Robin Field

Broadway

A Hundred Years Ago

In 1987 I was proposed for membership and inducted into The Players, New York’s prestigious theatrical club, founded in 1887 by America’s great Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth. Charter members included Joseph Jefferson III, General Sherman, and Mark Twain. Later members included George M. Cohan, John and Lionel Barrymore, James Cagney, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Richard Rodgers, Alfred Drake, Frank Sinatra, Hal Holbrook, Helen Hayes, and Jose Ferrer. It was the greatest honor of my life. I felt I had reached Mount Olympus.

To show my gratitude, I offered to write and direct a musical revue to commemorate the founding of the club, presenting scenes and songs from the Broadway productions of 1887. President Jose Ferrer served as my narrator. The rest of the cast were young professional friends mixed with a few retired club members. It was so successful that I was asked to do the same every year. I created seven editions of the series until I myself retired. These studio recordings feature members of all seven original casts.

1887

  1. A Hundred Years Ago 2:01

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  2. Dockstader’s Minstrels 6:32

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  3. Ten Nights in a Barroom 2:12

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  4. The Black Crook 2:57

    or download

  5. Evangeline 3:28

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  6. Tony Pastor’s Music Hall 10:56

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  7. The Mulligan Guards’ Ball 2:32

    or download

  8. Fritz, Our Cousin German 2:24

    or download

  9. The Corsair 1:46

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  10. The Little Tycoon 1:58

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  11. Ruddygore 3:37

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  12. Erminie / Julius Caesar / Rip Van Winkle / Finale 8:11

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1888

  1. A Hundred Years Ago / P. T. Barnum’s Show / Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show 8:36

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  2. Pete 3:17

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  3. A Brass Monkey 2:08

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  4. Friend or Foe / Shane-Na-Lawn 4:36

    or download

  5. The Lady or the Tiger? 5:10

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  6. Tony Pastor’s Music Hall 4:47

    or download

  7. Comedies of Manners 0:42

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  8. Little Lord Fauntleroy / Dorothy 3:53

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  9. The Yeoman of the Guard 7:44

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  10. A Midsummer-Night’s Dream 4:42

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  11. To the Players 1:52

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1889

  1. Minstrel Medley 6:30

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  2. A Hundred Years Ago / Uncle Tom’s Cabin 3:33

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  3. Myles Aroon 1:44

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  4. Tony Pastor’s Music Hall 13:51

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  5. The Old Homestead 4:55

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  6. Operetta / The Drum Major 3:53

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  7. The Brigands 2:31

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  8. Clover 2:29

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  9. Boccaccio 2:47

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  10. Nadjy 5:13

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  11. The Seven Ages 6:38

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  12. Macbeth 4:48

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  13. The Taming of the Shrew 3:01

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  14. Hamlet 5:18

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1890

  1. Broadway, a Hundred Years Ago 1:55

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  2. Tony Pastor’s Silver Anniversary 14:42

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  3. Beau Brummel 5:29

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  4. Reilly & the Four Hundred 3:17

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  5. A Parlor Match 2:39

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  6. Poor Jonathan 5:03

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  7. The Merry Monarch 6:19

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  8. The Grand Duchess 5:48

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  9. Bluebeard, Jr. 1:21

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  10. Castles in the Air 3:02

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  11. The Gondoliers 5:16

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  12. Fourscore & Seven Years Ago 7:32

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1891

  1. Broadway, a Hundred Years Ago 1:09

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  2. Miss Helyett 2:21

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  3. The Lion Tamer 3:21

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  4. The Tyrolean 2:26

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  5. Wang 5:00

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  6. Boys & Girls 2:20

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  7. Mavourneen 2:45

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  8. The Last of the Hogans 1:30

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  9. The Cadi 1:43

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  10. The Dazzler 2:36

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  11. Tony Pastor’s Music Hall 13:30

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  12. A Trip to Chinatown 19:33

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  13. Robin Hood / Finale 14:54

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1892

  1. The Heart of Broadway 5:59

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  2. Squatter Sovereignty 2:37

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  3. Jupiter 5:48

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  4. Sinbad 4:15

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  5. The Fencing Master 6:58

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  6. The Isle of Champagne 5:39

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  7. Tony Pastor’s Music Hall 18:13

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  8. The Foresters 5:20

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  9. Iolanthe 9:19

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  10. The Heart of Broadway – Finale 1:32

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Liner notes (PDF)

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1893

  1. Revival! 3:58

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  2. The Mountebanks 2:41

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  3. A Trip to Chinatown 2:57

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  4. The Woolen Stocking 2:29

    or download

  5. Erminie 3:01

    or download

  6. The Algerian 4:30

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  7. Panjandrum 5:57

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  8. Don Juan 2:53

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  9. Princess Nicotine 5:28

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  10. Proctor’s Continuous Vaudeville 6:52

    or download

  11. 1492 2:18

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  12. The Knickerbockers 5:51

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  13. The Country Sport 3:12

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  14. Revival – Finale 2:36

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Liner notes (PDF)

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Credits (all albums) (PDF)

Copyright © 1987–1993 Robin Field