The first act passes in a fairy kingdom "once upon a time," and the first scenes of act 2 in England a hundred years ago, and the last takes us back again to the fairy kingdom. The Fairy Queen is young and has enthusiasms for art, and determines to give a prize for a statue. A White Pierrot hopes to win it with a statue of Pansy, a girl whom he loves, and he tries to become famous and rich enough to make Pansy his wife. Now, Pansy is very like the Queen, and the two change places. The Queen, disguised, comes to the studio and learns that a Black Pierrot also loves Pansy, and in a fit of jealousy destroys the statue. To save the White Pierrot the agony of knowing that his work is ruined, she personates the statue, and determines that he shall have the prize after all. The White Pierrot, who thinks she is Pansy, tells her that his luck depends on the recovery of a ruby ring which Happy Joe, a highwayman, Black Pierrot's ancestor centuries back, stole from the Squire of Homewood, his own ancestor, and as he tells the story both fall asleep. In her dreams the Queen is transported to England, and finds the ring in a cake after a cake-walk, and, waking, reveals herself as the Queen, and promises the Prize to the White Pierrot.[7]
Musical numbers
Act I
1. Chorus – "Revelry riots when Carnival's King"
2. Watchmen and Chorus – "Good folk who here rejoice"
3. Starlight – "Pussy Cats Three"
4. Chorus – "Over the tiles"
5. Moonshine and Chorus – "Telephone to the moon"
6. Chorus – "Hail! Her Majesty"
7. "The Queen and Chorus – Naughty, just for once"
8. Chorus and Dance – "Painting"
9. Sylvia and Chorus – "Bubble Land"
10. Entrance of Picture Buyers
11. Moonshine – "What a pretty picture"
12. The Queen and Moonshine – "In the Studio"
13. Starlight and Chorus – "Pansy"
14. Finale – "Sleep, little Queen, and drift away"
Following its 100th performance in March 1904, several new songs were introduced:[8]
"The Little Yellow Bird"
"Fascinating Frou-Frou of the Frill"
"When the Stars are Shining in the Sky"
Reception
The Times thought that dramatically the first act was a success, but was much less impressed by the second, though it had "all sorts of pretty, clever and funny things in it." Caryll's music was judged "tuneful enough, but very thin", and too reminiscent of the composer's earlier scores. The paper's anonymous reviewer thought "Bubble Land" the best musical number.[1]The Manchester Guardian commented:
It is very ingenious, and has a perverse charm of its own. It ought not to be good, for it is one of the most amazing mixtures of the fanciful, the topical, the artistic, and the grotesque that was ever put on a stage. But still it keeps one interested and amused, and in spite of its many contrasts the "joins" are so well managed that it all results in a consistent whole—much more consistent than many a musical comedy which boasts itself the proud possessor of a real plot.
It is a pretty story prettily told, with witty dialogue and many humorous interludes, in which the foibles of the day are amusingly parodied by Mr. Seymour Hicks – White Pierrot and Happy Joe, – Miss Ellaline Terriss as the Queen, and Mr. Courtice Pounds as the Black Pierrot and the Squire, The dancing of Miss Dorothy Frostick and Miss Kate Vesey, the singing of Miss Carmen Hill, the clever antics of Mr. Sellwood as a horse, the pert wit of Master Valchera as Rose of Riviera (a tiny groom who keeps his charge in order by means of a recitation), and of Master George Herser [sic] as Snowball (a sweep who parodies the Admirable Crichton) must all be mentioned as very good of their kind. The scenery is very tasteful. The stage management adroitly overcomes the difficulties of the smallness of the stage, and the dresses are all that can be desired. Mr. Ivan Caryll's music is tuneful and catchy, and here and there, has greatly imaginative touches, and is on the whole of a higher quality than that which he usually writes. It is, in short, a very enjoyable entertainment, and will serve its purpose admirably.[7]
Recordings
No recordings were released by the original cast.[9] A list of releases by other artists is given below – it includes title, singer, record company and release date (where known):
"Little Yellow Bird", Flo de Vere, G&T,[10] 1904[2]
"By the Sycamore Tree", Helen Haydn, G&T,[10] 1904[2]
"Miss Innocent", Bohemian Band, Edison Bell (cylinder)[9]
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building opened in 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Rare thunder drum and lightning sheets, together with other early stage mechanisms, survive in the theatre.
Félix Marie Henri Tilkin, better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language. He composed some forty musical comedies and operettas.
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Sir Edward Seymour Hicks, better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and producing Edwardian musical comedy, often together with his famous wife, Ellaline Terriss. His most famous acting role was that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
Charles Courtice Pounds, better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London in 1894 and ran for an extremely successful 546 performances. Its cast included Seymour Hicks, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Williams, Edmund Payne, and Ellaline Terriss. It soon played in New York and was successfully revived in London in 1920.
The Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant (Palings), with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton.
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Mary Ellaline Terriss, Lady Hicks, known professionally as Ellaline Terriss, was a popular British actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. She met and married the actor-producer Seymour Hicks in 1893, and the two collaborated on many projects for the stage and screen.
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Phyllis Dare was an English singer and actress, famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century.
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The Gay Gordons is a 1907 Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks, music by Guy Jones and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis, C. H. Bovill, Henry Hamilton and P. G. Wodehouse, who wrote the lyrics to "Now That My Ship's Come Home" and "You, You, You". The title refers to both the Clan Gordon and the famed Scottish regiment the Gordon Highlanders as the plot involves the heir to the clan and a soldier from the regiment.
Katie Seymour was a British Victorian burlesque and Edwardian musical comedy entertainer who was remembered primarily for her dancing. She was considered, if not the first, one of the first to perform a style of dance called the skirt dance. Seymour began in song and dance routines at a very young age and would go on to appear in a string of highly successful long-running musicals staged at London's Gaiety Theatre during the 1890s. She fell ill in 1903 while on a theatrical tour of British South Africa and died not long after her return voyage home.
Stanley Brett was a British musical comedy actor and comedian.
Ernest Leedham Sutherland Bantock was a British singer, Edwardian musical comedy actor, early film director, dramatist and screenwriter. In 1912 he became the first actor to portray Father Christmas in film.
Aubrey Hopwood was a British lyricist of Edwardian musical comedy and a novelist and author of nonsense books for children. He co-wrote the lyrics for the musicals Alice in Wonderland (1886), A Runaway Girl (1898) and The Lucky Star (1899), among others.
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