58:. He also composed stage works of various kinds for John Palmer's short-lived Royalty Theatre. All of his works were entirely sung as none of these non-patent houses were permitted to perform works with any spoken drama. Some of Reeve's pieces were revived at the patent theatres after the Royalty closed in 1788. Most notably, his ballet-pantomime
202:(1802). At the time of his death in London, Reeve owned seven of Sadler's Wells's 40 shares, which he bequeathed to his daughter, Charlotte. His family pursued theatrical careers as well: his wife Mrs. Reeve sang at Astley's and in
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leaped to rescue a drowning child, Sadler's Wells installed an irregularly shaped 8000-gallon tank, three feet deep, beneath the stage. Reeve wrote music for the new specialty, ‘aquadrama’: all-sung musicals featuring
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company during the late 1780s and early 1790s. He also appeared in productions at Covent Garden for two seasons (1789–91), playing minor roles for £2 a week. In the autumn of 1791, Covent Garden's house composer,
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but continued as a freelance composer for London's patent and minor theatres. He also provided much rather facile music for the topical spectacles and pantomimes at
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From 1803 until his death Reeve also served as co-proprietor, director of music, and shareholder of Sadler's Wells
Aquatic Theatre, where he set about 80
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and eventually served as the governor of the organization in both 1794 and 1804. Reeve occasionally worked as an actor at the
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90:(1791) in addition to composing some of his own theater works. After Shield's return in 1792 Reeve became organist of
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Reeve was born in London. He initially studied to be a law stationer but abandoned his studies in order to study the
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Reeve wrote largely to support and highlight the talents of specific performers, such as the clown
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at Sadler's Wells, and to provide easy listening. He could rapidly compose
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in the popular
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22:(1757 – 22 June 1815) was an English theatre composer and
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135:(1803), which featured an on-stage water tank into which
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420:ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 20, 2008),
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458:International Music Score Library Project
436:, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992),
356:Oscar and Malvina, or The Hall of Fingal
454:Free scores by William Reeve (composer)
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62:(1787) was incredibly popular and both
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332:Thirty Thousand, or Who's the Richest?
190:(1795) (especially the drinking song
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218:Selected stage works
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404:Brother and Sister
380:Who's to have her?
368:The Council of Ten
350:The Magic Minstrel
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308:The Cabinet
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196:comic opera
133:The Caravan
40:Westminster
468:Categories
248:Bantry Bay
181:Robin Hood
179:(1794), a
146:waterfalls
64:Drury Lane
224:The Purse
184:pantomime
177:The Purse
173:melodrama
169:folksongs
125:librettos
98:. During
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56:burlettas
30:Biography
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254:The Raft
194:) and a
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60:Don Juan
24:organist
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456:at the
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165:ballads
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