Harry Grattan
Encyclopedia
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
stage actor, singer, dancer and writer best known for his performances in musical comedies
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
around 1900.
Life and career
Gratton started early as a child actor (along with his sister, Emilie), playing in Rip Van WinkleRip Van Winkle (operetta)
Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.-Performance history:The operetta...
(1875), Slave Life (1875), Orson in 1876 (a show written for him and his sister by their father, H. P. Grattan), Little Goody Two-Shoes (1876), Little Red Riding Hood; or, Harlequin Grandmama (1877), and Captain Corcoran in the "Children's Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
" in 1879–80 at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
(Emilie played Josephine). The Era wrote that, in the role, he was "very successful indeed, and looked the character completely."
As an adult, Grattan appeared at various West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
s. For example, during the Christmas season of 1889, he appeared at the Avenue Theatre in The Field of the Cloth of Gold. With the advent of Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
, Grattan became a star of such musicals as Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound is a farcical English musical in two acts by Arthur Branscombe, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on April 13, 1893, under the management of Fred J. Harris, and transferred to the Trafalgar Square Theatre on...
(1894), Go-Bang
Go-Bang
Go-Bang is an English musical comedy with words by Adrian Ross and music by F. Osmond Carr.The piece was produced by Fred Harris and opened at the Trafalgar Square Theatre on 10 March 1894. It ran for 159 performances. The show starred Harry Grattan, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Playfair,...
(1894), As in a Looking Glass (1897) and Jim the Penman (1897). In the new century, he starred in a succession of hit musicals, including: The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love...
(1900), The Toreador
The Toreador
The Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an...
(1902), The Orchid
The Orchid
The Orchid is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. It opened at Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 October 1903 and ran for 559 performances. It starred Gertie...
(1904), The Spring Chicken
The Spring Chicken
The Spring Chicken is an English musical comedy adapted by George Grossmith, Jr. from Coquin de Printemps by Jaime and Duval, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and Grossmith, produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre, opening on 30 May...
(1905), The New Aladdin
The New Aladdin
The New Aladdin is an English musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and W. H. Risque, with music by Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, and additional numbers by Frank E. Tours, and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank, W. H. Risque, and George Grossmith, Jr...
(1906, also choreographed by Grattan), Venus (1906), Miss Hook of Holland
Miss Hook of Holland
Miss Hook of Holland is an English musical comedy in two acts, with music and lyrics by Paul Rubens with a book by Austen Hurgon and Rubens. The show was produced by Frank Curzon and opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 31 January 1907, running for a very successful 462 performances...
(1907), and More (1915; for which he was also the lyricist).
As a writer, he produced the book and lyrics for Hitchy-Koo (1917), which was a success on Broadway.http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?id=8555 and wrote the successful 1918 revue Tabs, with music by Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
and lyrics by Ronald Jeans. He wrote (and sometimes appeared in) a series of revues, including Odds and Ends, Erb and Emma, and Mind Your Backs during the 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 into the 1920s, some of them produced by André Charlot
André Charlot
André Eugene Maurice Charlot was a French impresario known primarily for the highly successful musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937...
and some with the child star Betty Bolton
Betty Bolton
Betty Bolton was a British actor, beginning as a child star during World War I and continuing her career in the 1920s and 1930s....
.