"When Reuben Comes To Town": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This sheet music is for the song, “When Reuben Comes To Town,” with words by J. Cheever Goodwin and music by Maurice Levi. It was published by Rogers Brothers Music Publishing Co. in New York, New York in 1900.

”When Reuben Comes To Town” was featured the musical, The Rogers Brothers in Central Park, with music by Maurice Levi, book by John J. McNally, and lyrics by J. Cheever Goodwin. The Rogers Brothers in Central Park opened at the Victoria Theatre on September 17, 1900, and moved to the Grand Opera House, where it closed in April 1901, for a total run of 80 performances. There is an inset image of the cast on the sheet music cover.

Materials, dates and provenance

• publishing date: 1900
• publisher: Rogers Brothers
• lyricist: Goodwin, J. Cheever
• composer: Levi, Maurice
• publisher: Rogers Brothers
• Object Name: sheet music
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 14 in x 11 in; 35.56 cm x 27.94 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• Subject: Musical Theater
• ID Number: 1988.0693.12
• accession number: 1988.0693
• catalog number: 1988.0693.12
• Credit Line: Gift of Susan O. Ostroff
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.