The Girl Friend

The Girl Friend
Sheet Music
Music	Richard Rodgers
Lyrics	Lorenz Hart
Book	Herbert Fields
Productions	1926 Broadway

The Girl Friend is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. This was the longest running show for the trio to that date.^[1]

The Girl Friend opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Theatre on March 17, 1926, and closed on December 27, 1926, after 301 performances. Produced by Lew Fields (Herbert's father), staged by John Harwood with musical staging by Jack Haskell, the cast starred Sammy White, Eva Puck and June Cochrane. White and Puck were married and well-known vaudeville performers of the time.

Setting: Long Island, New York

A cyclist trains on a wheel connected to a butter churn on his dairy farm. He is in love with the daughter of a professional cyclist. He is urged to enter a six-day bicycle race by a questionable cycling promoter. Various gamblers try to cause him to lose, but he wins the race and the girl.

Characters

Name	Gender	Vocal Range
Ellen	Female	Example
Jane Talbot	Female	Example
Duffy	Male	Example
Wynn Spencer	Female	Example
Irene Covel	Female	Example
Fanny Silver	Female	Example
Arthur Spencer	Male	Example
Donald Litt	Male	Example
Frank	Male	Example
Thomas Larson	Male	Example
Mike	Male	Example
Mme. Ruby DeLilly	Female	Example
Henry	Male	Example
Mollie Farrell	Female	Example
Eddie	Male	Example
Jim	Male	Example
Ann	Female	Example
Bill	Male	Example

Act 1

• "Hey! Hey!"
• "The Simple Life"
• "The Girl Friend"
• "Goodbye, Lenny"
• "Blue Room"
• "Cabarets"
• "Why Do I?"
• "The Damsel Who Done All the Dirt"
• "He's a Winner"
• "Town Hall Tonight"
• "Good Fellow, Mine"

Act 2

• "Creole Cooning Song"
• "I'd Like to Take You Home"
• "What Is It?"

Reviewers praised the humor, dancing, and the "captivating music." The New York American reviewer wrote: "This WAS music, instead of molasses. There was a ditty called 'The Blue Room' which should be sung to exhaustion".^[1]

• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Overview of show, lorenzhart.org
• Ovrtur Page for The Girl Friend