''The Messenger Boy'' 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

James T. Tanner James Tolman Tanner (17 October 1858 – 18 June 1915) was an English stage director and dramatist who wrote many of the successful musicals produced by George Edwardes. Life and career Tanner began his theatre career as a set-painter and actor ...

and Alfred Murray, lyrics by

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with music by

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...

and

Lionel Monckton Lionel John Alexander Monckton (18 December 1861 – 15 February 1924) was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century. Life and career ...

, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love. After a tryout in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

, on 3 February 1900 and ran for a very successful 429 performances.

Harry Grattan Harry Grattan (c. 1867 – 25 September 1951) was a British stage actor, singer, dancer and writer best known for his performances in musical comedies in the decades around 1900. Life and career Gratton started early as a child actor (along wi ...

and

Edmund Payne Edmund James "Teddy" Payne (14 December 1863 – 15 July 1914), was an English actor, comedian and singer best known for creating comic roles in a series of extremely successful Edwardian musical comedies. He was often paired with the comic act ...

starred.

Marie Studholme Caroline Maria Lupton (10 September 1872 – 10 March 1930),Peter Bailey"Studholme, Marie (1872–1930)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press (2004), Retrieved on 27 June 2008 known professionally as Marie Studho ...

later joined the cast. It had a Broadway run of 128 performances, at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

, from 16 September 1901 to 4 January 1902. The director was Herbert Gresham, and the musical director was

Louis F. Gottschalk Louis Ferdinand Gottschalk (October 7, 1864 – July 15, 1934) was an American composer and conductor born in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of a Missouri governor, also named Louis, he studied music in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father, a judg ...

. The cast included

Georgia Caine Georgiana Caine (October 30, 1876 – April 4, 1964) was an American actress who performed both on Broadway and in more than 80 films in her 51-year career. Early career Born in San Francisco, California in 1876, the daughter of two Shak ...

as Nora,

Jobyna Howland Jobyna Howland (March 31, 1880 – June 7, 1936) was an American stage and screen actress. Early years Howland was born on March 31, 1880, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her parents were Joby Howland, a Civil War veteran who at age 11 was one ...

as Lord Punchestown,

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...

as Mrs. Bang and

Flora Zabelle Flora Zabelle (born Zabelle Mangasarian, April 1, 1880 – October 7, 1968) was a Broadway theatre, Broadway actress who appeared in several early silent films. Early years Zabelle was born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turke ...

as Isabel Blyth.

Rosie Boote Rosie Boote (1878 – 17 August 1958) was an Irish Gaiety Girl who became the Marchioness of Headfort when she married in 1901. Early life Rose Boote was born in Ireland, or possibly to Irish parents in England; reports vary on this point. She wa ...

, who played Isabel in the London cast, so charmed

Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort DL, JP, FZS (12 June 1878 – 29 January 1943), styled Lord Geoffrey Taylour until 1893 and Earl of Bective between 1893 and 1894, was a British politician and Army officer. Career Styled Lor ...

, that he married her in 1901. She outlived her husband, dying in 1958. The young ladies appearing in George Edwardes's shows became so popular that wealthy gentlemen, termed " Stage Door Johnnies", would wait outside the stage door hoping to escort them to dinner. In some cases, as here, a marriage resulted.

Roles and original cast

*Hooker Pasha (Commissioner of the Nile) – Harry Nicholls *Cosmos Bey (Agent to Hooker Pasha) –

E. J. Lonnen Edwin Jesse Lonnen (1860 – 31 October 1901), credited as "E. J." or "Teddy", was an English actor, comedian and singer known for his performances in Victorian burlesque, musical burlesques, operettas and Edwardian musical comedy, musical com ...

*Clive Radnor (a Queen's Messenger) – L. Mackinder *Captain Pott (of the "S.S. Shark") – Fred. Wright, Jun. *Professor Phunckwitz (a German Egyptologist) –

Willie Warde Willie Warde (1857 – 18 August 1943) was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a ...

*Comte Le Fleury – Robert Nainby *Mr. Tudor Pyke (a Financier) – John Tresahar *Lord Punchestown (Governor of El Barra) – William Wyes *Captain Naylor (of the P. and O. "S.S. Sirdar") –

*Mr. Gascoigne (an Amateur Journalist) – A. Hatherton *Purser – J. Thompson *Mr. Trotter – F. Standen *Tommy Bang (a District Messenger) –

*Nora (Lady Punchestown's Step-Daughter) – Violet Lloyd (later replaced by

) *Daisy Dapple (a Lady Journalist) –

Grace Palotta Grace Palotta (c. 1870 – 21 February 1959) was an Austrian-born actress and writer. She was a Gaiety girl in London, and toured in Australia several times between 1895 and 1918. Early life Palotta was born in Vienna. She explained of her ori ...

*Mrs. Bang (Tommy's Mother) –

Connie Ediss Connie Ediss (born Ada Harriet Whitley; 11 August 1870 – 18 April 1934) Gänzl, Kurt"The real Connie Ediss, or 'She was a Milliner's Daughter'" Kurt of Gerolstein, 6 November 2020 was an English actress and singer best known as a buxom, good-h ...

*Lady Punchestown (a Leader of London Society) –

Maud Hobson Maud Hobson (born Jane Elizabeth Manson; 13 November 1860 – 7 January 1913) was an Australian-born English actress. Beginning in Victorian burlesque in her uncle's Gaiety Theatre in London, she joined George Edwardes's company there after he ...

*Isabel Blyth –

*Lady Winifred – Margaret Fraser *Cecilia Gower –

Maie Saqui Maie Saqui (1880 – March 27, 1907) was an Australian actress, dancer, and Gaiety Girl in London. Early life May Vivian Saqui was born in the Fitzroy neighborhood of Melbourne, the daughter of John Isaac "Jack" Saqui and Ester Barnett "Stella ...

*Rosa (Lady Punchestown's Maid) –

Katie Seymour Katie Seymour (9 January 1870 – 7 September 1903)Drawing Room Entertainment. ''London Stratford Times and Bow and Bromley News and South Essex Gazette,'' 15 March 1876, p. 5Gänzl, Kurt, 2001. ''The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre,'' p. 1 ...

Source: Gilbert and Sullivan ArchiveJohnson, Colin M
Cast list and musical numbers: ''The Messenger Boy''
Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 29 May 2017

Musical numbers

Act I - Scene 1 - Hôtel de Luxe, Thames Embankment *No. 1 - Chorus - "To our Charity Bazaar, Come buy! buy! buy!" *No. 2 - Cosmos & Chorus - "If there's anybody pining for a reputation shining" *No. 3 - Lady Punchestown & Pyke - "Supposing a sweet little maid, well-bred, rather clever and fair" *No. 4 - Nora & Chorus - "Oh, I'm very much afraid there's a lot of scandal made" *No. 5 - Nora & Clive - "Oh, my dearest, ere I go, there's one thing I want to know" *No. 6 - Cosmos, Daisy, Gascoigne, Le Fleury, & Phunckwitz - "If you want to go by a proper P. & O." *No. 7 - Tommy & Chorus - "I am a smart little sort of a chap, very obliging and active" *No. 8 - Rosa & Tommy - "I'm a little messenger, summon'd by a call" Act I - Scene 2 - Brindisi *No. 9 - Chorus - "Tarentella" - "Tra la la la la la la la" *No. 10 - Clive & Chorus - "I met a Miss Mary Maclean on the boat, alone and in charge of the skipper" *No. 11 - Captain Naylor, Captain Pott, & Cosmos - "I will bet the crowd a dinner that I get to Egypt first!" *No. 12 - Mrs. Bang & Chorus - "You talk about detectives in a story, that guess whatever people say or do" *No. 13 - Concerted Piece - "Oh, Captain, we're sure you can tell us a lot, we want your advice if you please" *No. 14 - Finale Act I - "Cast the moorings free, warp the vessels round" Act II - Scene 1 - Cairo; Scene 2 - Up the Nile; Scene 3 - El Barra *No. 15 - Chorus - "Sheltered from the noon-day glare, civilized society gazes on the passers by" *No. 16 - Hooker Pasha & Chorus - "My name it is Hooker Pasha, no family tree can I muster" *No. 17 - Clive, Daisy, Gascoigne, Phunckwitz & Le Fleury - "Now this trip you should take" *No. 18 - Isabel & Chorus - "There's a girl you may have met, if you have you won't forget; she is Maisie" *No. 19 - Dervish Dance *No. 20 - Song and Dance - Rosa - "Oh, when de moon am rising" *No. 21 - Lady Punchestown, Pyke, Mrs. Bang, & Hooker - "Now how shall we try to stop this lad?" *No. 22 - Captain Pott & Chorus - "I'm famous Captain Pott" *No. 23 - Chorus - "Let the trumpets and the drums, as they blare and roll and rattle, greet the Governor that comes" *No. 24 - Rosa & Tommy - "Oh, if you please, I'm Rameses" *No. 25 - Nora & Chorus - "The boys go marching down the street, with a tramp, tramp, tramp" *No. 26 - Mrs. Bang & Chorus - "Although I'm British born, I do not look with scorn on foreigners as such" *No. 27 - Finale Act II, with Nora & Clive - "We will take our wedding trip upon the Nile"

References

External links

Vocal score
* ttp://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=5489 Information about the Broadway production {{DEFAULTSORT:Messenger Boy, The Messenger Boy, The West End musicals Original musicals British musicals