J. Cheever Goodwin

John Cheever Goodwin (1850 – December 1912) was an American musical theatre librettist, lyricist and producer. Goodwin was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard University. He began a career in journalism before turning to writing for the stage. Early in his theatrical career he worked for Alice Oates, acting in her company and translating French opera bouffe into English for performance by her company.[1] He often worked with composers Edward E. Rice and Woolson Morse. Goodwin was one of the earliest American writers dedicated to musical theatre librettos and lyrics. His first successful libretto was Evangeline in 1874, and his last new work was produced in 1903.[2]

J. Cheever Goodwin

Goodwin's works included a much-revived musical adaptation, or musical burlesque, of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline called Evangeline; or, The Belle of Acadia (1874), composed by Rice;[3] The Corsair (1887), with music by Rice; Jacquette (1887), with music by André Messager; Little Pig Went to Market (1890), with music by Gustave Kerker; The Merry Monarch, an English-language adaptation of L'étoile, with music by Morse (1890); a popular and well-revived piece, Wang (1891), with music by Morse, starring De Wolf Hopper;[2] Panjandrum (1893), with music by Morse, written for and produced by Hopper's company; The Devil's Deputy (1894), music by Edward Jakobowski; A Daughter of the Revolution (1895), with music by Ludwig Engländer;[4] Lost, Strayed or Stolen (1896), with music by Morse; 'Round New York in 80 Minutes (1899–1900), with music by Rice and John J. Braham; The Cadet Girl (1900), with music by Ludwig Engländer; The Monks of Malabar (1900), composed by Engländer; The Rogers Brothers in Central Park (1900–01), with music by Maurice Levi; The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast (1901–02), with music by Frederick Solomon; and Mr. Bluebeard (1903), with music by Solomon.

Of Lost, Strayed or Stolen, a critic commented: "Cheever Goodwin, clever at adaptation, at times a most dexterous manipulator in stagecraft, has been singularly successful in this latest venture. Starting of a delightfully humorous set of complications, woven logically together, he has made an honest translation and obtained a genuinely absurd farce which he carries through four acts, sustaining the interest to the end."[5]

References
  1. Gänzl, Kurt. The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, Schirmer Books; 2nd edition (May 2001)
  2. Hischak, Thomas S. Chapter Five, Boy Loses Girl: Broadway's Librettists, pp. 55–57, Scarecrow Press (2002) ISBN 0810844400
  3. Green, Kay (ed.) "Evangeline", Broadway Musicals, Show by Show, Hal Leonard Corporation (1996) ISBN 0793577500
  4. "Miss D’Arville’s New Opera", The New York Times, May 28, 1895, p. 5, accessed June 28, 2012
  5. "Lost, Strayed or Stolen", The Illustrated American, November 14, 1896, p. 662

Further reading
  • Bordman, Gerald and Thomas S. Hischak. "Goodwin, J. Cheever (1850–1912)", The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, Oxford University Press (3rd ed., 2004)
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