Félix Marie Henri Tilkin, better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later New York. He composed some forty musical comedies and operettas.
Mlle. Modiste is an operetta in two acts composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Henry Blossom. It concerns hat shop girl Fifi, who longs to be an opera singer, but who is such a good hat seller that her employer, Mme. Cecil, discourages her in her ambitions and exploits her commercial talents. Also, Fifi loves Etienne de Bouvray, who returns her love, but his uncle, Count Henri, opposes their union. The operetta features the song "Kiss Me Again".
The Knickerbocker Theatre, previously known as Abbey's Theatre and Henry Abbey's Theatre, was a Broadway theatre located at 1396 Broadway in New York City. It operated from 1893 to 1930. In 1906, the theatre introduced the first moving electrical sign on Broadway to advertise its productions.
The Shop Girl was an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts written by Henry 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 Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerns a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love; it takes place in London, Cairo and Paris.
Sir George Dance was an English lyricist and librettist in the 1890s and an important theatrical manager at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Belle of New York is a musical comedy in two acts, with book and lyrics by Hugh Morton and music by Gustave Kerker, about a Salvation Army girl who reforms a spendthrift, makes a great sacrifice and finds true love.
Troja was a musical theatre performer in New York City in the 1890s and early 20th century. An 1894 advertisement commented that she was a serio-comic singer. Other items described her as a singing comedienne who is clever, and droll.
Astrid Allwyn was an American stage and film actress.
Marguerite Sylva was a Belgian born mezzo-soprano who achieved fame in opera, operetta, and musical theatre. She was particularly known for her performances in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, which she sang over 300 times in the course of her career. Sylva was a pioneering recording artist for Edison Records and made many recordings for the company from 1910 to 1912.
Le Procès Veauradieux is an 1875 farce written by Alfred Hennequin and Alfred Delacour. It was one of the major successes of Hennequin's career.
Robert Auguste Stoepel was a German-born American composer and conductor. His compositions include Hiawatha, a symphony for orchestra and vocal soloists, as well as incidental music for plays, piano works, songs, and several operas. Born in Berlin, Stoepel worked in Paris and London, but spent a large portion of his career in New York City where he died at the age of 66. From 1857 until their separation in 1869, he was married to the actress Matilda Heron. Their daughter Bijou Heron was also an actress.
Marie Louise Anna Beaudet was a Canadian actress, singer and dancer for more than 50 years, starred in stage productions ranging from comic opera to Shakespeare, as well as music-hall and vaudeville, and appeared in 66 silent films.
The Captive is a 1926 French play by Édouard Bourdet. The three-act melodrama was among the first Broadway plays to deal with lesbians and caused a scandal in New York City. The play was shut down after 160 performances and prompted the adoption of a state law dealing with obscenity.
La Marjolaine is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Charles Lecocq and words by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo, the third collaboration by the three. It opened at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris on 3 February 1877 and had a fairly successful run of 117 performances. The work was staged in continental Europe, Britain and the Americas over the next few years.
The Belle of Brittany is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts set in 'Daffodil Time' in rustic 18th-century Brittany. It premiered at the Queen's Theatre in London on 24 October 1908. The music is by Howard Talbot and Marie Horne, to a book by Leedham Bantock and P. J. Barrow, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank. A Broadway production opened at Daly's Theatre in New York in November 1909 and ran for 72 performances. It featured Josephine Brandell and Margaret Dumont in early roles.
The Lady Slavey was an 1894 operetta in two acts with a score by John Crook, to a libretto by George Dance which opened at the Royal Avenue Theatre in London on 20 October 1894 and which featured May Yohé and Jennie McNulty. After a major rewrite to make it more suitable for American audiences it opened at the Casino Theatre on Broadway on 3 February 1896 where it ran for 128 performances with additional lyrics by Hugh Morton and music by Gustave Adolph Kerker.
Les Dominos roses is a three-act farce by Alfred Delacour and Alfred Hennequin. It concerns a plan by two wives to test their husbands' fidelity. At a masked ball at the Paris Opéra, each wife disguises herself in a pink domino – a hooded cloak with a mask – to woo the other's husband.
Gay New York is a musical in two acts with both book and lyrics by Maurice Hegeman and music by Harry Trappert. The musical was adapted from an unidentified German-language operetta.
Frank Smithson was an Irish born American actor and theatre and film director. He began his career as a leading comic actor in Britain in the late 1880s and 1890s. He immigrated to the United States in 1896; making his Broadway debut in December of that year both directing and starring as Major Fossdyke in the Edwardian musical comedy The Girl from Paris. He directed 250 productions for the American stage during his lengthy career, many of them for Broadway, and was also active as a film director for Edison Studios and Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios.
