The Night Boat (1920) is a musical in three acts, based on a farce by Alexandre Bisson, with a book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell and music by Jerome Kern. The story lampoons the notorious New York City-to-Albany night boat, on which clandestine romances were common.After out-of-town tryouts, the musical was produced on Broadway by Charles Dillingham, where it opened on February 2, 1920 at the Liberty Theatre under the direction of Fred G.