The first performance of the work was at the Academy of Music in Baltimore in March 1913, after which the show was overhauled and shortened before spending five weeks in Philadelphia and another five in Boston tryouts. The original Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 8, 1913 and transferred to the Liberty Theatre on November 10, 1913 running for a total of 136 performances.[1] The original cast included Christie MacDonald as Princess Jeanne/Sylvia, Thomas Conkey as Prince Franz, Edwin Wilson as Lieutenant Karl, Frank Belcher as Petrus Von Tromp, Tom McNaughton as Mikel Mikeloviz, Ethel Du Fre Houston as Dame Paula, and Hazel Kirk as Liane.
There was a brief revival at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, opening on September 21, 1929 and closing on October 5, 1929. Gladys Baxter played Sylvia. MGM made the musical into a film in 1938 with a screenplay considerably altered from the musical's book, directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. This was the first all-Technicolor film of MGM Studio.
Mikel Mikeloviz, disguised as a monk, transports Princess Jeanne, the infant daughter of King René of the little kingdom of Zilinia, to Bruges to wait in safety during the war. Dame Paula runs the Laundry of the White Geese and is known as Mother Goose. Mikel gives the princess to Paula in secret to raise as her own daughter under the name of Sylvia. Paula later has six daughters of her own who help her run the laundry. Their father has been at war for ten years.
22 years later, the people are demanding the restoration of a monarchy. Mikel is conspiring to restore Princess Jeanne to the throne, which is about to be offered to Prince Franz, the heir presumptive. Franz, while travelling in disguise, has fallen in love with Sylvia. But Sylvia, who does not know that she is really a princess, is bethrothed to Lieutenant Karl, a military lothario. A sleazy politician, disguised as Paula's battle-scarred husband, tries to ensnare one of the two apparently adopted daughters as the bride for Prince Franz, but he does not know whether the real adopted daughter is the scheming Liane or the sweet Sylvia. Mikel's plans are hindered by the schemes of three villains. Mikel also mistakes Liane, a milliner who has sought temporary employment in the Laundry of the White Geese, for the lost princess. After all the complications are combed out, Franz and Sylvia marry, vowing to rule together.
Recording
RCA Victor issued an album using studio singers and Al Goodman's orchestra on 78-RPM records in 1947. These highlights were issued on Lp by RCA Victor in 1951 and on their budget label RCA Camden in 1958. A 2008 CD release combines these recordings with selections from Naughty Marietta and The Red Mill.[5]
Songs
Act 1
Iron, Iron, Iron - Chorus
On Parade - Ensemble
Smiles - Liane and Ensemble
Sweethearts (If You Ask Where Love Is Found) - Sylvia
For Every Lover Must Meet His Fate - Prince Franz and Ensemble
Mother Goose - Sylvia and Ensemble
The Angelus - Sylvia and Prince Franz
Jeanette and Her Little Wooden Shoes (Sabot Dance) (Clip Clop Clop) - Liane, Hon. Percy *Algernon Slingsby, Aristide Caniche and Baron Petrus Von Tromp
Act 2
Waiting for the Bride - Male Chorus
Pretty As a Picture - Von Tromp and Male Chorus
In the Convent They Never Taught Me That - Sylvia and Ensemble
Game Of Love - Lt. Karl and Daughters
I Don't Know How I Do It But I Do (Lyrics By Harry B. Smith) - Slingsby
Cricket on the Hearth - Sylvia and Prince Franz
The Monks' Quartette - Mikel Mikeloviz, Von Tromp, Slingsby and Aristide Caniche
Roles
Dame Paula (Mezzo-soprano) - Owner of the White Geese Laundry
