The Geisha
| The Geisha | |
|---|---|
| a story of a tea house | |
Vocal Score
|
|
| Music |
Sidney Jones Lionel Monckton |
| Lyrics |
Harry Greenbank James Philip |
| Book | Owen Hall |
| Productions | 1896 West End |
The Geisha, a story of a tea house is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James Philp.
The Geisha opened in 1896 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes. The original production had the second longest run of any musical up to that time. The cast starred Marie Tempest and C. Hayden Coffin, with dancer Letty Lind and comic Huntley Wright. The show was an immediate success abroad, with an 1896 production in New York and numerous tours and productions in Europe and beyond. It continued to be popular until World War II and even beyond to some degree. The most famous song from the show is "The Amorous Goldfish".
The success of An Artist's Model in 1895 had set the pattern for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones Edwardian musical comedies. Edwardes immediately put his team to work on a new musical.
The Geisha was first performed on 25 April 1896 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes. The original production ran for 760 performances. This run, the second longest of any musical up to that time, would be beaten three years later by Edwardes' San Toy, which was written by Jones, Greenbank and Monckton. The cast included Marie Tempest in the role of O Mimosa San and Letty Lind as the dancing soubrette Molly Seamore. C. Hayden Coffin played Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax, Huntley Wright played Wun-Hi, and later Rutland Barrington and Scott Russell joined the cast. Direction was by J. A. E. Malone, choreography by Willie Warde and costumes by Percy Anderson. The music director was Ernest Ford. Edwardes took advantage of the continuing fascination of the public with the orient that had brought such success to Gilbert and Sullivan in The Mikado. However, The Geisha was a more topical entertainment than The Mikado, and despite its great initial popularity, The Geisha and the many other topical oriental Edwardian musicals, such as San Toy, A Chinese Honeymoon and even Chu Chin Chow did not endure through the decades as well as The Mikado.
...
Wikipedia