The Geisha
Encyclopedia
The Geisha, a story of a tea house is an Edwardian Musical Comedy
in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones
to a libretto by Owen Hall
, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank
. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton
and James Philip.
The Geisha was first performed on 25 April 1896 at Daly's Theatre
in London, produced by George Edwardes
. The original production ran for 760 performances. This run, the second longest of any musical up to that time, would be beaten three years later by Edwardes' San Toy
, which was written by Jones, Greenbank and Monckton. The cast included Marie Tempest
in the role of O Mimosa San and Letty Lind
as the dancing soubrette Molly Seamore. C. Hayden Coffin
played Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax, Huntley Wright
played Wun-Hi, and later Rutland Barrington
and Scott Russell
joined the cast. Direction was by J. A. E. Malone, choreography by Willie Warde
and costumes by Percy Anderson
. The music director was Ernest Ford
.
The Geisha was also an immediate success abroad, with an 1896 production in New York (starring Nancy McIntosh
beginning in November), and tours and productions in Europe. It has been "ranked as the first internationally successful British musical," helping to introduce the previously obscure term "Geisha" into many languages as a symbol of Japanese culture. In 1897, Robert Baden-Powell
appeared in the role of Wun-hi in Simla
, India. Two years later, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was present at its premiere in the Russian resort town of Yalta
and mentions the show as a backdrop to the climatic scene in one of his best-known stories, "The Lady with the Dog
" (1899).
The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, from World War I into the 1960s.
in 1895 had set the pattern for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones Edwardian musical comedies. Edwardes immediately put his team to work on a new musical. The Geisha became the biggest international sensation that the British musical theatre had ever known. In addition to its success in London and throughout the British Empire, it enjoyed productions in America and played for thousands of performances on the European continent (one source counts some 8,000 in Germany alone). It continued to tour for a few decades in Britain, receiving its last revival in 1934. Edwardes took advantage of the continuing fascination of the public with the orient that had brought such success to Gilbert and Sullivan
in The Mikado
. However, The Geisha was a more topical entertainment than The Mikado, and despite its great initial popularity, The Geisha and the many other topical oriental Edwardian musicals, such as San Toy
, A Chinese Honeymoon
and even Chu Chin Chow
did not endure through the decades as well as The Mikado.
Jones, aiming for a light, breezy score, kept each of his musical numbers under three minutes, except that the finales ran to about five. In addition to oriental shadings, Jones's music borrowed from continental European dance rhythms. Hall had taken some of the sauciness out of his style, since An Artist's Model and evolved a combination of sprightly, up-to-date comedy and old-fashioned romance, into which he would insert parodies when the opportunity arose. Indeed, the Daly's Theatre shows were more romantic in character than the sillier Gaiety Theatre shows.
Still, these musicals hewed to most of the features that made the Gaiety Theatre shows popular, especially the pretty Gaiety Girls
, dressed in the latest fashions. Many of the best-known London couturiers designed costumes for stage productions. The illustrated periodicals were eager to publish photographs of the actresses in the latest stage hits, and so the theatre became an excellent way for clothiers to publicise their latest fashions. The Gaiety Girls were, as The Sketch noted in its 1896 review of The Geisha, "clothed in accordance with the very latest and most extreme modes of the moment, and the result is a piquantly striking contrast, as you may imagine."
The next musical for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones team moved from Japan to Ancient Rome, with perhaps their finest work, A Greek Slave
.
Stationed in Japan, far from his financee Molly, Lt. Reggie Fairfax of the Royal Navy is lonely. He begins to spend much of his free time at the Tea House of Ten Thousand Joys which is run by chinaman Wun-Hi. There he meets the lovely geisha O Mimosa San, with whom he builds a friendship, but she is in love with Katana, a soldier, so she discourages him with her tale of 'The Amorous Goldfish'. However, Reggie gives Mimosa a lesson in kissing.
The relationship does not go unnoticed by Lady Constance Wynne, a touring English aristocrat, who catches Reggie engaged in his tête-a-tête with Mimosa and reminds him that he is engaged to Molly. Lady Constance contacts Molly, telling her she had better come to the Orient as quickly as possible. The local overlord Marquis Imari, who also fancies Mimosa, is annoyed that his intended bride is consorting with the newly arrived British sailors, and he orders that the teahouse be closed and the girls be sold off. The Marquis himself is pursued by the French interpreter Juliette.
Molly arrives unexpectedly. Left alone, Molly is joined by Mimosa and Lady Constance who tell her how fond Reggie has become of one geisha in particular. Mimosa then suggests that Molly should dress up as a geisha herself to try and win him back. It is now time for the sale of the geishas' indentures. The Marquis tries to buy Mimosa for himself, but Lady Constance manages to outbid him to keep her out of his clutches. Unfortunately, she can't stop him from purchasing lot number 2, a new geisha called Roli Poli whom nobody has seen before. Only after the Marquis has made his purchase is it revealed that this geisha is actually Molly in disguise.
Act II
In the chrysanthemum gardens of the Imari palace, Molly, still disguised as Roli Poli, awaits her impending marriage to the Marquis, who has become much attracted to her. Mimosa proposes a plan to save Molly from her fate: Mimosa will sneak into the bridal suite and exchange the veiled Molly for another veiled bride - Juliette, the French interpreter.
The wedding ceremony starts, and the plan is put into effect: Juliette is exchanged with Molly, and the Marquis unwittingly marries the wrong bride. On discovering the ruse, he accepts his fate philosophically, concluding that "every man is disappointed in his wife at some time or other". Mimosa is now free to marry her lover Katana, and Molly is re-united with Reggie, declaring that she would never marry a foreign nobleman when she could have a British sailor.
Act I
Act II
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...
in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones
Sidney Jones
James Sidney Jones , usually credited as Sidney Jones, was an English conductor and composer, most famous for producing the musical scores for a series of musical comedy hits in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods....
to a libretto by Owen Hall
Owen Hall
Owen Hall was the pen name of the Irish-born 19th and early 20th century theatre writer and theatre critic James Davis when writing for the stage...
, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank
Harry Greenbank
Harry Greenbank was an English author and dramatist best known for contributing lyrics to the successful series musicals produced at Daly's Theatre by George Edwardes in the 1890s.-Life and career:...
. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton
Lionel Monckton
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
and James Philip.
The Geisha was first performed on 25 April 1896 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, produced 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....
. The original production ran for 760 performances. This run, the second longest of any musical up to that time, would be beaten three years later by Edwardes' San Toy
San Toy
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
, which was written by Jones, Greenbank and Monckton. The cast included Marie Tempest
Marie Tempest
Dame Marie Tempest DBE was an English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession".Tempest became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere...
in the role of O Mimosa San and Letty Lind
Letty Lind
Letitia Elizabeth Rudge, better known as Letty Lind , was an English actress, dancer and acrobat, best known for her work in burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and in musical theatre at Daly's Theatre, in London....
as the dancing soubrette Molly Seamore. C. Hayden Coffin
C. Hayden Coffin
Charles Hayden Coffin was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes....
played Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax, Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies....
played Wun-Hi, and later Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
and Scott Russell
Scott Russell (actor)
Harry Henry Russell, better known as Scott Russell , was an English singer, actor and theatre manager best known for his performances in the tenor roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...
joined the cast. Direction was by J. A. E. Malone, choreography by Willie Warde
Willie Warde
Willie Warde was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a comic actor in musical theatre...
and costumes by Percy Anderson
Percy Anderson
Percy Anderson was an English stage designer and painter, best known for his work for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at His Majesty’s Theatre and Edwardian musical comedies.-Life and career:...
. The music director was Ernest Ford
Ernest Ford
Ernest A. Claire Ford was an English composer of operas and ballet music and a conductor.-Life and career:Ford was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, the son of the vestry clerk and organist there. From 1868-73, he sang in the chorus at Salisbury Cathedral...
.
The Geisha was also an immediate success abroad, with an 1896 production in New York (starring Nancy McIntosh
Nancy McIntosh
Nancy McIntosh was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the notorious South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connection with the 1889 Johnstown Flood that resulted in the loss of over 2,200 lives in...
beginning in November), and tours and productions in Europe. It has been "ranked as the first internationally successful British musical," helping to introduce the previously obscure term "Geisha" into many languages as a symbol of Japanese culture. In 1897, Robert Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
appeared in the role of Wun-hi in Simla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, India. Two years later, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was present at its premiere in the Russian resort town of Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
and mentions the show as a backdrop to the climatic scene in one of his best-known stories, "The Lady with the Dog
The Lady with the Dog (short story)
"The Lady with the Dog" is a short story by Anton Chekhov first published in 1899. It tells the story of an adulterous affair between a Russian banker and a young lady he meets while vacationing in Yalta...
" (1899).
The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, from World War I into the 1960s.
Background
The success of An Artist's ModelAn Artist's Model
An Artist's Model is a two-act musical by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and music by Sidney Jones, with additional songs by Joseph and Mary Watson, Paul Lincke, Frederick Ross, Henry Hamilton and Leopold Wenzel. It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and...
in 1895 had set the pattern for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones Edwardian musical comedies. Edwardes immediately put his team to work on a new musical. The Geisha became the biggest international sensation that the British musical theatre had ever known. In addition to its success in London and throughout the British Empire, it enjoyed productions in America and played for thousands of performances on the European continent (one source counts some 8,000 in Germany alone). It continued to tour for a few decades in Britain, receiving its last revival in 1934. Edwardes took advantage of the continuing fascination of the public with the orient that had brought such success to Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
in The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. However, The Geisha was a more topical entertainment than The Mikado, and despite its great initial popularity, The Geisha and the many other topical oriental Edwardian musicals, such as San Toy
San Toy
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
, A Chinese Honeymoon
A Chinese Honeymoon
A Chinese Honeymoon is a musical comedy in two acts by George Dance, with music by Howard Talbot and additional music by Ivan Caryll and others, and additional lyrics by Harry Greenbank and others...
and even Chu Chin Chow
Chu Chin Chow
Chu Chin Chow is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based on the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves...
did not endure through the decades as well as The Mikado.
Still, these musicals hewed to most of the features that made the Gaiety Theatre shows popular, especially the pretty Gaiety Girls
Gaiety Girls
Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes. The popularity of this genre of musical theatre depended, in part, on the beautiful dancing corps of "Gaiety Girls" appearing onstage in...
, dressed in the latest fashions. Many of the best-known London couturiers designed costumes for stage productions. The illustrated periodicals were eager to publish photographs of the actresses in the latest stage hits, and so the theatre became an excellent way for clothiers to publicise their latest fashions. The Gaiety Girls were, as The Sketch noted in its 1896 review of The Geisha, "clothed in accordance with the very latest and most extreme modes of the moment, and the result is a piquantly striking contrast, as you may imagine."
The next musical for the Hall, Greenbank and Jones team moved from Japan to Ancient Rome, with perhaps their finest work, A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. The...
.
Principal roles and original cast
- O Mimosa San, Chief geisha (sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) – Marie TempestMarie TempestDame Marie Tempest DBE was an English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession".Tempest became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere... - Lady Constance Wynne, An English visitor (contraltoContraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
) – Maud Hobson - Molly Seamore, A guest of Lady Constance (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) – Letty LindLetty LindLetitia Elizabeth Rudge, better known as Letty Lind , was an English actress, dancer and acrobat, best known for her work in burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and in musical theatre at Daly's Theatre, in London.... - Katana, Captain of the guard (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) – William Philp - Reginald Fairfax, Of the Royal Navy (baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) – Hayden Coffin - Captain Wun-Hi, A Chinaman, proprietor of the Tea House (baritone) – Huntley WrightHuntley WrightHuntley Wright was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies....
- Marquis Imari Chief of Police and Governor of the Province (baritone) – Harry Monkhouse (later replaced by Rutland BarringtonRutland BarringtonRutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
) - Juliette Diamant, A French girl, interpreter at the Tea House (soprano) – Juliette Nesville
- English ladies, guests of Lady Constance: Misses Marie Worthington, Ethel Hurst, Mabel Grant and Louie Plumpton – Blanche MasseyBlanche MasseyBlanche Massey was a Gaiety Girl and actress best known for her stage appearances in London and the United States in the 1890s. Among her appearances in many productions with the George Edwardes company, especially Edwardian musical comedies, she was perhaps most remembered for A Gaiety Girl...
, Hetty Hamer, Alice Davis and Margaret Fraser
Synopsis
Act IStationed in Japan, far from his financee Molly, Lt. Reggie Fairfax of the Royal Navy is lonely. He begins to spend much of his free time at the Tea House of Ten Thousand Joys which is run by chinaman Wun-Hi. There he meets the lovely geisha O Mimosa San, with whom he builds a friendship, but she is in love with Katana, a soldier, so she discourages him with her tale of 'The Amorous Goldfish'. However, Reggie gives Mimosa a lesson in kissing.
The relationship does not go unnoticed by Lady Constance Wynne, a touring English aristocrat, who catches Reggie engaged in his tête-a-tête with Mimosa and reminds him that he is engaged to Molly. Lady Constance contacts Molly, telling her she had better come to the Orient as quickly as possible. The local overlord Marquis Imari, who also fancies Mimosa, is annoyed that his intended bride is consorting with the newly arrived British sailors, and he orders that the teahouse be closed and the girls be sold off. The Marquis himself is pursued by the French interpreter Juliette.
Molly arrives unexpectedly. Left alone, Molly is joined by Mimosa and Lady Constance who tell her how fond Reggie has become of one geisha in particular. Mimosa then suggests that Molly should dress up as a geisha herself to try and win him back. It is now time for the sale of the geishas' indentures. The Marquis tries to buy Mimosa for himself, but Lady Constance manages to outbid him to keep her out of his clutches. Unfortunately, she can't stop him from purchasing lot number 2, a new geisha called Roli Poli whom nobody has seen before. Only after the Marquis has made his purchase is it revealed that this geisha is actually Molly in disguise.
Act II
In the chrysanthemum gardens of the Imari palace, Molly, still disguised as Roli Poli, awaits her impending marriage to the Marquis, who has become much attracted to her. Mimosa proposes a plan to save Molly from her fate: Mimosa will sneak into the bridal suite and exchange the veiled Molly for another veiled bride - Juliette, the French interpreter.
The wedding ceremony starts, and the plan is put into effect: Juliette is exchanged with Molly, and the Marquis unwittingly marries the wrong bride. On discovering the ruse, he accepts his fate philosophically, concluding that "every man is disappointed in his wife at some time or other". Mimosa is now free to marry her lover Katana, and Molly is re-united with Reggie, declaring that she would never marry a foreign nobleman when she could have a British sailor.
Musical numbers
- Chorus - Happy Japan - "Dawns the day in Eastern sky"
- Entrance of Officers - Here They Come
- Song (Cunningham) - The Dear Little Jappy-Jap-Jappy - "There came to the land of Japan"
- Song (Mimosa) The Amorous Goldfish - "A goldfish swam in a big glass bowl"
- Duet (Mimosa & Fairfax) The Kissing Duet - "You're a charming little geisha"
- Ensemble (Geishas & Officers) - If You Will Come to Tea - "If you will come to tea"
- Chorus of Lamentation - "Oh, will they sell our master up"
- Ensemble (Fairfax & Officers) - We're Going to Call on the Marquis - "This infamous lord shall have his reward"
- Toy Duet (Molly & Fairfax) - "When I was but a tiny tot"
- Song (Mimosa) A Geisha's Life - "A geisha's life imagination tints"
- Song (Fairfax & Officers) - (Composed by Lionel Monckton) - Jack's the Boy - "Of all the lads that be"
- Recitative (Takamini, Imari & Chorus) - Attention, pray - "Attention, pray! and silence if you please"
- Song (Molly & Chorus) Chon Kina - "I'm the smartest little geisha in Japan"
- Finale: Though of Staying Too Long - "Though of staying too long you're accusing us "
Act II
- Entr'Acte
- Chorus- Day Born of Love - "Day born of love, of gladness and delight"
- Song (Molly) The Toy Monkey (Composed by Lionel Monckton) - "Poor little maiden who loves a bit of fun"
- Duet (Juliette & Wun-Hi) Ching-a-Ring-a-Ree! - "When I want anything done"
- Trio ( Fairfax, Cunningham, Cuddy) Jolly Young Jacks Are We - "Half round the world we've been my boys"
- Song (Mimosa)(Written by Harry Greenbank; composed by James Philp) The Jewel of Asia - "A small Japanese once sat at her ease"
- Song (Fairfax) Star of my Soul - "How can I wait when she I worship only"
- Quartette (Mimosa, Fairfax, Cunningham & Wun Hi) What Will the Marquis do? - "When he finds that his dear little lovebird's gone"
- Entrance of Chorus - Japanese March
- Entrance of Geisha - With Splendour Auspicious
- Song (Wun Hi) - Chin Chin Chinaman - "Chinaman money makes"
- Song (Molly & Chorus) The Interfering Parrot - "A parrot once resided in a pretty gilded cage"
- Finale - Before Our Eyes - "Before our eyes the prospect lies"