Casey at the Bat

Jack Norworth
Insert your own joke about
being married to Norah Bayes.

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As I’m writing this, everybody here in St. Louis has gotten World Series fever, the more acute version of the Pennant Fever everyone had while Just a Song at Twilight was enjoying a two-week run at the Missouri History Museum. Had I but known that was going to happen, I would have included that hymn to the National Pastime, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in the show. Yes, it would have been pandering, but it would also have been a good fit. Here’s why.

To begin with, it’s a perfect example of one type of song that was central to the show: the old favorite for which everyone knows the chorus but almost nobody knows the verses. “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” is a prime example (not only are there verses, there are a total of six of them – possibly more that were never published), but “Take Me Out” is a close second.

There are two verses to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and while the chorus is the same both times, the verses pretty much completely change the intent of the song. Here they are, from an original copy of the 1908 sheet music gleaned from Indiana University’s IN Harmony collection:

Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew, every sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said "no, I'll tell you what you can do:"

[Chorus]

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong, all along good and strong.
When the score was just two to go,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song.

[Chorus]

Yep. In its original context it's a story song (as so many songs were a century ago) about a woman who is a die-hard baseball fan. And, like so many characters in songs of the Vaudeville era, she’s obviously Irish – a testament to how prominent Irish Americans had become in show business by then.

The other reason it would have been a good fit? Well, the music is by Albert von Tilzer. He and brother Harry (whom I reference in my opening monolog) were veritable hit song machines one hundred years ago. Albert’s list includes "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time", "Oh By Jingo!", and "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey". His brother lays claim to "A Bird in a Gilded Cage", "Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie", "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)", and a raft of others.

Even more interesting is that the lyrics are by Jack Norworth. That would be the same Jack Norworth who (as you’ll recall if you’ve seen the show) was the second of the five husbands of Vaudeville star Norah Bayes. He was definitely Second Banana to her when they were performing together, but after their divorce he went on to enjoy great success as both a performer and lyricist, eventually becoming an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Amusingly, “Take Me Out” was written the same year he married Bayes.

And, of course, it would have been a natural (if you’ll pardon the word) in the segment of the show that included “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” and “Under the Anheuser Bush”.

Anyway: go, Cards! Here’s a 1908 recording of “Take Me Out” by Edward Meeker, whose voice shows up on a large number of Edison cylinders. Grab some Buds, a Ballpark Frank, and enjoy.

After the Ball is Over

Photo by Gerry Love

When somebody says goodbye to me
I’m sad as I can be.
Not so with this loving Romeo
He seemed to take a lot of pleasure saying bye-bye to his treasure.
- Gus Kahn, “Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (Goo’ Bye)”

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I wouldn’t say that it was a lot of pleasure saying good-bye to my one-man show Just a Song at Twilight, which just concluded an immensely satisfying two-week run at the Missouri History Museum on October 16, 2011 under the aegis of the West End Players Guild. The show was actually a great joy to perform and, judging from audience response, to watch. So while I’m glad to have my evenings back again, it’s hard not to feel a bit of a let down knowing that I won’t be putting on that top hat, white tie, and tails any time again in the foreseeable future.

But then, if you read the excellent blog post by West End’s indispensible president Renee Sevier-Monsey on the ephemeral nature of theatre, you won’t be surprised to learn that. No matter how strong the sense of accomplishment that goes along with a good show, all of us followers of Thespis know that, sooner or later, the ball will be over and it will be time to move on.

Before the dancers leave and the stars are gone, though, I’d like to offer a little background and some tips of the top hat to many of the folks who made Just a Song at Twilight possible. Because if there’s one thing that’s true about a one-man show, it’s this: it takes way more than one person to make it work.

First, thanks to my graphics designer Marjorie Williamson. She’s responsible not only for that classy poster (which also graced the cover of our program) but also for assembling the “lantern slides” (actually a PowerPoint deck) that I used within the body of the show to illustrate the songs and stories. We both spent hours combing the Internet for images, but the final product wouldn’t have looked as good as it did without her expertise.

Thanks to Renee Sevier-Monsey for wearing multiple bonnets as my house manager, lighting designer, and set designer. The lights nicely delineated the playing area without spilling on to the projections and the set was simple but inspired. There wasn’t much to it – just an art deco floor lamp (a “practical”, which means it could be turned on and off like a real lamp) in front of which was a nightclub table and two chairs set with two glasses of wine, a period-looking shawl, and a cigarette case. The idea was that the couple had just stepped out to the dance floor and might come back at any moment. It set the tone perfectly.

Thanks to my director Tim Schall for the cool tweaks he made to the show in tech week. Tim worked closely with me to develop the original cabaret version of Just a Song at Twilight. This time around he was only able to be on hand for one rehearsal, but his input at that rehearsal had a great impact on the final look of the show. The little “framing sequence” that began and ended the show to the tune of “Love’s Old Sweet Song” was his idea (and it was Renee’s set that inspired it).

Thanks to actor, singer, dancer and choreographer and long time friend Cindy Duggan for my dance moves. I’m not a dancer (unless you count all those years of aerobics and Zumba at the “Y”), but Cindy came up with some stuff that made me look good.

Thanks to my old friend Lynn Rathbone – a gifted actress and smart director – for her input and also to my fellow West End Board member Sean Ruprecht-Belt for his notes at our dress rehearsal.

Thanks to Neal Richardson of the Webster Conservatory for the great arrangements and charts. Neal (who is also a fan of the songs of the Vaudeville era) was deeply involved in the creation of the original version of the show and played piano for both the March and July 2010, performances at the Kranzberg Center. This time around his commitments to the Conservatory made that impossible (he’s the music director for their November production of Carousel), but his spirit was still very much in evidence.

And last but by no means least, thanks to my music director and pianist Carol Schmidt. When Tim learned that Neal wasn’t available, his first suggestion was to ask Carol to step in. It was a suggestion with which I heartily concurred. I had worked with Carol on the now-defunct Moonglow and Cabaret at the Café series, so I already knew she was not only a technically proficient music director but a lively and inventive performer as well. Her imagination kept the show fresh right up to the final performance. We always found something new and interesting to do with the show during our nightly sound checks.

I could go on at great length about the process of turning a small-scale cabaret act into something more like a staged Ken Burn documentary and my actually do so in a future post, but for now I’ll just say that the warmth and enthusiasm with which you, our audience, received our show each night made all of that effort worthwhile. Feel free to stay in touch with me here and on the West End Players Guild blog. Share your thoughts on the music and the performers of the Vaudeville era.

The ball may be over and dawn may be breaking, but the dance goes on.

Just a Songlist at Twilight

With my Vaudeville cabaret show, Just a Song at Twilight, having completed a two-week revival at the Missouri History Museum, this seemed as good a time as any to provide an on-line version of the song list.

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Just a Song at Twilight – The Golden Age of Vaudeville

Chuck Lavazzi, Writer and Performer
Tim Schall, Director
Carol Schmidt, Music Director
Musical arrangements by Neal Richardson

I turned up a ton of information in the process of researching this show. Most of it failed to make the cut as patter, but it’s available at the links below. Enjoy!

Words / Music

G. Clifton Bingham / J.L. Molloy: Love’s Old Sweet Song (1884)

Darl Mac Boyle / Nat Vincent: Bring Back Those Wonderful Days (1919) (Additional lyrics by Chuck Lavazzi)

Joseph McCarthy / Harry Carroll (after Chopin): I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (1918)

Weston and Barnes / Maurice Scott: I’ve Got Rings on My Fingers (1909)

Arthur J. Lamb / Alfred Solman: The Bird on Nellie’s Hat (1906)

Jack Norworth / Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth: Shine On, Harvest Moon (1908)

Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson: Carolina in the Morning (1922) (Additional music and lyrics by Neal Richardson and Chuck Lavazzi)

Grant Clark and Edgar Leslie / Maurice Abrahams: He’d Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (1913)

Ida Emerson and Joe Howard: Hello, Ma Baby (1899)

Edgar Leslie and Burt Kalmar / Pete Wendling: Take Your Girlie to the Movies (1919)

Stanley Murphy / Henry I Marshall: On the 5:15 (1914)

Andrew B. Sterling / Harry von Tilzer: Under the Anheuser Bush (1903)

Andrew B. Sterling / Kerry Mills: Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis (1904)

Medley: Alex Rogers / Bert Williams: Nobody (1905); Fred Ebb / John Kander: Mr. Cellophane (from Chicago, A Musical Vaudeville 1975)

Medley: Charles K. Harris: After the Ball (1892); Love’s Old Sweet Song

Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman and Dan Russo: Toot, Toot, Tootsie (1921)

Lew Brown / Carl Schraubstader: Last Night on the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best of All) (1923)

Notes on the Music 12 - You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet

[The twelfth in a series of postings on the music in my show Just a Song at Twilight: The Golden Age of Vaudeville. Performances are March 26 and 27 at the Kranzberg Center in St. Louis; tickets at licketytix.com.]

Lew Brown / Carl Schraubstader: Last Night on the Back Porch (I Loved Her Best of All) (1923) – One good Jolson tune from Bombo deserves another. Lest there be any doubt that this was designed as a showcase for "Jolie's" unique talents, the first verse includes his catch phrase "you ain't heard nothin' yet". Many others have performed it since, including Bing Crosby and our own St. Louis Ragtimers. The score includes a whopping total of eight (!) verses. Only Jolson could get away with that many, so I don't even try. Given my ethnic background, however, I couldn't pass up the cheesy Italian dialect patter - or the more suggestive lyrics. There might have been even more lyrics that were never recorded. The sheet music has the following note at the bottom of the page of extra verses: "For community sings or house parties continue indefinitely by substituting KISS-HUG-SQUEEZE etc for LOVE using words of first chorus: - viz I kiss her in the morning And I kiss her at night".

I'm not sure why the copyright date on this song is a year later than "Toot, Toot Tootsie" (which itself is a year later than the New York run of Bombo); it might have been added for one of the many tours of this very popular show.