Ah, the roaring twenties. It's a decade I wish I experienced. However, the year 1923 was particularly interesting. It's the year that the first wireless telephone call was made from New York to London. Jack Dempsey defended his heavyweight boxing title against Luis Firpo. Yankee Stadium opened in New York City and Rin Tin Tin made his film debut.

Oh yeah, more plays were produced on Broadway in the 20s than in any other period, and in 1923, the city of Troy was featured in a hit musical called Helen of Troy, New York.

Helen was written by the legendary George S. Kaufman (1889-1961) and Marc Connelly (1890-1980), from their book of the same name. The musical numbers were written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby with titles like: Look For The Happy Ending ; It Was Meant To Be; Cry Baby; Keep A Goin' (the show's hit song); The Small Town Girl; I Like A Big Town, I Like A Small Town; What Makes a Business Man Tired; What The Girls Will Wear; My Ideal; Nijigo Novgo; and Helen Of Troy, New York.

Kaufman who was a playwright and journalist was the most successful writer in American Theater between World War I and II. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice for plays of which he was coauthor. He wrote some 40 plays and half were hits. He was the drama critic for The New York Times from 1917 to 1930.

His first successful play Dulcy, starring Lynn Fontanne, was written in collaboration with Marc Connelly and first performed in 1921. Two years later, they wrote the two-act Helen of Troy, N.Y., starring Helen Ford.

Connelly was also a playwright and journalist for the Morning Telegraph covering the theater. He's famous for his Pulitzer Prize winning Green Pastures, a story of the old testament through the lives of southern blacks, but especially is known for his comedies that he co-wrote with Kaufman.

Kaufman and Connelly's Dulcy was followed by To the Ladies (1922) with Helen Hayes, and then Helen of Troy, N.Y.

The musical Helen of Troy, New York opened on Broadway on Tuesday, June 19, 1923, at the Selwyn Theater on 42nd Street at 8:30. The play was introduced by Rufus LeMaire and George Jessel. I can only imagine the opening remarks by Jessel - "Take my collar, please."

Though some reviewers were not crazy about the score (one did call it "competent and catchy music"), Kaufman and Connelly received raves.

Helen of Troy, New York was based on the story of working girls in the collar industry of Troy and pokes fun at the new corporate culture that was taking hold in America. This was modeled from the very successful advertising campaign of Cluett, Peabody that ran from 1905 to 1931. The collar company's ad campaign appeared nationally and in particular in the Saturday Evening Post, an upscale magazine.

The Cluett company contracted with artist Joseph C. Leyendecker to develop a winning look for their Arrow collars. The result was the first successful introduction of sex as a selling tool; all of his beautifully illustrated ads showed male and female models responding to the sex appeal of the 'Arrow Man.' During this time, most men in the country were wearing collars from Troy, but made from a number of collar companies. Cluett cashed in by creating the 'Arrow Man' and captured most of the market. This was the predecessor of the now familiar 'Marlboro Man' and other brand "models" that followed.

Helen of Troy, NY seems to be a response to this, and besides lampooning mass advertising, the play was rather eccentric and even had a weird number with Russian folk dancers and an instrumental number with ukeleles and other strange instruments.

One writer wasn't surprised at the eccentricity considering that Kaufman eventually wrote three Marx Brothers movies (The Cocoanuts (1929); Animal Crackers (1930); A Night at the Opera (1935)), while his buddies Kalmar and Ruby wrote the songs for Animal Crackers. Kalmar and Ruby also wrote Horse Feathers (1932) and Duck Soup (1933) in addition to the music.

Regardless, I believe I have tracked down the play and much of the score and plan on bringing the play back to life in Troy. So, if you can act, send me email. Who knows, you could become the next Helen of Troy, and that's no duck soup!