''The French Maid'' is a

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

in two acts by

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...

, with music by

Walter Slaughter Walter Alfred Slaughter (17 February 1860 – 2 March 1908) was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904. Life ...

, first produced at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

, England, under the management of Milton Bode on 4 April 1896. It then opened London's

Terry's Theatre Terry's Theatre was a West End theatre in the Strand, in the City of Westminster, London. Built in 1887, it became a cinema in 1910 before being demolished in 1923. History The theatre was built in 1887, near Fountain's Court, on the site of a ...

under the management of W. H. Griffiths beginning on 24 April 1897, but later transferred to the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

on 12 February 1898, running for a very successful total of 480 London performances. The piece starred

Louie Pounds Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds (12 February 1872 – 6 September 1970) was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in musical comedies and in mezzo-soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Originally intended for ...

Kate Cutler Kate Ellen Louisa Cutler (14 August 1864 – 14 May 1955) was an English singer and actress, known in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an ''ingénue'' in musical comedies, and later as a character actress in comic and dramatic ...

, Eric Lewis,

Herbert Standing Herbert Standing (13 November 1846 – 5 December 1923) was a British stage and screen actor and the patriarch of the Standing family of actors. He was the father of numerous children, many of whom had careers in theatre and cinema. Toward the ...

and Richard Green. There was a New York production in 1897. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' gave the piece a very favourable review at its London opening, saying that "a fresher, brighter piece has not been seen for many a day.""Terry's Theatre", ''The Times'', 26 April 1897, p. 13

Roles and original London cast

*Admiral Sir Hercules Hawser - H. O. Clarey *General Sir Drummond Fife - Windham Guise *Lt. Harry Fife - Richard Green *Paul Lecuire -

*Monsieur Camembert - Eric Lewis *Maharajah of Punkapore - Percy Percival *Charles Brown - Murray King *Jack Brown - Joseph Wilson *Alphonse - J. W. MacDonald *Dorothy "Dolly" Travers -

*Lady Hawser - Kate Talby *Violet Tavers - Hilda Jeffries *Madame Camembert - Lillie Pounds *Suzette (the title role) -

Synopsis

Suzette, a French maid, has attracted several men, including a jealous gendarme, Paul Lecuire, and a waiter at the hotel where she works, Charles Brown. She must choose an escort to the upcoming bal-masqué. But things are complicated when several visitors to the hotel all call for the pretty maid, including an Indian Prince, his attaché, and Jack Brown, an English soldier who is the waiter's twin brother. In traditional French style, Suzette strings them all along, causing confusion in the lives of all concerned, including the aristocratic Admiral and Lady Hawser, their niece Dolly and her lover, Harry, who gets involved in situations full of jealousy, disguises and misunderstandings. Finally everything is revealed, and a chastened Suzette returns to her faithful gendarme.

Musical numbers

Act I *No. 1 - Opening Chorus – "Les femmes de chambre de cet Hôtel (Hôtel Anglais, Boulogne-sur-Mer)" *No. 2 - Paul – "O pretty Suzette! Delightful Suzette, you're a bright little, slight little, sweet soubrette" *No. 3 - Entrance of Sir Drummond & Maharajah – "I'm General Sir Drummond Fife, V.C., K.C.B." *No. 4 - Sir Drummond & Prince with Chorus – "In eighteen hundred and ninety-four the Maharajah of Punkapore" *No. 5 - Charles – "I'm only a waiter today, but the thought is most exhilarating" *No. 6 - Suzette – "The sort of girl I am the gentlemen adore, although I am a Femme de Chambre" *No. 7 - Dolly – "With my pencil and paper (my sketch-block or book) I frequently caper to some quiet nook" *No. 8 - Dolly and Harry – "'Tis a law in Society's code that, whatever a damsel may do" *No. 8a - Dolly – "There is a castle in the air, and Cupid holds the key" *No. 10 - Jack and Chorus – "When quite a little chap, a-sitting on my mother's lap" *No. 11 - Charles and Jack – "Some twins are very much alike, but we are not a bit" *No. 12 - Jack and Chorus of Sailors – "The Admiral! Sir Hercules! Let every gal get off your knees" *No. 13 - Admiral and Chorus – "I'm an Admiral of the Fleet, with character untarnish'd" *No. 14 - Finale Act I – "She's going with the Admiral, the Admiral, the Admiral" Act II *No. 15 - Act II Opening Chorus – "Tho' Englishmen in England may take their pleasures sadly" *No. 16 - Harry and Chorus – "When Elizabeth ruled England, in the gallant days of yore" *No. 17 - Chorus of Girls and Sailors – "It's gone eight bells, or, leastways, sev'n-- Ashore that spells half past elev'n" *No. 18 - Jack and Suzette – "You seem to say the proper way of making love's an art" *No. 19 - Charles, Jack and Paul – "We're bound to follow Nature's laws, whatever we may do" *No. 20 - Charles and Chorus – "As a child my father told me of the good that people reap" *No. 21 - Paul and Gendarmes – "When danger sounds the alarm, the bold Gendarme must nerve his arm" *No. 22 - Dolly and Harry – "No one I ever heard a sentence could compress" *No. 23 - Admiral – "I'm as proud as a Plantagenet - you mightn't, p'raps, imagine it" *No. 24 - Jack – "I ain't no famous 'ero of 'alf a hundred fights" *No. 25 - Finale Act II - "Ah! Ah! Ah! that's a way we have in France" Additional item *Song with Chorus - soloist probably Jack – "I ain't the sort of man as you meets now and then"

References

External links

Cast list and links to midi filesInformation about the New York production from the IBDB database
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Maid, The French Maid, The West End musicals Original musicals