1.
The Geisha
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The Geisha, a story of a tea house is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James Philp. The Geisha opened in 1896 at Dalys Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes, the original production had the second longest run of any musical up to that time. The cast starred Marie Tempest and C, hayden Coffin, with dancer Letty Lind and comic Huntley Wright. The show was a success abroad, with an 1896 production in New York and numerous tours and productions in Europe. It continued to be popular until World War II and even beyond to some degree, the most famous song from the show is The Amorous Goldfish. The success of An Artists Model in 1895 had set the pattern for the Hall, Greenbank, Edwardes immediately put his team to work on a new musical. The Geisha was first performed on 25 April 1896 at Dalys Theatre in London, the original production ran for 760 performances. This run, the second longest of any musical up to that time, the cast included Marie Tempest in the role of O Mimosa San and Letty Lind as the dancing soubrette Molly Seamore. Hayden Coffin played Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax, Huntley Wright played Wun-Hi, direction was by J. A. E. Malone, choreography by Willie Warde and costumes by Percy Anderson. The music director was Ernest Ford, Edwardes took advantage of the continuing fascination of the public with the orient that had brought such success to Gilbert and Sullivan in The Mikado. Jones, aiming for a light, breezy score, kept each of his musical numbers under three minutes, except that the finales ran to about five, in addition to oriental shadings, Joness music borrowed from continental European dance rhythms. Indeed, the Dalys Theatre shows were more romantic in character than the sillier Gaiety Theatre shows, still, these musicals hewed to most of the features that made the Gaiety Theatre shows popular, especially Edwardes pretty Gaiety Girls, dressed in the latest fashions. Many of the best-known London couturiers designed costumes for stage productions, the illustrated periodicals were eager to publish photographs of the actresses in the latest stage hits, and so the theatre became an excellent way for clothiers to publicise their latest fashions. The next musical for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones team moved from Japan to Ancient Rome, the Geisha was also an immediate success abroad, with an 1896 production in New York, It became the biggest international sensation that the British musical theatre had ever known. It enjoyed other productions in America and played for thousands of performances on the European continent and it has been ranked as the first internationally successful British musical, helping to introduce the previously obscure term Geisha into many languages as a symbol of Japanese culture. In 1897, Robert Baden-Powell appeared in the role of Wun-hi in Simla, Reggie Fairfax of the Royal Navy is lonely. He begins to spend much of his time at the Tea House of Ten Thousand Joys which is run by Chinaman Wun-Hi
2.
Musical theatre
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Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement, since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan. Musicals are performed around the world and they may be presented in large venues, such as big-budget Broadway or West End productions in New York City or London. Alternatively, musicals may be staged in smaller fringe theatre, Off-Broadway or regional theatre productions, musicals are often presented by amateur and school groups in churches, schools and other performance spaces. In addition to the United States and Britain, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in continental Europe, Asia, Australasia, Canada, the three main components of a book musical are its music, lyrics and book. The interpretation of a musical is the responsibility of its team, which includes a director. A musicals production is also characterized by technical aspects, such as set design, costumes, stage properties, lighting. The creative team, designs and interpretations generally change from the production to succeeding productions. Some production elements, however, may be retained from the production, for example. There is no fixed length for a musical, while it can range from a short one-act entertainment to several acts and several hours in length, most musicals range from one and a half to three hours. Musicals are usually presented in two acts, with one intermission, and the first act is frequently longer than the second. A book musical is usually built four to six main theme tunes that are reprised later in the show. Several shorter musicals on Broadway and in the West End have been presented in one act in recent decades, moments of greatest dramatic intensity in a book musical are often performed in song. Proverbially, when the emotion becomes too strong for speech, you sing, typically, many fewer words are sung in a five-minute song than are spoken in a five-minute block of dialogue. Therefore, there is time to develop drama in a musical than in a straight play of equivalent length. Within the compressed nature of a musical, the writers must develop the characters, the material presented in a musical may be original, or it may be adapted from novels, plays, classic legends, historical events or films. On the other hand, many musical theatre works have been adapted for musical films, such as West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver
3.
Strand, London
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Strand is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. The roads name comes from the Old English strond, meaning the edge of a river, the street was popular with the British upper classes between the 12th and 17th centuries, with many historically important mansions being built between the Strand and the river. These included Essex House, Arundel House, Somerset House, Savoy Palace, Durham House, the aristocracy moved to the West End over the 17th century, following which the Strand became well known for coffee shops, restaurants and taverns. The street was a point for theatre and music hall during the 19th century. At the east end of the street are two churches, St Mary le Strand and St Clement Danes. Several authors, poets and philosophers have lived on or near the Strand, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the street has been commemorated in the song Lets All Go Down the Strand, now recognised as a typical piece of Cockney music hall. The street is the link between the two cities of Westminster and London. It runs eastward from Trafalgar Square, parallel to the River Thames, traffic travelling eastbound follows a short crescent around Aldwych, connected at both ends to the Strand. The road marks the boundary of the Covent Garden district. The name was first recorded in 1002 as strondway, then in 1185 as Stronde and it is formed from the Old English word strond, meaning the edge of a river. Initially it referred to the bank of the once much wider Thames. The name was applied to the road itself. In the 13th century it was known as Densemanestret or street of the Danes, Strand Bridge was the name given to Waterloo Bridge during its construction, it was renamed for its official opening on the second anniversary of the coalition victory in the Battle of Waterloo. London Bus routes 6,23,139 and 176 all run along the Strand, as do numerous night bus services. During Roman Britain, what is now the Strand was part of the route to Silchester, known as Iter VIII on the Antonine Itinerary, and it was briefly part of a trading town called Lundenwic that developed around 600 AD, and stretched from Trafalgar Square to Aldwych. Alfred the Great gradually moved the settlement into the old Roman town of Londinium from around 886 AD onwards, leaving no mark of the old town, and the area returned to fields. In the Middle Ages, the Strand became the route between the separate settlements of the City of London and the royal Palace of Westminster. The landmark Eleanors Cross was built in the 13th century at the end of the Strand at Charing Cross by Edward I commemorating his wife Eleanor of Castile
4.
Marie Studholme
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Her attractive features made her one of the most popular postcard beauties of her day. Studholmes theatre career spanned from 1891 to 1915 and she was one of producer George Edwardes famous Gaiety Girls and originated several roles in musical comedies. Studholme toured widely in the British provinces and abroad in shows that had enjoyed successful London productions and she ended her career in music hall comedy sketches. After her retirement from the stage, she fostered a boy, Studholme was born in Eccleshill, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, the only child of Joseph Ludholme Lupton, an auctioneer, and his wife Emma Greaves. She became interested in theatre while still at school, Charles Wyndham asked her to join his company at the Criterion Theatre in 1892. Edwardess musicals, beginning at time, would feature his popular chorus line of glamorous yet respectable Gaiety Girls. After that, she played a series of roles for Edwardes in London and on tour and she understudied Letty Lind as Daisy Vane in An Artists Model, eventually taking over the role and recreating it in the New York production in 1895. In 1897 she toured the United States with Edwardes Gaiety company and she also appeared on Broadway in a revival of In Town in 1897. Studholme succeeded Marie Tempest in 1899 in the role of San Toy on tour in the British provinces. In 1901, she created the role of Dora Selby in the London production of The Toreador and she also created the role of Cicely Marchmont in The School Girl in 1903. In 1904, she played Josephine Zaccary in The Orchard, Part Two, in London, at Princes Theatre, in Bristol, she appeared in San Toy in 1903–1904 and in Lady Madcap in 1905–1906. The petite Studholme sometimes played juvenile roles, for example the role in Alice in Wonderland in a West End revival in 1906. In 1906-1907 in Southampton, she appeared in My Darling and she again took the title role in a 1906-07 revival of Lady Madcap and then played Joy Blossom in My Darling. She starred in the role in Miss Hook of Holland on a long provincial tour from 1907 to 1910. She then played Paulette in My Mimosa Maid, Studholme toured in South Africa during 1910 to 1911. By 1913, Studholme was appearing in music hall sketches, including one entitled Her Ladyship, at the Wood Green Empire in London. She had great success and popularity in the British provinces, Studholme retired from the stage in 1915. Amid the demands of a busy schedule, Studholme found time in 1907 to study Jujitsu with Yukio Tani
5.
Ellaline Terriss
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Mary Ellaline Terriss, Lady Hicks, known professionally as Ellaline Terriss, was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. She met and married the actor-producer Seymour Hicks in 1893, the daughter of the actor William Terriss, Ellaline made her London stage debut at the age of 16 in Cupids Messenger at Londons Haymarket Theatre. Impressed with her performance, the producer Charles Wyndham gave her a three-year contract, in 1892 Terriss starred in Faithful James and the following year she starred in the title role of Cinderella, produced by Henry Irving. She was featured in W. S. Gilberts His Excellency in 1894, followed the year by a starring role in the George Edwardes production of the musical The Shop Girl. The next year she starred in another hit, The Circus Girl. In 1897, her father was murdered, as a result, she received much public sympathy, returning to the stage to star in A Runaway Girl in 1898, one of her most successful shows. In the 1900s, she starred in a series of long-running hits, including Bluebell in Fairyland, Quality Street, The Catch of the Season, after 1910, Terriss concentrated on comedy roles and music hall tours. Her one return to comedy, Cash on Delivery, confirmed the wisdom of this new career course. Her later career also included film roles and she began in the silent films Scrooge and David Garrick and made a successful transfer to talkies in Blighty. Her last film was The Four Just Men in 1939 and she died in Hampstead, England, at the age of 100. Terriss was born Mary Ellaline Lewin in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands and her father, William Lewin, became a well-known actor in London under the name William Terriss. He loved the adventurous, outdoor life, and had tried his hand at various professions, including farmer, merchant seaman. Shortly after Ellalines birth, he gave up farming and moved his family back to England where and her brother Tom became an actor and then a well-known film director. Her mother Isabel also acted under the stage name Amy Fellowes, Terriss performed from an early age, although she had no real ambition to act professionally. In 1887, she appeared in pantomime at the Alexandra Theatre, petite, pretty and talented, she attracted the praise of both critics and the public. Terriss came to the attention of Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who signed her to make her professional London debut in the role of Mary Herbert in Cupids Messenger, in 1888 at the Haymarket Theatre. Impressed by this performance, Charles Wyndham gave her a three-year contract and she also attracted the attention of a promising young actor, Seymour Hicks, and they married in 1893. In 1892, Terriss starred in Faithful James, by B. C, stephenson, with Brandon Thomas at the Court Theatre
6.
Lily Elsie
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Lily Elsie was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era, best known for her starring role in the hit London premiere of Franz Lehárs operetta The Merry Widow. Beginning as a star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in The Merry Widow. Afterwards, she starred in more successful operettas and musicals. Admired for her beauty and charm on stage, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times, Elsie was born in Armley, West Yorkshire. Her mother, Charlotte Elizabeth Hodder, was a dressmaker who operated a lodging-house and she married William Thomas Cotton, a theatre worker, in 1891, and Elsie became Elsie Cotton. Elsie was also the niece of Wilfred Cotton, who married actress Ada Reeve, a precocious child star, Elsie appeared in music hall and variety entertainments as a child impersonator known as Little Elsie. Nevertheless, she was painfully shy, even as an adult. By 1895–96, she appeared in concerts and pantomimes in theatres in Salford, in 1896, she played the role of Princess Mirza in The Arabian Nights at the Queens Theatre in Manchester. Then, at Christmas 1896–97, at the age of ten, she appeared in the role of Little Red Riding Hood at the same theatre for six weeks. Her first London appearance was at Christmas 1898 in King Klondike at Sara Lanes Britannia Theatre as Aerielle, Elsie then toured the provinces, travelling as far as Bristol and Hull for a full year in McKennas Flirtation, a farce by American E. Selden, in 1900. From about 1900, she adopted the stage name Lily Elsie, Elsie then joined George Edwardes company at Dalys Theatre in London as a chorus girl. In 1903, she took over the role of Princess Soo-Soo in the hit musical A Chinese Honeymoon and then starred in the flop, Madame Sherry, by Hugo Felix, from 1900 to 1906, she appeared in 14 shows. Elsies biggest success came in creating the role in the English-language version of The Merry Widow in the London production. Edwardes took Elsie to see the original German version in Berlin, Elsie was at first reluctant to take on the demanding part, thinking her voice too light for the role, but Edwardes persuaded her to accept. Edwardes brought her to see the famous designer, Lucile, for a style coaching, Lucile later wrote, I realised that here was a girl who had both beauty and intelligence but who had never learnt how to make the best of herself. So shy and diffident was she in those days that a less astute producer than George Edwardes would in all probability have passed her over, the production, with English lyrics by Adrian Ross, opened in June 1907 and ran for 778 performances at Dalys Theatre. Elsie created the role at Dalys and toured with it beginning in August 1908, the show was an enormous success for its creators and made Elsie a major star. One critic at the opening praised the youthfulness, the dainty charm and grace, the prettiness
7.
Cicely Courtneidge
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Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress, comedian and singer. After the outbreak of the First World War, her father had a series of failures, no other producers offered the young Courtneidge leading roles in musical comedies, and she turned instead to the music hall, learning her craft as a comedian. In 1916 she married the actor and dancer Jack Hulbert, with whom she formed a professional as well as a partnership that lasted until his death 62 years later. They acted together on stage and screen, initially in a series of revues, Courtneidge appeared in 11 British films in the 1930s, and one in Hollywood, finding this work to be very lucrative. She and Hulbert also recorded for Columbia and HMV, returning to the stage in the late 1930s, during the Second World War, Courtneidge entertained the armed forces and raised funds for the troops. She then had a run in Under the Counter, a comedy in which she received glowing notices. Notable among her other successes was Courtneidges performance in Ivor Novellos musical Gays the Word in 1951–52, during the rest of the decade, she focused on revues and straight plays. After the mid-1960s, Courtneidge concentrated on the theatre, appearing in the West End and on tour in a range of plays. While appearing in her last West End run in 1971, she celebrated 70 years on the stage, afterwards, she continued to work for a further five years before retiring. Courtneidge, the daughter and second of three children, was born in Sydney to a theatrical family, while her father was touring Australia with the J. C. Williamson company. The family returned to England in 1894 and her parents were the Scottish producer and actor Robert Courtneidge and his wife, Rosaline May. Rosaline was the daughter of the singer and actress Cicely Nott, in 1901, at the age of eight, Courtneidge made her stage debut as the fairy Peaseblossom in her fathers production of A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Princes Theatre, Manchester. Courtneidge was educated in England and, for two years, in Switzerland. On returning from the latter, aged 15, she embarked on a career, with the approval. Robert Courtneidge cast her in small roles in his productions. Her London West End debut was at the Apollo Theatre in the comic opera Tom Jones and her first starring role was Eileen Cavanagh in the long-running Edwardian musical comedy The Arcadians, which she took over from Phyllis Dare in 1910. In the piece that followed, The Mousmé, which featured a book co-written by her father. At this stage in Courtneidges career, there was feeling in theatrical circles that her elevation to star status was largely due to her being Robert Courtneidges daughter
8.
Gladys Cooper
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Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television. Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she was starring in dramatic roles and she also became a manager of the Playhouse Theatre from 1917 to 1933, where she played many roles. Beginning in the early 1920s, Cooper was winning praise in plays by W. Somerset Maugham, in the 1930s, she was starring steadily both in the West End and on Broadway. Moving to Hollywood in 1940, Cooper found success in a variety of character roles, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she mixed her stage and film careers, continuing to star on stage until her last year. Cooper was born at 23 Ennersdale Road, Hither Green, Lewisham, London and her two younger sisters were Doris Mabel and Grace Muriel. Gladys Cooper spent most of her childhood in Chiswick, where her family moved when she was an infant and she made her stage debut in 1905 touring with Seymour Hicks in his musical Bluebell in Fairyland. The young beauty was also a photographic model. In 1906, she appeared as Lady Swan in London in The Belle of Mayfair, the following year she became a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, creating the small role of Eva in The Girls of Gottenberg. That Christmas, she was Molly in Babes in the Wood, in 1911, she appeared in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest and in Man and Superman. Among several other plays, the year she was Muriel Pym in Milestones at the Royalty Theatre. A highlight of 1913 was Dora in Diplomacy at Wyndhams Theatre and that year she also played the title role in The Pursuit of Pamela at the Royalty. In 1913 Cooper appeared in her first film, The Eleventh Commandment, going on to several more silent films during the First World War. She continued full-time stage work, however, including appearances as Lady Agatha Lazenby in The Admirable Crichton in 1916, in addition, in 1917, Cooper became co-manager, with Frank Curzon, of the Playhouse Theatre, taking over sole control from 1927 until she left in 1933. During these years, she starred several times in My Ladys Dress and she appeared in W. Somerset Maughams Home and Beauty in 1919, repeated Dora at His Majestys Theatre in 1920 and elsewhere thereafter, and played numerous roles at the Playhouse Theatre. It was not until 1922, however, now in her mid thirties, early in her stage career, she was criticised for being too stiff. Evidently, her acting improved during this period, as Maugham praised her for turning herself from an indifferent actress to a competent one through her common sense. For both the 1923 and 1924 Christmas shows at the Adelphi Theatre, Cooper played the character in Peter Pan. She appeared in Maughams The Letter in London and on tour in 1927 and 1928, in Excelsior in 1928 and she was Dorothy Hilton in Call it a Day, again in both London and New York, from 1935 to 1936
9.
Zena Dare
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Zena Dare was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre and comedic plays in the first half of the 20th century. In a career spanning six decades, Dare made her first appearance on stage in 1899, in the Christmas pantomime Babes in the Wood in London. She starred alongside her sister Phyllis in the production, and they adopted the stage name of Dare soon afterwards. In 1911, she retired and nursed soldiers in France during the war, Dare returned to the stage in 1926 where she played the title role in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. This was followed with a role in The Second Man alongside Noël Coward, in 1928, she formed her own production company and, a year later, took over the management of the Haymarket Theatre. On stage, she starred in The First Mrs. Fraser, Other Mens Wives and Cynara, late in her career, she had a big success as Mrs. Higgins in the long-running original London production of My Fair Lady. In addition to her roles, Dare occasionally appeared in film. She made a transition to talkies appearing in The Return of Carol Deane in 1938. She died in London in 1975 at the age of 87, Dare was born Florence Hariette Zena Dones in Chelsea, London. Her father, Arthur Albert Dones, was a divorce clerk, Dare was the oldest of three children. Her sister, Phyllis, three and a half years her junior, also became a musical comedy actress. They had a brother named Jack, Dare was educated at Maida Vale High School. She had her first performance on stage in 1899, at the age of 12 and her sister Phyllis was also cast in this production, and they both adopted the stage name of Dare. From 1900, she played in various pantomimes produced by F. Wyndham in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1902, at the age of 15, Dare was hired by Seymour Hicks to tour as Daisy Maitland in An English Daisy and she spent much of 1904 touring but returned to London to play Aurora Brue in Sergeant Brue for Frank Curzons theatre company. She left the company to create the role of Angela on in September 1904 in The Catch of the Season at the Vaudeville Theatre opposite Hicks, the role would have gone to Ellaline Terriss, Hicks wife, but she was pregnant. Dare left Catch of the Season in 1905 to play Beauty in Sleeping Beauty in Bristol, Terriss later assumed the role of Angela, and Dares sister Phyllis took over the role from Terriss. Dare left Edwardes company in 1906 to play Betty Silverthorne in Hicks The Beauty of Bath at the Aldwych Theatre
10.
Gaby Deslys
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Gaby Deslys ( was a singer and actress of the early 20th century from Marseilles, France. She selected her name for her stage career and it is an abbreviation of Gabrielle of the Lillies. During the 1910s she was popular worldwide, making $4,000 a week in the United States alone. During the 1910s she performed several times on Broadway, at the Winter Garden Theater and her dancing was so popular that The Gaby Glide was named for her. Renowned for her beauty she was courted by several gentlemen including King Manuel II of Portugal. She eventually made the leap to silent films, making her only US film Her Triumph with Famous Players-Lasky in 1915 and she would make a handful of films in France before her death. In 1919 she contracted Spanish influenza and underwent several operations trying to cure an infection caused by the disease. She died from complications of her infection in Paris in 1920, Deslys had many admirers among royalty, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and her origins became the subject of dispute. The investigator reported that Deslys had denied her mothers claim to kinship when he brought her to see the dancer. Deslys replied the story was ridiculous and that she was French, after Deslys death, at least two dozen persons with the surnames Navratil/Navratilová attempted to claim her fortune. In January 1930 the French foreign minister of the day said he had settled the dispute about Deslys birthplace, according to him, Deslys had been born at Marseilles on 4 November 1881, daughter of Hippolyte Caire and his wife, Mathilde. This study found that the claim of the Navrátil family was incorrect and based on their daughter being a kind of look-alike of Gabrielle Caire, Deslys rose in popularity in dance halls around Paris and London. She was a practitioner of several types of such as the Ju-Jitsu waltz, Ballroom, Grizzly Bear, Turkey Trot. Her appearance at the Liverpool Olympia was also well received and she had been to the United States where she had earned $4,000 per week. She was dedicated to the art of dancing, at least a part of her popularity was a result of her desire to please the audiences who came to watch her perform. While she was dancing at the Hyperion Theater at Yale University, in November 1911, the Yale News had complained about ticket prices for the production being raised to $2. The performance followed the Yale - Princeton University football game played earlier the same day, the inflated price of admission is thought to have triggered the students to pull the seats to pieces and proceed with the outbreak. Deslys retreated to her room while stage hands used fire extinguishers to subdue the students, the same month Deslys performed at the Winter Garden Theater in a production of Vera Violetta
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