Tip-Toes
Encyclopedia
Tip-Toes is a musical
with a book by Guy Bolton
and Fred Thompson
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
, and music by George Gershwin
. It centers on a vaudeville
act known as the Three Kayes - composed of Al, Uncle Hen, and Tip-Toes - who try to pass themselves off as aristocrats
in the upper class community of Palm Beach, Florida
.
land boom, which was then at its peak. They reunited the creative team of Lady, Be Good!, which had been a hit the previous year with Fred
and Adele Astaire
. The Broadway
production opened at the Liberty Theatre
on December 28, 1925 and ran for 192 performances. It was directed by John Harwood, and the dance numbers were staged by Sammy Lee and Earl Lindsay. The cast included Queenie Smith
as Tip-Toes, Allen Kearns as Steve Burton, Jeanette MacDonald
as Sylvia Metcalf, Andrew Tombes as Al, and Harry Watson Jr. as Hen.
A West End
production featuring Dorothy Dickson, Laddie Cliff, Allan Kearns, John Kirby, Vera Bryer,Peggy Beaty and Evan Thomas opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 31, 1926 and ran for 182 performances.
In 1927, the show was made into one of the last silent film
s, starring Dorothy Gish
as Tip-Toes (spelled Tiptoes in the film) and Will Rogers
as Hen. A sound film has yet to be made.
In 1982, original orchestra books for the show were among many documents unearthed in a warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey
, and in 1989 two concerts were presented at the Library of Congress
to celebrate the discovery. In 1998, Carnegie Hall
decided to present the show as part of its two-year Gershwin Centenary program, and a full restoration of the project was undertaken by reconciling original programs and scripts with the existing musical materials. Of this performance, Stephen Holden
of the New York Times said, "the songs and orchestrations have that irresistible fizz that at its perkiest conveys a compressed frenzy of euphoria." In 2001, New World Records
released a CD with the scores for both Tip-Toes and Tell Me More, another 1925 musical by the Gershwin brothers, which included the cast from the Carnegie Hall concert.
In 2007, the musical was given its first full staging following its 1998 restoration by the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, California. Variety
described the production as "an exuberant reminder of the let's-put-on-a-show spirit characterizing the best musical productions of any era."
owner of a glue factory, meets Tip-Toes and immediately falls in love with her. After a car accident leaves the girl with amnesia
, she is not sure whether she's Tip-Toes Kaye or socialite Roberta Calhoun Van Rensselaer, the identity her scheming, social-climbing relatives have invented for her. Comic mass confusion follows, but true love wins in the end.
Act II
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
and Fred Thompson
Fred Thompson (writer)
Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies from World War I to World War II. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and...
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, and music by George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
. It centers on a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act known as the Three Kayes - composed of Al, Uncle Hen, and Tip-Toes - who try to pass themselves off as aristocrats
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
in the upper class community of Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
.
Production history
Tip-Toes was produced by Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley, to satirise the FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
land boom, which was then at its peak. They reunited the creative team of Lady, Be Good!, which had been a hit the previous year with Fred
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and Adele Astaire
Adele Astaire
Lady Charles Cavendish , better known as Adele Astaire, was an American dancer and entertainer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister. Her birthdate was often given as 1897 or 1898, but the 1900 U.S...
. 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 Liberty Theatre
Liberty Theatre
The Liberty Theatre was a Broadway theater from 1904 to 1933, located at 236 West 42nd Street in New York City.In 1996 it was used for a staged reading of T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land, with actress Fiona Shaw, directed by Deborah Warner. The New York Times review described the theater as...
on December 28, 1925 and ran for 192 performances. It was directed by John Harwood, and the dance numbers were staged by Sammy Lee and Earl Lindsay. The cast included Queenie Smith
Queenie Smith
Queenie Smith was an American stage, television, and film actress.-Biography:Smith got an early start, being trained in ballet and dance and spent her teen years performing as a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Company in operas such as Aida, La Traviata, and Faust...
as Tip-Toes, Allen Kearns as Steve Burton, Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
as Sylvia Metcalf, Andrew Tombes as Al, and Harry Watson Jr. as Hen.
A West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production featuring Dorothy Dickson, Laddie Cliff, Allan Kearns, John Kirby, Vera Bryer,Peggy Beaty and Evan Thomas opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 31, 1926 and ran for 182 performances.
In 1927, the show was made into one of the last silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s, starring Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...
as Tip-Toes (spelled Tiptoes in the film) and Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
as Hen. A sound film has yet to be made.
In 1982, original orchestra books for the show were among many documents unearthed in a warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 16,264. Located within the New Jersey Meadowlands, it is the most suburban of the county's municipalities, though large parts of the town are dedicated to light manufacturing, retail, and...
, and in 1989 two concerts were presented at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
to celebrate the discovery. In 1998, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
decided to present the show as part of its two-year Gershwin Centenary program, and a full restoration of the project was undertaken by reconciling original programs and scripts with the existing musical materials. Of this performance, Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of the New York Times said, "the songs and orchestrations have that irresistible fizz that at its perkiest conveys a compressed frenzy of euphoria." In 2001, New World Records
New World Records
New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....
released a CD with the scores for both Tip-Toes and Tell Me More, another 1925 musical by the Gershwin brothers, which included the cast from the Carnegie Hall concert.
In 2007, the musical was given its first full staging following its 1998 restoration by the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, California. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described the production as "an exuberant reminder of the let's-put-on-a-show spirit characterizing the best musical productions of any era."
Plot summary
Tip-Toes once had a flirtation with Rollo Metcalf, and an incriminating photo of the pair falls into the hands of Rollo's jealous wife, Sylvia, whose brother Steve, the millionaireMillionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
owner of a glue factory, meets Tip-Toes and immediately falls in love with her. After a car accident leaves the girl with amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, she is not sure whether she's Tip-Toes Kaye or socialite Roberta Calhoun Van Rensselaer, the identity her scheming, social-climbing relatives have invented for her. Comic mass confusion follows, but true love wins in the end.
Song list
Act I- Waiting for the Train
- Nice Baby
- Looking For a BoyLooking For a Boy"Looking For a Boy" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It was introduced in their 1925 musical Tip-Toes.-Notable recordings:*June Christy - The Cool School...
- Lady Luck
- When Do We Dance?
- These Charming People
- That Certain FeelingThat Certain Feeling"That Certain Feeling" is a 1925 song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin .It was introduced by Allen Kearns and Queenie Smith in the 1925 musical Tip-Toes .-Notable recordings:...
- Sweet and Low Down
Act II
- Our Little Captain
- Looking for a Boy (Reprise)
- It's a Great Little World
- Nighty-Night
- Tip-Toes