Broadway Turns the Tables

Property

stories, novels, or plays that Broadway shows are based on

Oh James!

1914 novel written by May Edgington

My Lady Friends

1919 play based on Oh James! created by Frank Mandel and Emil Nyitray

No, No, Nanette

musical based on My Lady Friends and No, No, Nanette

Vincent Youmans

composer for No, No, Nanette; got the position because his mother offered to back the show financially

Otto Harbach

co-created the book for No, No, Nanette with Frank Mandel

Harry Frazee

producer of No, No, Nanette

Irving Caesar

second lyricist of No, No, Nanette

“Tryout” tour

preliminary tour that musicals go on before attempting to premiere on Broadway

Tea For Two

song that was added to No, No, Nanette during its tryout tour

Dummy lyric

nonsense poem that has the right rhyme scheme and rhythm to fit a tune

I Want To Be Happy

other song that was added to No, No, Nanette

Success of No, No, Nanette

became a hit in Chicago and spread across the nation and the world; first recording of the song reached Number 5 on the Billboard charts

Marion Harris

recorded a vocal version of Tea for Two that reached the Number 1 spot on the Billboard chart

International impact of No, No, Nanette

jazzy music shocked British audiences

Adaptations of Tea for Two

earliest classical adaptations were created in the Soviet Union, where it was known as Tahiti Trot

Boris Fomin

included Tea for Two in a 1926 operetta

Dmitri Shostakovich

made an orchestral arrangement of Tea for Two from memory

Nikolai Malko

Shostakovich’s teacher, championed Tea for Two in a regime that disapproved of jazz

Maurice Ravel

admired Tea for Two, said it was quite Ravelian

Art Tatum

jazz pianist who recorded Tea for Two in 1939, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and reached Number 18 on the Billboard chart

Thelonious Monk

released a bebop version of Tea for Two retitled as “Skippy”

Anita O’Day

singer who performed Tea for Two at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival

Similarities between Tea for Two and The Charleston

uses ABAC show-tune form, uses ostinato

Ostinato in Tea for Two

uses long-short-long-short rhythm created by dotted quarter notes followed by eighth notes

Soft-shoe

style of tap dance that the ostinato of Tea of Two is highly suitable for

Harmonic shift in Tea for Two

switches from Ab major to C major instead of minor by raising Eb to E natural