The Gay Parisienne

The Gay Parisienne is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a libretto by George Dance. It premiered at the Opera House in Northampton, England, in October 1894, with music by Ernest Rousden.^[1][2] It was revived in London (after a tryout in a smaller London theatre in March 1896) on 4 April 1896, with music by Ivan Caryll, where it ran for 369 performances at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring W. H. Denny as Major Fossdyke, Frank Wheeler as Auguste and Ada Reeve as Julie.^[2]

The Gay Parisienne [U.S. name:] The Girl from Paris
1896 Broadway poster
Music	Ivan Caryll
Lyrics	George Dance
Book	George Dance
Productions	1894 Northampton, England 1896 West End 1896 Broadway

The piece toured internationally, adapted in New York with new songs and material by Edgar Smith and Nat. D. Mann as The Girl from Paris, opening on 8 December 1896, at the Herald Square Theatre and running for 266 or 281 performances (sources differ) and then touring. This was the first of about 250 productions in America directed by Frank Smithson, many of them for Broadway.^[3] Smithson also portrayed Major Fossdyke in the Broadway cast. The Girl from Paris was later revived at Wallack's Theatre in New York. The original version played on the European continent and Australia as The Gay Parisienne.^[4]

Roles

Ada Reeve in the title role

• Mr. Ebenezer Honeycomb – Lionel Rignold
• Mrs. Honeycomb – Lily Belmore
• Amos Dingle, Honeycomb's friend – Hubert Willis
• Nora Honeycomb – Violet Robinson
• Mabel, Nora's friend – Marion Dolby
• Mlle. Julie Bon Bon, The Gay Perisienne – Ada Reeve
• Tom Everleigh, A barrister – Edgar Stevens
• Ruth, Honeycomb's servant – Louie Freear
• M. Auguste Pompier, A French spy – Frank Wheeler
• Major Fossdyke, of the Battersea Butterfly Shooters – W. H. Denny
• Ethel, Angela, Edith, Violet, May, Gladys, Rose and Maud, The Major's daughters – E. Carlton, Violet Ellicott, Rose Montgomery, Ivy Hertzog, Edith Stuart, Edith Bartlett, Maud Hoppe and Edith Mada
• Blatterwater, A gendarme – Mr. Ackerman May
• Gretchen – Harriet Wood
• Hans, Proprietor of the Spa Hotel, Schoffenburgen – Harry Kilburn
• Anna and Fritz, Servants – Edith Milton and Mr. Garth
• Cecil Smyth and Percy Tooting, Ducle's friends – P. Leslie and C. Guildford
• Algernon P. Ducle, An American – James Francis^[5]

Synopsis

Mr. Honeycomb is restrained and decorous while in England but abroad, he is unfettered, including on a trip to Paris. Mlle. Julie Bon-Bon of Paris sues him for breach of promise. Afraid of his wife's wrath, Honeycomb flees to Switzerland and is reported drowned. His supposed widow seeks his remains, accompanied by her friend, Major Fossdyke. Meanwhile, Honeycomb sees them together in Switzerland, and pretending righteous anger, he turns the tables.

Musical numbers

Act I Hail for the Thames on a Summer's Day—Chorus So Take You a Warning—Ebenezer Honeycomb and Chorus Somebody—Tom Everleigh and Nora Honeycomb The Battersea Butterfly Shooters—Major Fossdyke and Chorus I'm All the Way from Gay Paree—Mlle. Julie Bon Bon and Auguste Pompier Then Off We Go Tweedledum and Tweedledee—Ebenezer and Julie Cock-a-doodle—Julie, Auguste, Mrs. Honeycomb and Ebenezer Hail, the Hero of the Day—Chorus

Act II Isn't It Wonderful—Chorus The Festive Continong—Tom, Percy Tooting, Cecil Smyth and Algernon P. Ducle First and Third—Ebenezer and Julie Sister Mary Jane's Top Note—Ruth and Chorus Oh, Tender Remembrance—Nora and Chorus Tootle, Tootle—Mrs. Honeycomb, Major Fossdyke, Ruth and Auguste Ding-Dong Upon the Stage Let's Have a Fling—Ruth and Major Fossdyke Carnival—Chorus Just for a Kiss The Girl from Paris He Took It In a Good-natured Way

Notes

1. Scowcroft, Philip L. "A 164th Garland of British Light Music Composers", MusicWebInternational
2. Adams, William Davenport. A Dictionary of the Drama, p. 668, Chatto & Windus, 1904.
3. Associated Press (16 January 1949). "Frank Smithson, 88, Dies; Veteran Stage Director". The Washington Star. p. 9.
4. "J. Pollard's Opera Company", Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 4035, 10 September 1898, p. 2
5. Archer, William (ed.) "The Gay Parisienne", Synopsis of Playbills by Henry George Hibbert, The Theatrical World of 1896, p. 369, London: Walter Scott

References

• Brown, Thomas Allston. A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901 (1903) Dodd, Mead and company, New York. p. 388

External links

• Information about the Broadway production