Little Jack Sheppard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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, H. T. 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 ran for 155 performances. It featured Nellie Farren as Jack Sheppard, Fred Leslie as Jonathan Wild, David James as Blueskin, Mathilde Wadman as Thames Darrell and Marion Hood as Winifred Wood.[1] Other cast members included: Willie Warde (who also choreographed the dances), Emily Duncan, Emily Robina, Harriet Coveney and Sylvia Grey.
The piece enjoyed performances in New York City in 1886 at The Bijou Theatre[2], and in Melbourne, Australia in December 1886 at the Melbourne Opera House.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Background
This production was to be John Hollingshead's last burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and George Edwardes joined as his co-producer.[4] Hollingshead had ruled the Gaiety since 1868 as a venue for variety, continental operetta, light comedy, and numerous musical burlesques composed or arranged by the theatre's music director, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz. Nellie Farren was the theatre's star "principal boy." She and comic Fred Leslie starred at the theatre for over 20 years.[5] Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses."[6] Later, the theatre became the home of musical comedies, under the management of George Edwardes.
Many works of literature and theatre have been based on Sheppard's life. Perhaps the most prominent theatrical work is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728). Sheppard was the inspiration for the character of Macheath, and his nemesis, Peachum, is based on Jonathan Wild. A melodrama, Jack Sheppard, The Housebreaker, or London in 1724, by William Thomas Moncrieff was published in 1825. Ainsworth's popular novel was published in Bentley's Miscellany from January 1839, with illustrations by George Cruikshank.[7] Ainsworth's novel was adapted into a successful play by John Buckstone. The Ainsworth and Buckstone versions portrayed Sheppard as a swashbucking hero, and the fear that young people might emulate Sheppard's behaviour led the Lord Chamberlain to ban, at least in London, the licensing of any plays with "Jack Sheppard" in the title for forty years.[8]
[edit] Selected musical numbers
The musical numbers were composed by Meyer Lutz, except as otherwise indicated:
- If you take into your head (Duet) - Florian Pascal
- Winifred Wood - Pascal
- A Fairy Tale (Duet) - Hamilton Clark
- There once was a time, my darling - Alfred Cellier
- Farewell to Old England
- Polyglot Duet
- Keep the ball a-rolling (Quintet)
- Chorus and march of Janissaries - Pascal
- Jonathan Wild - Arthur Cecil
- Jack's alive 'O
- They call me the Belle of Dollis Hill - Pascal
- You mustn't believe all you hear
- Silver star - Pascal
- Leave the whole business to me (Trio)
- Botany Bay
- All nations (Duet)
- Chorus of Peasants and Bridesmaids
[edit] Notes
- ^ Information about the original production
- ^ Review of the New York production
- ^ History of Theatre in Melbourne
- ^ Traubner, p. 196
- ^ Stewart, Maurice. 'The spark that lit the bonfire', in Gilbert and Sullivan News (London) Spring 2003.
- ^ Arthur Lloyd Music Hall site (on Gaiety) Cuttings accessed 01 Mar 2007
- ^ Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard at Project Gutenberg. See also an analysis at The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
- ^ Moore, Lucy. The Thieves' Opera. Viking (1997), p. 229 ISBN 0-670-87215-6
[edit] References
- Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History, (2003) Routledge.
