The Quaker Girl

The Quaker Girl is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts with a book by James T. Tanner, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and music by Lionel Monckton. In its story, The Quaker Girl contrasts dour Quaker morality with Parisienne high fashion. The protagonist, Prudence, is thrown out of her house by her quaker parents for drinking a glass of champagne. Later, in Paris, her grey dress and bonnet become the height of fashion.

The musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 5 November 1910 and ran for an extremely successful 536 performances. It starred Gertie Millar and C. Hayden Coffin. Phyllis Dare starred in the Paris production in 1911. It then opened at the Park Theatre on Broadway on 23 October 1911, running for a successful 240 performances. A revised version was produced at the London Coliseum on 25 May 1944, but the run was interrupted by bombing. The piece then toured the British provinces and soon re-opened in London at the Stoll Theatre in February, 1945, followed by extensive touring until December, 1948. The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, from the 1920s until 1990, receiving over 250 UK productions during that period, but it has been produced only sporadically since then.

Of the musical numbers in the score, only "Come to the Ball" continues to be well known, but "Tony from America" and "When a bad bad Boy" are also key numbers. Selections from the score were recorded in 2004 by Theatre Bel-Etage chorus and orchestra, conductor Mart Sander. The complete show, including dialog, was revived in a staged concert with piano in July 2007 by Lyric Theatre of San Jose, California.

Nathaniel and Rachel Pym are the grim and proper rulers of an early 19th-century Quaker community in an English village. A mysterious young French lady and her not-too-bright maid Phoebe arrive to stay at Mrs. Lukyn's hotel. The lady turns out to be the exiled Princess Mathilde of France ("O, Time, Time"). She is followed by Captain Charteris, whom she intends to marry in the village church despite her previous engagement to Prince Carlo. Charteris has his best man with him, Tony Chute, of the American Embassy in Paris, as well as Madame Blum, a famous Parisian dressmaker.

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