Knickerbocker Holiday

A musical play in 2 acts and 3 scenes. Book and Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. Music by Kurt Weill. Suggested by "Father Knickerbocker's History" by Washington Irving

Ethyl Barrymore Theatre, New York, 19 October 1938 (168 perfs)

Summary

In New Amsterdam in 1647, Brom, a young man, falls in love with the Town Councillor's daughter, Tina. The Town Councillor, however, is furious and tries to have him hanged but the arrival of Peter Stuyvesant, the new Governor, saves Brom's neck. Stuyvesant reveals himself as a dictator, and Brom, protesting, is carted off to jail. Stuyvesant then announces that the country shall go to war, as a peaceful country is a stagnant one. This is stopped when it is pointed out that he had better change his ways if he is going to be remembered kindly in history and all ends happily with Brom and Tina getting married.

Story

ACT I

Washington Irving, the great American historian, is sitting idly at his desk in 1809 and starts to relate the story of the Dutch founding fathers of New York (then New Amsterdam) in 1647. Suddenly the Council is with us: Van Tienhoven, Van Rensselaer, Roosevelt, De Vries, Vanderbilt - all fat, self-important, corrupt (Hush-Hush) - and faintly ridiculous! They have a problem: the Governor is arriving by ship and they want a public hanging to impress him, but all the prisoners have jumped jail! The Council picks on young handsome Brom Bröck, back after an absence to see his sweetheart, Van Tienhoven's daughter Tina (It Never Was You) -he had to keep away because his aversion to taking orders from anyone always leads to trouble. Washington living, who acts like a narrator, agrees with Brom that this makes him the first fully-fledged American citizen (How Can You Tell an American?). Brom reminds Van Tienhoven of his lawbreaking, but that counts as "making accusations against the Council", which is a hanging matter, so he must be strung up. The crowd is furious, and threatens the Councillors, but Brom convinces the Councillors that the modern way to hang is by the stomach, and when the new Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, discovers him swinging by a rope around his waist, he is delighted at Brom's cheek and pardons him. He explains his idea of an idyllic existence for all, with him as absolute dictator, and enlists Van Tienhoven as his henchman in illicit arms and liquor trade with the Indians (The One Indespensable Man). Brom and Tina seek Stuyvesant's permission to marry, but are shattered to find that Van Tienhoven has promised her to Stuyvesant who, horror of horrors, has a silver leg! Stuyvesant tries to persuade her to marry him immediately, not to wait - "the days grow short when you reach September" (September Song) - the disheartened Brom complains loudly about the dictatorial Governor and gets marched off to jail for hanging later, while Stuyvesant exhorts everyone to hymn him (All Hail the Political Honeymoon).

Act II

Stuyvesant visits Brom in jail, listens to his thoughts and recommends him to write a book while Sitting In Jail. Tina, suddenly as rebellious as Brom and still determined to marry him, climbs in through the "escape hole" and, when the jailer tries to stop her, loses all her seven skirts in the attempt! She and Brom are just about to escape when her father arrives to take her away.

Washington living introduces the last scene, Pausing that when you're on rock bottom There's Nowhere To Go But Up Back on the Battery, the Army (that is, the Council plus several small boys) are parading rebelliously before the irascible Stuyvesant (To War!). The Council then gets a short, sharp lesson in economics, Stuyvesant-style, which depresses them (Our Ancient Liberties). The wedding starts but is interrupted by Brom and his friend Tenpin, escaped from the jail which drunken Indians have burned down. The Council is too frightened to fight, but Stuyvesant and Brom defeat the Indians, though it seems Tenpin has been killed. In the rejoicing, Brom (and the swiftly-recovered Tenpin) denounce Stuyvesant for having sold the firearms and liquor to the Indians and Brom accuses him, not only of corruption, but of undue efficiency! Stuyvesant has had enough - he orders the rope for Brom and instructs the Council to pull it. Led by Roosevelt, they summon up courage and refuse, whereupon Stuyvesant threatens to turn the cannon on them. The day is saved by Washington living, intervening across the centuries to remind Stuyvesant how important a good historical reputation is, and all ends happily when old Silverleg admits he can't take orders either!

Characters

(Cast: 12 men, 2 women, chorus )

Washington Irving - The benevolent guiding spirit of the show, a historian who can communicate and impart his good-humoured wisdom in both historical directions. (Baritone)
Tienhoven - Maybe the fattest, certainly the most corrupt and over- lifesize of the Council of New Amsterdam. (Baritone)
Roosevelt - Marked out from his fellow Councillors by a conscience that makes him ask awkward questions and finally refuse to pull the rope that is to hang Brom Broeck. (Bass)
Van Cortlandt, Jnr. - The willing 'runner' for the Council. (Speaking role)
Anthony Corlear - The town-crier - with nothing much to cry about! (Speaking role)
De Peyster; Van Rensselaer; Vanderbilt; De Vries - The other Councillors - members of Washington Irving's "gathering of Pantalunatics". (Speaking roles)
Marshal Schermerhorn - A jailer as incompetent as his masters are corrupt and bumbling. (Speaking role)
Mistress Schermerhorn - His wife; an ineffectual guardian of the town's morals. (Speaking role)
Tina Tienhoven - A sweet eager girl who finally learns how to rebel against her father. (Soprano)
Brom Broeck - The young lover who so hates taking orders and being brow-beaten that Washington Irving agrees he is "the first American" - but it would have cost him his life in Scene One were he not so quick-witted! (Baritone)
Tenpin - Brom's friend and comrade in adversity. (Tenor)
Pieter Stuyvesant - Tyrannical, corrupt, yet somehow an endearing and vulnerable figure, conscious that "the days grow short when you reach September". (Character baritone)
General Podffenburgh - Typical officious aide-de-camp. (Baritone)

Musical Numbers

ACT 1

Introduction - Washington Irving
Clackety-Clack - Washington Irving, Girls
It's a Law - Tienhoven, Council (Replaced during original run by: "Hush-Hush" - Roosevelt, Ensemble)
There's Nowhere to Go But Up - Brom Broeck, Tenpin, Ensemble
It Never Was You - Brom Broeck, Tina Tienhoven
How Can You Tell an American? Brom Broeck, Washington Irving
Will You Remember Me? - Brom Broeck, Tina Tienhoven, Ensemble
One Touch of Alchemy - Pieter Stuyvesant, Ensemble
The One Indispensable Man - Pieter Stuyvesant, Tienhoven
Young People Think About Love - Tina Tienhoven, Brom Broeck, Ensemble
September Song - Pieter Stuyvesant
Finale - Pieter Stuyvesant, Ensemble

ACT 2

Ballad of the Robbers - Washington Irving
We Are Cut in Twain - Brom Broeck, Tina Tienhoven
Prologue to Scene 2 — There's Nowhere to Go But Up (reprise) - Washington Irving
To War! - Pieter Stuyvesant, Council *, Male Ensemble
Our Ancient Liberties - Tienhoven, Anthony Corlear, Council *
Romance and Musketeer - Ensemble
The Scars - Pieter Stuyvesant, Ensemble
Dance of the Algonquins The Algonquins
Dirge for a Soldier - Ensemble
Ve Vouldn't Gonto Do It - Ensemble
Finale - Pieter Stuyvesant, Washington Irving, Brom Broeck, Ensemble

* Council Members included the characters Anthony Corlear, Tienhoven, Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, DePeyster, DeVries, Van Rensselaer, Van Cortlandt Jr., Schermerhom.

Scenes and Settings

Act 1:

Washington Irving's Study, 1809; The Battery. A morning in 1647.

Act 2,

Scene 1: Interior of the jail. Evening of the same day.
Scene 2: The Battery. The following day.

Instrumentation:

Reed l (piccolo, flute), Reed II (oboe, clarinet, alto sax), Reed III (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), Reed IV (clarinet, tenor and baritone sax), 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, percussion, piano, guitar db. banjo, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass