Bombo (musical)
musical

Bombo is a Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Harold Atteridge and music by Sigmund Romberg.
Produced by Lee Shubert and J. J. Shubert, the Broadway production, staged by J. C. Huffman, opened on October 6, 1921, at the Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, where it ran for 219 performances. The cast included Al Jolson and Janet Adair.
The musical has a thin story designed to showcase Jolson, who was at the height of his popularity. Songs were added by several composers during the run of the show so that, by the end of the run, there were more songs by composers other than Romberg than by him. The success of the musical on Broadway led to a national tour.
Plot
Setting: Genoa, Italy; Cordova, Spain; and San Salvador, El Salvador
Gus (played by Jolson in blackface) is a man living in Genoa, Italy in 1921 who finds himself transported back in time to Spain in 1492. Adopting the name "Bombo", Gus meets the explorer Christopher Columbus and becomes a slave whom Columbus brings along on his first voyage to the New World.
Songs
Any Place Will Do With You
April Showers (words by B. G. de Sylva; music by Louis Silvers)
Arcady (words & music by Jolson & DeSylva)
The Barber In Seville (words and music by DeSylva and Jolson)
Barefoot Days (by Al Wilson & Jas. A. Brennan)
California, Here I Come (by Jolson, DeSylva & Joseph Meyer)
Coo-Coo Song (words by Jolson and DeSylva)
Dirty Hands, Dirty Face (lyric by Jolson, Grant Clarke & Edgar Leslie; music by James V. Monaco)
Don't Cry, Swanee (by Jolson, DeSylva & Con Conrad)
Don't Send Your Wife to the Country (words by DeSylva; music by Silvers)
Down South (words by DeSylva; music by Walter Donaldson)
Give Me My Mammy (words by DeSylva; music by Donaldson)
I'm Goin’ South (words and music by Abner Silver and Harry Woods)
In Old Granada
In the Way Off There
It's You (words by DeSylva; music by Silvers)
Jazzadadadoo
Koo-Kee-Koo (words by Kiang Zaney; music by Nacio Herb Brown)
Last Night on the Back Porch (by Lew Brown & Carl Schraubstader)
Morning Will Come (by Jolson, DeSylva & Conrad)
Oh, Oh, Columbus
Old Fashioned Girl (words and music by Jolson)
Tallahassee (words by DeSylva; music by Silvers)
Tell Me With Smiles (by Cliff Friend and Walter Hirsch)
Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo’ Bye) (Words and music by Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman & Dan Russo)
The Very Next Girl I See
Wetona
Who Cares?
The public source identifies “Bombo (musical)” as musical. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bombo and musical.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Bombo (musical)”, the useful work is to connect “musical” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2562088. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1921 and 1492.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bombo (musical)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bombo (musical) primary sources, Bombo (musical) archive and Bombo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bombo (musical)”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bombo (musical)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.