Editing Jerome Kern (section)

===Early 1920s===
[[File:Marilyn Miller LCCN2014712670 (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Marilyn Miller]], the star of ''[[Sally (musical)|Sally]]'']]
The 1920s were an extremely productive period in American musical theatre, and Kern created at least one show every year for the entire decade. His first show of 1920 was ''[[The Night Boat]]'', with book and lyrics by [[Anne Caldwell]], which ran for more than 300 performances in New York and for three seasons on tour.<ref name=baker/>  Later in the same year, Kern wrote the score for ''[[Sally (musical)|Sally]]'', with a book by Bolton and lyrics by [[Otto Harbach]].  This show, staged by Florenz Ziegfeld, ran for 570 performances, one of the longest runs of any Broadway show in the decade, and popularized the song "[[Look for the Silver Lining]]" (which had been written for an earlier show), performed by the rising star [[Marilyn Miller]].  It also had a long run in London in 1921, produced by [[George Grossmith Jr.]]<ref name=baker/>  Kern's next shows were ''Good Morning, Dearie'' (1921, with Caldwell) which ran for 347 performances; followed in 1922 by a West End success, ''[[The Cabaret Girl]]'' in collaboration with Grossmith and Wodehouse;<ref>''[[The Observer]]'', September 24, 1922, p. 11</ref> another modest success by the same team, ''[[The Beauty Prize]]'' (1923); and a Broadway flop, ''[[The Bunch and Judy]]'', remembered, if at all, as the first time Kern and [[Fred Astaire]] worked together.<ref name=baker/>

''[[Stepping Stones (musical)|Stepping Stones]]'' (1923, with Caldwell) was a success, and in 1924 the Princess Theatre team of Bolton, Wodehouse and Kern reunited to write ''Sitting Pretty'', but it did not recapture the popularity of the earlier collaborations.<ref name=oepm>[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/epm/14926 "Kern, Jerome"]. ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Oxford Music Online, accessed May 11, 2010 (requires subscription)</ref>  Its relative failure may have been partly due to Kern's growing aversion to having individual songs from his shows performed out of context on radio, in cabaret, or on record, although his chief objection was to jazz interpretations of his songs.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} He called himself a "musical clothier – nothing more or less," and said, "I write music to both the situations and the lyrics in plays."<ref name=nyt/>  When ''Sitting Pretty'' was produced, he forbade any broadcasting or recording of individual numbers from the show, which limited their chance to gain popularity.<ref name=baker/>

1925 was a major turning point in Kern's career when he met [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], with whom he would entertain a lifelong friendship and collaboration. As a young man, Kern had been an easy companion with great charm and humor, but he became less outgoing in his middle years, sometimes difficult to work with: he once introduced himself to a producer by saying, "I hear you're a son of a bitch.  So am I."<ref>Steyn, Mark. "Melodies that will always linger on", ''The Times'', January 22, 1985, p. 14</ref> He rarely collaborated with any one lyricist for long. With Hammerstein, however, he remained on close terms for the rest of his life.<ref name=grove/>  Their first show, written together with Harbach, was ''[[Sunny (musical)|Sunny]]'', which featured the song "[[Who? (song)|Who (Stole My Heart Away)?]]" Marilyn Miller played the title role, as she had in ''Sally''.<ref name=oepm/> The show ran for 517 performances on Broadway, and the following year ran for 363 performances in the West End, starring [[Binnie Hale]] and [[Jack Buchanan]].<ref>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/1920bway.htm "Keep the Sun Smilin' Through"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630024951/http://www.musicals101.com/1920bway.htm |date=June 30, 2023 }}. ''History of The Musical Stage'', accessed May 11, 2010</ref>