Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life

Chapter 11. Act Two: Scene One

CHAPTER 11 act two: scene one (1903–1905) During the first decade of the twentieth century, Victor Herbert entered his period of most significant creativity. Most of the major works that date from this time are well known (Naughty Marietta, The Red Mill, Mlle. Modiste), and it was in this period that Herbert sealed his significance as a major force in American theatrical history. But even his lesserknown compositions represented new musical and dramatic achievements . These were, indeed, his finest hours. babes in toyland Type of work: Fantasy Extravaganza Premiere: June 17, 1903 Theater: Grand Opera House, Chicago, Ill. Majestic, New York (October 13, 1903) Cast (Major Players): Alan William Norris Jane Mabel Barrison Uncle Barnaby George W. Denham The Widow Piper Hattie Delaro Contrary Mary Amy Ricard Tom Tom Bessie Wynn Jill Nellie Daly Bo-Peep Nella Webb Red Riding Hood Susie Kelleher Miss Muffet Irene Cromwell Simple Simon Virginia Foltz Peter Bertha Krieghoff Tommy Tucker Doris Mitchell The Master Toymaker Dore Davidson The Moth Queen Albertina Benson Mima Grace Field The Giant Spider Robert Burns 322 Major Musical Numbers: ‘‘The Shipwreck’’; ‘‘Never Mind, Bo Peep’’; ‘‘Floretta’’; ‘‘I Can’t Do the Sum’’; ‘‘Barney O’Flynn’’; ‘‘Go to Sleep’’; ‘‘The Legend of the Castle’’; ‘‘The Toymaker’s Shop’’; ‘‘The March of the Toys’’; ‘‘The Military Ball.’’ Plot: Evil Uncle Barnaby is eager to gain the inheritance due to the Babes, Alan and Jane. He pursues them through various venues (Contrary, Mary’s Garden, the Spider’s Forest, the Moth Queens’ Palace and Toyland), but the Babes outwit him and joy reigns in Toyland. Father dearly loved children. He liked the bright, happy side of life which childhood represents. He liked their songs, and this may be the reason he scattered through his operettas so many delightful children’s songs. . . . ‘‘Babes in Toyland’’ is an opera for children. —ella herbert bartlett1 For children—and for their parents. Indeed for anyone who still carries with him in his pockets a bit of his childhood. The recognition that there is a bit of the child in each of us who longs for reawakening was the key to the appeal of Herbert and MacDonough’s Babes in Toyland. This insight was nothing new. The leaders of the German romantic movement in the nineteenth century had founded many of their creations on the folktales gathered with such success by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The great tradition of the Christmas pantomime, those extravaganzas of dance, song, harlequinade, magic and fantasy that are a staple of the English theater inspired the creators of Babes as well. The same appeal to childhood fantasy that was the secret of Herbert’s earliest lasting theatrical success is the foundation upon which Disney built his magic kingdom. It is not by chance that Hollywood has thrice attempted to bring Herbert’s magic to the screen. Not only that, but elements of the stage Babes have influenced other productions. The terrifying monster spider guarding the jewel in the ‘‘temple of the all-seeing eye’’ in Alexander Korda’s Thief of Bagdad is a direct descendent of the huge tarantula that rules the spider’s forest in scene three of Babes. Strangely, for all the technical wizardry that Hollywood brought to Babes, neither the 1934 Laurel and Hardy film nor the Disney version proved successful. This is a tribute to the inherent theatricality of the material. Babes in Toyland is, first and last, a creation for and of the legitimate theater. The piece depends upon the immediacy of the physical presence of an audience—the personal experience of a c t t w o : s c e n e o n e 323 Herbert’s genius for orchestration and musical scene painting; of the comical bounds and sweeps of toy soldiers; of the ‘‘songs, dances, processions , toys, spiders, bears, amazing scenic lighting effects, elaborate costumes —all accompanied by music that is one hundred times better than is customary’’2 for its success. Where did this wonderful composition first see the light of day? Where were audiences first enchanted by Herbert’s magical score? ‘‘The Babes in Toyland’’ music was played in Willow Grove before its New York premiere. The audiences took to the music immediately and it remained a favorite with them from the very first hearing. When I said to Mr. Herbert that I hoped the show that he and Glen MacDonough had written would prove...