The Shop Girl

The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894. The piece ran for an extremely successful 546 performances, transferring to Daly's Theatre. It starred Seymour Hicks, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Williams, Edmund Payne, Willie Warde and Ada Reeve, who (being pregnant) was replaced in the cast by Kate Cutler and then Hicks' wife, Ellaline Terriss. Topsy Sinden danced in the piece. Direction was by James T. Tanner, with choreography by Warde. Costumes were by C. Wilhelm.

The success of A Gaiety Girl in 1893 confirmed to Edwardes that the lighter "musical comedy" was the right path for musical theatre. The Shop Girl heralded a new era in musical comedy, and the critics were amazed that the author had provided such a coherent story, as there had been hardly any story at all in burlesque. Over a dozen copies followed at the Gaiety Theatre (including My Girl, The Circus Girl, and A Runaway Girl) over the next two decades and were widely imitated by other producers and playwriting teams. They also led to the next level of sophistication in the integrated musical comedy at Daly's Theatre and elsewhere in London.

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