The Blue Moon (musical)

The Blue Moon is an Edwardian musical comedy with music composed by Howard Talbot and Paul Rubens, lyrics by Percy Greenbank and Rubens and a book by Harold Ellis and by Alexander M. Thompson. It is set in India during the days of the British Raj, and concerns the love of a singing girl for a young British army officer.

It ran in London in 1905, starring Courtice Pounds, and was then played in the English provinces and in America and Australia.

The Blue Moon was originally staged in Northampton on 29 February 1904, with a book by Harold Ellis. By the time of the London production, Ellis had died, and the book was revised by Alexander M. Thompson (credited as "A. M. Thompson"). The lyrics were by Percy Greenbank and Paul Rubens, and the music by Rubens and Howard Talbot.

The London production, produced by Robert Courtneidge, opened at the Lyric Theatre on 28 August 1905. Despite generally favourable press notices, it ran for only 182 performances, not a significant success by the standards of the Edwardian London stage. Nevertheless, in 1906, a production toured the English provinces, and another opened on Broadway, starring Ethel Jackson. The J. C. Williamson company toured a production in Australia in 1907–08.

"Blue Moon" is the title by which the young singer Chandral Nil is popularly known. She is generally assumed to be Burmese, but is in fact English, abducted from her mother Lady Augusta Brabasham, by a criminal deserter from the British army. He fled to avoid arrest for theft and took the young child with him. He is now calling himself Moolraj and plies a trade as an "idol maker, juggler and marriage broker." Captain Jack Ormsby, a young officer whose regiment is stationed nearby, has fallen in love with Chandra Nil. Moolraj has other plans for her, having promised her as a wife to Prince Badahur of Kharikar. The Prince, learning of Jack's love, gracefully withdraws and hands over his bride-to-be to the young captain. Subsidiary love interests are those of Private Charlie Taylor, who loves a lady's maid, Millicent Leroy, and the journalist Bobbie Scott and his admirer Evelyn Ormsby. Moolraj comes face to face with the Major, who was the victim of the robbery that caused Moolraj to flee England. This unexpected meeting forces Moolraj to explain who Chandra Nil really is, and Jack is able to marry his singing girl without shocking his aristocratic relations.

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