Vincent Youmans was as esteemed in the ‘20s and ‘30s as his contemporary, George Gershwin. The son of a prosperous hatter, he left college to join the Navy at 17. The bandmaster, John Philip Sousa, encouraged his music and had every Navy band play Youmans’ “Hallelujah”.

In 1919 Youmans worked as the pianist assisting Victor Herbert in rehearsing singers, which he sites as an incredible learning experience. He wrote his first Broadway show in 1921 with young Ira Gershwin, Two Little Girls in Blue. By 1924 he enjoyed enormous success with No, No Nanette, which became the first Broadway show to tour the world, and produced “I Want to Be Happy” and “Tea for Two” with Irving Caesar’s lyrics.

In 1927 Leo Robin and Clifford Grey ad...