The Second Little Show is a musical revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

 with lyrics by Howard Dietz

Howard Dietz

Howard Dietz was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist.-Biography:Dietz was born in New York City and studied journalism at Columbia University...

 and music mostly by Arthur Schwartz

Arthur Schwartz

Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...

.

Produced by William A. Brady, Jr. and Dwight Deere Wiman

Dwight Deere Wiman

Dwight Deere Wiman was an American silent movie actor, playwright and theatrical director. He is best known as a Broadway producer.-Early life & Education:...

, in association with Tom Weatherly, the Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production opened at the Royale Theatre on September 2, 1930 and closed in October 1930, after 63 performances. Directed by Wiman and Monty Woolley

Monty Woolley

Monty Woolley was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his best-known role in the stage play and 1942 film The Man Who Came to Dinner...

 and choreographed by Dave Gould, with scenic design by Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner

Joseph "Jo" Mielziner was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He is "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both stage plays and musicals.-Career:He was the son of artist Leo Mielziner, Sr...

, the cast included Jay C. Flippen

Jay C. Flippen

Jay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....

, Gloria Grafton, and Al Trahan.

This is the second of the Little Shows. The only claim to fame is the song "Sing Something Simple" with words and music by Herman Hupfield, introduced by Ruth tester

Ruth Tester

Ruth Tester was a singer and dancer in Broadway musicals of the 1920s and 1930s. Tester was born on August 17, 1903. She was married for 59 years to Fredrick Carothers. In her later years, Tester and her husband, Carothers, lived in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Carothers worked as a sales...

.
Other songs include "I Like Your Face" (originally "Foolish Face"), "Lucky Seven", "What a Case I've Got On You", and "You're the Sunrise".

The producers of The Little Show

The Little Show

The Little Show is a musical revue with lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. This was the first of 11 musicals that featured the songs of Dietz and Schwartz. The revue opened on Broadway in 1929.-History:...

, in doing the follow-up, decided to do the show without stars, but the show did poorly. (And the stars of the first Little Show went on to success.)

There was a Third Little Show, which opened at the Music Box Theatre

Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...

 on June 1, 1931 and ran for 136 performances. The music was by various composers (including Hupfield) and the sketches were by Noel Coward

Noël Coward

Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

, S. J. Perelman

S. J. Perelman

Sidney Joseph Perelman, almost always known as S. J. Perelman , was an American humorist, author, and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for The New Yorker...

, Marc Connelly

Marc Connelly

Marcus Cook Connelly was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930.-Biography:...

, among others. It was directed by Alexander Leftwich and starred Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie was an actress and comedic performer. Following her 1920 marriage to Sir Robert Peel in England, she was known in private life as Lady Peel.-Early career:...

, Ernest Truex

Ernest Truex

Ernest Truex was an American actor of stage and film.-Career:...

, and Constance Carpenter

Constance Carpenter

Constance Emmeline Carpenter was an English-born American film and musical theatre actress.-Biography:Born in Bath, Somerset, Carpenter was the daughter of vaudevillians and began performing at an early age....

. Lillie introduced the Coward song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" to the American audience in this revue.

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing