Who's Who in Musicals: Addendum 2004
by John Kenrick
(Copyright 2004)

Auberjonois, Rene
Actor, singer
b. June 1, 1940 (New York City)
A graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Auberjonois appeared in dozens of regional productions before making his Broadway debut in a 1968 Lincoln Center production of King Lear. He created the role of designer Sebastian Baye in Coco (1969). Although a vicious caricature, it was the first "openly gay" featured character in a Broadway musical. Auberjonois's performance included the showstopping song "Fiasco!," and brought him the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. 

A master of outrageous comic performances, the slender and nimble Auberjonois has alternated between musicals and straight comedies throughout his career. His Broadway musical roles include The Duke in Big River (1985), film producer Irwin S. Irving in City of Angels (1989), and vampire slaying Professor Abronsius in the ill-fated Dance of the Vampires (2002). Auberjonois is well known for his performances on television, including the governor's pompous secretary Clayton on Benson, and the shape-shifting Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Cook, Will Marion
Composer, performer
b. Jan. 27, 1869 (Washington, DC) - d. July 19, 1944 (New York )
A graduate of Oberlin College, Cook became the first African American composer to break through the color barrier to Broadway. With a combination of talent and bravado, his Clorindy (1898) became the first black musical to play (albeit briefly) on Broadway. Cook had better luck with In Dahomey (1903), a vehicle for Bert Williams and George Walker that followed a modest New York run with a sensational success in London.

Known for his erratic temper, Cook continued his association with Williams & Walker, providing scores for Abyssinia (1906) and Bandana Land (1908). Although these shows still used old racial stereotypes, they made the first serious efforts to depict blacks as multi-dimensional characters. When the vogue for all-black musicals faded, Cook continued interpolating songs in Broadway scores.

Coyne, Joseph E.
Actor, singer
b. Mar. 27, 1867 (New York City) - d. Feb. 17, 1941 (Surrey, UK)
After making his Broadway at age 13, Coyne developed his talents as a light comedian in vaudeville. After a series of minor Broadway roles, he moved to England -- where he soon garnered the role he is best remembered for, Prince Danilo in the first English-speaking production of The Merry Widow (1907). Coyne thought himself miscast, but his nimble depiction of dissipated nobility won him lasting star status on the West End. He played the male leads in London's The Dollar Princess (1909), The Quaker Girl (1910), and The Girl From Utah (1913), among many other musical hits. At age 58, Coyne received fresh acclaim as the youthful attorney Jimmy Smith in No, No, Nanette (1925). After several disappointing follow-ups, he retired from the stage in 1931.

Dare, Phyllis
(b. Phyllis Haddie Dones)
Actress, singer
b. Aug. 15, 1890 (London) - d. April 27, 1975 (Brighton)

Dare, Zena
(b. Zena Dones)
Actress, singer
b. Feb. 4, 1887 (London) - d. Mar. 11, 1975 (London)
The Dare sisters got their start as children appearing in holiday pantomimes. Zena Dare created the lead role in Catch of the Season (1905), and had several minor success before moving on to marriage and a career in non-musical roles -- including a song-free role in Ivor Novello's Perchance to Dream (1945) and King's Rhapsody (1949) -- costarring Novello and Zena's sister Phyllis. Zena made her final appearance as Mrs. Higgins in the London cast of My Fair Lady (1958) -- a role she played with relish for seven years.

Phyllis Dare made her West End debut at age 11. She graduated to leads by taking over Zena's role in The Catch of the Season (1905). Phyllis went on to star as Eileen in The Arcadians (1909), Dora in The Girl From Utah (1913), Sally in Miss Hook of Holland (1914), and Fay Blake in Lido Lady (1926). Well past her ingénue years, Dare segued into non-musical roles, making her final singing appearance as Marta in King's Rhapsody (1949).

DeGresac, Fred
(b. Frederique Rosine DeGresac)
Librettist
b. 1866 (France) - d. Feb. 20, 1943 (Hollywood)
In a business dominated by men, this stylish woman wrote under a masculine pseudonym. After winning notoriety in France with her innovative coverage of the Dreyfus case, she moved to America and found herself collaborating on a series of musicals with music by Victor Herbert -- including The Enchantress (1911), Sweethearts (1913), and Orange Blossoms (1922).

Hoschna, Karl L.
Composer
b. Aug. 16, 1877 (Kuschwarda, Bohemia) - d. Dec. 22, 1911 (New York City)
Trained in Vienna, Hoschna emigrated to America and played oboe in Victor Herbert's orchestra before working as an arranger & composer for Tin Pan Alley. He began contributing songs to musicals, usually in collaboration with lyricist Otto Harbach. Their first complete score to reach Broadway was Three Twins (1910), which included "Cuddle Up a Little Closer To Me." They had even better luck providing an all-new book and score for the popular American adaptation of Madame Sherry (1910), which included "Every Little Movement Has a Meaning All It's Own." Hoschna churned out five more musicals in the next year, including The Fascinating Widow (1911), a Broadway vehicle for female impersonator Julian Eltinge. Hoschna died at age 34.

Hoyt, Charles Hale
Librettist, lyricist, producer
b. 1860 (Concord, NH) - d. Nov. 20, 1900 (New York City)
One of the most prolific comic playwrights of the 19th Century, Hoyt created several libretti for musical farce comedies -- including two memorable hits. A Trip to Chinatown (1891) had a record-setting Broadway run, and Hoyt contributed the lyric for the hit song "The Bowery." He also adapted his comedy A Parlor Match as an 1896 musical vehicle for Ziegfeld star Anna Held. Hoyt occasionally acted as producer of his projects, becoming one of the wealthiest theatrical personalities of his time. Suffering from symptoms of advanced syphilis, he died at age 40.

Keene, Laura
Actress, manager, producer
b. 1826 (England) - d. Nov. 4, 1873 (USA)
After touring with comedienne Madame Vestris, the attractive and ambitious Keene joined Lester Wallack's Broadway stock company in 1852.  She toured extensively and ran her own company in San Francisco before returning to New York in 1855 as Broadway's first successful female actor-manager. In a theatre dubbed Laura Keene's Varieties, she produced and starred in a repertory of comedies and occasional musical burlesques, moving to a new, larger theatre in 1856.

The dictatorial Keene ruffled the feathers of her fellow actors while delighting the public. At a time when a month long Broadway run was considered a smash hit, Keene's fantasy musical The Seven Sisters (1860) ran for a record-setting 253 performances. In 1863, Keene gave up her theatre and took her company on an ongoing national tour. On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated during Keene's performance in the comedy hit Our American Cousin at Fords Theatre in Washington, DC. Although Keene had no connection with the plot, she never really escaped the shadow of that tragedy. No longer in demand in the Eastern cities, she toured and lectured in the Western states, dying at age 47.

McHugh, Jimmy
Composer
b. July 10, 1894 (Boston, MA) - d. May 23, 1969 (Beverly Hills, CA)
After composing several songs for Harlem's legendary Cotton Club, McHugh teamed with lyricist Dorothy Fields to create the score for Broadway's Blackbirds of 1928 – which included "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Doin' the New Low Down." They composed songs for several more shows, including the hits "Exactly Like You" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street" for Lew Leslie's International Revue (1930). The team moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s, where they gradually (and cordially) chose to work with new collaborators.