THE OFFICE BOY
A Musical Comedy in 2 Acts. Book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. Based on the French farce Le Jockey malgré lui by Maurice Ordonneau and Paul Gavault. Music by Ludwig Englander.
Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre, New York - 2nd November, 1903 - 2nd January, 1904 (66 perfs).
Synopsis
Noah Little is an office menial in the firm of Ketchum and Cheatum. When Noah falls in love with an office girl, he lies to her father that he is a member of the firm. Later he is confused with a famous jockey and forced to ride in a race. Just before closing time, the offices of Ketchum and Cheatum are humming with activity—girls typing and boys busily running errands. A bell sounds and the staff leaves, wondering where Noah has disappeared to. The office manager turns out the lights, and the office is dark and still. Burglars enter through a window. They head directly for a large safe. Failing to jimmy it, they blow it open. Out rolls a sleeping Noah and outs everything to rights.
Musical Numbers
- Opening Chorus (First, put the date!) - Pythias, Chorus
- "After Business Hours" (Song) - Damon, Jeanette, Florine, Chorus
- "Bohemia" (Song) - Claire de Lune, Percy, Reggy, Chorus
- "I Thought Wrong" - (Music by R. G. Knowles. Lyrics by Richard Morton.) - Noah, Company
- "Will You Be My Hero, Noble Sir?" (Duet) - Noah, Euphemia
- "Because He Told Me So" (Waltz Song) - Euphemia
- "Plain Mamie O'Hooley" (Quartette) - Noah, Claire de Lune, Percy, Reggy
- Finale Act I - Noah, Company
- Opening Chorus Act II (Patrons of the turf are we)
- "If I Were the Bride of a Soldier" (Song of the Drum and Fife) - Euphemia, Chorus
- "I'm on the Water Wagon Now" (Music by John W. Bretton. Lyrics by Paul West.) - Noah
- "Signs" (Song) - Noah, Euphemia, Tobias
- "Summer Proposals" (Song) - Claire de Lune
- "An Embassy Burglarious" (The Burglars) (Quartette) - Claire de Lune, Damon, Percy, Reggy
- "A Maiden's Heart" (Ballad) - Euphemia, Chorus
- Finale Act II - Noah, Company
Items interpolated for touring productions
- "Trials of a Simple Maid" (Music by Robert Hood Bowers. Lyrics by Raymond Peck.) - Clara Belle Jerome
- "I Never Had to Work" (Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Hapgood Burt.) - Noah, Chorus
- "The Proper Way to Kiss" (Music by Theodore Morse. Lyrics by Raymond Browne.) * [ Published in vocal score as "Because I Love You So."]-
Noah, Euphemia
- "When the Band Plays Ragtime" (Music and Lyrics by Bob Cole and James Weldon Johnson. -
Claire de Lune
- "The Trials of a Simple Maid" (Music by Robert Hood Bowers. Lyrics by Raymond Peck.) - Claire de Lune
Cast
- Noah Little, an office boy
- Rider Little, a famous jockey:
- Tobias Van Twiller
- Damon Ketcham
- Pythias Cheatham
- Reggy Higgins
- Percy Wiggins
- McNab
- Scales
- Euphemia
- Claire de Lune
- Paquita
- Jeanette
- F/orine
- First Messenger in Law Office
- Second Messenger in Law Office
- Miss Harvard, Miss Yale, Guests of Van Twiller
- Spike Muggins
- Thug Magafa
Typewriter girls, telephone girls, clerks, guests, bookmakers and jockeys.
Scenes and Settings
- Act 1: Law Offices of Ketcham and Cheatham.
- Act 2: Van Twiller's villa and private race course.
Musical Numbers (Vocal Score)
ACT I - Law Offices of Ketcham and Cheatham.
- Overture
- Opening Ensemble - "First, put the date! May, twenty-three! ... May, twenty-three! ... Year A.D. Nineteen-hundred-three! ... Now you may address it..."
- Song - Damon and Chorus - "At his desk all day, in methodical way, sits the New York business man; he has cunning and dash in pursuing the cash..."
- Bohemia Song - Claire, with Reggy, Percy and Chorus - "You see in me a Diva of the opera known as grand; in Wagner I'm the brightest of the lights..."
- Duet - Noah and Euphemia - "To adequately prove the greatness of my love, to do the wildest deeds I would be proud; if you but say the word, I'll soar..."
- Trio - Noah, Paquita and Rider - "When I am out to win a race ... Hoop-la! What a race! ... Of jockeys he's a certain ace! ... Hoop-la! Sets the pace..."
- Song - Noah and others - "If you don't know the girl I am going to wed, you have miss'd a great deal, that is all to be said; her hair it is auburn..."
- Song - Euphemia - "Men have nearly always been deceivers, so poets right frequently tell, yet they're always sure to find believers in every innocent belle..."
- Finale Act I - "Far from city's dust and heat, gladly we would have vacation; seeking rest and recreation in some countrified retreat..."
ACT II - Van Twiller's villa and private race course.
- Entr'Acte
- Opening Ensemble - "Patrons of the turf are we, of the smartest sort; long on dress as you will see, but rather short on sport; what we do not know..."
- Song - Euphemia and Chorus - "I like to be a hero's bride, a hero military; to all things martial I am partial. The fife and drum so airy, take your civilians..."
- Trio - Noah, Van Twiller and Euphemia - "All superstition is not dead, as people oft' infer. Some signs there are which fill with dread whenever they occur."
- Song - Claire - "Last summer I was stopping at a hotel by the sea, and quite a score of handsome youths made violent love to me..." (4 verses)
- Burglars' Trio and Dance - Claire, Percy and Reggy - "There is something captivating, there's a lot that's fascinating in an enterprising criminal career..."
- Ballad - Euphemia and Chorus - "My heart is in my keeping, I'll give it where I choose. The smiles are mine or weeping, if suitors I refuse..."
- Finale Act II - "Then we take a train for Bohemia, we haven't far to go; a bright café, where all is gay and you find those folks you know..."