Robinson Crusoe, Jr.

Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was an extravaganza that opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on 17 February 1916.^[1] The original Broadway production was produced by Lee Shubert and Jacob J. Shubert, directed by J. C. Huffman and choreographed by Helen Tamiris.^{[citation needed]} Music was by Sigmund Romberg and the book and lyrics were by Harold R. Atteridge.^[2] The show was the last major musical that Jacob J. Shubert staged during World War I, and he instructed Romberg to avoid any of his Austro-Hungarian musical idioms.^[3]

The cast included Al Jolson, Kitty Doner, Claude Flemming, and Isabelle Rodrigues.^[4] The show was built around Jolson, and was a vehicle for Jolson.^[5][a] A company of two hundred supported Al Jolson in ten major scenes.^[2] The show included songs from a number of sources, including some written by Jolson. He often added or removed songs from one show to another. Atteridge created a simple framing story that unified the acts.^[1] The show ran on Broadway for 139 performances.^[7] It then went on the road in the fall. Jolson sometimes performed twice or three times in one day in one city before moving on.^[2]

Setting: Long Island, New York and Robinson Crusoe's Island

Hiram Westbury, a millionaire, is exhausted by some film makers who want to use his estate as a film location. He falls asleep. In his dream, he imagines he is Robinson Crusoe, Jr. His chauffeur, played by Al Jolson, is his Good Friday.^[1] Jolson played the chauffeur in blackface.^[2] The dreams make up most of the show.^[8] After the opening scene the pair travel to Crusoe's island, which is given a haunted forest, and to a pirate ship crewed by chorus girls.^[9] The "glittering galaxies of gorgeous, glorious, gladsome girlies mirthfully monopolized the mad, merry hours and the ten tremendous tumultuous scenes of Robinson Crusoe, Jr."^[10] At one point in the story trees woke up and began to sway to the music. Jolson has comic interactions with a goat and a crocodile.^[11] The shorter second act was set back in the millionaire's home.^[10]

There were 27 musical numbers in the show, including five specialty dances. Many of the huge cast danced in Minstrel Days. Jolson himself did not play a major role in the musical numbers, and was always alone on the stage when he sang.^[10] According to Jolson's biographer Michael Freedland, Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was "the nearest Jolson had yet come to a show with a real plot ... although from opening night on, it was quite plain that the story was not going to interfere with his domination on stage."^[11]

• "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?" (Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young (w), George W. Meyer (m))
• "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula" (E. Ray Goetz & Joe Young (w), Pete Wendling (m))
• "Where the Black-Eyed Susans Grow" (by Dave Radford and Richard Whiting)