Comic Strips in American Theatre

Comic Strips in American Theatre. Within a few years after their first appearance in American newspapers and swift rise to popularity, comic strips were providing material for American theatrical authors. Perhaps it is significant that almost without exception they were turned not into farces or dramas but into musicals. The first transition to enjoy major success was Victor Herbert's musical rendition of Winsor McKay's Little Nemo (1908). Its success was followed quickly by The Newlyweds and Their Baby (1909), based on the cartoons of George McManus. In the 1910s and 1920s, Mutt and Jeff provided the basis for a series of slapdash musicals that toured the country with tremendous returns but rarely ventured into larger, more sophisticated cities. Titles included Mutt and Jeff, Mutt and Jeff on the Farm, and Mutt and Jeff in Mexico. During the 1914–15 season no fewer than five companies of this last edition were on tour. Another strip to prompt a series of musicals was McManus's Bringing Up Father. Again basically a road attraction, all through the 1920s such variations as Bringing Up Father in Florida and Bringing Up Father in Ireland traveled from small town to smaller town. For several decades thereafter the vogue faded, only to be revived with the success of Li'l Abner (1956), based on Al Capp's strip. Superman was turned into the highly stylized (but unsuccessful) It's a Bird. . .It's a Plane. . .It's SUPERMAN (1966), but two of the most popular musicals of the era were You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1967), taken from Charles W. Schulz's Peanuts, and Annie (1977), derived from Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. Doonesbury (1983), based on Garry Trudeau's celebrated cartoon, could not find an audience; neither could Snoopy (1982), Starmites (1989), and Annie Warbucks (1993). Fictitious cartoonists were the central figures in King of Hearts (1954), Rumple (1957), and Woman of the Year (1981).While the best‐known characters from the respective strips were generally retained, in virtually all instances fresh stories were created for the librettos. Many of these musicals, as might be expected, had a special appeal to young audiences.