The Gay Parisienne

The Gay Parisienne is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a libretto by George Dance. It premiered at the Opera House in Northampton, England, in October 1894, with music by Ernest Rousden.[1][2] It was revived in London (after a tryout in a smaller London theatre in March 1896) on 4 April 1896, with music by Ivan Caryll, where it ran for 369 performances at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring W. H. Denny as Major Fossdyke, Frank Wheeler as Auguste and Ada Reeve as Julie.[2]

The Gay Parisienne
[U.S. name:] The Girl from Paris
1896 Broadway poster
MusicIvan Caryll
LyricsGeorge Dance
BookGeorge Dance
Productions1894 Northampton, England
1896 West End
1896 Broadway

The piece toured internationally, adapted in New York with new songs and material by Edgar Smith and Nat. D. Mann as The Girl from Paris, opening on 8 December 1896, at the Herald Square Theatre and running for 266 or 281 performances (sources differ) and then touring. It was later revived at Wallack's Theatre in New York. The original version played on the European continent and Australia as The Gay Parisienne.[3]

Roles
Ada Reeve in the title role
  • Mr. Ebenezer Honeycomb – Lionel Rignold
  • Mrs. Honeycomb – Lily Belmore
  • Amos Dingle, Honeycomb's friend – Hubert Willis
  • Nora Honeycomb – Violet Robinson
  • Mabel, Nora's friend – Marion Dolby
  • Mlle. Julie Bon Bon, The Gay Perisienne – Ada Reeve
  • Tom Everleigh, A barrister – Edgar Stevens
  • Ruth, Honeycomb's servant – Louie Freear
  • M. Auguste Pompier, A French spy – Frank Wheeler
  • Major Fossdyke, of the Battersea Butterfly Shooters – W. H. Denny
  • Ethel, Angela, Edith, Violet, May, Gladys, Rose and Maud, The Major's daughters – E. Carlton, Violet Ellicott, Rose Montgomery, Ivy Hertzog, Edith Stuart, Edith Bartlett, Maud Hoppe and Edith Mada
  • Blatterwater, A gendarme – Mr. Ackerman May
  • Gretchen – Harriet Wood
  • Hans, Proprietor of the Spa Hotel, Schoffenburgen – Harry Kilburn
  • Anna and Fritz, Servants – Edith Milton and Mr. Garth
  • Cecil Smyth and Percy Tooting, Ducle's friends – P. Leslie and C. Guildford
  • Algernon P. Ducle, An American – James Francis[4]

Synopsis

Mr. Honeycomb is restrained and decorous while in England but abroad, he is unfettered, including on a trip to Paris. Mlle. Julie Bon-Bon of Paris sues him for breach of promise. Afraid of his wife's wrath, Honeycomb flees to Switzerland and is reported drowned. His supposed widow seeks his remains, accompanied by her friend, Major Fossdyke. Meanwhile, Honeycomb sees them together in Switzerland, and pretending righteous anger, he turns the tables.

Musical numbers

Notes
  1. Scowcroft, Philip L. "A 164th Garland of British Light Music Composers", MusicWebInternational
  2. Adams, William Davenport. A Dictionary of the Drama, p. 668, Chatto & Windus, 1904.
  3. "J. Pollard's Opera Company", Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 4035, 10 September 1898, p. 2
  4. Archer, William (ed.) "The Gay Parisienne", Synopsis of Playbills by Henry George Hibbert, The Theatrical World of 1896, p. 369, London: Walter Scott

References
  • Brown, Thomas Allston. A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901 (1903) Dodd, Mead and company, New York. p. 388
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