Iconic photos of a changing city, and commentary on our Collections & Exhibitions from the crew at MCNY.org
Born in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1860, Smith’s family moved to Chicago when he was still a child. His career ambitions in the Windy City initially bent towards journalism, and he was a theater and music critic before he started writing his own shows. He collaborated with composer Reginald De Koven on The Begum, a comic opera first performed in Boston. When the show moved to New York City in 1887, Smith followed.
Unknown. [Reginald De Koven and Harry B. Smith.] Ca. 1899. Museum of the City of New York. 61.150.863. Inscription in the upper corner reads: There are two little cherubs sitting up aloft, watching over you and don’t you forget it. – H. B. Smith.
Selections from Robin Hood. Published by G. Schirmer, 1891. Museum of the City of New York. 48.148.1.
Smith’s next New York collaboration with De Koven’s proved to be his most successful. Robin Hood follows the well-known adventures of the Sherwood Forest outlaw as he wins archery contests, falls in love with Maid Marian, and loses and regains his Earldom all while thwarting the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham. The operetta opened at the Standard Theatre in 1891 and proved such a hit that it has been revived on Broadway stages no fewer than seven times. After its New York debut, the show went on the road and for the next 20 years could be seen somewhere in the country or abroad. In 1929, Smith shared his thoughts on the show’s success with the New York Times. Oh, and Smith and De Koven wrote the entire work in less than three weeks.
In his 45-year career, Smith collaborated with all the major composers of his day including Sigmund Romberg, John Philip Sousa, Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin. He first collaborated with Berlin on Ziegfeld’s 1910 Follies show, and he wrote the lyrics and book for the composer’s first complete score, Watch Your Step. A ragtime revue, Watch Your Step, opened in 1914 at the New Amsterdam Theatre and enjoyed an initial run of 175 performances and starred the popular dance duo Irene and Vernon Castle.
Before he partnered with Oscar Hammerstein II on the landmark musical Show Boat, composer Jerome Kern worked with Harry B. Smith on nine different Broadway productions. The most successful of these collaborations was the 1917 Love o’ Mike, a light farce about a handsome English lord. Smith wrote the lyrics for the show’s songs, but the book was written by a Thomas Sydney, the combined name used by writers Augustus Thomas, Jr. and Sydney Reed Smith, Harry’s son.
Smith’s most frequent collaborator by far was the equally prolific composer Victor Herbert. Together Herbert and Smith worked on 17 musicals and operettas including The Fortune Teller, which introduced Smith’s incredibly popular “Gypsy Love Song.” The show opened in 1898 and has been performed as recently as 2011 by the Ohio Light Opera.
Rockwood. [Alice Nielsen as Musette or Irma in The Fortune Teller.] 1898. Museum of the City of New York. 37.440.381.
Byron Company [Plays, The Wild Rose.] 1902 Museum of the City of New York. 41.420.755.
At the turn of the century, comic operas and operettas were all the rage and Smith’s light wit in the use of stock characters sparked the popular interest. As the 20th century progressed and musical theater evolved, his work came to be viewed by critics as outmoded and irrelevant. New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson panned Smith’s last original work, Marching By, which opened in 1932, calling the show “shoddy” and “dull.” Though a musical book or libretto by Smith hasn’t been performed on Broadway since 1947, light opera companies around the country continue to include his work in their repertoires. Perhaps Smith’s most enduring legacy is a song he didn’t write for any musical or operetta, the Tin Pan Alley hit “The Sheik of Araby.” The song has been covered by a wide variety of artists from Fats Waller to the Beatles, Harry Connick, Jr., the Everly Brothers, and somewhat disturbingly, the Muppets. In the popular imagination, it remains the single touchstone to the thousands and thousands of words put together by the indefatigable Harry B. Smith.
Max Platz. [Harry B. Smith and his son Sydney.] 1892-1893. Museum of the City of New York. 61.150.1353.
Hi Morgen,
What an interesting post and what terrific photos! May I ask you if I can use the angel photo of Reginald DeKoven and Harry B. Smith and the one of Smith with his son for their memorials on the findagrave.com website? (I can credit you as a source or The Museum of the City of New York respectively. Please just let me know, Thank you. My very distant cousin, the light opera soprano Bertha Waltzinger (1867-1927), knew and worked with both Reginal De Koven and Harry B. Smith. She sang Maid Marian and Annabel in “Robin Hood” and was member of the cast of “The Mandarin” (in the role of Jesso) when this comic opera had its premier at the Herald Square Theatre in New York in 1897.
Stefanie Walzinger, Freiburg i.Br. (Germany)