"The Cat and the Riddle" was performed by the Scarlet Mask Club of Ohio State University on February 4-6, 1924. Billed as "a two act musical mystery" by James G. Thurber '19, the score is credited to eighteen songwriting collaborators, and Thurber was the lyricist in at least one of the numbers. Today it seems an extravagance to publish the sheet music for a three-night production, but it gives us what must be the best record we have of the performance today. Thurber's dialogue has evidently been lost. The musical program, currently listed on eBay, is not surprisingly quite scarce.
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| James Thurber "The Cat and the Riddle" Musical Program eBay listing accessed November 21, 2020 |
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| James Thurber "The Cat and the Riddle" Musical Program eBay item description |
Is $399.99 a fair price for such a program? The market will have to decide that. One wishes one had noted the listing on Everything but the House (EBTH) back in September, where a different copy sold for what was clearly way too little:
No copy of this musical program had been located by Edwin T. Bowden when he compiled his Thurber bibliography in 1968:
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| James Thurber "The Cat and the Riddle" Musical Program Everything but the House listing ended September 18, 2020 |
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| "Javaland" Words by James G. Thurber '19 Music by Robert B. Jennings '26 |
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| Bowden, Edwin T. James Thurber: A Bibliography. Ohio State University Press, 1968, p. 210 |
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| Bowden, Edwin T. James Thurber: A Bibliography. Ohio State University Press, 1968, p. 212 |
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| Bowden, Edwin T. James Thurber: A Bibliography. Ohio State University Press, 1968, p. 228 |
Note: Thanks to Scott Burns of Armadillo & Dicker Books for bringing the eBay listing to my attention.
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