Little Johnny Jones

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

Little Johnny Jones (1904), a musical play by George M. Cohan (book, music, lyrics). [Liberty Theatre, 52 perf.] The Yankee Johnny Jones (Cohan) comes to England to ride in the Derby. Anthony Anstey ( Jerry Cohan) offers him a bribe to throw the race, but Johnny refuses, so when he actually loses the race, Anstey spreads rumors that he did so intentionally. After clearing his name, Johnny returns to America where Anstey has kidnapped Johnny's sweetheart, Goldie Gates ( Ethel Levey). So Johnny must scour San Francisco's Chinatown to recover her. Notable songs: Give My Regards to Broadway; Life's a Funny Proposition After All; The Yankee Doodle Boy. Although most critics assailed the play as too slangy, contrived, and chauvinistic, the public adored it, and Cohan had his first of many Broadway hits. Within a few months after its original run, Cohan and producer Sam H. Harris twice brought it back for return engagements. A largely rewritten, poorly mounted 1982 revival failed to run.

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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Little Johnny Jones." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Little Johnny Jones." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LittleJohnnyJones.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Little Johnny Jones." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LittleJohnnyJones.html

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