History
In 1901 William Gillette brought ''Play
The names of the characters in Gillette's play had been slightly manipulated, and as the '' Tatler'' in its review mentioned, "The point about the pronunciation of MacGillicuddy is to be found in the extraordinary way in which the name of Moriarty, a difficult word to say, is pronounced at the Lyceum." The ''Tatler'' also noted that, "The peculiarities of Mr. Gillette's company are so marked that it is not difficult to imitate them. Mr. Gillette's own impressively monotonous style is admirably reproduced by Mr.Reviews
A review in '' The Advertiser'' in Adelaide said of the production:"Sheerluck Jones, or Why D'Gillette Him Off" which is now the second item at Terry's Theatre. To enjoy the latter thoroughly, and Mr. Clarence Blakiston's inimitable imitation of Mr. Gillette, you want to see the former. The travesty shows up the absurdities of the original in a screamingly funny fashion. The detective's deductions fail, and Professor McGillicuddy, the Lipton of Crime (Professor Moriarity, "the Napoleon of Crime" in the original) simply romps in. One of the best bits of fooling is in the gas-chamber at Stepney, to which Sheerluck is to be lured and suffocated. The gas-collector arrives with a long bill, and threatens to cut off the supply when the arrears are at once paid. If Sherlock and Sheerluck come your way, go and see them both.The critic for ''
In these days, when burlesque is not regarded favourably, although not altogether considered as a lost art, a signal tribute to the exceptional success of ''Sherlock Holmes'' is the fairly successful attempt at travestying it at Terry's Theatre. One of its authors is Mr Watson, whom his collaborator, Mr La Serre, must often have asked, "Do you follow me, Watson?" Miss Lee's caricature of the style and make-up of the Lyceum heroine is very good, and the same may be said of Mr Clarence Blakiston who cleverly reproduces some of the mannerisms of Mr Gillette as the great detective, but who fails in the make-up, which is just à peu près. Nothing could be better than the caricature of Forman by Mr Egerton Hubbard; and Mr J. Willes, representing the Lyceum Professor Moriarty, plays the part with such real burlesque humour as to atone for the dissimilarity in appearance between him and Mr Abingdon. The slamming of the doors, the banging on the floor, the rattling noises "heard without", the perpetual pistols of the original, are turned to good account, while very little is made out of the incident of "following the cigar." Indeed, several evident points have been lost by these burlesque-writers. With the aid of so clever a musical director as Mr Buccalossi the authors ought to have introduced some real good "numbers" and eccentric dances, without which, coming in as surprises, it is very difficult for any burlesque to achieve genuine success. What a hit might have been made by Sherlock Holmes revealing his knowledge of the principal villain's real character in a song commencing "I'll sing thee songs of Larabee!" The burlesque is good as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough.Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...,R. C. Lehmann Rudolph Chambers "R.C." Lehmann (3 January 1856 – 22 January 1929) was an English writer and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1910. As a writer he was best known for three decades in which he was a major c ..., P. G. Wodehouse, et a
''The Early Punch Parodies of Sherlock Holmes''
The 223B Casebook Series - Google Books
Scenes
The Place is the Strand. The Time - Any Time *First Part: A Musical Evening at the Scarabees *Second Part: Sheerluck Finds His Match & Lights a Pipe With It *Third Part: The Trail of a Cigar *Fourth Part: The Pleasures of SmokeCast
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheerluck Jones, or Why D'Gillette Him Off 1901 plays Works based on Sherlock Holmes