Although Victor Herbert’s operetta
Babes in Toyland is no longer presented using its original plot,
at least two of its songs --Toyland and March of
the Toys – have become standards and are regularly performed,
especially around the Christmas season. Babes in Toyland
originally opened in Chicago in June 1903.
After touring several East Coast cities, it finally opened on Broadway at
the Majestic Theater on October 13, 1903. In addition to Victor Herbert’s charming
music, the production featured spectacular sets and costumes, and some
eye-popping stage effects that included an electric storm at sea and the
eruption of a volcano! It ran on
Broadway for 192 performances, which, back then, was considered a long
engagement. Then, two tours went on the
road. The first-class tour, which kept
the scenic effects and much of the original cast, played the major cities for
extended periods of time. The
second-class tour, which played the smaller cities, had a reduced cast and
orchestra and was streamlined for easier loading in and out of theaters. In
January 1905, the first-class tour returned to New York for a 3-week engagement
at the Majestic.
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Babes In Toyland #1 (From Eric Beheim)
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3 comments:
The Majestic Theater opened in
1927 Eric according to Shubert
Theater history
There was another Majestic at 5 Columbus Circle that opened Jan 21, 1903, with the Wizard of Oz. But actors called its location the Arctic Circle because of its distance from the theater district! Within five years it became a motion picture house but occasionally hosted something legit. The Schuberts, Ziegfeld, and even the Minsky's all made attempts to breathe life into the building before William Randolph Hearst acquired it for his occasional movie production work. In 1944 it was renamed the International but five years later NBC took it over and in 1954 it was demolished. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet about this theater and Mary C Henderson's "The City & the Theatre," sort of a standard reference on NYC theaters, again proves unreliable to me!
Dick Flint
Baltimore
It is pretty well documented that BABES IN TOYLAND opened in the Majestic Theater. (Maybe there was more than one Majestic Theater.)
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