STRIKE UP THE BAND Music by George Gershwin: Lyrics by Ira Gershwin: Book by Murray Riskind Times Square Theatre 14 January, 1930 (191 perfs) SYNOPSIS Horace J. Fletcher is a manufacturer of chocolates who is aggrieved that Washington has refused to raise the tariff on Swiss chocolates. A doctor gives him a sedative to help him sleep and this he does but the sedative also induces dreams. In his dream he sees himself at the head of an American Army that foes to war with Switzerland over the issue of chocolates. The war was funded by Fletcher who becomes a national hero, but not for long. The American newspapers uncover the unsavoury fact that Fletcher's chocolates use Grade B milk - a fact that shocks the whole nation. Fletcher's daughter Joan has a fiancé, Jim Townshend . Jim is suspicious of Fletcher, and has been from the first time they met. He threatens to expose Fletcher which causes the latter to become an ardent pacifist. This about face comes too late, however, to stop America going to war against Switzerland. The Swiss hotelkeepers are delighted. They are able to raise the prices of their rooms as the American soldiers need lodgings. The war is somewhat phoney as there is never any engagement. The Americans sit in their hotels knitting socks and sweaters for the folks back home. Accidentally, the enemy's secret call to arms is discovered - a yodel - and the American troops are able to corner and rout the Swiss army. MUSICAL NUMBERS Overture - Orchestra Fletcher's American Cheese Chorale Society - Timothy, Sloan, Fletcher and Chorus 17 and 21 (I Mean To Say) - Timothy and Anne A Typical Self-Made American - Fletcher, Jim and Yes-Men Soon - Jim and Joan Meadow Serenade - Jim and Joan A Man Of High Degree (Entrance of Colonel Holmes) - Entire Company The Unofficial Spokesman - Fletcher, Holmes and Chorus Three Cheers For the Union (Patriotic Rally) - Company This Could Go On For Years - Company The Man I Love - Joan and Jim If I Became the President - Mrs Draper and Holmes Yankee Doodle Rhythm - Spelvin and Chorus 17 and 21 (reprise) - Mrs Draper and Fletcher (What's the Use) Hangin' Around With You - Anne and Timothy He Knows Milk - Finaletto Act I - Fletcher, Jim, Sloane, Holmes, Joan, Timothy and Chorus Strike Up the Band - Timothy and Chorus In the Rattle of the Battle (Oh This Is Such a Lovely War) - Soldiers and Swiss Girls Hoping That Someday You'd Care - Jim and Joan Come-Look-At-The-War Choral Society - Female Chorus Military Dancing Drill - Timothy, Anne and Chorus Mademoiselle in New Rochelle - Holmes, Gideon and Two Swiss Girls I've Got A Crush On You - Timothy and Anne
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODU3MzQ=