The Governor's Son

Synopsis:

The Governor's Son was written by George M. Cohan in 1901.  It was the first show he had ever written.  It featured himself, his songs, and three of his brothers on stage.  As was common for the period the show borrowed heavily from successful vaudville acts of the period.  Because of that, there is absolutely no doubt that this is a fast paced comedy.  Surprisingly, most all of the humor translates very well today, and we have thus far found only two lines that required a bit of research to find their roots.

The show takes place at a well appointed hotel.  The opening finds the hotel manager and a former baseball player (with the slight characteristic of being hit in the head with foul balls once too often) discussing finding the new husband of the baseball player's sister.  Apparently, after an argument with his new wife and her mother, he went out for a drink, only not to come back.  This occured one week ago.

We learn the Dickey Dickson (the missing husband) is a good friend of the hotel manager, who agrees to  help him hide in disguise, while at the same time have some fun at the expense of his wife and brother.

Enter the other main characters: 

Mr.& Mrs. Curtis, a newly married couple on their honeymoon.  He is "mature" and well to do.  His new wife is younger.  They have frequent arguments, and he has concern that she married him for his money. 

Mrs. Berrymore, a young widow who has had three husbands in the past year and feels in great need of a fourth. 

Mr. Johnson, the governor's secretary, young, impressionable and drawn to Mrs. Berrymore. 

Governor Wheelock,  a man who likes his political power in terms of what it does in attracting the women. 

Algy Wheelock, the young son of the Governor, who knows how to make use of what he sees the Governor do in terms of getting some additional cash for his own use.

The show itself centers around three things.   One, the search for Dickey Dickson by his wife and brother-in-law.  Two, the constant silly arguments of the newly married Mr. & Mrs. Curtis.  Three, a developing complete misunderstanding of Algy over who is attached to who and who is looking for whom.  This misunderstanding elevates to the point where the parties invovled think that the person they married has at least one other spouse.  Everytime they are about to find out the truth, the dialogue that happens simply leads to another misunderstanding.

Have no fear however, as it all gets figured out in the end.  The road to that, and the characters involved, make for a hillarious time.