Musical highlights from a now-obscure Broadway comedy
From 1903, the Peerless Orchestra plays Selection from The Silver Slipper.
Selection from The Silver Slipper
Company
Edison's National Phonograph Company
Cylinder #
8320
Category
Orchestra
Title
Selection from The Silver Slipper
Performed by
Peerless Orchestra
Circa
February 1903
Announcement
"Selection from 'The Silver Slipper', played by the Peerless Orchestra. Edison record."
Enjoy this nearly forgotten but catchy music (written by Leslie Stuart)
from the early 20th Century two-act Broadway musical comedy, "The Silver Slipper".
These early Edison black wax (molded) cylinders from 1902-1903, without labeling stamped on the end
typically carried a distinctive sound: a little less fidelity in the higher frequencies,
more in the lower frequencies, and a bit more machine noise carried into the recording.
Special to The New York Times.
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 21.
"The Silver Slipper,"
by Owen Hall and Leslie Stuart, author and composer of "Florodora,"
was presented for the first time in this country by John C. Foster [Fisher] at
the Hyperion Theatre to-night.
The new musical comedy was received enthusiastically by a large audience.
The book tells a fantastic story of an astronomer who discovers a commotion in Venus
which results in the descent to earth of a Venus sextet.
The scenes shift from a college to Venus and then to France.
Sam Bernard as the all-around fakir made a personal hit,
as did Snitz Edwards as the astronomer: Edna Wallace Hopper as the runaway boy,
and Helen Royton as Stella, from Venus.
The main musical numbers which are likely to prove popular are:
"Fun On a Motor," by Cyril Scott and chorus; "If I Were a Girl Instead,"
by Edna Wallace Hopper; "A Glimpse," by Helen Royton;
"Come, Little Girl," sung by a double sextet, and "Four and Twenty Little Men,"
by Edna Wallace Hopper and male chorus.
The play goes to Springfield for two nights and opens in New York Monday at the Broadway Theatre.