Adele Rowland, ‘whose ingratiating comedy methods are largely responsible for the popularity of Katinka,’ New York, 1916

Adele Rowland (1883-1971), American actress and singer, ‘whose ingratiating comedy methods are largely responsible for the popularity of Katinka.’ (The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, Saturday, 15 January 1916, p. 2)
(photo: White, New York, probably late 1915/early 1916)

Katinka, a musical play by Otto Hauerbach, with music by Rudolf Friml and Lyrics by Otto Hauerbach, opened at the 44th Street Theatre, New York, on 23 December 1915, with Adele Rowland playing Mrs Helen Hopper, one of the principal parts.
Adele Rowland made two trial recordings for the Victor label, with Rudolf Friml at the piano, in New York on 20 January 1916: ‘I Want to Marry a Male‘ (from Katinka), and ‘Your Photo,’ neither of which appear to have been published. Miss Rowland did, however, make several more recordings for Victor in 1919, one of which was ‘When You See Another Sweetie Hanging Around (That’s the Time You’ll Want to Come Back to Me).’

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Bessie Skeet, Marion Brown, Helen Paites, Billy Blane and Camille Barnette as they appeared in bathing costumes in High Jinks, produced at the Lyric Theatre, New York, on 10 December 1913

left to right: Bessie Skeet, Marion Brown, Helen Paites, Billy Blane and Camille Barnette, American chorus girls, as they appeared in bathing costumes in High Jinks, the musical comedy produced at the Lyric Theatre, New York, on 10 December 1913 (after a short out of town trial run) and transferred to the Casino Theatre, New York, on 12 January 1914. High Jinks eventually reached London on 24 August 1916, when it was produced at the Adelphi Theatre.
(photo: White, New York, 1913)

‘Arthur Hammerstein will bring his musical comedy High Jinks to the Lyric Theatre Wednesday night [10 December 1913]. The book of the new musical show is by Leo Ditrichstein and Otto Hauerbach and the music is by Rudolph Friml, who was first introduced to the American public a year ago by Mr. Hammerstein through the production of The Firefly
‘High Jinks is in three acts, and the action all takes place in Paris during a carnival. Dr. Thorne, an American nerve specialist practicing in the French capital, has a friend by the name of Dick Wayne, an explorer, and Wayne has discovered a drug in the form of a perfume called ”High Jinks.” The effect of this perfume is to make the timid brave, the pessimist an optimist, the serious man jovial, and the prudish person a daredevil. The complications of the piece are brought about by the manner in which Dr. Thorne experiments with this curious drug. Much of the plot is told in songs.
‘The cast of High Jinks includes Elizabeth Murray and Tom Lewis, featured at the head of a lit of principals. Among the other players are Ignacio Martinette, Elaine Hammerstein, the daughter of Arthur Hammerstein, who makes her professional début in this production; Robert Pitkin, Burrell Barbaretto, Snitz Edwards, Blanche Field, Ada Meade, Mana Zucca, Emilie Lea, Augustus Schultz, and Elsie Gregley.’
(The New York Times, New York, New York, 28 December 1913, p. 23)

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One of the hit songs of High Jinks was ‘The Bubble,’ a studio recording of which was made on cylinder by Emory B. Randolph and chorus. (For another copy, click here.) ‘The Bubble’ also recorded in 1916 by Marie Blanche, a member of the London cast of High Jinks. For a selection of orchestral highlights from the show, click here.

Thelma Fair (fl. early 20th Century), American actress and singer,
was also seen on tour in the United States during 1904 as Euphemia in the musical comedy,
The Office Boy, a part originally played by Louise Gunning when the piece
opened at the Victoria Theatre, New York, on 2 November 1903.
(photo: Sarony, New York, 1905)

Otto Hauerbach and Rudolf Friml’s The Firefly on tour in the United States, the cast headed by Edith Thayer, supported by Maxwell Moree, Paul Vernon, Thelma Fair, Etta Hager, et al
‘EDITH THAYER SCORED BIG HIT IN THE FIREFLY
‘Fort Wayne theatregoers and music lovers were treated to a delightful surprised yesterday at the Majestic theatre when the comic opera, The Firefly [first produced in the United States at the Lyric Theatre, New York, 2 December 1912], with Edith Thayer, a dainty little lady, and by the way, the possessor of quite the best voice that has come this way for some time, was the attraction.
‘The Firefly is a charming and colourful little thing, with a real story that is very pretty and music that is real music. The book is by Otto Hauerbach and the music by Rudolf Friml. The singer in question is Edith Thayer. As to Miss Thayer you may say that you never heard of her, perhaps, but you will hear of her some day, and that a not very distant day, for a woman with such ability as an actress and such a voice in spite of her diminutive figure, is as certain to be heard in grand opera as the sun is certain to rise to-morrow. Edith Thayer – it is an easy name to remember; and it’s worth remembering, too, for she will some day be the ideal Mimi of La Boheme, or a most charming “Madame Butterfly.”
‘In the meantime she is making a bewitching Nina, and a cute little Tony in this pretty operetta, The Firefly It is positively not an exaggeration to say that this is the best musical show that has played in Fort Wayne this season. It contains enough good music to supply three musical comedies of the ordinary kind, and its story has material sufficient for a dozen.
‘Miss Thayer gives one a real surprise at her first coming from the wings and filling the auditorium with its volume and charming your ear with its beauty. You picture in your mind the possessor of such a voice. You are sure that she is an Amazon of Juno-like physique. Imagine your surprise when a petite elf of less than 100 pounds in weight and less than five feet in height steps upon the stage, this wonderful volume of delightful music issuing from her lips! You are captivated from the start, and when your learn that she can act as well as sing, or better still, when you learn that she can sing so effectively and with such colourful power so difficult a thing as the aria in the last act, you cannot refrain from applauding enthusiastically. She was the experience of the audiences that witness the performances yesterday afternoon and last night.
‘Miss Thayer is supported by a remarkably fine company. Hers is not the only voice in the cast, for there are many others, not the least of which is that of Miss Etta Hager, who took the audience by surprise at the opening of the second act with the song, “Sapphire Seas.” The tenor is a good looking young fellow, Burton Lemham by name, who has a voice that is sweet and melodious and who acts the part of hero with becoming grace One of the really fine performances of the cast is that of Paul Vernon as an old German music teacher, who makes Nina his protege. He had a rich, sonorous bass voice as well as being a good actor, and he makes of the character a real lovable old fellow. Charles M. Bowers also has a splendid voice and with Thelma Fair, who, by the way, is a clever actress, sings the hit of the show, a song called “Sympathy,” which will be whistled over the city by tomorrow. Bert Wheeler and Irene Samsel are clever dancers who get a generous hand for their clever rendering of “The Latest Thing from Paris.” Alice Gallard is very good as Mrs. Oglesby Vandare, the inevitable widow in search of No. 2.
‘The comedy hit of the cast is the work of Maxfield Moree as Jenkins, Mrs. Vandare’s private secretary. He is funny to look at, his dancing and antics are genuinely funny, and his is supplied with many funny lines and much funny “business” by the author of the play. Had Miss Thayer been out of the cast and her part in the hands of a less clever actress, he might easily have made his part the star role of the show.
‘The pieces [sic] abound in tuneful music, much of its being strikingly original. A number of the songs are exceedingly pretty, and the finale to the second act reaches the dignity of light opera, and approaches grand opera.
‘The production is well mounted and the company is backed by a chorus of good voices. Arthur Hammerstein offers here an attraction of which he might feel justly proud, and which is calculated to inspire confidence in him as a producer.’
(Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Monday, 13 April 1914, p.8f)