''The School Girl'' 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 ...

, in two acts, composed by

Leslie Stuart Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 – 27 March 1928) born Thomas Augustine Barrett was an English composer of Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII ...

(with additional songs by Paul Rubens) with a book by Henry Hamilton and

Paul M. Potter Paul Meredith Potter (June 3, 1853 - March 7, 1921) was an American playwright and journalist, best known for adapting the popular novel ''Trilby'' into a stage play.(8 March 1921)Paul M. Potter, Playwright, Dead: Dramatist of "Trilby" Stricken i ...

, and lyrics by

Charles H. Taylor Charles H. Taylor may refer to: * Charles Taylor (North Carolina politician) (born 1941), US congressman from North Carolina * Charles H. Taylor (Michigan politician) (1813–1889), American politician who served as the Michigan Secretary of State ...

and others. It concerns a French school girl from a convent, who goes to Paris to help her lovesick friend. Through mistaken identity, she learns secrets that help her at the Paris stock exchange and ends up at a students' ball in the Latin Quarter. All ends happily. The musical was first produced in 1903 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 ...

and

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...

at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

in London and ran for 333 performances there. It starred

Edna May Edna May Pettie (September 2, 1878 – January 1, 1948), known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Life and career May was ...

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 ...

and

Billie Burke Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...

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 ...

succeeded G. P. Huntley as Ormsby St. Ledger. The show also played successfully on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1904, with May and Grossmith,"Edna May Here in ''The School Girl''"
''The New York Times'', 2 September 1904, accessed 11 February 1012 and on the national and international touring circuits. The most famous song from this show was "My Little Canoe".

Roles and original cast

* Lillian Leigh –

* Mother Superior –

Violet Cameron Violet Lydia Thompson (7 December 1862 – 25 October 1919), known professionally as Violet Cameron, was an English actress and singer who gained fame in Robert Planquette's operettas '' Les cloches de Corneville'' and ''Rip Van Winkle'', and ...

* Marianne (a French Bonne) – Marianne Caldwell * Norma Rochester, Mamie Reckfeller, Yolande, Violette, Mimi, Fifine (American Girls) –

Norma Whalley Norma Whalley (? – 1954) was an Australian theatre and film actress active in the United States and Britain. Biography Whalley was the daughter of Henry Octavius Whalley, a doctor working in Sydney, Australia. During the late 1890s she toured ...

, Pauline Chase, Maude Percival, Ethel Negretti, Mamie Stuart * Saaefrada (a Model) – Clarita Vidal * Kate Medhurst – Mildred Baker * Jessie Campbell, Evelyn Somers, Mabel Kingston (School Girls) – Mary Fraser, Evelyn Bond, Alice Coleman * Miss Yost (the Typewriter) –

Lulu Valli Lulu Valli (17 June 1886–12 May 1964) was a British actress, stage beauty and former child star of the theatre.Gillan, Don Stage Beauty website She was born in 1886 in St Pancras in London as Lulu Marianne Bertha Knust, one of three daught ...

* Mrs. Marchmont – Barbara Huntley * Cicely Marchmont (her Daughter) –

* Sir Ormesby St. Leger – G. P. Huntley (replaced by

) * General Marchmont – George Graves * Peter Overend (of the Open Stock Exchange) – J. A. Warden * Corner (his Clerk) – Gilbert Porteus * Jacques De Crevert (Clerk) – Frank Walsh * Tubby Bedford – James Blakeley * George Sylvester, Adolphe Delapois, Jack Merrion, Edgar Verney (Artists) – Charles Hampden, Murri Moncrieff, Talleur Andrews, J. Edward Fraser

Musical numbers

Act I: Scene 1 – The Convent Lawn * No. 1. Chorus – "Gaily rings the bell for recreation, occupation we willingly pursue..." * No. 2. Cicely and Chorus – "I'm going to be a Honeymoon Girl, and leave my spinster days behind..." * No. 3. Mother Superior and Chorus – "When I was a girl like you, little girls, little girls..." * No. 4. Lilian – "We've formed a small battalion on a military plan, for none defeats a man as lovely woman can..." Act I: Scene 2 – The Open Stock Exchange * No. 5. Chorus – "We're going to be busy today, for the market is changing and chopping today..." * No. 6. Entrance of American Girls – "We say to you, good day to you, flotationers - Chickoo! chickoo! chickoo! ..." * No. 7. Sir Ormesby – "There's a girl they call Belinda whom I met one day..." * No. 8. Tubby – "She had read Marie Corelli, and emphatically swore that she'd never wed a man..." * No. 9. (Singer unknown) – "The world has maidens sweet and pretty where'er we go; the gay grisettes of Paris city..." * No. 10. Lilian – "If you'd like to know what waiting is, then you may coquette with me..." * No. 11. Finale Act I – "We're going to be at least a nine days wonder, the rise is in 'Jumping Jacks' today..." Act II: Edgar Verney's Studio * No. 12. Chorus – "Étudiant des Beaux Arts, what though posterity may give unto your honour'd name..." * No. 13. Mamie Reckfeller – "Mamie, if you've nothing else to do, ma Mamie girl, I'm goin' to give an invitation..." * No. 14. Lilian – "Clytie is so unsophisticated; she has a modest smile, a drooping eye..." * No. 15. Lilian and Verney – "Can't you see that I'm in love, and only wait till I can prove that I've been true? ..." * No. 16. "There's nothing like a wife, they say, for driving worries and cares away..." * No. 16a. Tarantella, Valse and Cake Walk * No. 17. Tubby – "I've been in love since seventeen, of course that's nothing new..." * No. 18. Lilian – "Our good Monsieur le Maire at a town that I come from in France was choosing out La Rosière..."

References

Score and libretto

* *

External links

Midi files and London cast list

Information about the Broadway production

{{DEFAULTSORT:School Girl West End musicals 1903 musicals British musicals Plays by Paul M. Potter