Jubilee

Seeking suitable inspiration for an elegant song-and-dance entertainment, Cole Porter and Moss Hart took off on a four-and-a-half month, 34,000-mile cruise around the world. Their hegira resulted in an airy concoction sparked by the recent Silver Jubilee of Britain’s King George V and Queen Mary. The tale concerns itself with what might happen if members of a mythical royal family — thanks to a supposed uprising — were given the chance to do what they wanted while gading about town incognito. King Melville Cooper spends his time perfecting sleigh-of-hand tricks, Queen Mary Boland is thrilled to meet Mowgli the movie ape man, Prince Charles Walters learns how to begin the beguine from dancer June Knight, and Princess Margaret Adams answers her own question in “Why Shouldn’t I?” by having just one of those crazy flings with a Noel Coward-type playwright. Then it’s back to the pomp and circumstance of the royal jubilee. Though beloved by her theatregoing subjects, Miss Boland had to return to Hollywood after only four months; her successor Laura Hope Crews couldn’t keep the celebration going a month. Jubille. Mary Boland and Melville Cooper singing “Me and Marie.” (Vandamm)

Music

Cole Porter

Lyrics

Cole Porter

Book

Moss Hart