Madame Sherry

• World Premiere (1902)
  Paris, France
• Berlin Production (1902)
  Berlin, Germany
• Original London Production (1903)
  London, England
• Broadway Production (1910)
  New York, NY
• Goodspeed Production (1989)
  East Haddam, CT

Click on the title for info on the song.

Original score

• Aesthetic Dancing
• Theophilus
• Every Little Movement (Has a Meaning All It's Own)
  • aka Every Little Movement [no note]
• Kiss You Gave, The
• Uncle Says I Mustn't, So I Won't
  • aka Uncle Says I Mustn't [no note]
• Birth of the Butterfly, The
  • aka The Butterfly [no note]
• You Can't Argue
• Smile She Means for You, The
• Love Dance, The
• Athletic Prancing
• Won't Someone Take Me Home?
• Other Fellow, The
• Dublin Rag
• I'm All Right
• Terzetto Buffo
  • aka Ensemble Buffo [no note]
• Birth of Passion, The
• Off for a Sail
• Serenade
• I Want to Play House with You
• Intermezzo, The
• We Are Only Poor Weak Mortals
  • aka We Are Only Poor Weak Mortals After All [no note]
• Seduction, The
• Loading Up the Mandy Lee

Cut during Chicago tryout

• Dunnerwetter
• Mr. Johnson, Good Night
• Put Your Arms Around Me Honey
• Mad Madrid & The Dance of Danger, The
• Family Dirk, The
  • aka The Song of the Dirk [no note]
• Oh You Beautiful Doll
  • aka Oh! You Beautiful Doll [no note]
• Cuddle Up a Little Closer
• Walking the Dog
• Too Much Mustard
  • aka Too Much Mustard [no note]
• Ciribiribin
• Nocturne

Based on a French operetta by Maurice Ordonneau.

A celebrated dancer’s social whirl carries her from New York salons to a glittering yacht, shadowed by an eccentric uncle and pursued by would-be suitors. Amid aesthetic dance lessons, elaborate parties, and mistaken intentions, flirtations turn into tangled alliances. In the end, love, wit, and charm steer the characters toward happy resolutions under the shimmer of society’s spotlight.

The original version premiered in Paris and subsequently played in Berlin and Brussels. It opened in the West End in 1903, in an adaptation by C. E. Hands with lyrics by Hugo Felix. Unfortunately, this version was unsuccessful. Not until the 1910 Broadway version with major score revisions by Hoschna and an almost completely new libretto by Otto Hauerbach did Madame Sherry prove to be a financial and critical success. Therefore, the definitive English-language version of Madame Sherry is considered to be that produced on Broadway.

Shortly after the opening of Madame Sherry the Scene “An Evening on Deck” was changed. The numbers “Dunnerwetter”, “Mr. Johnson, Good Night”, “Put Your Arms Around Me Honey” and “The Mad Madrid & The Dance of Danger” were added to “Serenade” to expand this popular scene. These numbers were also included in the touring version of this show.

The original Broadway version owed at least some of its success to interpolations. It is possible that many of the Goodspeed production additions were interpolated during the original run or tour of this show.