The Lady In Red Musical

The Lady In Red is an American musical in three acts, with music by Gladys Morris, Eddie Turner, Richard McDowell, Julia Kemp and Christopher Morgan. The musical premiered on Broadway between 1921-25 and received successful reviews and made Gladys Morris' a successful actress, who because of her success in the musical, went on to star in many other productions.

## Plot

Demetria Morris (played by Gladys Morris) was just an ordinary young woman, who worked as a maid, for Mr and Mrs. Penniworth. She was very plain looking and was treated awfully by her employers, until one day, when she stole some money from Mr. Penniworth and brought herself a red eyelet lace lawn dress, which got her a lot of attention from many men, especially businessman Richard Knowles, who became infatuated with her, despite being married to Julia Carey, who never liked Demetria and was never afraid to show it. Though Demetria and Richard had strong affectionate feelings for each other and despite the fact that they had already slept together, Richard wanted to remain faithful to his wife and began avoiding Demetria, who then began dating another man called Michael Stevens, who she only used to make Richard jealous. Demetria always took Michael to the places that she knew Richard would be and tried to get his attention, by being affectionate with Michael, when pretending not to have seen him. After a while, Richard who began to get more and more aggravated, decided to confront Demtria and tried to make her come back to him, which she did. Michael then however, decided not to give up on Demetria and began to follow her and Richard to places, that led to Michael stabbing Richard with a sword and causing his death, after which Demetria never saw him again. Richard's wife, who he was separated from, never stopped loving her husband and blamed Demetria for his death, which in an act of revenge she stabbed Demetria, who was also killed.

## Synopsis

Act 1

Set  in  1917  in  California,  Demetria  Morris  is  just  an  ordinary  maid,  who  has  worked  for  Mr  and  Mrs.  Penniworth  for  only  one  year,  she  is  treated  very  badly  by  them,  they  threaten  to  dismiss  her,  meaning  that  she  would  have  to  return  to  living  with  her  parents,  who  she  resents.

They  also  verbally  abuse  her  by  calling  her  names,  such  as  "witch"  or  "stupid",  until  one  day,  she  decides  to  get  revenge,  by  stealing  money  from  Mr.  Penniworth,  that  he  left  lying  around.  With  the  stolen  money,  she  buys  herself  a  red  eyelet  lacy  lawn  dress  and  never  returns  to  work.

Act 2

Now  that  Demtria  has left her job as a maid and is now living the life of a single woman, she begins to get attention from many married men, when wearing the red dress, one man in particular is businessman Richard Knowles, who is married to Julia carey. Richard becomes infatuated with Demtria and she falls in love with him, though at the start of their affair, she is unaware that he is married.

Richard changes Demetria's life for the better, he begins to buy her presents, including perfume and jewellery, takes her to restaurants, where only the rich can afford to eat at, takes her to see musicals and operas and treats her well, better than anyone has ever done before.

However things soon begin to fall apart, when Richard begins to feel guilty for having an affair and decides to stop seeing Demetria, who he tries his hardest to avoid, leading to her to begin dating another man named Michael Stevens, who she only uses to make Richard jealous.

Act 3

Demetria wants Richard back and does everything to accomplish that, she takes her new partner Michael, to places that she knows Richard will be in and starts to act affectionate towards Michael, when pretending not to have seen Richard. Though she knew that her relationship with Michael was based on lies, he begins to fall in love with her and takes their relatiosnship serious, he too buys her gifts, though not as expensive as the ones that Richard brought her, but does take her to resturants, which she chooses the ones to eat at, which is mainly close to where Richard would hang out in, though she later sees him walking down the street, holding hands with another woman, that Demetria assumes is his wife.

One day, whilst kissing Michael in public, Richard sees them and confronts them, trying to get Demetria to give him another chance, which she does and breaks up with Michael, who refuses to give up on her. Michael begins to follow Demetria and Richard, which leads to Richard telling him to stop, causing a fight between him and Michael, that ends with Michael stabbing Richard with a sword, causing his death after which, he never sees Demetria again.

Heartbroken that Richard was killed, his wife Julia Carey, who he was separated from, blames Demetria for his death, leading the the pair to argue over him, that also leads to Julia stabbing Demetria and killing her.

## Principal characters

Demetria Morris played by Gladys Morris

An ordinary maid, who steals money and buys a red dress.

Richard Knowles played by Richard McDowell

A businessman, who becomes infatated with Demetria.

Julia Carey played by Julia Kemp

Richard Knowles' wife, who in an act of revenge, kills Demetria.

Michael Stevens played by Christopher Morgan

Demetria's second partner, who she only uses to make her ex jealous.

Mr. Penniworth played by Archibald Stubbs

One of Demetria's employers, who she steals money from.

Mrs. Penniworth played by Anthea Jones

The wife of Mr. Penniworth, who hates Demetria.

## Productions

1921 Original Broadway production

The Lady In Red was first shown at The Redhouse Theatre in Orange County, Califonia, on April 28th 1921, and ran for a total of 881 performances, closing on April 29th 1925. The opening night cast starred Gladys Morris as Demetria Morris, Richard McDowell as Richard Knowles, Julia Kemp as Julia Carey, Christopher Morgan as Michael Stevens, Archibald Stubbs as Mr. Penniworth and Anthea Jones as Mrs. Penniworrth.

The musical received mostly positive reviews, with some critical reviews. The affiar between a maid and a wealthy businessman, some said was "highly unlikly to happen in real life". According to James Cohen  "The Lady In Red is romantic and delightful, exploiting the love affair between a maid and a rich businessman, who both end up being killed"

The show kick started Gladys Morris' career in Broadway, who then went on to play in more productions, but often referred to The Lady In Red as "the musical that began my career".

## Musical numbers

1921 Original Broadway Production

"The Lady In Red Soundtrack"

Act 1

"Overture"

"Goodbye, Mr. Penniworth"

"The Red Dress"

Act 2

"I know a girl"

"The Way To My Heart"

"Dance With Me All Night"

"Take Me Into Your Loving Arms"

"Please, Don't Break My Heart"

"Unfaithful"

"Hello Becomes Goodbye, But Not Farewell"

Act 3

"A Man Named Mike"

"Wherever You Might Be"

"Go Your Own Way, But Please Come Back To Me"

"I Knew You Saw Me"

"The Times Come"

"I'll See You Again, Some Day"

Finale: "You're In Heaven, I'm In Hell"