The Dollar Princess

Infobox Musical
name = The Dollar Princess
subtitle =


caption = Lily Elsie as Alice
music = Leo Fall
Jerome Kern
lyrics = Adrian Ross
George Grossmith, Jr.
book = A.M. Willner
Fritz Grünbaum
Basil Hood
George Grossmith, Jr.
basis = German operetta
"Die Dollarprinzessin"
productions = 1909 West End
1909 Broadway
awards =

"The Dollar Princess" is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum (after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by Basil Hood (from the 1907 "Die Dollarprinzessin"), with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened in London at Daly's Theatre on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances. The London production starred Lily Elsie, Joseph Coyne and Gabrielle Ray.

It also had a very successful run on Broadway, with a new book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr. and additional numbers by Jerome Kern, opening on 6 September 1909 and running for 288 performances. Valli Valli, Adrienne Augarde and Louie Pounds starred in the New York production.

In late Victorian and Edwardian Britain, "Dollar Princess" was the nickname given to American heiresses. "Playgoer and Society Illustrated" wrote, "To the average playgoer there is something very attrac­tive in watching the antics of the vulgar when surrounded by the refinement of art which he can neither understand nor ap­preciate.... Miss Lily Elsie, as Alice, shows even an improvement on her performance in "The Merry Widow." The inimitable Mr. Joseph Coyne has put a lot more into his part than was possible on the first night.... He is great! His American accent is a thing to listen to...." ["Playgoer and Society Illustrated", Vol I No 2, November 1909]

Roles

*John Couder, president of a coal combine
*Alice Conder, his daughter
*Dick, his nephew
*Daisy Gray, his niece
*Fredy Wehrburg
*Hans Freiherr von Schlick
*Olga Labinska, a cabaret singer
*Tom, Couder's brother
*Miss Thompson, a housekeeper
*James, Couder's valet
*Bill, a chauffeur
*Typists, cabaret singers, guests, servants, porters

ynopsis

;English version:A young American oil tycoon, when recruiting domestic staff, takes on a succession of impoverished members of the European aristocracy. But the servants he selects are all very well connected. "Tho' we came here in the steerage, all are members of the peerage." His sister, who has money, later follows the course of true love and takes a job in another household pretending to be impoverished.

;American version:Three plots take place concurrently: First, an American girl, the daughter of the President of the Coal Trust (the Dollar Princess), falls in love with a young Englishman and tries to win his heart. Meanwhile, the millionaire father has an affair with a supposed Countess, who turns out to be a lion tamer, and his niece, Daisy, marries a young Marquis, but she refuses to be anything but his friend.

Musical numbers

*A Boat Sails On Wednesday
*The Dollar Princess
*Hip, Hip, Hurrah!
*I can Say Truly Rural
*Inspection
*Lady Fortune
*Love! Love! Love!
*Love's A Race
*The Marquis of Jolifontaine
*My Dream Of Love
*Not Here! Not Here!
*Reminiscence
*The Riding Lesson
*A Self Made Maiden
*Tennis
*Then You Go?
*Typewriting

ee also

"Die Dollarprinzessin", the original work.

Notes

* [http://www.nodanw.com/shows_d/dollar_princess.htm List of roles, list of songs and other information]
* [http://www.lily-elsie.com/dollar.htm Description of the show]
* [http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&myweb.tiscali.co.uk/stage1/valli/valli-v.html From StageBeauty.net; includes a review of the New York production] by the "New York Times", dated 7th July, 1909

External links

* [http://www.bmivoyager.com/2007/04/01/dollars-and-dukes/ Information about an exhibition on "Dollar Princesses" in Bath, England]
* [http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/icons/playbills/playdat1.htm Play Pictorial information, includes the London opening cast list]
* [http://www.lily-elsie.com/gallery-d2.htm Numerous photos from the original production of "The Dollar Princess"]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=6833 Information from IBDB about the New York production]