Love O' Mike is a musical comedy in two acts and a prologue with book by Thomas Sydney, lyrics by Harry B. Smith, and music by Jerome Kern. The show was produced by Elisabeth Marbury and Lee Shubert at the Shubert Theatre, and opened January 15, 1917.[1]

Love O' Mike
Sheet Music Cover
MusicJerome Kern
LyricsHarry B, Smith
BookThomas Sydney

The musical director was Frank Tours and the music was orchestrated by Frank Saddler. The show was staged by J. H. Benrimo; scenic design by Robert McQuinn; and costume design by Faibsey. It had three runs. The closing date of the first run is not known. It played at the Maxine Elliott Theatre from March 19, 1917, until June 30, 1917, and then at the Casino Theatre from August 27, 1917, until September 29, 1917. It is considered to have run for 233 performances.[2]

Although the opening night leading actors were George Baldwin, Jack Bohn, Helen Clarke, Lillian Devere, Alan Edwards, Gloria Goodwin, and Rollin Grimes, Jr.,[3] Gerald Boardman says “Playgoers glancing at the program probably paid little attention to the names of several bit players – names like Luella Gear, Peggy Wood, and Clifton Webb, that would soon command their own glamour.”[4]

Plot

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Setting: Bronxville, New York[5]

The plot follows a boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back formula which critics found boringly predictable.[5]

Songs

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Prologue
  • "Drift with Me"
Act 1
  • "Tell Me"
  • "It Wasn't Your Fault (It Wasn't My Fault)" (lyrics by Herbert Reynolds)
  • "Don't Tempt Me"
  • "We'll See"
  • "I Wonder Why"
Act 2
  • "Moo Cow"
  • "Life's a Dance"
  • "A Lonesome Little Tune (Simple Little Tune)"
  • "Hoot Mon"
  • "It's in the Book (Look in the Book)"
  • "LuLu"

References

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  1. ^ "The Royalist | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01.
  2. ^ http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/10634/Love-O-Mike [bare URL]
  3. ^ "The Royalist | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01.
  4. ^ Boardman, Gerald, “Jerome Kern: His Life and Music,” Oxford University Press, New York, 1980, p. 139.
  5. ^ a b Dan Dietz (2021). "Love O' Mike". The Complete Book of 1910s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 372-373. ISBN 9781538150283.