49-477: The Arcadians may refer to: The Arcadians (musical) , an Edwardian musical first produced in 1909, with music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot The Arcadians (film) , a 1927 silent film based on the musical The Arcadian Singers , a choir based in Oxford, England Employees of engineering company Arcadis often call themselves Arcadians Topics referred to by
98-715: A Kiss", and "Powder on Your Nose". Monckton was discouraged by Edwardes's death and unwilling to adapt his style of writing to the newly popular syncopated American dance rhythms, ragtime , and other "noisy numbers" that were heard in theatres. Although he contributed to some revues , including Bric à Brac (1915, including another song for Millar: "Chalk Farm to Camberwell Green"), We're All in it , and Airs and Graces , he had little enthusiasm for this, or for other new forms of musical entertainment, and he soon retired from composing. Monckton's music remained popular in Britain until after World War II , when American musicals took over
147-678: A Lady") and A Runaway Girl in 1898 ("Soldiers in the Park", "Society", "The Sly Cigarette", "The Boy Guessed Right" and "Not the Sort of Girl I Care About"). The "Girl" musicals were followed by a number of "Boy" musicals, again with hit songs by Monckton, including The Messenger Boy in 1900 ("Maisie", "In the Wash", and "When the Boys Come Home Once More") and The Toreador in 1901 ("Captivating Cora", "I'm Romantic", "When I Marry Amelia", "Keep Off
196-531: A contrast personified in the character of Smith, who is magically transformed during the piece. In 1999, Raymond McCall observed that theatre historians have variously referred to the work as an operetta or a musical comedy, commenting: The score itself contributes to the discrepancy in labeling. The music for the Arcadian scenes in Act I has harmonies and rhythms that suggest the styles of Arthur Sullivan and Edward German ;
245-723: A few numbers by Paul Rubens (Monckton's key songs were "Molly the Marchioness", "Try Again, Johnny", and "Under the Deodar"). He also continued to contribute successful songs to other musicals, including The Orchid in 1903 at the Gaiety ("Liza Ann", "Little Mary", "Pushful", and "Fancy Dress"). The success of A Country Girl led to another musical with Monckton as principal composer and Rubens as contributor, The Cingalee in 1904. Monckton's most successful songs in this score included "The Island of Gay Ceylon" and "Pearl of Sweet Ceylon". Although
294-522: A land of truth and simplicity. First produced by Robert Courtneidge , the musical opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on 29 April 1909, and ran for 809 performances. This was the third longest run for any musical theatre piece up to that time. The production starred Phyllis Dare , Dan Rolyat and Florence Smithson . A Broadway production opened in 1910 and ran for 193 performances. The piece
343-560: A lie. Far from impressed, the Arcadians immerse him in the Well of Truth, from which he emerges transformed into a young man, wearing the scanty costume of Arcadia, with a luxuriant head of hair but minus his mutton-chop whiskers. They christen him "Simplicitas", and he will remain young until he tells a lie. His hosts dispatch him with missionary zeal, and two agelessly beautiful Arcadian nymphs, Sombra and her sister, Chrysea, to wicked London to "set up
392-472: Is a long time since an audience enjoyed a first night as much as this … [Courtneidge] has achieved the seemingly impossible. He has produced a 'new' musical comedy which really is new." The paper singled out for praise the songs, "The pipes of Pan", "Light is my heart", "The Girl with a Brogue", "Sweet Simplicitas", and "My motter". The Arcadians is widely regarded as the finest Edwardian musical comedy . The historian Richard Traubner calls it "indisputably
441-456: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Arcadians (musical) The Arcadians is an Edwardian musical comedy styled a "Fantastic Musical Play" in three acts with a book by Mark Ambient and Alexander M. Thompson , lyrics by Arthur Wimperis , and music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot . The story concerns some idyllic Arcadians who wish to transform wicked London to
490-428: Is full of topical references and old fashioned puns, but the gentle satire of the pretensions and follies of high society has not dated. Sombra, one of the beautiful but naïve Arcadians, is troubled by reports of a place beyond the sea where "monsters" live in cages of brick and stone and never tell the truth – a place called London. The Arcadians beg Father Time to bring them a Londoner. He reluctantly agrees and causes
539-455: Is regarded by theatre historians as the finest example of its genre, with Monckton's melodic talent supported by Talbot's technical skill. The score contains elements characteristic of the Savoy Operas of the previous generation as well as broader numbers reminiscent of the music hall . Arcadia , a legendary land of rural perfection peopled by beautiful virtuous innocents, first described by
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#1733085135505588-480: Is sung in typically gloomy fashion by Alfred Lister. Another important song, 'All Down Piccadilly', was added at a later date, and became an accepted part of the score. The critic Andrew Lamb writes that The Arcadians is the best known of the works in which Talbot's greater technical expertise complemented the melodic talent of his collaborators such as Monckton. Lamb observes that Talbot was particularly skilled at writing ensembles and finales and that such numbers as
637-591: The Ancient Greeks , was a popular setting for writers of the 19th century, notably W. S. Gilbert (in Happy Arcadia and Iolanthe ). The development of aviation and flying in the early years of the 20th century captivated the public's attention. Writers fantasised about the strange adventures that might befall those who ventured to travel by the new-fangled aeroplane. A forced landing, perhaps, in some long-forgotten land where time has stood still. These stories laid
686-509: The 1890s and into the first decade of the 20th century. Among others, he wrote half of the music for Arthur Roberts 's burlesque Claude Du-Val (1894) and supplemented Ivan Caryll 's score for the hit musical The Shop Girl in the same year, with such successful pieces as George Grossmith, Jr. 's "Beautiful Bountiful Bertie" and "Brown of Colorado" (with Adrian Ross ). He then added popular tunes to Caryll's scores for The Circus Girl in 1896 ("A Simple Little String" and "The Way to Treat
735-555: The Adelphi, he wrote The Dancing Mistress in 1912. The latter two pieces had merely respectable runs. Monckton's last big hit was The Boy in 1917 (produced after Edwardes's death), in collaboration with Howard Talbot . This was a musical comedy version of Arthur Wing Pinero 's 1885 play, The Magistrate , and served as a vehicle for the comedian W. H. Berry, who had been the star of High Jinks . Monckton's successful songs included "I Want to Go to Bye-Bye", "The Game That Ends with
784-615: The Boy" and "The Toy Monkey"); A Greek Slave in 1898 ("I Want to Be Popular", "I Should Rather Like to Try", and "What Will Be the End of It?"); and San Toy in 1899 ("Rhoda and Her Pagoda", and "Sons of the Motherland"). Monckton's music was generally arranged and orchestrated by theatre conductor Carl Kiefert . Finally, in 1902, when Jones left Daly's, Edwardes gave Monckton the opportunity to compose his first complete score, A Country Girl , with
833-509: The Edison Light Opera Company made wax cylinder recordings of "Arcadians are we", "The girl with a brogue", "Arcady is ever young", "Charming weather", "Bring me a rose" and "Truth is so beautiful." In 1968 most of the score was recorded in stereo by EMI, with Vilém Tauský conducting a cast headed by June Bronhill , Ann Howard , Michael Burgess and Jon Pertwee . The following year Gilbert Vinter conducted ten numbers from
882-452: The Grass", and "Archie"). Monckton's songs continued to be performed long after the shows closed – some of them remaining popular into the 1960s. In 1902, he married Gertie Millar , one of the most successful actresses of the period, whom he had discovered and brought to Edwardes. She starred in many of Monckton's shows, and he wrote some of his most popular songs for her, although their marriage
931-548: The New London Orchestra and the New London Light Opera Chorus, conducted by Ronald Corp. The CD includes numbers from The Arcadians , A Country Girl , A Runaway Girl , The Toreador , The Messenger Boy , The Orchid , The Circus Girl , The Shop Girl , The Mousmé , The Quaker Girl , The Girls of Gottenberg , and Our Miss Gibbs . Many of the selections feature lyrics penned by Monckton himself under
980-488: The Spree"). These songs were among the most widely played and sung numbers of the contemporary light musical theatre. A last success at the Gaiety was Monckton and Caryll's Our Miss Gibbs in 1909 ("Moonstruck", "Mary", "In Yorkshire", "Soldiers in the Park", "Maisie", "Keep off the Grass" and "Our Farm"), which became an international hit. After that, Monckton had his greatest success, in collaboration with Howard Talbot and
1029-449: The amateur aviator James Smith, an ageing London restaurateur with passions for aeroplanes and philandering, to crash land in Arcadia, where no one tells lies or grows older, where money is unknown, and employment is unnecessary. The Arcadians and Smith exchange stories, and Smith introduces the Arcadians to some new concepts: ugliness, jealousy and lying. He attempts to seduce Sombra by telling
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#17330851355051078-415: The astonishment and somewhat to the confusion of his wife. Sombra and Chrysea, realising that their mission to make all London tell the truth has failed, return to Arcadia – but they leave two happy couples behind. The score was substantially revised during the original run, with new numbers interpolated. The numbers listed in the table are from a 1909 vocal score. Numbers 15, 19, 22 and 25 were later cut,
1127-701: The basis for The Arcadians . By 1909, Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot had each had met considerable success writing songs and scores for Edwardian musical comedies . Monckton had contributed to many hit George Edwardes shows, including The Geisha and Our Miss Gibbs , and written complete scores to successes like A Country Girl and The Cingalee . Talbot had a monstrous hit with A Chinese Honeymoon and had written such other long-running musicals as The Girl from Kays . He had worked with writer Alexander M. Thompson and producer Robert Courtneidge previously, including on The Blue Moon . Historically, musically and dramatically, The Arcadians and
1176-471: The film was credited to Louis Levy . Lionel Monckton Lionel John Alexander Monckton (18 December 1861 – 15 February 1924) 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. Monckton was born in London, the eldest son of the Town Clerk of London, Sir John Braddick Monckton , and Lady Monckton,
1225-486: The former Maria Louisa Long (1837–1920), an "enthusiastic amateur actress". His sister was Mrs Augusta Moore, who wrote popular novels as Martin J. Pritchard. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Oriel College at Oxford University , graduating in 1885. There he acted in college theatrical productions and composed music for productions of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, of which he
1274-545: The greatest operetta (or musical comedy, if you will) of the Edwardian age". In 2006, Oxford University Press 's Encyclopedia of Popular Music commented, "The show had a truly memorable score, and was full of engaging songs such as 'The Pipes Of Pan', 'The Joy Of Life' and 'Arcadia Is Ever Young', all sung by Florence Smithson; 'The Girl With The Brogue' (Phyllis Dare), 'Charming Weather' and 'Half Past Two' (Dare and Harry Welchman), 'Somewhere' (Dan Rolyat), and 'My Motter', which
1323-469: The hapless replacement jockey, has also been injured by "The Deuce". Sombra arranges that Simplicitas shall take his mount, as the Arcadians have the gift of speech with animals, and the brute becomes as gentle as a lamb. Simplicitas (while sound asleep), upon "The Deuce," wins the race, to the great satisfaction of its owner. Romantic complications ensue between Meadows and Eileen Cavanagh, a young Irish woman. Simplicitas/Smith's Arcadian restaurant has become
1372-451: The last replaced by a waltz song for Sombra, "Here amid the city's clamour". Another edition of the vocal score, also dated 1909 but evidently printed later than that cited here, includes four new numbers: "I'm a case of complete reformation" (Simplicitas and Chorus, Act I, music by Talbot), which was later cut; "The only girl alive" (Jack, Act III) and "Come back to Arcady" (Sombra, Act III), both with music by Talbot; and most notably one of
1421-595: The lyricist Arthur Wimperis, with The Arcadians , in 1909. The Arcadians , produced by Robert Courtneidge , was possibly Monckton's best score and is considered the classic musical of the Edwardian period . Like The Geisha , A Country Girl and Our Miss Gibbs , it became popular in America and elsewhere and included songs such as "The Pipes of Pan", "The Girl with the Brogue", and "All Down Piccadilly", which "held their own with
1470-584: The melodies of the now fashionable Viennese operetta as the song hits of the period." Edwardes purchased the lease of the Adelphi Theatre and began his productions there with another Monckton and Millar hit, The Quaker Girl , in 1910 ("The Quaker Girl", "Come to the Ball", and "Tony from America"). For Courtneidge, he wrote The Mousmé in 1911 ("I Know Nothing of Life", "The Little Japanese Mamma", "The Temple Bell", and "The Corner of My Eye") and for Edwardes and
1519-435: The opening chorus, 'I like London', 'My Motter' and 'Half-past Two' "testify to Talbot's inventiveness and craftsmanship." Members of the original cast recorded the following numbers from the show: "The pipes of Pan", "The girl with a brogue", "Arcady is ever young", "My motter", "Bring me a rose", "Come back to Arcady" and "Light is my heart". These recordings, made in 1909 and 1915, have been reissued on CD by EMI . In 1913
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1568-461: The other Edwardian musical comedies sit between the fading world of British comic opera , like the Gilbert and Sullivan works, and the later styles of musical comedy and music hall . The Arcadians particularly illustrates this, with the innocent Arcadians representing the older style, and the brash Londoners embodying the new. This contrast between simplicity and cynicism drive the plot and its humour,
1617-583: The piece in the British provinces for ten years. He revived the show in 1915 in London, with success. The cast included Welchman, Alfred Lester and H. C. Pearce from the original production; other members were Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert , Hope Charteris and Dan Agar. The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups throughout the 20th century, particularly in Britain, where it received more than 225 productions. In modern productions it has become customary to amend some of Ambient and Thompson's dialogue, which
1666-490: The piece was successful, French operettas then became the fashion at Daly's Theatre, and Monckton went back to composing music for others' shows. Further collaborations with Caryll at the Gaiety included The Spring Chicken in 1905 ("I Don't Know, But I Guess", "Alice Sat By the Fire", and "Under and Over Forty"), The New Aladdin , in 1906 and The Girls of Gottenberg in 1907 ("Two Little Sausages", "Rheingold", and "Berlin on
1715-475: The producer's daughter, later took over the role of Eileen. The musical director was Arthur Wood . The costumes were by Wilhelm , who 27 years earlier had designed the Arcadian costumes for Iolanthe . A Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre in 1910, and ran for 193 performances, starring Frank Moulan, Connie Ediss and Julia Sanderson . Courtneidge assembled a touring company, which played
1764-725: The quick step, however, dominates the London scenes. Simplicitas, like Bunthorne [in Patience ] saunters down Piccadilly, but the tune is definitely not pre-Raphaelite" The piece was commissioned and staged by the impresario Robert Courtneidge, at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. The production opened on 29 April 1909 and ran for 809 performances. Only two musical shows had previously had longer runs: Dorothy (1886) and A Chinese Honeymoon (1901), which ran for 931 and 1,075 performances respectively. The show starred Phyllis Dare as Eileen, Dan Rolyat as Smith, Harry Welchman as Jack, and Florence Smithson as Sombra. Cicely Courtneidge ,
1813-418: The races. Here Simplicitas meets his wife Mrs. Smith, who, not recognising her husband, proceeds to fall in love with the young stranger. Simplicitas flirts with her and agrees to help her open up an Arcadian restaurant in London. Then comes an opportunity for Simplicitas to distinguish himself. Jack Meadows, who was to have ridden his temperamental horse "The Deuce" has been thrown by the animal, and Peter Doody,
1862-469: The rage of London, as the menu is that of the simple life. Simplicitas, however, is not living and spreading the simple life as his Arcadian friends had hoped, but rather is having "the time of his life." Mrs. Smith becomes suspicious of Simplicitas, and in endeavouring to explain the reason for an all-night absence, he tells another lie. He falls into the ornamental well in the restaurant and emerges as his former self, with his bald head and shaggy whiskers, to
1911-423: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Arcadians . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Arcadians&oldid=1036543211 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1960-470: The show's big hit songs, "All down Piccadilly" (Simplicitas and Chorus, Act II), with music by Monckton who also co-wrote the words with Wimperis. Other numbers added during the run were "People often tell us luck and love are jealous" (Jack and Chorus) and "Little George Washington, once on a day, took out his hatchet and, so people say" (Simplicitas, Jack and Bobbie). The show received favourable reviews. The Observer , though noting that an Arcadian theme
2009-540: The show, also for EMI. In 1999 a substantially complete score was recorded, with dialogue, by Ohio Light Opera , conducted by J. Lynn Thomson. In 2003, Theatre Bel-Etage, conducted by Mart Sander , recorded fifteen tracks from the score. In 1927 Victor Saville directed a silent British film adaptation of the same name . It featured Ben Blue as Smith, Jeanne de Casalis as his wife, Vesta Sylva as Eileen, John Longden as Jack, Gibb McLaughlin as Doody, Doris Bransgrove as Sombra and Nancy Rigg as Chrysea. The music in
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2058-459: The song "What will you have to Drink?", with lyrics by Basil Hood , in a professional musical burlesque called Cinder Ellen up too Late . After this, his songs were included in several other London shows. Monckton soon became a regular composer (and sometimes lyricist) of songs for the very successful series of frothy musical comedies performed at London's Gaiety Theatre , under the management of George Edwardes , which premiered throughout
2107-878: The stage and even into the later half of the 20th century, in the case of his most popular shows. Monckton died in his London home at the age of 62; he is buried in Brompton Cemetery . His estate was valued at £79,518. Later the same year his widow married William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley . This list includes only the shows where Monckton was the principal composer. Many of the shows to which he contributed songs also had very long runs. The Arcadians has been recorded in excerpt form on LP and complete on CD by Ohio Light Opera . Recordings by Gwen Catley and Marilyn Hill Smith of numbers from Our Miss Gibbs and The Quaker Girl have been issued on CD. The first CD recording dedicated to selections of Monckton's works (also including music by Howard Talbot and Paul Rubens )
2156-588: The truth in England for ever more, and banish the lie." They begin their crusade at Askwood races, where it is Cup Day. They cause considerable curiosity, being still clothed in the costumes of Arcady (everyone else is dressed up formally in this scene, anticipating the similar scene in My Fair Lady 50 years later). But instead of improving the Londoners, the Arcadians adopt some of their wicked ways, including betting on
2205-604: Was a founder, and the Phil-Thespian Club. He initially joined the legal profession at Lincoln's Inn and began to practise law, but gained part-time work as a songwriter and a theatre and music critic, first for the Pall Mall Gazette and later for the Daily Telegraph . His first theatre work was Mummies and Marriage , an operetta produced by amateurs in 1888. At the age of 29, in 1891, he finally managed to place
2254-797: Was bound to provoke comparisons with Gilbert, found that the new piece "stands out among other plays of its class" with "moments to be remembered with joy". The Manchester Guardian , commenting that the piece would be "welcomed by patrons of musical comedy who had had their full dose of the Merry Widow ", praised the originality of the writing, and called the score "simple and unpretentious, but melodious and pleasing". The Times said that Monckton and Talbot had surpassed themselves in their music, and that Courtneidge's production "showed ingenuity, care and to some extent originality, so that familiar elements took on an unfamiliar look and that new things had their full effect." The Daily Express observed, "surely it
2303-433: Was not a happy one for many years. She later sought a divorce from Monckton, which he refused. At the same time, Monckton also contributed songs for the musicals playing at Edwardes's Daly's Theatre , which tended more towards romantic comedies, than the light musicals presented at the Gaiety. For Daly's Theatre, he usually collaborated with Sidney Jones , supplying numbers for hits such as The Geisha in 1896 ("Jack's
2352-476: Was released by Divine Art in 2003: The Monckton Album by Theatre Bel-Etage, conductor Mart Sander . Selections from The Arcadians, The Quaker Girl and The Cingalee are featured on this album. In 2008, Hyperion released an audio CD recording of songs from many of Monckton's shows entitled Lionel Monckton (1861–1924): Songs from the Shows . It features performers Richard Suart and Catherine Bott accompanied by
2401-407: Was toured extensively, revived professionally in Britain, and a silent film version was made in 1927. It was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, throughout the 20th century. Recordings of some of its numbers were made in 1909 and 1915 by original members of the London cast, and more substantial excerpts and one complete performance have been released on compact disc. The work
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