Gustave Kerker

Gustave Adolph Kerker (February 28, 1857 – June 29, 1923) was a German composer and conductor who made a career in London and America. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of musicals.

Life and career

Kerker was born in Herford, Germany and began to study the cello at the age of seven. His family emigrated to the United States in 1867, settling in Louisville, Kentucky. Kerker played in pit orchestras at local theatres and then began to conduct. His early operetta, "Cadets", toured the South in 1879. Kerker then moved to New York City, where he was engaged as the principal conductor at the Casino Theatre. There, he began to add his own songs into the scores of foreign operettas, notably Charles Lecocq's "The Pearl of Pekin", since these works had no effective copyright in the U.S.

Kerker's first complete operetta in New York was "Castles in the Air" in 1890. He wrote over twenty shows, the most successful of which were the London musical burlesque "Little Christopher Columbus" (1893), and the international musical hit "The Belle of New York" (1897). Other notable musicals included "An American Beauty" (1896), "The Girl from Up There" (1901), "Winsome Winnie" (1903), "The Tourists" (1906), and "Fascinating Flora" (1907).

Kerker died in New York City at the age of 66.

Theater credits

* 1879 - "The Cadets"
* 1888 - "Pearl of Pekin" (libretto by Charles Alfred Byrne)
* 1890 - "Castles in the Air" (libretto by Byrne)
* 1893 - "Little Christopher Columbus", with Ivan Caryll, libretto by George Robert Sims and Cecil Raleigh
* 1894 - "Prince Kam or A Trip to Venus" (libretto by Byrne and Louis Harrison)
* 1895 - "Kismet or Two Tangled Turks" (libretto by Richard F. Carroll)
* 1896
**"In Gay New York" (musical revue; libretto by Hugh Morton (C. M. S. McLellan?))
**"The Lady Slavey" (libretto by George Dance; lyrics by Morton)
**"An American Beauty" (libretto by Morton)
* 1897
**"The Whirl of the Town" (musical revue; libretto by Morton)
**"The Belle of New York" (libretto by Morton)
*1898
**"Yankee Doodle Dandy" (libretto by Morton)
**"The Telephone Girl" (libretto by Morton)
*1899 – "The Man in the Moon" (with Ludwig Engländer and Reginald DeKoven)
*1901 - "The Girl from Up There" (libretto by Morton)
*1902 - "The Billionaire" (libretto by Harry B. Smith)
*1903
**"The Lobster Song (I Was Walking 'Round the Ocean)" in "The Wizard of Oz" (libretto by Morton)
**"Winsome Winnie" (contributor; libretto by Edward Jakabowski; most of the music by Harry Paulton)
*1906
**"The Social Whirl" (libretto by Charles Doty and Joseph Herbert; lyrics by Herbert)
**"The Tourists (musical)" (libretto by R. H. Burnside)
*1907
**"The White Hen" (libretto by Roderic C. Penfield; lyrics by Penfield and Paul West)
**"Fascinating Flora" (libretto by Burnside and Herbert)
*1912 – "Two Little Brides" (libretto by Arthur Anderson and Harold Atteridge)
*1921 – "The Whirl of New York", based on "The Belle of New York" (libretto by Morton and Edward Smith

References

* [http://www.answers.com/topic/gustave-kerker?cat=entertainment Profile of Kerker from Answers.com (source: American Theatre Guide)]

External links

* [http://musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/kerker/gustave_kerker.htm List of Kerker works]