Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Some new work for Harvey D. Orr; quite elaborate.”
Harvey D. Orr was quite an interesting character. Born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1865, both he and his brother Harold entered the theatrical profession. In 1890, he founded the Harvey D. Orr Musical Company. By 1906, he was the director for the School of Opera and Acting at the Bush Temple Conservatory. The Chicago institution was advertised as “the leading school of music, opera, acting and languages,” with fifty teachers of international reputation on staff” (Inter Ocean, 2 Sept. 1906, page 25). By 1907 he Orr managed the Harvey Stock Company. A decade later, he was still working as producer and performer with two extremely popular productions.
The Orr brothers were well known for their 1914 musical comedy success, “The Million Dollar Doll.” By the beginning of 1917, the show was enjoying a successful third season, traveling with a carload of special scenery. Advertised as a big scenic production, the show carried “special electrical effects” and “big novelty scenes” (“Caruthersville Journal, Missouri, 8 March 1917, page 4).
During the spring of 1917, Orr contacted Moses at Sosman & Landis as he planned a new musical, “There She Goes.” On October 18, 1917, the “Dunkirk Evening Observer” reported, “‘There She Goes’ is a mammoth scene spectacle with a whirl of whirling dances and a wonderful chorus of youth and beauty gorgeously costumed. There are two tremendous acts, four glorious scenes and a joyous potpourri of tuneful melodies and truly mirth-provoking comedy situations supplied y the Orr brothers. One of the features is the latest New York craze, a ‘Jazz Orchestra,’ the first to be carries by a road show” Advertised as Orr’s “most amusing musical comedy” and “a mammoth scenic spectacle” (Tomes Herald, New York, 23 Oct., 1917, page 6).
Later, “The York Dispatch” described, “The opening scene is enacted from a setting of a beautiful Long Island Country Club golf course, the second down in Honolulu. The leading action of the play centers around Harvey and Harold Orr, who as Professor Ichabod Simmons, bugologist, with a very absent minded trait, and his lackey Rufus Washington, a colored gentleman of distinction, whose antics are in a large measure the laugh of comedy. ‘There She Goes’ hinges about the love story of Vadentine Van Dyke and Patricia Parmalie, which finally evolves in the marriage of Mr. John Smith and Mary Brown, the latter being the real names of the couple, the former their society dressings. Replete with mirth-making situations, tuneful melodies and really pretty stage effects, ‘There She Goes’ is one of the best popular-priced musical comedies now on tour” (York, Pennsylvania, 28 Dec. 1917, page 3). Advertisements promised, “Beautiful Hawaiian Scenes, including the famous beach at Waikiki” (Oil City Derrick, Pennsylvania, 18 Oct., 1917, page 13). The show was extremely popular across the country, offering a much needed escape from world events.
“The West Virginian Fairmont” reported the production was a “joyous potpourri of tuneful melodies, mirth provoking comedy situations, colorful up-to-date costuming and dazzling surprises. Dramatic scenic magnificence. Twenty-four song hits, a veritable landslide of latest gown and millinery effects, rippling waves of laughter and bevies of fascinating beauties in the chorus as well as among the principal” (Fairmont, West Virginia, 26 Sept, 1917, page 6).
“The Reading Times” announced, “Scenic magnificence, many song hits, a veritable landslide of latest gowns and military effects, rippling waves of laughter and bevies of fascinating beauties in the chorus as well as among the principals, all contribute to the success of the elaborate production” (20 Dec. 1917, page 6). The “Lima News” noted, “Dreamy waltzes, lively one-steps, tantalizing tangoes, whirling eccentric dance tunes and modern ballads, all blended into a carefully arranged mélange to please from start to finish” (8 Sept, 1917, page 8). The performers included the Polo Girls, the Imperial Quartet, as well as the jazz orchestra, Songs included “When You’re Twenty-one,” “In Honolulu Town,” “Am Absent Minded Man,” “Some Girl in the Summertime,” “Hawaiian Moon,” “I Fell for You in the Old Fall River,” “The Seaside Rag,” and “Sometime if Dreams Come True.”
To be continued…
