jewish music merge together to create the distinctive sound of the Broadway showtune is a fascinating one, and I'll go into that in depth in my next episode.

[2:56] David Armstrong: What were the shows of the Silver Age like?

[2:58] David Armstrong: Well, to answer that question, let's take a look at the three types of musicals that vied for dominance during this era.

[3:04] David Armstrong: First, there were the musical comedies.

[3:06] David Armstrong: I call it the Silver Age because the hit shows of this period all feature great classic, timeless songs, but unfortunately, their stories were not crafted in a way that we find compelling today.

[3:17] David Armstrong: They didn't have to be.

[3:18] David Armstrong: Audience expectations were very different then.

[3:21] David Armstrong: The shows were made to be disposable, much like a sitcom, an episode of The Simpsons, or a Saturday Night Live sketch today.

[3:28] David Armstrong: And the material could be hit and miss as long as the overall effect was entertaining.

[3:37] David Armstrong: Running side by side with the musical comedies were the operettas.

[3:41] David Armstrong: Although the plots and stories of these shows were more carefully crafted than the musical comedies, and their scores were more purposely tied to the plot and characters, audiences today are just not very drawn to this style of music.

[3:53] David Armstrong: And the books are creaky in their own way, with leading characters that are rather generically romantic and heroic, and comedy sidekicks whose jokes were not very fresh even at the time.

[4:03] David Armstrong: Finally, there were the reviews.

[4:10] David Armstrong: This was the heyday of the review, and these shows were largely built specifically for the performers who starred in them, and their comedy sketches and routines were usually very topical.

[4:20] David Armstrong: To revive these shows today would be much like restaging last week's episode of Saturday Night Live, 50 years from now, with a different cast.

[4:28] David Armstrong: Most of the jokes would be incomprehensible to that future audience because the subject matter would be long forgotten, and because writing that had been tailored to specific stars would not sit all that well on other performers.

[4:40] David Armstrong: The review format migrated to television in the 1950s, and as a result, it pretty much died on Broadway around the same time, except for composer compendiums.

[4:50] David Armstrong: But the structure of the review would heavily influence the structure of the book musicals of the 1970s.

[5:07] David Armstrong: However, in their day, these shows were wildly entertaining, hilariously funny, and sometimes deeply moving.

[5:13] David Armstrong: And they left a tremendous legacy.

[5:15] David Armstrong: In addition to the hundreds of enduring songs that came from them, songs that are still very much with us.

[5:21] David Armstrong: Many of the innovations, techniques, and content that originated in these shows has been handed down to the musicals of today.

[5:28] David Armstrong: That these shows have not retained currency is not really surprising.

[5:32] David Armstrong: Most theatrical works throughout history have faded away entirely, and I wonder what songs, books, movies, and shows of today will still be in the mix a hundred years from now.

[5:42] David Armstrong: This longevity is what makes something a classic, a work of art that endures and retains impact over many years and through changing times, cultures, and values, even if some of their content has become dated and out of sync with contemporary times.

[5:57] David Armstrong: The decade of the 1920s really kicks off with a giant hit that had opened the previous year, 1919, Irene.

[6:04] David Armstrong: As we discuss in episode two, Irene brought together all the strongest elements and best practices of the first wave of musical comedies.

[6:12] David Armstrong: Then in 1921, the sounds and rhythms of the jazz age roared onto Broadway with a sensational Shuffle Along, as we talked about in episode five.

[6:21] David Armstrong: Shuffle Along's immense influence would at first only be seen through individual songs that were incorporated into reviews, such as the Ziegfeld Follies, The George White Scandals, and The Earl Carroll Vanities.

[6:33] David Armstrong: Then September of 1924 began a 12-month period in which the two distinct strains of the musical, operetta and musical comedy, romantic melody and sexy jazz were vividly and definitively established and solidified.

[6:48] David Armstrong: During that year, the smash hits Rosemarie, Lady Be Good, The Student Prince, The Garrick Gaieties, and No No Nanette would all make their debuts.

[6:57] David Armstrong: One of my time travel fantasies is to be able to journey back to September of 1925 and see all of those shows in one week.

[7:05] David Armstrong: Let's look briefly at each of those shows.

[7:12] David Armstrong: Rosemarie, with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, and book and lyrics by Otto Harbak and Oscar Hammerstein II ran for 557 performances, and it cemented the American style of operetta that had been pioneered by Victor Herbert.

[7:28] David Armstrong: The show was set in Canada, part of it in the Canadian Rockies, and it featured a stout-hearted chorus of Canadian mounties.

[7:34] David Armstrong: The biggest hit song was Indian Love Call, which in later decades would be spoofed endlessly, but there was nothing campy or old-fashioned about it at the time.

[7:44] David Armstrong: When I'm calling you answer you.

[8:48] David Armstrong: The polar opposite of Rosemarie was Lady Be Good, which opened two months later.

[9:07] David Armstrong: It was the first of 14 musicals by the songwriting team of brothers George and Ira Gershwin.

[9:13] David Armstrong: And it was also the show that transformed the brother-sister song and dance team of Fred and Adele Astaire into major Broadway stars.

[9:20] David Armstrong: George and Ira's parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants, and the brothers grew up on New York's Lower East Side, where the Yiddish Theater District was located, and it greatly influenced them both.

[9:32] David Armstrong: Fred and Adele's parents were German-Austrian immigrants, and the duo had been a popular vaudeville act since they were children.

[9:39] David Armstrong: The plot of Lady Be Good concerned a vaudeville song and dance team who were so down on their luck that Fred's character feels obligated to marry a wealthy socialite instead of the woman he loves.

[9:50] David Armstrong: With the help of various wacky schemes and disguises, his sister saves him from this undesirable fate.

[9:56] David Armstrong: There was a lot of interest in the show because earlier that year, 26-year-old George Gershwin had debuted what he called his jazz concerto, Rhapsody in Blue at Carnegie Hall.

[10:07] David Armstrong: And because of this, he'd become an overnight celebrity.

[10:09] David Armstrong: Gershwin epitomizes the melding of cultural influences that created the musical sound of Broadway.

[10:16] David Armstrong: Lady Be Good's hit song Fascinating Rhythm had a new sound that reflected the jagged tempo and modern pulse of New York City during the 1920s.

[10:36] David Armstrong: Each morning I get up with a sign.

[11:08] David Armstrong: The Garrick Gaieties, which opened that spring, was an irreverent review that spoofed the plays, stars, and theatrical scene of the day.

[11:16] David Armstrong: Something along the lines of Forbidden Broadway.

[11:18] David Armstrong: It was originally intended to be only a two-performance fundraising event put on by the young members of the Theater Guild, sort of like the interns are gonna put on a show and help us raise money.

[11:28] David Armstrong: However, the audience response was so huge that it was extended into a run of more than 200 performances.

[11:34] David Armstrong: The centerpiece of this success were the songs of 23-year-old composer Richard Rogers and 30-year-old lyricist Lorenz Hart.

[11:42] David Armstrong: Rogers would later say that literally overnight I was lifted from despair.

[11:47] David Armstrong: Interestingly, 28-year-old Herbert Fields was the choreographer of the show.

[11:51] David Armstrong: One song in particular became an instant smash.

[12:08] David Armstrong: This was the first of Rogers and Hart's twenty-six Broadway musicals.

[12:12] David Armstrong: It's very fancy on old Elancy Street, you know.

[12:19] David Armstrong: The Subway charms of so when balmy breezes blow to and fro.

[12:29] David Armstrong: And tell me what street compares with my body.

[12:32] David Armstrong: All of them created during the Silver Age period.

[12:35] David Armstrong: Sweet push carts, gently glide.

[12:44] David Armstrong: The great big cities, a wondrous toy, just made for a girl and boy.

[12:54] David Armstrong: We'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy.

[13:00] David Armstrong: We've looked closely at Larry Hart. Now let's spend a few minutes focusing on Richard Rogers, who I would contend is the most significant individual in the history of the Broadway musical. He was born in New York in 1902 into a prosperous German Jewish family. His father was a doctor. His parents loved music and theater, and during his childhood, Rogers received piano lessons and was taken to many musical shows and operas. He attended Columbia University, where he became the first freshman to write the score for the annual variety show, and where he met both Larry Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. With these two partners and a few others, in a career that would stretch from 1919 to 1979, he would create 43 Broadway musicals and more than 900 songs, many of which are the most performed, recorded, and beloved of all time. It's estimated that on every day of every year, somewhere in the world, there is a live performance of a Richard Rogers musical.

[13:59] David Armstrong: Hi, this is David Armstrong, and if you're enjoying this episode, I strongly suspect that you will want to read my new book, Broadway Nation: How Immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artist Invented the Broadway Musical. On sale now, wherever books are sold, and I'm very happy to report that the early reviews have been terrific. The esteemed author Jeffrey Block says that Broadway Nation is a fascinating, comprehensive, and timely gem of a book that more than lives up to its promise of delivering no less than five books in one. Kudos to David Armstrong. And Tony Award-winning lyricist David Zippel says that David Armstrong's insightful history of the evolution of the Broadway musical and its creators is captivating and comprehensive as well as indispensable.

The book is, of course, available on Amazon, but I recommend that you go to the publisher's website, Bloomsbury.com, where you will currently receive a 10% discount. Again, like the podcast that inspired it, the book is titled Broadway Nation: How immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artist Invented the Broadway Musical. Now, back to the show.

[15:09] David Armstrong: Although No No Nanette didn't open on Broadway until the beginning of the 1925-26 season, by that time, this blockbuster show had already been running for a year in Chicago, where what was supposed to have been an out-of-town tryout for Broadway had become so successful that it just kept running. Two road companies were also already touring America, and a hit London production was already up and running. This mildly sexy farce was lyricist Irving Ceasar's biggest hit. He was the son of Romanian Jewish immigrants, and he provided lyrics for dozens of Broadway musicals. The book was by Otto Harbaugh and Frank Mandel, and the score was by Vincent Youmans.

[15:47] ♪ Musical number: "No, No, Nanette" — performed by Vincent Youmans ♪

[16:16] David Armstrong: Like Cole Porter, Youmans is unusual in this world since he came from a very wealthy WASP family. But also like Porter, he was probably queer. However, if that was true, he left very little record of it. He had a reputation for being cold and distant. And he worked with many lyricists, but most of them only once. That makes me wonder if he was just very reluctant or very afraid to reveal his personal life to his colleagues. In spite of having to retire from songwriting when he was only 36 due to tuberculosis, during his short career, he composed the scores to 12 Broadway musicals and many timeless hit songs, including one of the most performed songs of all time, "Tea for Two."

[17:02] ♪ Musical number: "Tea for Two" — performed by Vincent Youmans ♪

[17:26] David Armstrong: An unexpected smash hit Broadway revival of No No Nanette in 1974 would put that song and that show back into the cultural zeitgeist and spark the nostalgia craze of the 1970s. Toward the end of the decade, another of the most successful songwriting teams of the 1920s emerged, and they were a cultural melting pot unto themselves. They were the Portuguese, Russian, Jewish, and German team of DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson.

[17:57] ♪ Musical number: "The Best Things in Life Are Free" — performed by DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson ♪

[18:09] David Armstrong: The plots and settings of their shows were ripped from the latest headlines and cultural fads of the day. Their most enduring hit, Good News, was set at fictional Tate College. Now, prior to World War I, only the children of the very wealthy went to college, and they were overwhelmingly male. The 1920s brought a gigantic surge in college enrollment, and by the end of the decade, 20% of all college-aged people had matriculated. Today it's around 65%. This included a significant number of women. By 1926, college life and especially college football had become national topics of interest. And Good News set out to capitalize on that. The setting provided a chance to put a stage full of young, attractive, horny college kids front and center.

The lyric to the opening number sets the tone. Students are we of dear old Tate College, learning, learning, learning every day, filling our minds with jewels of knowledge, learning, learning, learning every day. Learning how to sin, not how to think, how to mix our gin right in the sink. We spend our days in having romances. We spend our nights hoofing at dances. When we're through with college and our pennants have been furled, we'll be prepared to face the wide, wide world. Good News introduced the hit songs, "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and "The Varsity Drag."

[19:29] ♪ Musical number: "The Varsity Drag" — performed by DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson ♪

[20:06] David Armstrong: This was the first of four consecutive hit DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson musical comedies that epitomized what was fashionable and racy on Broadway in the late 1920s. All of them would run close to 400 performances, and each of them would feature a pop culture fad at its center. The plot of Hold Everything revolved around the sport of boxing. It made a star of Bert Lahr and introduced the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee." Their next musical, Follow Through, was subtitled A Musical Slice of Country Club Life, and the story involved a women's golf tournament. This show made a star of dancer Eleanor Powell and introduced "Button Up Your Overcoat." Since Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart were front page news in the late 1920s, it's not surprising that the DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson's final show would be set in the world of aviation and be titled Flying High. Buddy DeSilva, Lou Brown, and Ray Henderson together and separately worked on scores of Broadway musical comedies and reviews and created dozens of classic hit songs.

[20:38] ♪ Musical number: "Button Up Your Overcoat" — performed by DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson ♪

[22:35] ♪ Musical number: "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" — performed by DeSilva, Brown, and Henderson ♪

[23:26] David Armstrong: For the moment, I'm going to skip over the 1927 musical Showboat. It was in many ways the most significant show of the Silver Age, and I will discuss it in great detail in upcoming episodes. As you might imagine, the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed had a tremendously negative effect on Broadway. During the 1927-28 season, 59 musicals opened on Broadway. But by the 1932-33 season, there were only 29. Of course, it was not just the pool of investors that had shrunk, the audience had shrunk as well. Nearly one-third of all New Yorkers were unemployed, and at least 20,000 of them were theater workers. As you will see in the next episode, in spite of, or perhaps because of the hardships and struggle of the depression, the Broadway musical during the 1930s would enter an extraordinary period of artistic flourishing and continued development that included the emergence of several new defining and iconic masters of the musical theater.

[24:38] ♪ Musical number ♪

[25:19] David Armstrong: Broadway Nation is produced and written by me, David Armstrong. I want to thank everyone at KVSH 101.9 FM, the voice of beautiful Vashon Island, Washington, and especially everyone at the Broadway Podcast Network.