Little Jack Sheppard

Little Jack Sheppard is a burlesque melodrama written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, with music by Meyer Lutz, with songs contributed by Florian Pascal,Corney Grain, Arthur Cecil, Michael Watson, Henry J. Leslie, Alfred Cellier and Hamilton Clarke. The comedy lampooned the serious plays based on the life of Jack Sheppard, especially the popular 1839 play by John Buckstone, which was in turn based on the novel of that year by William Harrison Ainsworth.

The piece opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 December 1885 and initially ran for 155 performances. It featured Nellie Farren as Jack Sheppard, Fred Leslie as Jonathan Wild,David James as Blueskin. Marion Hood and Sylvia Grey. Other cast members included Willie Warde, who also choreographed the dances. The piece was presented in the U.S. and Australia in 1886 and was given revivals and extensive tours in Britain for nearly a decade.

This production was to be John Hollingshead's last burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and George Edwardes joined as his co-producer. Hollingshead had created a popular following at the Gaiety Theatre for musical burlesque. Other examples include The Bohemian G-yurl and the Unapproachable Pole (1877), Blue Beard (1882), Ariel (1883, by F. C. Burnand), and Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed (1883). Beginning with Little Jack Sheppard, however, Hollingshead's successor, George Edwardes, expanded the format of the burlesqes to full-length pieces with original music by Meyer Lutz, instead of scores compiled from popular tunes. These included Monte Cristo Jr (1886); Miss Esmeralda (1887), Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim (1887), Mazeppa, Faust up to Date (1888), Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué (1888), Carmen up to Data (1890), Cinder Ellen up too Late (1891), and Don Juan (1892, with lyrics by Adrian Ross).