George M. Cohan In America's Theater     |   home Stageography   |   What's New   |   George Washington, Jr.   |   The Merry Malones   |   Broadway Jones   |   45 Minutes From Broadway   |   About Me   |   The Little Millionaire   |   Little Nellie Kelly   |   The Tavern   |   Seven Keys To Baldpate   |   Ah, Wilderness!   |   Get Rich Quick Wallingford   |   The Royal Vagabond   |   Discography & Filmography   |   Early years: 1878-1900   |   Broadway Rise: 1900-1909   |   Broadway Emperor: 1910-1919   |   Decline & Fall: 1920-1929   |   Little Johnny Jones   |   I'd Rather Be Right   |   Broadway Legend: 1930-1978   |   Mailbag/Contact Me   |   Related Links   |   Articles & Thoughts   |   The Yankee Prince  Little Johnny Jones Opened: November 7, 1904 Liberty Theater, NYC                                                                                Sheet Music Cover Original Cast: Johnny Jones........................George M. Cohan Anthony Anstey......................Jerry Cohan Mrs. Kenworth........................Nellie Cohan Goldie Gates..........................Ethel Levey Henry Hapgood......................Donald Brian Wilson (The Unknown)..........Tom Lewis Timothy McGee......................Sam J. Ryan Captain Squirvy......................C.J. Harrington Florabelle Fly..........................Truly Shattuck Bessie.....................................Edith Tyler Sing Song...............................J. Bernard Dyllyn Inspector Perkins...................Charles Bachmann Hung Chung............................Fred Williams Synopsis: Johnny Jones (George M. Cohan), an American jockey, is accused of throwing the English Derby by Anstey (Jerry Cohan).  His soon to be sweetheart Goldie (Ethel Levey) follows him to London with her lawyer (Donald Brian).  While in London she disguises herself as a man, fooling both Jones and her Aunt (Nellie Cohan), hoping to discover if Jones really loves her.  In the end, Jones is vindicated of the charges and marrys Goldie. Songs From The Show: Act I The Cecil Of London Town                                                              They're All My Friends Mamselle Fauchett Op In The Ansom Nesting In A New York Tree The Yankee Doodle Boy* Act II Off To The Derby Girls From The USA Sailors Of The St. Hurrah                                                         Goodbye Flo So Long Sing Song Good Old California A Girl I Know* Give My Regards To Broadway* Act III March Of The Frisco Chinks Life's A Funny Proposition After All* I'm Mighty Glad I'm Living That's All** Songs associated with the show but not referenced in script or Program: Foong, Toong, Fee If Mr. Boston Lawson Had His Way * indicates songs performed by Cohan ** this song replaced "Life's A Funny Proposition After All" in subsequent revivals of the play. A postcard depicting the musical number "Op In Me 'Ansom!" A mock-up of the Cecil Hotel in London was used for the set of Act I. Critic's Circle: "George M. Cohan who begins his career as a star in the piece, made his reputation as a member of that clever family of funmakers, the Four Cohans.  The new play is not as funny as some of the earlier pieces, and there are no new songs quite as good as "If I Were Only Mr. Morgan" (featured in "Running For Office").  The piece is really melodrama with a musical setting, and deals with the tribulations of an American jockey who is driven from the English turf by the manoeuvres of an American gambler.  The part of the jockey gives the star very little opportunity, and the doleful song about the uselessness of living (Life's A Very Funny Proposition After All), evidently intended as the piece de resistance, is quite out of place in a play of this character.  Jerry Cohan is not at home in the role of the villain, and Ethel Levey, a graceful dancer and comedienne, does not shine with any particular lustre in her dual role.  Tom Lewis, a burly, good-natured comedian who has made a reputation in vaudeville, made a hit." Theater Magazine - December 1904 "At the Providence Opera House last evening George M. Cohan, one of "the Four," with a good-sized company, began a week's engagement in his latest musical offense, "Little Johnny Jones."  The production still has "four Cohans," although Josephine has deserted the fold.  Father and mother are still with the show and so is Ethel Levey, who is Mrs. George M. in private life.  The combination shows its familiar styles of varied talents neither better or worse than when last seen in this city and the entertainment is about of the usual Cohan standard, although there are features in this offering that have never been seen on any stage before.  The extremely large audience present left no doubt as to its hearty approval of the whole affair.  The applause was frequent and there were curtain calls and a speech by the "author actor."   All of which was in sad contrast to the comparatively slim and indifferent greeting extended to Miss Eleanor Robson, week before last, as well as to many of the previous attractions of marked artistic merit. According to the programme, George M. Cohan is responsible for about everything in "Little Johnny Jones."  He wrote the play, he wrote and composed the musical numbers and he enacts the title role and tries to sing some of his own concoctions.  He disarmed all suspicion in his brief curtain speech by saying that he did not want anyone to take him seriously, either as actor, author or composer.  He delivered his speech, however, from the corner of his mouth, which did not impart a tone of sincerity to his remarks.  And, whatever he may say, before the curtain, it is a serious thing - this unloading of a conglomeration like "Little Johnny Jones" upon an innocent and too readily absorbent public.  It must be treated seriously. In the first place young Mr. Cohan has done things to the "drama" that would cause even the audacious G. Bernard Shaw to gasp.  "Musical comedies" are common, but this is the first known attempt to construct a "musical melodrama."  From my possible viewpoint of art, even that of the Rogers Brothers, the result is as weird and "all to the bad" as could be imagined.  There is more than a barrelful of plot, and it keeps croping out in chunks in the middle of alleged music and eccentric dancing in a way to make a sane person hold his throbbing head.  Any attempt to describe it would be futile; life is too short.  To carry this ill-assorted combination along, Mr. Cohan has written a lot of dialogue that has some bright spots, but for the most part is commonplace, to put it kindly; and he has provided a dozen and a half "musical numbers" whose distinguishing feature is ginger.  In fact, there is more ginger than music.  It is all very Cohanesque.     Ethel Levey In "Little Johnny Jones" Perhaps young Mr. Cohan is getting more modest.  Anyway, he had had the consideration to eliminate himself largely from the action of this play, although he is the hero and that is much to be thankful for.  When he does appear he "sings" and talks with the same nasal voice and he dances with the same agility...Ethel Levey also dances with all her former skill, and her male impersonation is excellent.  Jerry J. Cohan, and Helen F. Cohan have roles that are well within their abilities, and their work is as credible as any in the support.  The real "star" of the melodrama is Tom Lewis, who plays a nonchalant American detective.  He gives a genuine character impersonation, and about all the bright lines in the piece fall to him.  He knows what to do with them,  and he and the chorus girls are the really attractive features of "Little Johnny Jones." The aggregation will remain at the Opera House for the week, and with the usual Wednesday and Saturday matinees." Frederick H. Young, Providence Journal, April 11, 1905 Publicity Still Cohan's Recollection: "Of course, when Sam and I first went into business together, I naturally thought Sam had a lot of money, you know?  And we didn't talk about that until we were in the middle of rehearsals of our first show.  Then, when he told me he was broke, that was my first surprise.  And he seemed to be just as surprised as I was when I told him I was broke. And the members of the company were very much surprised when they found out we were both broke." Still From "Little Johnny Jones" "I had been to London the summer before and conceived the idea of using the Cecil Hotel courtyard for one scene and the Southampton pier for another, but beyond that I had given no thought to story, situations, or musical numbers, as was far too busy to get down to actual writing until about ten days before rehearsal call."                                    _________________________________ "When I got through with the manuscript of "Little Johnny Jones" I had an old-fashioned comedy melodrama "all dressed up" in songs and dances. 'You can't play a mob scene, shoot off guns, and dash from heroics into a musical number.  The public will never stand for it,' said Theodore Kreamer, a writer of popular melodrama, after witnessing my dress rehearsal. 'Well, it's new isn't it?' 'Yes, it's new, of course, but - ' 'Then at least they'll have to give me credit for trying.' That was the only argument I had to offer. I was superstitious enough to book Hartford as the opening stand, hoping to follow along the luck of "The Governor's Son."  "Little Johnny Jones" was a smashing hit possibly one of the biggest in the history of American musical comedy. Our first New York engagement with the piece, nevertheless, was a queer experience.  We came into the Liberty Theater, and the opening performance was apparently a sensational success.  The indifference of both press and public, however,  was so pronounced that after seven weeks of half-filled houses, pretty well convinced that New York would have none of it. We moved to Philadelphia, where the play proved such a popular hit, we were immediately recalled to Broadway, where we reopened at the New York Theater and ran to capacity audiences for weeks and weeks.  Of course, this was to scale of popular prices, but the speculators were on the sidewalk collecting fancy premiums just the same.  It was the one and only Broadway "comeback" I have ever known or heard of. We got busy at once and organized a second "Johnny Jones" troupe and sent it throughout the country while I continued to play New York and Philadelphia, and later on Boston and Chicago.  It was what was known as a "freak attraction" from the box office standpoint, but the critics didn't take very kindly to my personal performance of the title role. 'A swaggering, impudent, noisy vaudevillian, entirely out of place in first-class theaters,' was the opinion of one of New York's foremost dramatic experts. Another prominent critic characterized me as 'the musical-comedy nuisance.' "                                       ____________________________ "In the meantime, the "Johnny Jones" song hits were being whistled, brass banded, hand organized, and phonographed throughout the United States to such an extent that even musical critics took a shot at me. "Give My Regards To Broadway," "Good-by Flo," "I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy," and all the others were "tin-pan tunes," according to the musicianly highbrows. 'Cohan is a disease,' wrote one fellow in Cincinnati, 'and the Yankee Doodle fever is spreading far and wide.' 'Fly your flag; Cohan's in town,' was the caption line of a cartoon of Uncle Sam addressing the populace, drawn by a comic artist in the comical town of St. Louis." Notes: This was Cohan's third full-length musical comedy, and the one that made him a household name.  Cohan found the idea for the show via a newspaper article about the London jockey, Todd Sloane.  This was the first show by the new producing team of Cohan & Harris.  It was agreed early on in their partnership that Cohan would tend to the artistic side of  the company, and Harris would take care of the business.  The team elected to sign a contract with the Theatrical Syndicate, in an effort to play the best theaters in the country (in 1904, the only solid options were the Theatrical Syndicate, or the newly formed, upstart Shubert Organization).   Abe Erlanger, one of the five original partners of the Theatrical Syndicate, took a special interest in Cohan.  The Syndicate was long known for its mistreatment of anyone connected in the theater.  However,  Erlanger was astute enough to see in Cohan "the wave of the future of musical comedies." It added to Cohan's ability to keep Erlanger at bay and prevent him from meddling with his production. Purposefully, the character of Johnny Jones, was not given too much time on the stage. Yet, each scene in the play revolves around Jones, so the character is never far from the audience's mind.  Cohan's shrewdness over his role paid off. In an effort to try to understand the impact that this show had on the world of Broadway (in 1904 and 1905), the standard for a musical program was a European flavored operetta.  This was the polar opposite of Cohan's presentation.  He offered a complete departure from the slow, mannerly, proper European code of conduct.  As Armond Fields and L. Marc Fields cited in their book, "From the Bowery To Broadway, Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theater,"  "....Cohan's "Little Johnny Jones" was a revelation: a musical with the dramatic shape (and impact) of a melodrama, with songs in a vernacular that approximated the everyday speech of the audience." "In its conception and execution, "Little Johnny Jones" was more of the same, only done better: a showcase for the star performer.  It simultaneously confirmed the conventional wisdom about musicals (that they should be extensions of the star's personality) and proposed an impossible model.  To emulate the relative coherence of "Little Johnny Jones," one needed a star with the triple-threat talents of George M. , but there has never been another stage figure who combined these abilities." "Little Johnny Jones" featured three classic Cohan songs:  "The Yankee Doodle Boy," "Give My Regards To Broadway," & "Life's A Very Funny Proposition After All." "The Yankee Doodle Boy," is as much a part of Americana as any other song ever written.  Almost a century later (along with "Give My Regards To Broadway") it can still be heard through out the country.  "Give My Regards To Broadway," has become an anthem for New York's famous theater district.  It was the popularity of these two songs (as well as their endurance), that put George M. on the map, and made him a household name. Cohan recorded live versions of "The Yankee Doodle Boy" & "Give My Regards To Broadway" in the late 1930's, and he also recorded "Life's A Very Funny Proposition After All," at his first recording session in 1911.  Fortunately, a Cohan performance of all three songs is preserved.    Thirty-eight years later, the Southampton Pier set for Act II (where Cohan first performed his song "Give My Regards To Broadway"), was faithfully reproduced in the film "Yankee Doodle Dandy."  The pier, boat, and skyrocket look almost identical to the stills from the original production. For its initial Broadway run, "Little Johnny Jones" got a lukewarm reception.  This infuriated Cohan because he believed he had a "first-rate show."  During the winter and spring of 1905 he took the show on the road, playing every major city, honing the book and music until the public welcomed him with success.  Cohan was genuinely shocked by the review of Frederick Young from the Providence Journal, especially since the audience had given him a standing ovation the night before.  He responded to the review with a vow that he would never play Providence, RI again.  And, he didn't - - at least not until 1910. Before the production began Josie left with her husband Fred Niblo.  Together they appeared in "The Rogers Brothers In Paris."  The Rogers Brothers were a successful comedy team. Josie would only have one more appearance on stage with her family (The Yankee Prince, 1908).  It was during the New York run that George auditioned a young girl, named Agnes Nolan and her sister, Alice from Brookfield, MA.  He was amused by her vitality, and her demand to receive $25 a week for chorus work (Cohan bargained her to $22, and she accepted).  Agnes would go on to become the second wife of George M. and Alice would later marry Sam Harris. Also, during the audition process the men of the show were asked the following questions: 1) Can you sing? 2) Can you dance? 3) Can you play baseball? Both Cohan & Harris were such enthusiasts of the game that they formed their own baseball teams.  If a performer couldn't sing or dance, that was all right, they would teach them the discipline - but if he could hit .300 or better, that was an asset. Cohan revived this show many times.  Most notably in 1905 he revived "Little Johnny Jones" during the summer (May 8 through August 26th) and fall (November 13 through December 9) at the New York Theater.   An additional revival featuring Cohan was performed in 1907. An attempt to revive "Little Johnny Jones" was made in the early 1980's by two different companies.  The Goodspeed Opera House was a mild success (available on VHS), and in 1982 Donny Osmond starred in a Broadway revival (ironically at the Alvin Theater, the site of Cohan's last Broadway musical comedy performance "I'd Rather Be Right"). It lasted one performance.