Young, Rida Johnson

(1869-1926)

   Born into high society in Baltimore, Rida Johnson Young spent a brief apprenticeship acting with E. H. Sothern and Viola Allen before she turned to writing plays, operettas, and musicals. Her nonmusical plays include Brown of Harvard (1906), The Boys of Company "B" (1907), The Lancers (1907), Glorious Betsey (1908), The Lottery Man (1909), Next (1911), and The Girl with the Pennant (1913). She wrote a series of musical plays for Chauncey Olcott, including Ragged Robin (1910), Barry of Ballmore (1911), Macushla (1912), The Isle o ' Dreams (1913), and Shameen Dhu (1914). Her most enduring contributions were the books and lyrics for two operettas, Naughty Marietta (1910; music by Victor Herbert) and Maytime (1917; music by Sigmund Romberg), both of which were frequently revived and became popular motion pictures.