''The Pink Lady'' 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 ...

composed 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 ...

, which ran for a very successful 312 performances on Broadway in 1911 before becoming an ongoing favorite of regional producers in the Midwest. The story and lyrics by C.M.S. McLellan, about an antiques dealer, were adapted from a French

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

, ''The Satyr'', by

Georges Berr Georges Berr (30 July 1867 – 21 July 1942) in Paris, was a French actor and dramatist, a member and sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1886 to 1923. Under the pseudonyms Colias and Henry Bott he wrote several plays, particularly in c ...

and Marcel Guiltemand The musical premiered at the

New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built from ...

in New York, running for 312 performances from March 13, 1911 to December 9, 1911 and, after a brief London run at the Globe Theatre from April 11, 1912, it returned to the New Amsterdam for a further 24 performances from August 26, 1912 to September 14, 1912. The leading lady,

Hazel Dawn Hazel Dawn (born Henrietta Hazel Tout; March 23, 1890 – August 28, 1988) was an American stage, film and television actress, and violinist. She was born to a Mormon family in Utah, and studied music in Europe where her father was a missionary. ...

, from

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

, was nineteen years old when the show opened. She had studied music and voice while living with her family in Europe and played the violin in the show. The original production was directed by Herbert Gresham and choreographed by

Julian Mitchell Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL (born 1 May 1935) is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film '' Another Country'', and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many orig ...

. The original run set record for receipts and attendance at the theatre and soon toured successfully. The show was so popular that its costume designs inspired some ladies' fashions. Unlike most Edwardian musicals, wrote the ''New York Times'' critic, the show's "fun is developed logically out of its situations, and so are its songs. In the second act, for instance, not a musical number occurs which does not carry the plot along further, instead of halting it, and yet no songs in the piece were more persistently applauded than these."

Plot

;Act I The maidens in a European village not far from Paris are frightened, but secretly thrilled, by a mysterious man called Satyr, who kisses and embraces them if they venture into the woods to pick mushrooms. Lucien, an engaged young man arrives, soon followed by his fiancée, Angele, and her idiot-savant cousin, Bebe. Lucien wishes to have one last fling with his mistress, Claudine, before he marries; he has made up a man named Dondidier, like Algernon's Bunbury, so that he may visit him in the country. His bride-to-be has a jealous admirer, Maurice, who persuades her to follow her future husband to witness his philandering. Angele insists on meeting Dondidier, whom Lucien identifies as the Satyr. Angele sees Lucien having lunch with Claudine. Angele vows to marry Bebe, although she is not attracted to him and plans to be a cold and unloving wife. Lucien says that Claudine is Dondidier's wife, but Angele is not fooled ... until Claudine appears and backs up this story. Angele demands to know where in Paris Claudine and her husband reside. Claudine smoothly gives her an address, adding that Mr. Dondidier is an antiques dealer. It turns out that Bebe provided Claudine with the necessary facts, so that Angele would go ahead and marry Lucien. Having overheard Lucien claim that Dondidier is the Satyr, everyone wishes to meet him in Paris. ;Act II In Paris at the home of the curmudgeonly little antique dealer, his wife and the townswomen encourage the mousy man to demonstrate his talents as the famous Satyr. Two Greek statues, one of Aphrodite, the other of a satyr, have mysteriously disappeared from his shop. ;Act III At the Ball of the Nymphs and Satyrs, the Pink Lady resolves all of the complications, so that Lucien eventually marries Angele, Bebe remains faithful to his Canadian girlfriend, and Dondidier becomes more of a man to his wife.

Roles and original cast

*Ida M. Adams – Desiree *

– Claudine *Harry Depp – Crapote *

Alice Dovey Alice Dovey (August 28, 1884 – January 12, 1969)Dovey, Alice, ''Silent Film Necrology'', Eugene Michael Vazzana, McFarland Publishing, 2001, pg. 142. was an American motion picture comedian and actress who first appeared in '' The Commanding O ...

– Angele *William Elliott – Lucien Garidel *Alma Francis – Serpolette Pochet *Alice Hegeman – Madame Dondidier *Maurice Hegeman – Dr. Mazou *A. S. Humerson – Theodore Lebec *Louise Kelley – Comtesse de Montavert *Craufurd Kent – Maurice D'Uzac *Frank Lalor – Philippe Dondidier *F. Newton Lind – Pochet *Eunice Mackey – Gabrielle *W. Jackson Sadler – Philippe Dondidier *John E. Young – Bebe Guingolph *Fred Wright – Benevol

Musical numbers

;Act 1 *Here's a Lady – Desiree, Serpolette Pochet, Victims and Chorus *Bring Along the Camera – Benevol and Chorus *When Love Goes Astraying – Angele and Maurice D'Uzac *The Girl by the Saskatchewan – Bebe Guingolph, Desiree, Victims and Chorus *(Oh, So) Gently (lyrics by

George Grossmith, Jr. George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important inn ...

) – Claudine and Chorus ;Act 2 *The Intriguers – Lucien Garidel, Philippe Dondidier, Claudine and Crapote *Donny Did, Donny Didn't – Comtesse de Montavert, Madame Dondidier, Philippe and Lucien *The Kiss Waltz – Claudine *Hide and Seek – Serpolette Pochet and Philippe *The Duel – Claudine, Serpolette, Lucien and Maurice D'Uzac ;Act 3 *Parisian Two-Step – Pan, Gabrielle, Serpolette and Chorus *I Like It! – Philippe and Chorus *(My) Beautiful Lady – Claudine and Serpolette

References

External links

''The Pink Lady''
at the Internet Broadway Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pink Lady Broadway musicals 1911 musicals