The Bohemian G-yurl and the Unapproachable Pole is a musical burlesque in two acts, with a score by Meyer Lutz to a libretto by Henry James Byron, [1] which played under the management of John Hollingshead at the Gaiety Theatre in London in 1877. It was a parody of the popular opera The Bohemian Girl composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn.
Burlesque of opera or classical works was popular in Britain from the 1860s to the 1880s, and The Bohemian G-yurl and the Unapproachable Pole fell into this tradition. Other examples at the Gaiety included Blue Beard (1882), Ariel (1883, by F. C. Burnand), Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed (1883), Little Jack Sheppard (1885), Monte Cristo Jr. (1886), Miss Esmeralda (1887), Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim (1887), Mazeppa, Faust up to Date (1888), Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué (1888), Carmen up to Data (1890), Cinder Ellen up too Late (1891) and Don Juan (1892, with lyrics by Adrian Ross).
This burlesque opened at the Opera Comique in London on 31 January 1877 before transferring to the Gaiety Theatre, [1] [2] running for a total of 117 performances. [3] John Hollingshead managed the Gaiety from 1868 to 1886 as a venue for variety, continental operetta, light comedy, and numerous musical burlesques composed or arranged by the theatre's music director, Meyer Lutz. Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses." [4] Nellie Farren, as the theatre's "principal boy", starred at the Gaiety for over 20 years, and both Edward O'Connor Terry and Kate Vaughan were regulars. [5]
The piece had a revival at the Gaiety in May 1884 [6] with Farren and Terry reprising their roles as Thaddeus and Devilshoof. [7]
A review of the production at the Opera Comique in Vanity Fair for March 1877 stated:
Even if you happen not to have seen the Bohemian G-yurl, you will surely have heard by this time a great deal of the humour of Mr. Terry and the dancing of Mr. Royce in this production. You therefore proceed to the Opera Comique, and having duly admired the Polish costumes and done your best to catch the words of the songs, you wait patiently until hard on the eleventh hour, and wonder when all this tremendous merriment so generally spoken of is going to begin. The drollery of Mr. Terry may not perhaps strike you as so very remarkable after all – that is to say, for Mr. Terry; you will laugh at his scene with the performing dogs if you chance not to have seen something very similar before in many previous burlesques, but that is about the extent of the fun which even Mr. Terry can extract from his part. Mr. Royce dances with his usual buoyancy, and twirls as he is wont to twirl, but still you are not happy. You may, perhaps, think that some little of the humour accredited wholesale to Mr. Terry lurks in the round, astonished eyes, and is to be found in the playful ways of Miss Nelly Farren, and that Miss Kate Vaughan, with her pliant figure and resplendent attire, is responsible for much of the attractive power of Mr. Royce's very popular dancing; but still you will remember the purpose for which language has been said to have been given, and, when your club friends go night after night to see The Bohemian G-yurl, and expatiate glowingly on the delicious humour of Mr. Terry and the marvellous dancing of Mr. Royce, you will doubtless be able to read aright, with one eye closed even, the veiled and vicarious homage. [8]
However, the critic of Judy was rather more appreciative, writing:
The Bohemian G-yurl, at the Opera Comique, is certainly as funny a thing as I have seen. Terry and Royce made me roar again, and with the aid of Misses Farren, Vaughan and West, they give you one of the liveliest evenings imaginable. If you want to laugh, go and see Byron's last burlesque. [9]
Scene I: Alpine Landscape and Chateau of Count Arnheim
Scene II: Interior of the Gypsy Queen's Tent
Scene I: Interior of the Gypsy Queen's Tent
Scene II: Reception Chamber of Arnheim Chateau
Between the scenes the orchestra played selections from Balfe's The Bohemian Girl . [10]
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond.
The Bohemian Girl is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, La gitanilla.
The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known as the Gaiety Theatre and was, at first, known for music hall and then for musical burlesque, pantomime and operetta performances. From 1868 to the 1890s, it had a major influence on the development of modern musical comedy.
Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as travesty or extravaganza, is a genre of theatrical entertainment that was popular in Victorian England and in the New York theatre of the mid-19th century. It is a form of parody in which a well-known opera or piece of classical theatre or ballet is adapted into a broad comic play, usually a musical play, usually risqué in style, mocking the theatrical and musical conventions and styles of the original work, and often quoting or pastiching text or music from the original work. Victorian burlesque is one of several forms of burlesque.
Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué is a burlesque written by A. C. Torr and Herbert F. Clark with music by Meyer Lutz. It is based on the Victor Hugo drama Ruy Blas. The piece was produced by George Edwardes. As with many of the Gaiety burlesques, the title is a pun.
Cinder Ellen up too Late is a musical burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney Jones, Walter Slaughter, Osmond Carr, Scott Gatti, Jacobi, Robertson, and Leopold Wenzel. Additional lyrics were written by Basil Hood. The show was a burlesque of the well-known pantomime and fairy tale, Cinderella.
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works.
Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim is a musical burlesque in three acts written by Richard Henry. The music was composed by Meyer Lutz. The piece is a burlesque loosely based on the 1818 Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and the Adelphi Theatre drama based on the novel.
Galatea, or Pygmalion Re-Versed is a musical burlesque that parodies the Pygmalion legend, and specifically W. S. Gilbert's 1871 play Pygmalion and Galatea. The libretto was written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and W. Webster. The score was composed by Wilhelm Meyer Lutz.
Faust up to Date is a musical burlesque with a libretto was written by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt, and a score written by Meyer Lutz. Set in Nuremberg, it is a spoof of Gounod's opera, Faust, which had first been performed in London in 1864. The burlesque followed on from an earlier Lutz musical, Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite.
Ellen "Nellie" Farren was an English actress and singer best known for her roles as the "principal boy" in musical burlesques at the Gaiety Theatre in London.
John Hollingshead was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and writer during the latter half of the 19th century. After a journalism career, Hollingshead managed the Alhambra Theatre and was later the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London. Hollingshead also wrote several books during his life.
Little Jack Sheppard is a burlesque melodrama written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, with music by Meyer Lutz, with songs contributed by Florian Pascal, Corney Grain, Arthur Cecil, Michael Watson, Henry J. Leslie, Alfred Cellier and Hamilton Clarke. The comedy lampooned the serious plays based on the life of Jack Sheppard, especially the popular 1839 play by John Buckstone, which was in turn based on the novel of that year by William Harrison Ainsworth.
Robert the Devil, or The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun is an operatic parody by W. S. Gilbert of Giacomo Meyerbeer's grand opera Robert le diable, which was named after, but bears little resemblance to, the medieval French legend of the same name. Gilbert set new lyrics to tunes by Meyerbeer, Bellini, Offenbach and others.
Carmen up to Data is a musical burlesque with a score written by Meyer Lutz. Set in Seville, the piece was a spoof of Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. The libretto was written by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt.
The Merry Zingara; Or, The Tipsy Gipsy & The Pipsy Wipsy was the third of W. S. Gilbert's five burlesques of opera. Described by the author as "A Whimsical Parody on The Bohemian Girl", by Michael Balfe, it was produced at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 21 March 1868.
The Bohemian Girl is a 1922 British romance film directed by Harley Knoles and starring Gladys Cooper, Ivor Novello, and C. Aubrey Smith. It was inspired by the opera The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe and Alfred Bunn, which was in turn based on a novel La Gitanilla by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally released at 70 minutes, the surviving print is missing the first two reels and small portion of the last, timing at 46 minutes.
Kate Vaughan was the stage name of Catherine Alice Candelin, a British dancer and actress. She was best known for developing the skirt dance and has been called the "greatest dancer of her time".
Monte Cristo Jr. was a Victorian burlesque with a libretto written by Richard Henry, a pseudonym for the writers Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton. The score was composed by Meyer Lutz, Ivan Caryll, Hamilton Clarke, Tito Mattei, G. W. Hunt and Henry J. Leslie. The ballet and incidental dances were arranged by John D'Auban, and the theatre's musical director, Meyer Lutz, conducted. The play's doggerel verse was loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
Edward William Royce, born Edward William Reddall, was a British actor, singer and dancer noted for playing in Victorian burlesque at London's Gaiety Theatre, usually alongside Nelly Farren, Edward O'Connor Terry and Kate Vaughan until 1882. His theatrical career spanned five decades, from 1860 to 1908. His son was the director Edward Royce.