36-480: The School Girl is an Edwardian musical comedy , in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart (with additional songs by Paul Rubens ) with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter , and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor and others. It concerns a French school girl from a convent, who goes to Paris to help her lovesick friend. Through mistaken identity, she learns secrets that help her at the Paris stock exchange and ends up at
72-572: A chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important. The following table lists the known companion pieces that appeared at the Opera Comique or the Savoy Theatre during the original runs and principal revivals of the Savoy Operas through 1909. There may have been more such pieces that have not yet been identified. In
108-622: A record setting 1,074 performances in London and 376 in New York. The story concerns couples who honeymoon in China and inadvertently break the kissing laws (shades of The Mikado ). Later enormously popular hits included Chu Chin Chow (1916), which ran for 2,238 performances (more than twice as many as any previous musical), Theodore & Co (1916), The Boy (1917), Yes, Uncle! (1917) and The Maid of
144-409: A resident company of artists, and the greatest stars of the era included actresses Marie Tempest , Gertie Millar , Lily Elsie , Ellaline Terriss and Phyllis Dare , leading men such as Hayden Coffin and Harry Grattan , and comics such as Rutland Barrington , George Grossmith, Jr., Huntley Wright and Edmund Payne . One critic wrote of Joseph Coyne that, like other stars of musical comedy, "It
180-547: A students' ball in the Latin Quarter. All ends happily. The musical was first produced in 1903 by George Edwardes and Charles Frohman at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London and ran for 333 performances there. It starred Edna May , Marie Studholme and Billie Burke . George Grossmith, Jr. succeeded G. P. Huntley as Ormsby St. Ledger. The show also played successfully on Broadway in 1904, with May and Grossmith, and on
216-473: Is no good their pretending to be any one else. We go to see themselves, and all we ask is that the authors and others shall give them every chance of being themselves in the most pronounced and personal fashion". The Arcadians is generally regarded as the masterpiece of the genre. The composers were Monckton and Talbot, both at the height of their powers. The story, about the havoc wreaked when truth-telling Arcadians arrive in corrupt London, neatly parallels
252-546: The "girl" musicals, the Gaiety also presented a series of what could be described as "boy" musicals, such as The Messenger Boy (1900), The Toreador (1901), The New Aladdin (1906) and Theodore and Co. (1916) . Edwardes expanded his empire to other theatres and presented slightly more complex comedy hits beginning with An Artist's Model (1895). The Geisha (1896) and San Toy (1899) each ran for more than two years and found great international success, capitalizing on
288-489: The 1871 opera Thespis – was not a Savoy Opera under any of the definitions mentioned to this point, as Richard D'Oyly Carte did not produce it, nor was it ever performed at the Savoy Theatre. Nevertheless, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith . The Oxford English Dictionary defines the phrase as: "Designating any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas originally presented at
324-1053: The British craze for all things oriental. Other Edwardes hits included The Girl from Kays (1902), The Earl and the Girl (1903) and The Quaker Girl (1910). The chief glories of Edwardian musical comedies lie in their musical scores. At their best, these combined the delicacy and sophistication of operetta with the robust tunefulness of the music hall . The major composers of the genre were Sidney Jones ( The Geisha ), Ivan Caryll ( Our Miss Gibbs ), Lionel Monckton ( The Quaker Girl ), Howard Talbot ( A Chinese Honeymoon ), Leslie Stuart ( Florodora ) and Paul Rubens ( Miss Hook of Holland ). Scores were constantly refreshed with "additional" or "specialty" numbers and re-arranged, often by several different composers and lyricists, to keep audiences coming back. Important writers included Adrian Ross , Harry Greenbank , Percy Greenbank , Owen Hall , Charles H. Taylor and Oscar Asche . Generally,
360-667: The English musical stage, and even the American musical theatre, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of American musicals by Jerome Kern , Rodgers and Hart , George Gershwin and Cole Porter following the First World War . Between In Town in 1892 and The Maid of the Mountains , premiering in 1917, this new style of musical theatre proliferated across
396-553: The G&;S pieces, or to fill the theatre when no G&S piece was available. To his contemporaries, the term "Savoy Opera" referred to any opera that appeared at that theatre, regardless of who wrote it. Aside from curtain raisers (which are listed in the second table below), the G&S operas were the only works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened (10 October 1881) until The Gondoliers closed on 20 June 1891. Over
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#1733093180650432-500: The Mountains (1917, the second longest-running Edwardian musical, with 1,352 performances). Audiences wanted light and uplifting entertainment during the war, and these shows delivered it. George M. Cohan 's sentimental Little Nellie Kelly (1922) was considered a late example of Edwardian musical comedy. Bibliography Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in
468-560: The Mountains (1917). Edwardian musical comedy began in the last decade of the Victorian era and captured the optimism, energy and good humour of the new century and the Edwardian era , as well as providing comfort to audiences seeking light entertainment during the First World War. The Gaiety Theatre 's well-loved but racy burlesques were coming to the end of their popularity, and so was
504-402: The Savoy Theatre in London by the D'Oyly Carte company. Also used more generally to designate any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including those first presented before the Savoy Theatre opened in 1881, or to designate any comic opera of a similar style which appeared at the theatre". The following table shows all of the full-length operas that could be considered "Savoy Operas" under any of
540-449: The book, lyrics and music were each written by different people, which was a first for the musical stage, although now this is the usual way of doing things. Adrian Ross wrote the lyrics for well over 50 Edwardian musicals. Besides Edwardes, American producer Charles Frohman and actor-managers like Seymour Hicks , Robert Evett and George Grossmith, Jr. were responsible for many of these shows. The musicals were frequently built around
576-419: The definitions mentioned above. Only first runs are shown. Curtain-raisers and afterpieces that played with the Savoy Operas are included in the next table below. The fashion in the late Victorian era and Edwardian era was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so full-length pieces were often presented together with companion pieces. During the original runs of the Savoy Operas, each full-length work
612-569: The last Savoy Operas. Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, The Story of the Savoy Opera , in 1924, when these other pieces were still within living memory. But over the ensuing decades, the works produced at the Savoy by composers and librettists other than Gilbert and Sullivan were forgotten or infrequently revived. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the thirteen extant works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The first collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan –
648-421: The last new Savoy Opera was The Rose of Persia (music by Sullivan, libretto by Basil Hood ), which ran from 28 November 1899 – 28 June 1900. After Carte's death, his wife Helen Carte assumed management of the theatre. In 1901, she produced Sullivan's last opera, The Emerald Isle (finished after Sullivan's death by Edward German ), and during the run of that opera, she hired William Greet as manager of
684-436: The late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre , which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over
720-563: The modern fashions and culture of the day. The father of the Edwardian musical was George "The Guv'nor" Edwardes . He took over London's Gaiety Theatre in the 1880s and, at first, improved the quality of the Gaiety Theatre's earlier burlesques. Perceiving that their time had passed, he experimented with a modern-dress, family-friendly musical theatre style, with breezy, popular songs, snappy, romantic banter, and stylish spectacle. These drew on
756-459: The musical and visual fun. These shows were immediately widely copied at other London theatres and then in America. The first Edwardian musical comedy was In Town in 1892. Its success, together with the even greater sensation of A Gaiety Girl in 1893, confirmed Edwardes on the path he was taking. These "musical comedies", as he called them, revolutionized the London stage and set the tone for
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#1733093180650792-588: The musical stages of Britain and the rest of the English-speaking world. The popularity of In Town and A Gaiety Girl (1893), led to an astonishing number of hits over the next three decades, into the 1920s, the most successful of which included The Shop Girl (1894), The Geisha (1896), Florodora (1899), A Chinese Honeymoon (1901), The Earl and the Girl (1903), The Arcadians (1909), Our Miss Gibbs (1909), The Quaker Girl (1910), Betty (1914), Chu Chin Chow (1916) and The Maid of
828-459: The national and international touring circuits. The most famous song from this show was "My Little Canoe". Act I: Scene 1 – The Convent Lawn Act I: Scene 2 – The Open Stock Exchange Act II: Edgar Verney's Studio Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate
864-411: The next decade, there were only two new G&S pieces ( Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke ), both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, and works by other composer–librettist teams. Richard D'Oyly Carte died on 3 April 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define "Savoy Opera," then
900-411: The next three decades. According to musical theatre writer Andrew Lamb , "The British Empire and America began to fall for the appeal of the [Edwardian] musical comedy from the time when A Gaiety Girl was taken on a world tour in 1894." Edwardes' early Gaiety hits included a series of light, romantic "poor maiden loves aristocrat and wins him against all odds" shows, usually with the word "Girl" in
936-529: The often risqué continental European operettas that they wished to displace. Most of the published literature on Gilbert and Sullivan since that time refers to these works as "Savoy Operas", " comic operas ", or both. However, the Penguin Opera Guides and many other general music dictionaries and encyclopedias classify the Gilbert and Sullivan works as operettas. Gilbert and Sullivan's early operas played at other London theatres, and Patience (1881)
972-403: The phenomenally successful series of family-friendly Gilbert and Sullivan operas. These two genres had dominated the musical stage in English-speaking countries since the 1870s. A few lighter, more romantic comic operas , beginning with Dorothy (1886) found success and showed that audiences wanted something lighter than operetta, but more coherent in construction than burlesque, that featured
1008-581: The position of Edwardian musical comedies in theatrical history, with operetta -singing Arcadians, representing the past, meeting with music hall -singing Londoners, representing the future. This is an example of a common feature of shows of this period: sophistication with a common touch. Florodora (1899) by Leslie Stuart and Paul Rubens made a splash on both sides of the Atlantic, as did A Chinese Honeymoon (1901), by British lyricist George Dance and American-born composer Howard Talbot , which ran for
1044-631: The theatre to unrelated parties until late 1906, when she produced the first of her two seasons of G&S revivals in repertory at the Savoy, with Gilbert returning to direct. In March 1909, Charles H. Workman leased the theatre, producing three new pieces, including one by Gilbert, Fallen Fairies (music by Edward German). The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, Two Merry Monarchs , by Arthur Anderson , George Levy, and Hartley Carrick, with music by Orlando Morgan . The contemporary press referred to these works as "Savoy Operas", and S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regarded Workman's pieces as
1080-499: The theatre. Later that year, she leased the theatre to Greet, who then produced Ib and Little Christina , The Willow Pattern , a revival of Iolanthe , Merrie England (1902) and A Princess of Kensington (1903), each with a cast made up largely of Carte's Savoy company. Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt A Princess of Kensington as the last of the Savoy Operas. After A Princess of Kensington closed in May 1903, Mrs. Carte leased
1116-426: The title. After A Gaiety Girl came The Shop Girl (1894), The Circus Girl (1896) and A Runaway Girl (1898) and eleven other "girl" musicals followed. The heroines were independent young women who often earned their own livings. The stories followed a familiar plot line – a chorus girl breaks into high society or a shop girl makes a good marriage to a wealthy aristocrat (who is often in disguise). There
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1152-514: The traditions of Savoy opera and also used elements of burlesque and of Americans Harrigan and Hart . Their plots were simple, and they included elaborate displays of contemporary fashion and settings, and lighthearted parody of modern social convention and topical issues. He replaced the bawdy women of burlesque with his "respectable" corps of dancing, singing Gaiety Girls who wore the latest fashions, and also showed off their bodies in chorus lines and bathing attire, as well as singing, to complete
1188-444: The years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas (in both senses) were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical . Gilbert, Sullivan, Carte and other Victorian era British composers, librettists and producers, as well as the contemporary British press and literature, called works of this kind "comic operas" to distinguish their content and style from that of
1224-465: Was always a misunderstanding during act one and an engagement at the end. In the words of a contemporary review, Edwardes’ musicals were "Light, bright and enjoyable." Later Gaiety Theatre "girl" musicals included The Orchid (1903), The Spring Chicken (1905), The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), Our Miss Gibbs (1909), The Sunshine Girl (1912) and The Girl on the Film (1913). Perhaps to balance
1260-665: Was normally accompanied by one or two short companion pieces. A piece that began the performance was called a curtain raiser , and one that ended the performance was called an afterpiece. W. J. MacQueen-Pope commented, concerning the curtain raisers: This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ... [They] served to give young actors and actresses
1296-481: Was the first opera to appear at the Savoy Theatre, and thus, in a strict sense, the first true "Savoy Opera", although the term "Savoy Opera" has, for over a century, referred to all thirteen operas that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote for Richard D'Oyly Carte. During the years when the Gilbert and Sullivan ("G&S") operas were being written, Richard D'Oyly Carte also produced, at the Savoy Theatre, operas by other composer–librettist teams, either as curtain raisers to
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