The Cabaret Girl

The Cabaret Girl
Music	Jerome Kern
Lyrics	George Grossmith and P. G. Wodehouse
Book	George Grossmith and P. G. Wodehouse
Productions	1922, Winter Garden Theatre, Drury Lane, London 2008, Ohio Light Opera, Wooster, OH

The Cabaret Girl is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr. and P. G. Wodehouse.^[1] It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the Winter Garden Theatre in London's West End in September 1922 and featured Dorothy Dickson, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin (later replaced by Leslie Henson) in the leading roles.

The first performance was originally scheduled for Thursday, 14 September 1922, with Henson in a leading role,^[2] but he fell ill on the morning of the scheduled opening,^[3] which was delayed to allow Griffin to prepare for the part. The show finally opened the following Tuesday, 19 September. According to the reviewer in The Times, "Last night the piece received the warmest of receptions and thoroughly deserved it."^[4] The production ran for 361 performances, closing on 11 August 1923.^[5] Henson took over from Griffin in January 1924^[6] and the latter then took the show on tour.^[7]

The Cabaret Girl was first given an American production in 2004 when San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon company produced a staged concert of the show. Its first full American production was in 2008, when the Ohio Light Opera gave seven performances, between 26 June and 8 August, as part of their 30th Anniversary season.^[8] The same company released a commercial recording of the work in 2009 on Albany Records.^[9][10] The recording is the earliest work composed by Kern to be restored and recorded in its original form.^[11] The first New York City production was given in March 2009, in a concert staging by the semi-professional troupe Musicals Tonight!^[12]