Betty is an English musical in three acts, with a book by Frederick Lonsdale

Frederick Lonsdale

Frederick Lonsdale was an English dramatist.-Personal life:Lonsdale was born Lionel Frederick Leonard in St Helier, Jersey, the son of Susan and John Henry Leonard, a tobacconist. He began as a private soldier and worked for the London and South Western Railway...

 and Gladys Unger, music by Paul Rubens

Paul Rubens (composer)

Paul Alfred Rubens was an English songwriter and librettist who wrote some of the most popular Edwardian musical comedies of the early twentieth century. He contributed to the success of dozens of musicals....

 and Ernest Steffan, and lyrics by Adrian Ross

Adrian Ross

For the NFL player see Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes , better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

 and Rubens. It was first produced at the Prince's Theatre

Prince's Theatre, Manchester

The Prince's Theatre in Oxford Street, Manchester, England, was built at a cost of £20,000 in 1864. Under the artistic and managerial leadership of Charles Calvert, "Manchester's most celebrated actor-manager", it soon became a great popular success...

 in Manchester, opening on December 24, 1914, then at Daly's Theatre

Daly's Theatre

Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...

 in London, managed by George Edwardes

George Edwardes

George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....

, opening on April 24, 1915 and running for 391 performances. It also played at the Globe Theater in New York, opening on October 3, 1916. The show then enjoyed various tours and revivals. Gabrielle Ray

Gabrielle Ray

Gabrielle Ray , was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies....

joined the cast in 1915 as Estelle.

Roles and original cast

• Gerard, The Earl of Beverley - Donald Calthrop
• The Duke of Crowborough - C. M. Lowne
• The Hon. Victor Halifax - Arthur Wellesley
• Charles Otway - Alfred S. Barber
• Lathers - Frank Perfitt
• Hillier - Charles F. Cooke
• Cedric - Cecil Fletcher
• Alf - Cyril Doughty
• Achille Jotte (Court Dressmaker) - W. H. Berry
• Lord Playne - G. P. Huntley
• Chicquette - Isabel Delorme
• Estelle - Mabel Sealby
• Lady Playne - Madeline Seymour
• David Playne (Lord Playne's Nephew) - Daisy Burrell
• Mrs. Rawlins - Kate Welch
• Jane - Modesta Daly
• Betty - Winifred Barnes

Synopsis

Gerard, the Earl of Beverley, a philanderer, has pushed his father, The Duke of Crowborough, to the limit. The Duke storms into his son's home demanding that the younger man settle down with a wife and take on some responsibility. The young Earl, drunk and embarrassed in front of his friends, proposes to Betty, a kitchen maid, to spite his father. Gerard has no intention of following his father's wishes and makes plans to send Betty away and to continue with his profligate lifestyle. But the Duke is a step ahead of his son: He gives Gerard's allowance to his wife, Betty, so that Gerard must depend upon her. The charming Betty manages to become accepted by the society into which she has married and eventually charms her way into the heart of her wayward husband. He returns to her of his own accord and they find happiness.

Musical numbers

Act I - The Earl of Beverley's House in Regent's Park

• No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "Oh, his Lordship rather keeps things up, they come to sup, lots of ladies and of noblemen..."
• No. 2 - Duet - Betty & Alf - "Let's pretend some fairy has granted our wishes..."
• No. 3 - Trio - Gerard, Chicquette & Dolly - "Oh, girls, isn't it a score ... Isn't it a score? ... I'm a bachelor! ..."
• No. 4 - Song - Jotte, with Alf - "I started bus'ness on six bob a week ..."
• No. 5 - Finale Act I & Song - Betty - "It was a little kitchen-maid, beside the fire one night she stayed..."

Act II - The Garden of the Earl of Beverley's House (next morning)

• No. 6 - Introduction & "Betty" Barcarolle.
• No. 7 - Unaccompanied Madrigal - Eight Household Servants - "All day long I roll the lawn, and a very long roll it is..."
• No. 8 - Song - Gerard - "It's a funny thought, how often in my life I've had breakfast all alone..."
• No. 9 - Song - Jotte & Chorus - "Though you find me a bit severe when I am in my shop..."
• No. 10 - Quartet - Gerard, David, Victor, Cedric & Men's Chorus - "Marriage is a thing that makes me nervous..."
• No. 11 - Song - Betty & Chorus - "I have dream'd of the wonder of love, like a rainbow that arches above..."
• No. 12 - Duet - Estelle & Jotte - "When a fellow goes out walking with a dear delightful pet..."
• No. 13 - Duet - Betty & Gerard - "Suppose it was true that you loved me and I loved you..."
• No. 14 - Trio - David, Jotte & Playne - "A woman's too much for a man all alone..."
• No. 15 - Finale Act II - "What! You cannot really, truly mean to send her off so cruelly..."

Act III - Lord Playne's House, Farnham Towers

• No. 16 - Opening Chorus & Dance - "Come away, have one more waltz with us now..."
• No. 17 - Jotte & Chorus - "If you'd have the fashionable figure in the very latest taste..."
• No. 18 - Duet - Estelle & Jotte - "There is a right side and a wrong to ev'rything, it seems to me..."
• No. 19 - Duet - Betty & Gerard - "It's a month since we parted; aren't you quite broken-hearted? ..."
• No. 20 - Finale Act III (includes a quiet section for dialogue)

External links

• Song list and links to lyrics, Midi files and cast list
• Information about the Broadway production
• Sheet music from Betty