The London production starred Grossmith, Harry Grattan (who also choreographed), Lily Elsie, Edmund Payne and Gaby Deslys (making her London debut). Gertie Millar, the established star of the Gaiety soon became available and replaced Elsie in the leading role, but shortly thereafter The Merry Widow made Elsie a big star.
The Aladdin story had been dramatised extensively in England before and was very popular in pantomime versions, but this was the first book musical on the subject.
Gabrielle Ray was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century.
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.
Elsie Cotton, known professionally as Lily Elsie, was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow.
The Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an extremely successful 675 performances. It starred Marie Studholme, Gertie Millar, Harry Grattan, Edmund Payne, George Grossmith, Jr. and the young Sidney Bracy. Gabrielle Ray later joined the cast. The show also enjoyed Broadway runs in 1902 and 1904 and toured internationally.
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.
Gertrude Ward, Countess of Dudley, known as Gertie Millar, was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies.
Our Miss Gibbs is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by 'Cryptos' and James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. Produced by George Edwardes, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 23 January 1909 and ran for an extremely successful 636 performances. It starred Gertie Millar, Edmund Payne and George Grossmith, Jr. The young Gladys Cooper played the small role of Lady Connie.
The Orchid is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, a book by James T. Tanner, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerns marital mix-ups and the quest of a wealthy man for a $2,000 Peruvian orchid to be sent to France. When foul play keeps the flower from reaching its destination, it is discovered that a nearly identical orchid is growing in the garden of the horticultural college.
The Girls of Gottenberg is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by George Grossmith, Jr. and L. E. Berman, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Basil Hood, and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. P. G. Wodehouse's personal papers indicate that he wrote the lyrics for one song, "Our Little Way", but this was not included in the libretto of show, and he was not credited as a lyricist. Set in Germany, the comedy of the show is largely based on stereotypes of the German people and their culture as seen seen through a British lens.
George Grossmith Jr. was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important innovator in bringing "cabaret" and "revues" to the London stage. Born in London, he took his first role on the musical stage at the age of 18 in Haste to the Wedding (1892), a West End collaboration between his famous songwriter and actor father and W. S. Gilbert.
The Spring Chicken is an Edwardian musical comedy adapted by George Grossmith, Jr. from Coquin de Printemps (1897) by Jaime and Duval, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and Grossmith. The story takes place in Paris and Château de Malmaison.
The Sunshine Girl is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by Paul A. Rubens and Cecil Raleigh, lyrics and music by Rubens and additional lyrics by Arthur Wimperis. The story involves a working girl who falls in love with the heir to the factory. He is in disguise and wants to be loved for himself, not his position, so he gets his friend to pose as the heir, leading to complications for both men.
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following the First World War.
Edmund James "Teddy" Payne, was an English actor, comedian and singer best known for creating comic roles in a series of extremely successful Edwardian musical comedies. He was often paired with the comic actor George Grossmith, Jr.
The Critic: or, a Tragedy Rehearsed is a satire by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre in 1779. It is a burlesque on stage acting and play production conventions, and Sheridan considered the first act to be his finest piece of writing. One of its major roles, Sir Fretful Plagiary, is a comment on the vanity of authors, and in particular a caricature of the dramatist Richard Cumberland who was a contemporary of Sheridan.
Edward Laurillard was a cinema and theatre producer in London and New York City during the first third of the 20th century. He is best remembered for promoting the cinema early in the 20th century and for Edwardian musical comedies produced in partnership with George Grossmith, Jr., including Tonight's the Night (1914), Theodore & Co (1916) and Yes, Uncle! (1917).
Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes. The popularity of this genre of musical theatre depended, in part, on the beautiful dancing corps of "Gaiety Girls" appearing onstage in bathing attire and in the latest fashions. The 1890s Gaiety Girls were respectable, elegant young ladies, unlike the actresses from London's earlier musical burlesques. Later, even the stars of these musical comedies were referred to as Gaiety Girls.
The Cabaret Girl is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by George Grossmith, Jr. and P. G. Wodehouse. It was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone at the Winter Garden Theatre in London's West End in September 1922 and featured Dorothy Dickson, Grossmith, Geoffrey Gwyther, and Norman Griffin in the leading roles.
Adrienne Adele Augarde was an English actress and singer popular for nearly a decade on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, primarily for her roles in Edwardian musical comedy.
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