Musical Adaptations of Anna Cora Mowatt's "Fashion"

A Brief Summary of Production Details

"Fashion! or Life in New York; A Comedy with Music"

Theatre: Royal Playhouse

Opening Date: January 20, 1959

Book: credited to Anna Cora Mowatt

Time and Place: New York City, 1845. The Tiffany’s house.

Synopsis: The pretentious New Yorker Mrs. Tiffany has illusions of social grandeur and surrounds herself with culture, has an all-French staff, and entertains anyone she believes has aristocratic connections.  Mrs. Tiffany insists that her daughter Seraphina wed the Count di Jolimaitre even though she does not love him.  Mr. Tiffany prefers more down-to-earth society and is often seen with Adam Trueman, a businessman with some sketchy legal episodes in his past.  When the calculating Mr. Snobson get hold of damaging information, he tries to blackmail Trueman and aims to marry Seraphina himself.  A long-lost granddaughter of Trueman’s helps him save his reputation, and she also exposes the count as nothing more than a French chef named Gustave Treadmill.  Mr. Tiffany puts his foot down and sends his wife and daughter to stay in the simple rustic country home of Trueman to learn less refined values. (Synopsis quoted from Off-Broadway Musicals since 1919: From Greenwhich Village Follies to The Toxic Avenger by Thomas S. Hischak)

Musical Numbers

ACT I

SONG	SUNG BY
Jim Along Jose (Stephen Daley “Zeke”)
“Croquet”	(June Ericson “Seraphina,” Al Corbin “T. Tennyson Twinkle)
“Call Me Pet Names”	(June Ericson “Seraphina,” Frederic Warriner “Count Jolimaitre)
“Come Birdie Come”	(Rosina Fernhoff “Gertrude”)
“The Independent Farmer”	(Will Geer, Company Adam Truman)
“Kemo Kimo	(Stephen Daley, “Zeke”)
“The Gipsy’s Warning”	(Margot Hand, “Millinette”)
“Take Back The Heart”	(Will Geer)
“Walking Down Broadway"	(Enid Markey “Mrs. Tiffany”, Gentlemen)
"Down by the Riverside"	(Jonathan Able, “Colonel Howard”)
“Not for Joe”	(Stanley Jay, “Snobson.”)

Resources

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Further Reading

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