The run closed October 16, 1920
- Opened
- July 28, 1920
- Closed
- October 16, 1920
- Performances
- 119
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Central Theatre
Of the 2,148 productions we hold that opened in the 1920s and record a performance count, this is the 476th longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Who was in it30 named
Julie Anderson
Bobbie Beckwith
Eugenie Blair
Elsie Bonwit
Ardele Cleaves
Dolly Clements
Desacia Crandell
Michael Cunningham
Frisco Devere
Ruth Hale
Mabel Hastings
Donald Kerr
Dore Leighton
Muriel Manners
Mabel Pearson
Mary Phillips
Nan Phillips
Aileen Poe
Josephine Rolfe
Grant Simpson
Lee Smith
Madeline Smith
Peggy Walsh
Betty Warlow
Florence Webber
Vivian White
4 of these 30 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 26 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name — so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.
Creative team
- Director
- Lew Fields
- Choreographer
- David Bennett
A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.
Around this production
Poor Little Ritz Girl is a musical comedy in two acts, with book by George Campbell and Lew Fields. The show had some songs with lyrics by Alex Gerber and music by Sigmund Romberg and other songs with lyrics by Lorenz Hart and music by Richard Rodgers. The show was produced by Lew Fields at the Central Theatre. It opened on July 28, 1920. The production was staged by Ned Wayburn, who also did the lighting design. It was choreographed by David Bennett, scenic design by H. Robert Law, and costume design by Cora MacGeachy, Anna Spencer and Marie Cook. The musical director was Pierce de Reeder. It ran for 93 performances, closing on October 16, 1920. The cast headlined Charles Purcell and Andrew…
- This was not their first professional show — that was Poor Little Ritz Girl in 1919 — but it did provide the stimulus for a partnership that lasted through 26 Broadway musicals until 1943. Broadway Musicals Show By Show Seventh Edition Stanley Green Cary Ginell, p. 53
- Fields continued his support of the young team with Poor Little Ritz Girl (7/27/20; 93 performances). Unfortunately, much of the team’s score was cut when the show was in its out-of-town tryouts, and new songs by Sigmund Romberg and Alex Gerber were added. Richard Rodgers was just 18 when the show opened on Broadway. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 187
- One of its few hits was the Lew Fields production of Poor Little Ritz Girl; RODGERS AND Hart wrote their first Broadway score for the show. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 381
- Romberg also wrote the music to Poor Little Ritz Girl (7/27/20) with Alex Gerber. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart had already written a complete score for the show while it was out of town prior to appearing on Broadway. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 474
- The oddest of Rodgers and Hart's early efforts was the modestly successful Sigmund Romberg musical, The Poor Little Ritz Girl. Enchanted Evenings the Broadway Musical From Show Boat Block Geoffrey Oxford New, p. 121
Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.
What this page does not know
- No photograph of this staging. 48 of 13,459 productions hold one.
- No character names. We can say who was in the company and not who they played.
- No recording is held for Poor Little Ritz Girl at all.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.