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Honky Tonk Nights

or How Billy Sampson and Company Left Hell's Kitchen
for the Promised Land and What They Found There

A Musical Comedy in 2 Acts. Book and lyrics by Ralph Allen and David Campbell. Music by Michael Valenti.

Biltmore Theatre, Broadway - Opened 7th August, 1986; closed 9th August 1986 (4 performances - 16 previews).

Synopsis

The decade is beginning in 1912 when black vaudeville shifted its base from Hell's Kitchen to a newly emerging Harlem. Act 1 opens in a downtown music hall as a theatrical troupe prepares to emigrate to the uptown Promised Land Saloon. The second act is in the new location but Barney joins the white show-business establishment as represented by the Ziegfeld Follies. He is forced to put on black-face make-up for his act which includes juggling and magic acts. But on stage at the Promised Land Saloon there is a game of bingo and an auction of the leading lady's costumes in order to pay a debt on their Harlem site.

Musical Numbers

1. The Honky Tonk Nights Rag, or Professor Walker and His Solo Symphony - The Sampson Philharmonia
2. Honky Tonk Nights - Billy and His Company
3. Hot and Bothered - Lily
4. Roll With the Punches - Barney, Armistead, Countess Aida, Ivy, Kitty, Ruby
5. Lily of the Alley - Armistead, Winston, Montgomery, Sparks, Barney, Lily
6. Choosing a Husband's a Delicate Thing - Armistead, Barney, George
7. Little Dark Bird - Lily
8. Withered Irish Rose - Barney, Armistead, George, Montgomery, Lily
9. Tapaholics - Sparks, Ivy, Montgomery
10. Eggs - Barney, Lily
11. A Ticket to the Promised Land - The Sampson Company
12. The Promised Land - The Pyromaniacs
13. Stomp the Blues Away - The Sampson Company
14. I've Had It - Barney, Lily
15. The Sampson Beauties - Ivy, Kitty, Ruby
16. The Reform Song - Barney, George, Armistead
17. I Took My Time - Lily
18. The Brothers Vendetto - Barney, George, Armistead
19. A Man of Many Parts - Barney
20. Finale - The Sampson Company

Scenes and Settings

• Act 1: Sampson's Music Hall, on a winter evening. New York City's Hell's Kitchen, 1912.
• Act 2: The Promised Land Saloon, summer, 1922, Harlem.

Cast (in order of appearance)

• Barney Walker
• Billy Sampson
• Armistead Sampson
• Lily Meadows
• George Gooseberry
• Ruby Bush
• Ivy Vine
• Countess Aida
• Kitty Stark
• Montgomery Boyd
• Winston Grey
• Sparks Roberts
• Patron: Charles Bernard Murray.
• ampson Philharmonia: The orchestra