''Houp La!'' is an

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...

extravaganza, with music by

Nat D. Ayer Nathaniel Davis Ayer (August 5, 1887 – September 19, 1952) was an American composer, pianist, singer and actor. He made most of his career composing and performing in England in Edwardian musical comedy and revue. He also contributed songs to Br ...

and

Howard Talbot Richard Lansdale Munkittrick, better known as Howard Talbot (9 March 1865 – 12 September 1928), was an American-born, English-raised conductor and composer of Irish descent. He was best known for writing the music to several hit Edwardian musi ...

, lyrics by

Percy Greenbank Percy Greenbank (24 January 1878 – 9 December 1968) was an English lyricist and librettist, best known for his contribution of lyrics to a number of successful Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century. His older brothe ...

and

Hugh E. Wright Hugh E. Wright (13 April 1879 – 12 February 1940) was a French-born, British actor and screenwriter. He was the father of actor Tony Wright. Musical theatre *'' Charlot Revue'' (1925), as both lyricist (one song) and actor *''Houp La!'' (19 ...

, and a book by

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

and Hugh E. Wright. The story combines the comic financial troubles of a circus owner with a love triangle. The original production of the show was mounted by

Charles B. Cochran Sir Charles Blake Cochran (25 September 1872 31 January 1951), generally known as C. B. Cochran, was an English theatrical manager and impresario. He produced some of the most successful musical revues, musicals and plays of the 1920s and 193 ...

at London's new

St Martin's Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...

, opening on 23 November 1916 and starring

Gertie Millar Gertrude Ward, Countess of Dudley ( Millar; 21 February 1879 – 25 April 1952), known as Gertie Millar, was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. Beginning her care ...

, George Graves, Nat Ayer and

Ida Adams Ida Adams (''c.'' 1888 – November 4, 1960), sometimes credited as Ida M. Adams, was an American-born actress and singer who worked chiefly in musical theatre. Her career from 1909 to 1914 was in the United States, then in London's West End f ...

. It was the first production at the St Martin's, which was leased by Cochran.Cochran, Charles Blake. ''The Secrets of a Showman'' (1925) p. 224 Although the critics found the music innovative, and the cast included stars of the day, the show ran for only three months in London. A

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

production followed.

Plot

;Act I The owner of a struggling

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

, Marmaduke Bunn, has severe money troubles. In desperation, he has an accumulator bet on all the horse-races of the day, and when his fancies all romp home he is thrilled by the size of his winnings. A French girl, Liane de Rose, tries to teach Bunn some of the complications of her language. Meanwhile, Tillie Runstead, the star of the circus, is in love with her admirer Peter Carey, a rich young polo player, but is worried because to her dismay her beau's interest appears to be veering towards the circus's dancer Ada Eve.Findon, B. W. ''The Play-Pictorial'', issue no. 177 (vol. 29, 1917), p. 82 ;Act II Tillie makes good use of Ada's cloak and thus catches out her wandering lover. Sadly for Marmaduke Bunn, he finds he has made a mistake about the name of the winning horse in the day's last race, so he has won nothing, after all.

Songs

Tillie sings the title song "Houp La!", as well as " Pretty Baby" and "The Fool of the Family", and with Peter she sings the duets "You Can't Love as I Do" and "I've Saved all My Loving for You". Liane de Rose has the comic song "L'Amour est Bon".Theatre collections record view: Houp La!
at kent.ac.uk (

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

) At least four songs from the show were recorded. "Oh! How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo", an interpolated "Hawaiian" number by Albert von Tilzer, was sung in the 1916–1917 London production by

. With a female choir and the St. Martin's Theatre Orchestra conducted by James Sale, Adams recorded the song for the His Master's Voice label at the Gramophone Company's studios at

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Ha ...

on 11 January 1917.Gänzl, Kurt. ''British Musical Theatre'' vol. 2 (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 1153: "'I've Saved all My Loving for You' (Gertie Millar, Nat D. Ayer) HMV 04191 (1917)... 'You Can't Love as I Do' (Gertie Millar, Nat D. Ayer) HMV 04192 (1917)... 'Wonderful Girl, wonderful Boy, wonderful Time' (Gertie Millar, Ida Adams, Nat D. Ayer) HMV 04193 (1917)... 'Oh! How she could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo' (Ida Adams w. chorus) HMV 03542 (1917)" On the same day, she recorded with

and

the trio "Wonderful Girl, Wonderful Boy, Wonderful Time", a song from the show by Paul Rubens, while Millar and Ayer recorded their two duets from the show.

Reception and aftermath

The play was well-received, and shared an issue of ''

The Play Pictorial ''The Play Pictorial'' was an English theatrical magazine that was published in London between 1902 and 1939. ''The Play Pictorial'' provided pictorial records of West End theatrical productions. Each issue described a single show, with descrip ...

'' with ''

Potash & Perlmutter in Society Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.

'', but it failed to achieve a long run. It had its 100th performance in February 1917 and closed a week later. Cochran later presented it in Manchester.Cardus, Neville. "Theatre Royal", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 28 May 1918, p. 6 He wrote of ''Houp La!'' in ''The Secrets of a Showman'' (1925): "I had engaged Gertie Millar, George Graves, Ida Adams, Nat D. Ayer, Hugh E. Wright, a French actress new to London, Madeline Choiseuille – and perhaps the prettiest collection of girls ever seen on any stage in the world." He also noted that

Binnie Hale Beatrice "Binnie" Mary Hale-Monro (22 May 1899 – 10 January 1984) was an English actress, singer and dancer. She was one of the most successful musical theatre stars in London in the 1920s and 1930s, able to sing leading roles in operetta a ...

had "got her first chance" in ''Houp-La'', as Ida Adams's understudy, but that she had a "harassing debut" because Adams, having insisted on paying for her own clothes, had also stipulated that no understudy should wear them. Reviewing the premiere, the critic of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' wrote: Of the provincial production, Neville Cardus wrote in ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that the music "in its impudent rhythms, adapted from the music hall, and immensely free use of the orchestra, is characteristic of

at D. Ayer AT or at may refer to: Geography Austria * Austria (ISO 2-letter country code) * .at, Internet country code top-level domain United States * Atchison County, Kansas (county code) * The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...

who has displayed more instinct for the needs of popular music than any of our native musicians." Almost sixty years later, in 1975, a critic noted that "''Houp La'' ... did a lot towards elevating the chorus girl to something more than a grinning background to the stars." In 1977, a member of the 1916 cast recalled in '' The Listener'': "There was a wonderful American woman named Ida Adams in the cast. She was spectacular! They used to keep some staff on at the bank every night, so that she could put all her jewellery back after the show."

Original cast, November 1916

The opening cast included: *Tillie Runstead –

*Peter Carey –

*Christopher Blewitt – Joseph Tozer *Damocles –

*Liane de Rose – Madeleine Choiseuille *Ada Eve –

*Aggie –

Daisy Burrell Daisy Burrell (born Daisy Isobel Eaglesfield Ratton; 16 June 1892 – 10 June 1982) was a British stage actress and Edwardian musical comedy performer who also appeared as a leading lady in silent films and in pantomime. In 1951 she appeared i ...

*Marmaduke Bunn – George Graves *George Kunstead – Rube Welch *Lady Irene Norbury – Margot Erskine *The Hon. Diana Datchet – Elsie Scott *Annette –

*Betty –

Ivy Tresmand Ivy Tresmand (15 December 1898 – 2 November 1980) was an English soubrette who appeared mostly in musical theatre. Tresmand was born in London. Her earliest appearances were in the chorus of the revue '' Shell Out'' (1915), in the musicals ''Ho ...

*An Ostler – Robert Vincent *An Arab Tumbler – Lucy Marshall *A Trapeze Artist – Olive Atkinson *A Bareback Rider – Cissie Lorraine *Joan – Elizabeth Beerbohm *Peggy – Mabel Buckley *Angela – Violet Leicester *Gladys – Pepita Bobadilla *Louie Owen – Clarice *A Lion Tamer – Mamie Whittaker *A Bear Trainer – Kathleen Gower *A Japanese Juggler – Daisy Davis *A Cockatoo Trainer – Molly Vere *Clowns – Dorothy St. Ruth, Amy Verity *The Compere and Commere – Vera Neville"Vera Neville, then Mrs. Tommy Graves and now Mrs. Hill" (from C. B. Cochran's ''Secrets of a Showman'' (1925), p. 224) and Valerie May

References

External links

Ida Adams sings "Oh! How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo", 11 January 1917Nat D. Ayer sings "I Like a Place Where the Peaches Grow" from Houp La!, 1917
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houp La! 1916 musicals West End musicals British musicals