William Greet (1851 – 25 April 1914) was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager in the 1890s and was associated with various London theatres, principally the Lyric, the

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

and the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

Biography

Greet was the seventh child and eldest son of Captain Wiliam Greet R.N., commander of the recruiting ship H.M.S. Crocodile, and the former Sarah Vallance Barling. Greet's younger brother was the actor-manager

Ben Greet Sir Philip Barling Greet (24 September 1857 – 17 May 1936), known professionally as Ben Greet, was a Shakespearean actor, director, impresario and actor-manager. Early life The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Ba ...

. Greet was born on his father's ship, christened at St Peter ad Vincula at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

, and educated at the

Royal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the Royal Naval College Act 1840. It was a charitable institution, established as a boarding school for the sons of ...

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

. He served as a Lieutenant of the

Royal Marine Artillery The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

from 1871 to 1877.

Career

He worked first as a farmer and then began working in theatre management in the 1880s. Between 1884 and 1890, Greet was successively business manager at

Toole's Theatre Toole's Theatre, was a 19th-century West End theatre, West End building in William IV Street, near Charing Cross, in the City of Westminster. A succession of auditoria had occupied the site since 1832, serving a variety of functions, including ...

under its licensee, J. L. Toole, the

Novelty Theatre The Novelty Theatre (later renamed the Great Queen Street Theatre from 1900 to 1907, and the Kingsway Theatre from 1907 to 1941) was a London theatre. It opened in 1882 in Great Queen Street and was accessed off Little Queen Street until 1905, ...

(licensee,

Willie Edouin Willie Edouin (1 January 1846Edouin's ''New York Times'' obituary says 1841 – 14 April 1908) was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager. After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewher ...

), the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

(licensee,

Kate Santley Evangeline Estelle Gazina (c. 1837Culme, John ''Footlight Notes'', No. 361, 14 August 2004, accessed 7 September 2012; an"Kate Santley by Sarony Cabinet Card" ''Remains to Be Seen'', accessed 7 September 2012 – 18 January 1923), better known u ...

), the

Prince of Wales's Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...

(licensee,

Horace Sedger Horace Sedger (1853–1917) was an American-born British theatre manager and impresario. He was particularly associated with light opera, and presented works by composers including Isaac Albéniz, Edmond Audran, Ivan Caryll, Alfred Cellier, Charl ...

), and from 1890 to 1894 the Lyric Theatre, also for Sedger, with whom Greet's wife collaborated on a stage adaptation of the novel ''The Little Squire''. Greet became a producer and theatre manager in his own right in 1894, as licensee of the

Avenue Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

, starting successfully with the long-running ''

Dandy Dick Whittington ''Dandy Dick Whittington'' was an opéra bouffe in two acts, written by George Robert Sims and composed by Ivan Caryll, based on the folktale Dick Whittington and His Cat. In this version, Dandy Dick performs in a circus and loves the owners' ...

'' by

George R. Sims George Robert Sims (2 September 1847 – 4 September 1922) was an English journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist and ''bon vivant''. Sims began writing lively humour and satiric pieces for ''Fun'' magazine and ''The Referee'', but he was soon co ...

and

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 ...

, ''

The Lady Slavey ''The Lady Slavey'' was an 1894 operetta in two acts with a score by John Crook (with contributions by Henry Wood and Letty Lind, among others), to a libretto by George Dance (with additional lyrics by Adrian Ross, among others) which opened a ...

'' (1894) and a popular comedy by

F. C. Burnand Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera ''Cox and Box''. The son of ...

, ''Mrs Ponderbury's Past'' (later billed as ''Mrs Ponderbury''), directed by and starring Charles Hawtrey. In 1896, Greet gave up the licence at the Avenue and moved to the Lyric, where he presented the long-running ''The Sign of the Cross'' by

Wilson Barrett Wilson Barrett (born William Henry Barrett; 18 February 1846 – 22 July 1904) was an English manager, actor, and playwright. With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English theatregoers ever because of his suc ...

, also producing an American tour of the play. He followed that success with another, ''Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman'' 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 ...

and

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 ...

, starring Arthur Roberts and W. H. Denny. Greet sat on the Board of Directors of The Lyceum Theatre Ltd. from 1899 until 1902.The Irving Society
/ref> In 1901, Greet leased the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

from

Helen Carte Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impre ...

, the widow of

Richard D'Oyly Carte Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...

. He then managed the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

's revival of ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' at the Savoy and its production of several new

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s including ''

The Emerald Isle ''The Emerald Isle''; ''or, The Caves of Carrig-Cleena'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, and a libretto by Basil Hood. The plot concerns the efforts of an Irish patriot to resist the oppressive "re-edu ...

'', '' Merrie England'' (1902) and ''

A Princess of Kensington ''A Princess of Kensington'' is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances. ...

'' (1903), both at the Savoy and on tour. At the same time, he also leased the Lyric Theatre in London, producing ''Mice and Men'' in 1902, ''The Light that Failed'' in 1903 and the musical comedies ''The Medal and the Maid'' (1903), and ''

The Duchess of Dantzic ''The Duchess of Dantzic'' is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton, based on the play '' Madame Sans-Gêne'' by Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau. Additional lyrics by Adr ...

'' (1904). He also leased the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

in London, where he produced the hit musicals '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' and ''

Morocco Bound ''Morocco Bound'' is a farcical English Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by Arthur Branscombe, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on 13 April 1893, under the management o ...

'', both in 1902. Greet continued to produce musical comedies and operettas, many of them very successful, including ''

The Earl and the Girl ''The Earl and the Girl'' is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferre ...

'' at the

(1903), ''The Talk of the Town'' (1905, Lyric Theatre), ''Blue Moon'' (1905, Lyric), ''The Sign of the Cross'' (Terriss Theatre), ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' (1908), ''A White Man'' (1908, Lyric), '' Little Hans Andersen'' (1909, by

), ''The Fires of Fate'' (1909, Lyric), ''The Rivals'' (1910, Lyric), ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat''

he courageous soldier He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

or ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...

'' (1910, Lyric), ''Baby Mine'' (1911,

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 ...

), ''Nightbirds'' (1911, Lyric), and ''

The Girl in the Taxi ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1912, Lyric). Greet died in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

at the age of 62 and was buried at Shillingford.Rootsweb
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

* ttp://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/icons/playbills/playdat2.htm Lists shows under management of Greet or at theatres that he leased from 1910-19 {{DEFAULTSORT:Greet, William People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan English theatre managers and producers Opera managers Royal Marines officers 1851 births 1914 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople