Alexander M. Thompson
Encyclopedia
Alexander Mattock Thompson (9 May 1861 – 25 March 1948), sometimes credited as A. M. Thompson, was a German-born English journalist and dramatist. From the 1880s, Thompson wrote for socialist newspapers and journals, co-founding The Clarion
in 1891. He became an important librettist of Edwardian musical comedies in the early 20th century.
, Germany, of English parents. When he was five years old, the family moved to Paris, where he was educated at the Lycée Saint-Louis
.
Thompson began a career as a journalist in Manchester
, England, writing for several papers in the 1880s and meeting the socialist writer Robert Blatchford
, who would become his life-long friend. In 1891, with capital of only £400, Thompson, Blatchford and others founded the socialist newspaper The Clarion
in Manchester, which was important in promoting the Labour Party
. The editors' views were much influenced by the writings of William Morris
. In addition to writing on social topics, Thompson wrote theatre criticism, travel articles and on other subjects under the pseudonym 'Dangle'. The Clarion's life was always precarious, but among its successes was a series of articles by Blatchford, collected in a volume entitled Merrie England, dedicated to Thompson. It was said that for every convert to socialism made by Das Kapital
there were a hundred made by Merrie England.
Thompson's first professional works for the stage in the late 1890s were scripts for pantomimes written for Robert Courtneidge
, who was then the manager of the Prince's Theatre in Manchester. Thompson then collaborated with Courtneidge on many of his libretti.
Thompson then turned to Edwardian musical comedies, revising the libretto of Walter Ellis
's The Blue Moon
(1905) after Ellis's death. He next supplied the text for Courtneidge's The Dairymaids (1906 at the Apollo Theatre
), which became internationally successful. In 1907, Thompson and Courtneidge adapted Henry Fielding
's Tom Jones
as a comic opera
with music by Edward German
, also at the Apollo. Two years later, at the Shaftesbury Theatre
, he collaborated on the hit musical The Arcadians, one of the most famous and enduring musicals of its era.
In 1911, Thompson wrote a book describing his travels in Germany, Russia, China, Spain and, especially, Japan, entitled Japan for a Week, Britain Forever, published by J. Lane. The Manchester Guardian commented that the book "revealed his powers both as a stylist and as a keen observer."
Thompson returned to writing for the stage with an original book for a Japanese-set musical romance, The Mousmé (1911, Shaftesbury), but this flopped. Collaborating again with Courtneidge, he adapted the composer Leo Fall
's operetta Der liebe Augustin as Princess Caprice
(1912, Shaftesbury). Other works with Courtneidge followed, but none of these found an audience. In 1916, his revusical set in ancient Rome
called Oh, Caesar! played with some success in Edinburgh
, Scotland. The Rebel Maid in 1921, a return to light opera with Courtneidge, played 114 London performances at the Empire Theatre
. A 1924 play was The Bohemians produced by Courtneidge.
During World War I
and afterwards, Thompson wrote many articles for the Weekly Dispatch
concerning the Labour movement
, the condition of the poor and other social topics. He also wrote for the Daily Mail
and later the News Chronicle
and The Manchester Guardian. In 1937, he published an autobiography, Here I Lie - The Memorial of an Old Journalist.
Thompson died in London at the age of 86.
The Clarion
The Clarion was a weekly newspaper published by Robert Blatchford, based in the United Kingdom. It was a socialist publication though adopting a British-focused rather than internationalist perspective on political affairs, as seen in its support of the British involvement in the Anglo-Boer Wars...
in 1891. He became an important librettist of Edwardian musical comedies in the early 20th century.
Biography
Thompson was born in KarlsruheKarlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Germany, of English parents. When he was five years old, the family moved to Paris, where he was educated at the Lycée Saint-Louis
Lycée Saint-Louis
The lycée Saint-Louis is a higher education establishment located in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles...
.
Thompson began a career as a journalist in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, writing for several papers in the 1880s and meeting the socialist writer Robert Blatchford
Robert Blatchford
Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford was a socialist campaigner, journalist and author in the United Kingdom. He was a prominent atheist and opponent of eugenics. He was also an English patriot...
, who would become his life-long friend. In 1891, with capital of only £400, Thompson, Blatchford and others founded the socialist newspaper The Clarion
The Clarion
The Clarion was a weekly newspaper published by Robert Blatchford, based in the United Kingdom. It was a socialist publication though adopting a British-focused rather than internationalist perspective on political affairs, as seen in its support of the British involvement in the Anglo-Boer Wars...
in Manchester, which was important in promoting the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. The editors' views were much influenced by the writings of William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. In addition to writing on social topics, Thompson wrote theatre criticism, travel articles and on other subjects under the pseudonym 'Dangle'. The Clarion's life was always precarious, but among its successes was a series of articles by Blatchford, collected in a volume entitled Merrie England, dedicated to Thompson. It was said that for every convert to socialism made by Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
there were a hundred made by Merrie England.
Thompson's first professional works for the stage in the late 1890s were scripts for pantomimes written for Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera Tom Jones and the producer of The Arcadians...
, who was then the manager of the Prince's Theatre in Manchester. Thompson then collaborated with Courtneidge on many of his libretti.
Thompson then turned to Edwardian musical comedies, revising the libretto of Walter Ellis
Walter Ellis
Walter Ellis is a Northern Ireland-born, United States-based writer.Ellis is the author of The Beginning of the End: The Crippling Disadvantage of a Happy Irish Childhood, the story of his early life in Belfast, Durham, Cork, and Brussels, and his uneasy relationship with his cousin, Ronnie...
's The Blue Moon
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...
(1905) after Ellis's death. He next supplied the text for Courtneidge's The Dairymaids (1906 at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
), which became internationally successful. In 1907, Thompson and Courtneidge adapted Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's Tom Jones
Tom Jones (opera)
Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor....
as a comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
with music by Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
, also at the Apollo. Two years later, at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
, he collaborated on the hit musical The Arcadians, one of the most famous and enduring musicals of its era.
In 1911, Thompson wrote a book describing his travels in Germany, Russia, China, Spain and, especially, Japan, entitled Japan for a Week, Britain Forever, published by J. Lane. The Manchester Guardian commented that the book "revealed his powers both as a stylist and as a keen observer."
Thompson returned to writing for the stage with an original book for a Japanese-set musical romance, The Mousmé (1911, Shaftesbury), but this flopped. Collaborating again with Courtneidge, he adapted the composer Leo Fall
Leo Fall
Leo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.-Life:Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin...
's operetta Der liebe Augustin as Princess Caprice
Princess Caprice
Princess Caprice is a musical theatre work described as a "comedy with music", in three acts, with music by Leo Fall. The book was adapted by Alexander M. Thompson from Fall's operetta Der liebe Augustin by Rudolf Bernauer and Ernst Welisch. The lyrics were by A. Scott-Craven, Harry Beswick and...
(1912, Shaftesbury). Other works with Courtneidge followed, but none of these found an audience. In 1916, his revusical set in ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
called Oh, Caesar! played with some success in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland. The Rebel Maid in 1921, a return to light opera with Courtneidge, played 114 London performances at the Empire Theatre
Empire Theatre
Empire Theatre or Empire Theater may refer to:In the United Kingdom:*Empire Theatre of Varieties, now the Empire, Leicester Square, City of Westminster, London*Glasgow Empire Theatre, Glasgow*Hackney Empire, in Hackney...
. A 1924 play was The Bohemians produced by Courtneidge.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and afterwards, Thompson wrote many articles for the Weekly Dispatch
Sunday Dispatch
The Sunday Dispatch was a British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 1961. Until 1928, it was called the Weekly Dispatch.-History:...
concerning the Labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
, the condition of the poor and other social topics. He also wrote for the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and later the News Chronicle
News Chronicle
The News Chronicle was a British daily newspaper. It ceased publication on 17 October 1960, being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Its offices were in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8DP, England.-Daily Chronicle:...
and The Manchester Guardian. In 1937, he published an autobiography, Here I Lie - The Memorial of an Old Journalist.
Thompson died in London at the age of 86.
External links
- Links to information about Thompson publications
- "Socialist Extol Times View of War", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 21 December 1914 - Spartacus: The Clarion
- Photos from a 1926 production of The Rebel Maid