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 Lyric may refer to: * Lyrics, the words, often in verse form, which are sung, usually to a melody, and constitute the semantic content of a song * Lyric poetry is a form of poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view * Lyric, from ...

, 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. ...

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 sepa ...

, and educated at the Royal Naval School,

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 Gree ...

. He served as a Lieutenant of the Royal Marine Artillery 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 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 religious and leis ...

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), the Prince of Wales's Theatre (licensee, Horace Sedger), 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 rebuil ...

, starting successfully with the long-running '' Dandy Dick Whittington'' by George R. Sims 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 ...

'' (1894) and a popular comedy by F. C. Burnand, ''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, 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 Wid ...

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 a ...

, 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 Pal ...

from Helen Carte, 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 estab ...

. 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. T ...

'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 n ...

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'' (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'' (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'', 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 transferred ...

'' 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 creature ...

'' (1908), ''A White Man'' (1908, Lyric), ''

Little Hans Andersen ''Little Hans Andersen'' is a 1903 musical fairy pantomime in two acts and seven scenes for children with lyrics by Basil Hood and music by Walter Slaughter. Wearing, J. P.br>''The London Stage 1900–1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, ...

'' (1909, by

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

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldieror ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man''. The German language libre ...

'' (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'' (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 English ...

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