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209:, who were to feature in all of his similar musical comedies. Caryll, the music director at the Gaiety, conducted the performances of the piece himself. One of the most famous songs from the show was "Her golden hair was hanging down her back." As the run went on, songs were constantly changed and new business frequently introduced, especially when there were cast changes. This also began a pattern for musicals of the era.
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205:. Indeed, during the run of the show, some of the racier lines were removed, as Edwardes recognised that the future of musicals lay in appealing to the respectable Victorian audience. In addition, at Hicks' urging, the romantic couple was designed as less sentimental and more mischievous and light hearted. But it was not lacking in sex appeal. It was the first show to feature Edwardes'
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Colorado. The millionaire has come back to London to look for the daughter of his mining chum, to whom a fortune of four million pounds was due. She is to be identified by a birthmark. The daughter, of course, turns out to be the shop girl and, after a few misunderstandings, she agrees to marry her sweetheart.
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An attractive and charming London shop girl, Bessie Brent, is in love with
Charles Appleby, a poor, but lively medical student from a good family. She also meets a good-hearted millionaire, John Brown, who had gone out in the steerage of a liner, "to become a miner", and had struck it rich in
201:. The piece achieved immediate popularity and introduced to London audiences a cleaner, more respectable form of musical comedy than the previous "musical farces", which had been more closely related to
119:) over the next two decades, and the format was widely copied by other producers and playwriting teams. They also led to the next level of sophistication in integrated musical comedy at
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revived the piece in London in 1920, at the Gaiety, where it was again a hit, running for 327 performances. Hicks directed and Warde choreographed. The cast included
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No. 5. Charlie & Foundlings - "If without a single mark of your identity, on a hospitable doorstep you are thrown..."
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No. 2. Hooley & Bessie, with Chorus - "If you ever should engage in trade, you will never find your fortune made..."
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in London, opening on 24 November 1894. The piece ran for an extremely successful 546 performances, transferring to
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No. 23. Finale Act II - "Now joy is in the air, their future will be fair, look'd after by this kindly desperado..."
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No. 4. Chorus of Stage
Beauties - "In us of course you see a charming coterie, whose fascinations all confess..."
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No. 3. Sir George, Count, Hooley & Colonel - "Although I am a man of law, of many years in practice spent..."
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in 1893 confirmed to George
Edwardes that the lighter "musical comedy" was the right path for musical theatre.
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No. 15. Miggles & Miss
Robinson - "I am a Jap, please notice my cap, 'twas copied from off a tea caddy..."
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No. 9. Bertie & Foundlings - "Foundlings are we, waiting to see who will unravel our pre-natal mystery..."
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No. 1. Chorus - "This noble institution of financial evolution is the glory of our
British trade..."
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No. 17. Sir George, Count & Colonel - "If you can fully fathom human folly and fatuity..."
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No. 19. Charlie & Chorus - "There was once a country maiden came to London for a trip..."
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No. 14a. Bessie and Chorus - "I lub a gal, 'spose she lubs me too, anyhow she say she do..."
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No. 6. Beatrice - "When I came to the shop some years ago, I was terribly shy and simple..."
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No. 16. John Brown & Chorus - "In the steerage of a Liner I went out to be a miner..."
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in London in 1894 and ran for an extremely successful 546 performances. Its cast included
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No. 21. Bertie & Chorus - "I'm what folks call a
Johnnie, of the title I am proud..."
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No. 10. Miggles - "It was an evil hour when I met my Mary Ann, oh! woe! woe the day!..."
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No. 14. Song - "I'm a lady not unknown to fame, critics call me by my
Christian name..."
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No. 13. Chorus - "Charity, charity, charity, charity, fearless are we in a bazaar..."
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No. 7. Bessie & Charlie - "Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, shut your little eye, dear..."
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Nos. 22 & 22a. Chorus and soloists - "The show, the show, the show, the show..."
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No. 12. Finale Act I - "Farewell, farewell, we tender our congratulations truly..."
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No. 20. Lady Dodo - "The Man in the Moon is down, he is winning a great renown..."
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No. 8. Beatrice & Chorus - "Over the hills and over into the sunset's glow..."
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No. 18. Chorus - "We're now to have some mystery, the forecast of our history..."
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Description, opening night cast list, and links to photos and other information
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Theatre on
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No. 11. Ada & Chorus - "Left upon a doorstep at half past nine..."
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in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written by
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Lady
Appleby (Charlie's mother, wife of Sir George) – Maria Davis
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Ada Smith (an apprentice at the Royal Stores) – Lillie
Belmore (
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This article is about the musical comedy. For the painting, see
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Count St. Vaurien (secretary to Mr. Brown) – Robert Nainby
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No. 9a. Reprise - "Foundlings are we, waiting to see..."
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Hicks and Grossmith transferred with the production to
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List of longest running plays in London and New York
509:. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. p.
310:Mr. Tweets (financial secretary to Lady Appleby) –
181:, who (being pregnant) was replaced in the cast by
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346:Lady Appleby's daughters: Faith, Hope, and Charity
327:Lady Dodo Singleton (Charlie's cousin) – Helen Lee
658:Good Old Gaiety: An Historiette & Remembrance
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601:(New York: Taplinger Publishing, 1969), pp. 7–8
316:Mr. Miggles (shopwalker at the Royal Stores) –
197:, with choreography by Warde. Costumes were by
537:, New Line Theatre, 2008, accessed 7 July 2024
277:Mr. Hooley (proprietor of the Royal Stores) –
16:Musical comedy by Ivan Caryll and H. J. W. Dam
637:Note at PeoplePlay website about this drawing
330:Miss Robinson (fitter at the Royal Stores) –
228:joined the cast. The New York production of
349:Of the Syndicate Theatre: Maud Plantagenet (
304:Colonel Singleton (retired) – Frank Wheeler
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535:"Curtain Up, Light the Lights: 1874–1900"
32:Souvenir - 1st anniversary of the opening
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698:List of shows opening in London in 1894
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283:Charles Appleby (a medical student) –
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434:Act II – Fancy Bazaar at Kensington.
680:at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
505:Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
298:Sir George Appleby (a solicitor) –
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599:Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson
360:Bessie Brent ("The Shop Girl") –
216:in 1895, under the management of
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289:Bertie Boyd (one of the Boys) –
554:. London: Carlton. p. 56.
660:(1903) London:Gaity Theatre Co
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378:Act I – The Royal Stores.
49:, with lyrics by Dam and
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43:Edwardian musical comedy
738:Musicals by Ivan Caryll
627:Hollingshead, pp. 72–73
501:Green, Stanley (1991).
261:Roles and original cast
733:Musicals set in stores
728:Musicals set in London
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406:Singing from the wings
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185:and then Hicks' wife,
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656:Hollingshead, John.
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291:George Grossmith Jr.
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163:George Grossmith Jr.
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343:in New York)
341:Connie Ediss
324:in New York)
318:Edmund Payne
312:Willie Warde
300:Cairns James
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191:Topsy Sinden
175:Willie Warde
171:Edmund Payne
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671:Vocal score
568:Hyman, Alan
548:Gänzl, Kurt
366:Kate Cutler
246:Roy Royston
242:Evelyn Laye
238:Alfred Butt
183:Kate Cutler
127:Productions
55:Ivan Caryll
51:Adrian Ross
707:Categories
646:References
232:opened at
199:C. Wilhelm
89:Background
362:Ada Reeve
203:burlesque
179:Ada Reeve
136:Ada Reeve
103:heralded
552:Musicals
550:(1995).
252:Synopsis
234:Palmer's
214:Broadway
149:at the
41:was an
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576:ISBN
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515:ISBN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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