HARRY VON TILZER (1872-1946) was born Harry Gumm in Detroit. When he was a child, his family moved to Indianapolis, where Harry was introduced to show business by the theatrical company that performed above his father’s shoe store. At the age of 14, Von Tilzer ran away from home and joined the Col Brothers Circus and by 1887, he was playing the piano, composing and acting in a Chicago repertory company. In 1892, he moved to New York where his first job was as a saloon pianist. In 1902, he formed Harry Von Tilzer Music Company and quickly became an icon of the Tin Pan Alley music era. Throughout his career, Tilzer published nearly two-thousand songs, and contributed an enormous amount to the industry through his involvement in the production and publication of early popular American music. In 1970, Harry Von Tilzer was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

STANISLAUS STANGE (1862–1917) was a playwright, librettist and lyricist who created many Broadway shows in the fin-de-siecle era and early 20th century. After minor success as an actor, Stange made his career as a writer in the musical theatre working with composers Julian Edwards and Victor Herbert. His biggest success was the American version of Oscar Straus’s operetta The Chocolate Soldier.

VINCENT BRYAN (1878 – 1937) was an American composer and lyricist, contributing lyrics to countless popular songs of the Tin Pan Alley era as well as numerous interpolation to the 1903 Broadway and touring productions of The Wizard of Oz. He was a close behind-the-scenes collaborator of Charlie Chaplin from 1915 to 1917. Along with Hal Roach he directed three Harold Lloyd films in 1919. An addiction to heroin prematurely ended his promising career in motion pictures.

JAMES VALCQ is TAP’s co-Artistic Director and an aficionado of early American musical theatre. On our own stage, James created the cavalcade of early Irving Berlin music I Love a Piano and created a new performing edition of the 1910 musical comedy Madame Sherry. In 2019, James unveiled his restoration of George Gershwin’s long-lost first Broadway musical La La Lucille. Following this tradition, James now turns his eyes to the little-known musical theatre scene that flourished in the midwest in the early years of the 20th century with this musical by Tin Pan Alley giant Harry Von Tilzer.