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Babes in Toyland (operetta)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Babes in Toyland | |
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| Sheet music cover | |
|---|---|
| Music | Victor Herbert |
| Lyrics | Glen MacDonough |
| Book | Glen MacDonough |
| Productions | 1903 Broadway 1934 Film 1972 Light Opera of Manhattan 1961 Film |
Babes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough (1870 - 1924), which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a musical extravaganza. The creators wanted to cash in on the extraordinary success of Wizard of Oz, which was produced on Broadway beginning in January of that year. Babes in Toyland features some of Herbert's most famous songs - among them "Toyland", "March of the Toys", "Go To Sleep, Slumber Deep", and "I Can't Do The Sum". The title song "Toyland" and "March of the Toys" occasionally show up on Christmas compilations.
The original production opened on Broadway on October 13, 1903 and ran for 192 performances. This was followed by many successful tours and revivals.
A new book and lyrics for the show were written for the Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) in the 1970s by Alice Hammerstein-Matthias (the daughter of Oscar Hammerstein II) and director-producer William Mount-Burke. LOOM played this operetta as a Christmas show for several weeks each year thereafter for 13 seasons with considerable success, and the rewritten book and lyrics has since been used by other companies, including Troupe America. The ensemble becomes a mechanical militia of toys for the "March of the Toys," and children from the audience are brought up to help "wind-up" the toy dancers.
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After a tryout beginning in June 1903 at the Grand Opera House in Chicago, the original Broadway production opened on October 13, 1903 at the Majestic Theatre and closed after 192 performances on March 19, 1904. A return engagement on Broadway opened on January 2, 1905 at the Majestic Theatre and closed on January 21, 1905.
Another Broadway revival opened on December 23, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, closing on January 11, 1930. It was directed by Milton Aborn.
Another Broadway revival opened on December 20, 1930 at the Imperial Theatre, closing in January 1931. It was directed by Milton Aborn and choreographed by Virginie Mauret.
- Act 1
- Don't Cry, Bo-Peep (Never MInd, Bo-Peep, We Will Find Your Sheep) ... Bo-Peep, Tom Tom and *Widow Piper's Children
- Floretta ............ Alan and Chorus
- Mary Mary ................ Chorus
- Barney O'Flynn ............ Contrary Mary and Chorus
- I Can't Do the Sum ............. Jane and Widow Piper's Children
- Slumber Deep ........... Jack and Wood Spirits
- Act 2
- Christmas Fair Waltz ............. Chorus
- (Our Castle in Spain) The Legend of the Castle ........... Chorus
- Rock-a-bye Baby ............ Alan and Chorus
- Toy Soldiers' March and Military Ball ............ Alan, Jane and Chorus
- The Toymakers (Shop) ......... Male Chorus
- Toyland ............ Tom Tom and Male Chorus
- My Rag Doll Girl (The Rag Doll) ........... Grumio and Jill
- Act 3
- An Old-Fashioned Rose ........... Tom Tom
- Before and After .......... Alan and Contrary Mary
- Jane ............. Jane, Grumio, Gonzorgo and Chorus
- Maybe the Moon Will Help You Out ........... Bo-Peep
The basic and wildly illogical story is about orphans Alan and Jane, the wards of their wicked Uncle Barnaby, who wants to steal their fortune. He arranges for them to be shipwrecked and lost at sea, but somehow they are rescued by gypsies and returned to Contrary Mary's garden. Contrary Mary, believing her beloved Alan is dead, has run away with her brother, Tom-Tom the Piper's son, rather than agree to marry Barnaby. After a second attempt on their lives in the Spider's Den, Alan and Jane are protected by the Moth Queen. In Toyland, Contrary Mary, Tom-Tom, Alan and Jane find each other and seek protection from the Master Toymaker, an evil genius who plots with Barnaby to create toys that kill and maim. The demonic possessed dolls kill the Toymaker and Barnaby uses the information to have Alan sentenced to death. Contrary Mary agrees to marry him in exchange for Alan's pardon, but Barnaby marries her, denounces Alan again, and dies, after drinking a wine glass filled with poison meant for Alan. Tom-Tom reveals that an old law of Toyland permitting marriage between a widow and a condemned man on condition that he supports her and honestly works may save Alan from the gallows and he marries the Widow Barnaby.
Large audiences were drawn to the musical by the spectacular settings and sets (e.g., the Floral Palace of the Moth Queen, the Garden of Contrary Mary) of Toyland.
In the 1970s version, which is more sentimental than the original, the two unhappy children, Jane and Alan, run away from home. Their parents, who are always putting work and discipline before play and pleasure, are too busy for them, so the young siblings set out for a place where they will be understood. The children believe that Toyland, a magical land of spirited toys, will deliver them from their hardships. When they arrive, the Toymaker welcomes them with open arms. He warns them not to become too caught up in the fantasy, but soon the toys of Toyland draw them in with their singing and dancing.
The busy parents must find a way to bring the young runaways back home. They send a private eye to search for their children, but he sees an opportunity for personal gain in his trip to Toyland; he forces Jane and Alan to help him steal the Toymaker’s plans for a new marching toy soldier. When the parents arrive in Toyland via hot air balloon, they too fall under the spell of the mystical land. Arguments break out, toys are wounded, and Jane and Alan get lost and frightened in the dark woods outside of Toyland. As the parents and toys search for the children, the characters and audience alike discover the true meaning of Christmas.
Laurel and Hardy's 1934 version (reissued as March of the Wooden Soldiers) includes only five of Herbert's songs and almost none of the original book). It also features Charlotte Henry.
A 1933 Betty Boop cartoon Parade of the Wooden Soldiers was rather freely adapted from Babes in Toyland.
A 1954 adaptation for television featured Wally Cox, Dave Garroway, and Jack E. Leonard, and a 1960 adaptation for television featured Shirley Temple as the old gypsy Floretta, Angela Cartwright as Jane, and Jerry Colonna as Gonzales, a comic villain who replaced Barnaby. It was shown as an episode on the anthology series The Shirley Temple Show.
The Technicolor remake from 1961 from Walt Disney starred Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, and Annette Funicello. This had a heavily revised plot, but much of the Herbert music, although some of it was played in an entirely different tempo from that intended by the composer, and the songs had a completely new set of lyrics.
A 1986 made for television version featured Drew Barrymore, Pat Morita, and Keanu Reeves, only two songs from the Victor Herbert score, a new plot, and many new songs by Leslie Bricusse.
An animated film version was released in 1997 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment featuring the voices of Christopher Plummer, James Belushi, and Bronson Pinchot.