Some newspaper clippings from 1915 related to The Irish Dragoon. As far as I can tell, a musical play titled The Irish Dragoon and starring Andrew Mack was produced in late 1915, but it was not produced by Klaw and Erlanger (rather E. E. Pidgeon), its book was not by Joseph Herbert (rather Theodore Burt Sayre), it was not in three acts (but four), and its music doesn’t seem to have been by Sousa.
Perhaps Sousa abandoned the project and it was sold to Pidgeon; or Pidgeon beat them to market and therefore Klaw and Erlanger abandoned the project. I’m not sure.
Note that The Irish Dragoon (1915) is set in Napoleonic-era Spain; Theodore Burt Sayre later wrote The Irish 15th (1917), a story of WWI-era France, in which Al H. Wilson starred.
Lever’s novel itself contains some two dozen songs or snatches of rhyme, some with an indication of a suitable melody; but it seems that neither the Herbert/Sousa project nor the Sayre/Mack project used any of Lever’s songs, perhaps so that they could obtain copyright in theirs. In volume 1: “To drink a toast” (The Man for Galway); “If I was a monarch in state” (Potteen, Good Luck to Ye, Dear); “Oh, love is the soul of an Irish dragoon” (The Irish Dragoon); “Did ye hear of the Widow Malone” (The Widow Malone); “Then fare ye well, old Erin dear”; “The morning breezes chill”; “The pickets are fast retreating, boys”; “Now that we’ve pledged each eye of blue”; “What an elegant life a friar leads”; “Oh, once we were elegant people”; “It’s little for glory I care”; etc. In volume 2: “The day was declining”; “You may talk if you please” (The Girls of the West); “Oh, Larry M’Hale he had little to fear” (Larry M’Hale); “Don’t talk to me of London dames” (Mary Draper); “If at your ease the girls you’d please”; “When the battle is o’er, and the sounds of fight” (The Breton Home); “Bad luck to this marching”; “My father cared little for shot or shell”; “Oh, what stories I’ll tell when my sodgering’s o’er”; etc.
See also The Irish Dragoon’s entry in Paul E. Bierley’s The Works of John Philip Sousa (1984); Lever’s The Irish Dragoon at VictorianWeb; The Irish Dragoon (vol. I, vol. II) at Project Gutenberg; and surviving fragments of Sousa’s lyrics.
“Sousa Advocates Woman Suffrage.” In the Birmingham Age-Herald of Sunday, May 16, 1915, page 26.
John Philip Sousa, the famous bandmaster and composer of popular light operas, as well as marches, has expressed himself in a newspaper interview as strongly in favor of woman suffrage. In discussing his recent compositions, Mr. Sousa said to a writer in the Musical Courier that he had recently completed a march entitled “The Pathfinder of Panama,” which he believed would prove as popular with the public as the “Washington Post” and the “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The newspapers throughout the country have given it favorable recognition, and Mr. Sousa believes the music is just as catchy as the “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which has been looked on as his most popular march.
The man who wrote the “Bride-Elect,” which has been classed as the most popular light opera ever written by an American composer, also announced that he had just completed a new light opera entitled, “The Irish Dragoon,” which was founded on an incident in Charles Lever’s novel of the same name. Mr. Sousa says that it is different from most comic operas in that in it there are mainly dramatic incidents. The book was written by Joseph W. Herbert. The leading role was created for Andrew Mack, and there is much comedy in the role, Mr. Sousa says. It will be brought out in New York in October by Klaw and Erlanger and probably Cedar Rapids will hear it late next season.
Sousa and his band are on their way to San Francisco to fill a nine weeks’ engagement at the Panama-Pacific exposition.
Mack’s play is named.
Andrew Mack’s forthcoming starring vehicle has been named “The Irish Dragoon.” The play, which is by Theodore Burt Sayre, is a romantic military drama of the 1812 period. It is a new version of Charles Lever’s novel. There are four acts and fifteen speaking parts. Mr. Mack will tour under the management of E. E. Pidgeon.
“The Irish Dragoon” Abounds in Celtic Wit and Tender Romance.
The Cast.
General Sir Terence Blake . . . Gavin Harris
Colonel Sir George Dashwood . . . Eric Campbell
Major Monsoon . . . George Riddell
Captain Hammersley . . . Mario Marjaroni
Captain Power . . . Walter Grey
Lieutenant Sparks . . . Nicholas Joy
Charles O’Malley . . . Andrew Mack
Count Considine . . . John Hickey
De Veux . . . John Hickey
Orderly . . . William Parke, jr.
Lucy Dashwood, the colonel’s daughter . . . Miss Gilda Leary
Mrs. Blake, the general’s wife . . . Miss Mabel Mortimer
Dora Power, the captain’s sister . . . Miss Josephine Stevens
Judy McCann . . . Miss Julia Hoy
A maid . . . Miss Emily ThompsonThe gallantries and escapades of a dashing young Irish officer and the machinations of a brother officer, who, because he was cast for the villain, had to be English; the bellicose Irish nobleman, always spoiling for a fight, and his typically British foil, personified in the character of the bluff Colonel Sir George Dashwood; the coolly satirical English beauty and the irrespressible Irish ingenue; the clash of swords and wits, and interspersed through it all the good old ballads and the more modern love songs through which the fascinating Captain O’Malley showed the audience how “an Irishman’s heart makes vocal his love,” brought back to memory at the Newark Theater last night the days of our youth when we pored over the pages of Charles Lever’s romances of old Erin, and ensconced even more securely in our admiration the charm and talents of Andrew Mack’s delightful Irish characterizations.
In the dramatization of Lever’s old favorite the thrills, the intrigues and the duelling have all been retained, but have been subordinated to the fascinating figure of the Irish dragoon, whose nimble wit and insouciance dominate the atmosphere of the play. Only in the duelling scene in the fourth act are the situations allowed to develop into a semblance of tenseness. For the rest the plot is light, sparkling and cleverly handled throughout.
Andrew Mack has an ideal vehicle for his peculiar talents in the romantic comedy, and maintains to the full his reputation for sympathetic interpretations of such roles. Colonel Sir George Dashwood, played by Eric Campbell, offers an excellent foil to the fiery, boastful Count Considine, played by John Hickey. General Sir Terence Blake is well rendered by Gavin Harris.
Little is required of the women of the cast, beyond the ability to look bewitching and exchange enough repartee to exhibit the flashing wit of Captain O’Malley, but the roles were well enacted by Miss Mabel Mortimer, as Mrs. Blake, the wife of the general; Miss Gilda Leary, as Lucy Dashwood, the colonel’s daughter, and Miss Josephine Stevens, as Dora Powers, the ingenue.
“Judy McCann,” the eccentric Irish aunt, impersonated by O’Malley in order to fulfill a wager, is uproariously funny, and gives the popular comedian an opportunity to encroach upon the farcical without interfering with the chief motive of the play.
“In the Spotlight.” In the Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) of Sunday, October 31, 1915, part 2, page 10.
Yesterday being the sixty-first birthday of John Philip Sousa, Charles Dillingham, in commemoration of the event, made arrangements to have his latest composition, “The New York Hippodrome March,” played simultaneously in every large city of the country at 4:10, when Sousa appeared in “Hip, Hip Hooray,” the ballet of the states, at the Hippodrome. Mr. Sousa is composing the music for “The Irish Dragoon,” a comic opera, the book for which was written by Joseph Herbert.
“The Irish Dragoon” A Romantic Comedy. In the New Britain (Connecticut) Daily Herald of Tuesday, November 2, 1915, page 4.
Andrew Mack, the popular singing comedian, who will be the attraction at the Lyceum Thursday night, will present a new production in “The Irish Dragoon.”
The play is a romantic comedy drama with many thrilling scenes and stirring episodes of the English Colonial war period of 1812. Theodore Burt Sayre, who wrote “Tom Moore” for Mr. Mack has written this new drama. It is a specially arranged version of Charles Lever’s famous romantic novel of this period and is written around the dashing, dare-devil Captain O’Malley, the Galway soldier boy.
“ ‘The Irish Dragoon’ Pleasing Diversion.” In the New Britain (Connecticut) Herald of Friday, November 5, 1915, page 2.
In Lever’s novel, it is not O’Malley himself but rather his friend Frank Webber who poses as George Dashwood’s sister Judith Macan in order to kiss Lucy Dashwood. The episode occurs in volume 1, chapters 18–19.
Andrew Mack and Good Supporting Cast Score at Lyceum
Andrew Mack, any time he wishes, can take the first act of “The Irish Dragoon,” snatch it bodily, cut out a few unnecessary characters and present a wonderful playlet on the vaudeville stage. The suggestion has probably never been advanced to him before. “The Irish Dragoon” as far as its dramatic merits go ends with the curtain on the first act. Whatever else transpires after that period, whatever takes place in the next three acts could be easily dispensed with. In fact the last three acts are hanging by a slender thread on the good impression created by the climax of the first act.
In this play, presented at the Lyceum last night, Andrew Mack portrays the dashing Irish lover, Charles O’Mally, born of the imagination of Charles Lever. O’Malley is a captain in the English army, poor but jovial company, a roistering companion in the barracks, a gallant wooer of women. He would dare enter where angels fear to tread. In this mood he finds his way to the home of Colonel Dashwood, where a ball is taking place. He is desirous of meeting and making love to the Colonel’s charming daughter, Lucy Dashwood. Chided by his fellow officers he is forced into making a wager that he can find his way into the good graces of the lady without even so much as an introduction and further, that he can even kiss her. It is a big bet O’Malley has undertaken. He meets the daughter of the Colonel and forthwith she rebukes him. Then, hearing that the young lady’s grand-aunt, an old Irish lady with a reputation for her caustic wit, is going to visit the Dashwood home and that she is even then on her way, O’Malley, aided and abetted by the former sweetheart of the expected visitor, impersonates the redoubtable Judy McCann. In the guise of the young lady’s grand-aunt he naturally gets the kiss. He gets more than that,—three kisses. And just as he is in the midst of the feast in walks the real Miss Judy McCann. Curtain. What with all the dueling and intrigues and love affairs that present themselves in the next three acts it is not worth while reviewing them. Suffice it to say that Andrew Mack has surrounded himself with a very capable cast, with able men and pretty women, and what more could an Irish hero want? Gilda Leary, playing opposite Mr. Mack, makes an ideal Colonel’s daughter. Her little friend Josephine Stevens was also well received. Others in the cast were: Gavin Harris, Eric Campbell, George Riddell, Mario Marjaroni, Walter Grey, Nicholas Joy, John Hickey, William Parke, Jr., Mabel Mortimer, Julia Hoy and Emily Thompson.
“The Brooklyn Plays.” In the New York Sun of Sunday, November 7, 1915, third section, page 5.
What to See Across the Bridge This Week.
The Montauk Theatre will have the honor of giving New York its first glimpse of Andrew Mack’s new play, “The Irish Dragoon.” Theodore Burt Sayre is the author of the play, which, like all good Irish plays, has many good songs in it for Mr. Mack to sing.
“Gossip of the Stage.” In the Sunday Telegram (Clarksburg, West Virginia) of Sunday, November 7, 1915, second section, page 5.
John Philip Sousa is composing the music of “The Irish Dragoon,” a comic opera, whose book is by Joseph Herbert.
“Music and Musicians.” In the Springfield (Connecticut) Weekly Republican of Thursday, November 25, 1915, page 6.
John Philip Sousa — Known Throughout World — Our Famous Bandmaster
An Interview With the Composer of “Stars and Stripes Forever”
The New York Review declares that if John Philip Sousa had never composed anything else than “The Stars and Stripes” that woudl have been enough to insure his name imperishable fame in generations to come, and a niche alongside of Francis Scott Key and Julia Ward Howe. “The Stars and Stripes” is better known the world over to-day than “Yankee Doodle,” or “The Star-Spangled Banner,” or, even “Dixie.” It is played in every country in the world and is almost as popular in some European countries as it is here.
Mr. Sousa returned to New York this season a little whiter around the temples, but just the same martial figure he always has been, and as full of energy and vigor as he was in the days of his youth. The years have not changed the personality of the remarkable band leader. He is the same kindly, gracious, affable regular “good fellow” he has always been—full of optimism and engrossed in his work and his composition.
“The people of this country,” said Mr. Sousa, “are beginning to understand musical standards and classifications, and insist on having their music served properly.
American Judgment Improving
“I have been obliged to keep this in mind constantly in making up my programs, and I invariably find that everything is judged in respect to the class to which it belongs, not matter whether it is ragtime or a symphony. The public recognizes that ragtime with respect to other ragtime compositions may be very bad, and that each symphony in comparison with other symphonies may be very bad, and that each form should be considered with due regard to its type only.
“I am very hopeful about the prospects of American music. Our composers have shown a harmonic development which is unequaled in any other nation in the world. This is a very good sign. It means musical progress along correct lines and it will only be a question of time before we produce composers who will rank with the greatest in history. I can almost see an American Beethoven or a Wagner looming up in the future now. When the great American composer does come, the public will be ready to appreciate him, I think.
Some of Our Handicaps
“Ours is a cosmopolitan country, and while this presents some advantages in a musical way, it is a great handicap in the development of national music and it makes it difficult for a native composer. We are a people of many races, creeds, tastes and cultures. I do not think that the true American type has yet been fused in the melting pot and the same thing may be said of music. There are manifestations, such as our ragtime, our popular songs, which indicate that musical forces are working and crystalizing certain national characteristics, but representative American music has yet to be born. It will come into existence some day, perhaps in a couple of generations, perhaps it will take longer, but it is on its way.
“I am composing all the time. Just at present I am working on the scores of two operas. One is ‘The Irish Dragoons,’ and the other is ‘Victory,’ which Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote with Miss Davis. Besides that I am always writing a new march.
About the New Dance Tempi
“The modern dance craze was responsible for a great many new compositions in the various tempi of the new dances, but beyond this tendency there has been nothing new. Of course, there is nothing new in the matter of tempo. Everything that is being written to-day in ragtime and the various syncopated styles has been done before, perhaps, in different tempi, but I do think that there is a new color in our music.
“There is an exulting exhilarating note in most of the American compositions of the day, reflecting our pride in our country. Personally, I do not think that there should be any trenches in music or art. What people want in music is that it should have the quality.
“I made three trips around the world with my band, and in every country I visited I received the same cordial treatment, the same enthusiastic reception and courtesy. ‘The Stars and Stripes’ was just as much appreciated and applauded in Tokio as it was in Berlin. There is certainly no national prejudice, or at least there was none before the great war, in regard to music.
War is Fatal to Music
“The war is a musical calamity. Aside from the fact that hundreds of thousands of musicians are fighting and dying in the armies of the battling nations of Europe and hundreds of young composers have given up their careers to be soldiers, the entire musical movement in European nations is stopped, and will not be revived during our lifetime. The war has killed the musical inspiration of Europe. Modern music is an art which can flourish only in peace and in highly civilized and cultured communities. It has nothing in common with present conditions in Europe.
“We shall have to supply our own music for concert and opera for the next 20 years. This will give our composers the opportunities which they claim have long been denied them, and it will create a market for all kinds of musical composition here such as has never existed before. But, as I said, I do not expect that a genuine representative American school of composition will spring into existence immediately. That is going to take time.
“We are an emotional people; but our emotions as a people are crude, for we are a very young nation. Our national deity is the American flag, and this fact is reflected in hundreds of compositions.
How He Composed His Best-Known Work
“I have never told anyone just what impelled me to compose the ‘Stars and Stripes.’ Would you like to know? Well, it was homesickness—just plain, ordinary, commonplace nostalgia. I had been away from home for almost a year, make a trip with my band around the world. I first visited the Pacific coast of America, then the Orient, then Europe, and finally, England, and was coming home again across the Atlantic on the White Star liner Teutonic, and I do not think that anyone ever longed to get back to America so intensely as I did. The big ship could not steam fast enough for me. I looked at hte bulletin board daily to see how many miles we had run, with bitter disappointment every day that we had not made better time.
“In a kind of dreamy way I used to think over old days at Washington, when I was leader of the Marine band of the United States navy, when we played at all public official functions, and I could see the stars and stripes flying from the flagstaff in the grounds of the White House just as plainly as if I was back there again.
“Then I began to think of all the countries I had visited, of the foreign people I had met, of the vast difference between America and American people and other countries and other peoples, and that flag of ours became glorified, and to my imagination it seemed to be the biggest, grandest thing in the world, and I could not get back under it quick enough.
“It was in this impatient, fretful state of mind that the inspiration to compose ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ came to me, and to my imagination it was irresistible, complete, definite, and I could not rest until I had finished the composition. Then I experienced a wonderful sense of relief and relaxation. I was satisfied, delighted with my work after it was done. The feeling of impatience passed away, and I was content to rest peacefully until the ship had docked and I was once more under the folds of the grand old flag of our country.”
Advertisement. In the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Telegraph of Tuesday, December 7, 1915, page 10, including a photograph presumably of Mack in his dragoon costume.
Orpheum. Saturday — Matinee & Night — Dec. 11
Not a photoplay, nor a film fake but the real living, breathing idol of the Irish drama—HIMSELF.
Now Touring Triumphantly. ANDREW MACK, America’s favorite singing comedian in the rousing romantic comedy drama, “THE IRISH DRAGOON”
By Theo. Burt Sayre. New songs and New York cast.
Prices — Matinee: Balcony, 25c and 50c. Orchestra, 50c, 75c, $1.00. Night, 25c to $1.50; 400 seats $1.00.
“Irish Dragoon Saw—Conquered.” In the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Telegraph of Monday, December 13, 1915, evening edition, page 9.
Cast of Giants Refreshingly Combined With Pretty Girls at Orpheum.
The much-heralded, genial-souled Andrew Mack came to Harrisburg Saturday afternoon and evening, saw and was seen by a certain number of people, and undoubtedly conquered. The program described what he had to offer as “A Thrilling, Romantic Comedy Drama,” which was a pretty big bill to fill, when you look it over. However, it was all of that, and each component part fulfilled itself remarkably fittingly, and well. The gigantic size of the majority of the male portion of the cast rather amazed the audience, but after it had caught its breath and ceased to marvel, the enjoyment of the hearty good-humor of the play completely absorbed their attention.
Andrew Mack, of course, commanded first attention, and deserved it. His conception of Judy McCann, whom he impersonated in order to win a wager from the arch villian of the play, Captain Eammersley, was exceptionally funny and won the hearts of his fellow actors as well as those on the other side of the footlights. He was ably matched off with Miss Gilda Leary, as Lucy Dashwood, a dashing young lady who was naturally the bone of contention between the hero and the villain, and was the pivot about which the plot revolved. The scenes were laid in Ireland and Spain and the play lent itself to the expression of considerable Irish wit. Lieutenant Sparks as a young and romantic Englishman, was very much enjoyed, and his appearances on the stage was the signal for outbursts of appreciative merriment. Miss Josephine Stevens as the Captain’s sister had the appealing dark eyes which captivated ‘Sparks’ and lent an additional air of feminine charm which would otherwise have left the situation a little too exclusively masculine.
The inclination toward melodrama which certain portions of the play suggested may be pardoned as necessary to the successful culmination of the plot and since the hero escaped from prison just in time to fight to the death a duel with the villain for the hand of the heroine. Everybody was entirely satisfied.
—Max Robertson.
“Providence Opera House.” In the Olneyville (Rhode Island) Times of Friday, January 14, 1916, page 4.
Andrew Mack, America’s foremost singing comedian, who will be the attraction at the Providence Opera House for three days beginning next Monday offers a brand new production in “The Irish Dragoon,” an elaborate scenic investiture and an exceptional company of known players.
The play is a romantic comedy drama with thrilling scenes and stirring episodes. Theodore Burt Sayre, who wrote “Tom Moore” for Mr. Mack, also wrote this new drama. It is a specially arranged version of Charles Lever’s famous romantic novel “Charles O’Malley,” written around that dashing dare-devil Galway soldier-boy. It is an intensely interesting story and the scenes are laid in picturesque Ireland and romantic Spain. There are fifteen speaking parts and enough military atmosphere to lend color to some stirring incidents.
In the character of the lovable Captain O’Malley, Mr. Mack has an ideal type for his talents. During the action of the piece he will sing several of those ballads which have made Andrew Mack famous and popular as an Irish comedian. Three of the songs have been specially written by Mr. Mack for “The Irish Dragoon” and they are “Judy McCann,” “Heart of Mine” and “For Ireland and You.”
The scenery has been specially painted by Physioc, the costumes have been designed specially by Ogden, and the complete production is one of the most elaborate of this season’s offerings.
The supporting company includes Miss Gilda Leary, Miss Josephine Stevens, Miss Mable Mortimer, Miss Emily Thompson, Mr. Gavin Harris, Mr. Eric Campbell, Mr. Mario Marjeroni, Mr. Nicholas Joy, Mr. George Riddell, Mr. Walter Grey, Mr. John Hixkey and Mr. William Parks, Jr., names that stand for sterling quality in dramatic art.