Babes in Toyland (operetta)

Babes in Toyland
Sheet music cover
Music	Victor Herbert
Lyrics	Glen MacDonough
Book	Glen MacDonough
Productions	1903 and 1905, New York 1929 and 1930 Broadway 1934 Film 1961 Film 1972 and annually Off-Broadway

Babes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough (1870–1924), which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza. Following the extraordinary success of their stage musical The Wizard of Oz, which was produced in New York beginning in January 1903, producer Fred R. Hamlin and director Julian P. Mitchell hoped to create more family musicals. MacDonough had helped Mitchell with revisions to the Oz libretto by L. Frank Baum. Mitchell and MacDonough persuaded Victor Herbert to join the production.Babes in Toyland features some of Herbert's most famous songs – among them "Toyland", "March of the Toys", "Go To Sleep, Slumber Deep", and "I Can't Do the Sum". The theme song "Toyland", and the most famous instrumental piece from the operetta, "March of the Toys", occasionally show up on Christmas compilations.

The original production opened at the Chicago Grand Opera house in June 1903, produced by Hamlin and directed by Mitchell, and toured to several East Coast cities before opening in New York in October 1903 and ran for 192 performances. This was followed by many successful tours and revivals. The piece was so popular that it spawned other "fairy-tale" shows over the next decade.

After a three-month tryout beginning on June 17, 1903 at the Grand Opera House in Chicago, followed by a tour to several East Coast cities, the original New York production opened on October 13, 1903 at the Majestic Theatre at Columbus Circle in Manhattan (where The Wizard of Oz had played) and closed after 192 performances on March 19, 1904. It was produced by Fred R. Hamlin and directed by Julian P. Mitchell. Large audiences were drawn to the musical by the spectacular settings and opulent sets (e.g., the Floral Palace of the Moth Queen, the Garden of Contrary Mary) of Toyland. The sets were designed by John H. Young and Homer Emens, with costumes designed by Caroline Siedle. In September 1904, two tours went on the road. The first-class one played a 3-week return engagement beginning on January 2, 1905 at the Majestic, and then continuing its tour, kept the scenic effects and much of the original cast, making stops in major cities for extended periods of time. The second-class tour with a reduced cast and orchestra was streamlined for short stays on the road.