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Arthur Roberts (comedian)
Arthur Roberts (21 September 1852 – 27 February 1933) was an English comedian, music hall entertainer and actor. He was famous for portraying the pantomime dames and later for his comic characters and "gagging" in farces, burlesques and musical comedies. He is credited with coining the word "spoof". Biography Early life and career Roberts was born in Kentish Town, London,Baker, p. 49 the son of a Savile Row tailor who attended to Edward, Prince of Wales. His father's death when Roberts was 12 left the family in "a grim struggle for existence".Roberts, p. 4 Roberts walked three miles a day to work in a seed shop in Covent Garden. He joined a choral society and sang at the Crystal Palace. Roberts began performing professionally in 1871 after being persuaded to sing by an impresario from Norfolk who was busking near Roberts' home in Bayswater. He performed "The Mad Butcher", which he was later paid £1 a week to sing on the beach at Great Yarmouth. The following summer, R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Brougham Farnie
Henry Brougham Farnie (8 April 1836 – 21 September 1889), often called H. B. Farnie, was a British librettist and adapter of French operettas and an author. Some of his English-language versions of operettas became record-setting hits on the London stage of the 1870s and 1880s, strongly competing with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas being played at the same time. After attending Cambridge University, Farnie returned to his native Scotland, where he was appointed editor of the ''Cupar Gazette.'' In 1857, he wrote ''The Golfer's Manual'', the first book on golf instruction. In 1860, he wrote books on the flora of St Andrews and on ''The City of St. Rule''. His journalism career brought him to London in 1863 as editor of a new musical journal, ''The Orchestra''. He began to write the lyrics to popular songs, and, in 1867, he began to write plays. During the 1870s and 1880s, Farnie turned out translations and adaptations of dozens of French operas and operettas. Many of the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable ''Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me A Bow Wow
"Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow Wow" is a song written in 1892 by prolific English songwriter Joseph Tabrar. It was written for, and first performed in 1892 by, Vesta Victoria at the South London Palace, holding a kitten. The same year it was recorded by Silas Leachman for the North American Phonograph Co. of Chicago (Talking Machine Company of Chicago/Chicago Talking Machine). In 1895 Toulouse-Lautrec painted May Belfort singing it. The comedian Arthur Roberts also had success in the 1890s with the song.Kelly, Linda"Pantomime Dame and Music Hall Caricature Postcards" About Postcards, accessed 9 August 2010 The song featured in the 1934 musical movie ''Evergreen'', sung by Jessie Matthews, and was also revived after World War II. The chorus was sung by Helen Mirren and Peter Sellers in the 1980 movie ''The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu''. It is also the tune Sarah Jane Smith whistles when she leaves the Doctor at the end of the ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Hand of Fear". It i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentleman Joe
''Gentleman Joe, The Hansom Cabbie'' is a farcical musical comedy with music by Walter Slaughter and a libretto by Basil Hood. The original production of the musical opened at the Prince of Wales's Theatre on 2 March 1895 and ran for a very successful 391 performances despite a poor notice in '' The Saturday Review'' by Bernard Shaw that dismissed the score: "The music, by Mr. Walter Slaughter, does not contain a single novel, or even passably fresh point, either in melody, harmony or orchestration." The show was written as a vehicle for the comedian Arthur Roberts. A short burlesque entitled ''A Trilby Triflet'' was introduced as part of ''Gentleman Joe'' a week after ''Looking for Trilby'' opened at the Haymarket Theatre. ''The Times'' newspaper praised Roberts for his imitation of Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The cast of ''Gentleman Joe'' also included Kitty Loftus as Emma and W. H. Denny as Pilkington Jones. A second company also presented the show in the British province ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meyer Lutz
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works. Emigrating to the UK at the age of 19, Lutz started as an organist and soon became a theatrical conductor in London. After serving from 1850 to 1855 as music director of the Surrey Theatre, Lutz conducted touring opera companies and composed some serious music and music for the Christy Minstrels. In 1869, he was engaged as the music director of the Gaiety Theatre, London, arranging and later composing a series of popular burlesques over the next 25 years. Lutz continued to compose songs into the 20th century. Life and career Lutz was born in Münnerstadt, Bavaria, Germany. His parents were Joseph Lutz (1801–1879), a music professor, and Magdalena (1809–1862). His older brother, Baron Johann Lutz, became the prime minister of Bavaria under King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Lutz studied music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In Town (musical)
''In Town'' is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. The plot of ''In Town'', though thin, is a smart tale of backstage and society intrigue.Gänzl, Kurt"Edwardes, George Joseph (1855–1915)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 18 September 2008, One of the popular songs from the show was "The Man About Town". The piece was first produced by George Edwardes and debuted with success in 1892, playing in New York in 1897. It was one of the first Edwardian musical comedies, lighter than a Gilbert and Sullivan-style comic opera, but more coherent in construction than a Victorian burlesque. The piece initiated Edwardes's famous series of modern-dress musical shows at the Gaiety Theatre that led ladies' clothing fashions throughout Britain. After ''In Town'', the Edwardian musical comedies dominated the musical stage in Britain until the 1920s. History ''In To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrian Ross
Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the most important lyricist of the British stage during a career that spanned five decades. At a time when few shows had long runs, nineteen of his West End shows ran for over 400 performances. Starting out in the late 1880s, Ross wrote the lyrics for the earliest British musical theatre hits, including '' In Town'' (1892), ''The Shop Girl'' (1894) and '' The Circus Girl'' (1896). Ross next wrote the lyrics for a string of hit musicals, beginning with '' A Greek Slave'' (1898), ''San Toy'' (1899), '' The Messenger Boy'' (1900) and '' The Toreador'' (1901) and continuing without a break through World War I. He also wrote the English lyrics for a series of hit adaptations of European operettas beginning with ''The Merry Widow'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known as the Gaiety Theatre and was, at first, known for music hall and then for musical burlesque, pantomime and operetta performances. From 1868 to the 1890s, it had a major influence on the development of modern musical comedy. Under the management of John Hollingshead until 1886, the theatre had early success with ''Robert the Devil'', by W. S. Gilbert, followed by many other burlesques of operas and literary works. Many of the productions starred Nellie Farren. Hollingshead's last production at the theatre was the burlesque ''Little Jack Sheppard'' (1885–86), produced together with his successor, George Edwardes. Edwardes's first show, ''Dorothy'', became a long-running hit. In the 1880s and 90s, the theatre had further success with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Vie Parisienne (operetta)
''La vie parisienne'' (, Parisian life) is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas. In 1864 the Théâtre du Palais-Royal presented a comedy by Meilhac and Halévy entitled ''Le Photographe'' (''The Photographer''), which featured a character called Raoul Gardefeu, the lover of Métella, trying to seduce a baroness. Two years earlier, a comedy by the same authors ''La Clé de Métella'' (''The Key of Métella'') was played at the Théâtre du Vaudeville. These two pieces presage the libretto of ''La vie parisienne'' which can be dated from late 1865. Performance history It was first produced in a five-act version at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris, on 31 October 1866. The work was revived in four acts ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Wyatt (singer)
Frank Wyatt (7 November 1852 – 5 October 1926) was an English actor, singer, Actor-manager, theatre manager and playwright. After beginning his career as an illustrator and painter, in 1877 Wyatt began a stage career in comedy, Victorian burlesque, pantomime and operetta. In 1884 he had success in a Shakespeare role in Henry Irving's company, and in 1885 he created the role of Ravennes in the comic opera ''Erminie'', which went on to become an international sensation. In this production he met Violet Melnotte, who also appeared in ''Erminie'' and who managed the theatre where it premiered; they married in 1886. In his more than two-decade career on stage Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit comic opera ''The Gondoliers''. Wyatt continued to perform in comic operas and comedies until about 1900. From the 1890s Wyatt and his wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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