The Earl and the Girl

The Earl and the Girl
Vocal Score
MusicIvan Caryll
LyricsPercy Greenbank
BookSeymour Hicks
Productions1903–1904 West End
1905 Broadway

The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for a total of 371 performances.[1][2] It also ran at the Casino Theatre in New York beginning on 4 November 1905 for 148 performances (with some added music and lyrics by Jerome Kern and others), starring Eddie Foy and W. H. Denny.[3] A production toured Australia in 1906 and 1907.[4] A revival in London in 1914 ran for a total of 107 performances,[5] and there were later revivals and tours.[6]

The original London cast included a number of performers who had recently appeared in productions of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which was no longer performing at the Savoy Theatre at the time of the premiere of The Earl and the Girl, including Walter Passmore, Henry Lytton, Robert Evett, M. R. Morand, Reginald Crompton, Powis Pinder, Charles Childerstone, Alec Fraser, Ernest Torrence, Rudolph Lewis, Agnes Fraser, and Louie Pounds.[7][8] Lytton later used the song "My Cosy Corner" from the show in his music hall acts with much success, and made a recording of it.[9] Kern's song "How'd You Like to Spoon with Me?" was interpolated into the New York production, and it also became a hit.[10]

  1. ^ "The Earl and the Girl", The Play Pictorial, December 1903 pp. 55–80
  2. ^ Gaye, p. 1531
  3. ^ "The Earl and the Girl", Internet Broadway Database, accessed 3 March 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "The Theatrical Week", The Times, 8 February 1915, p. 10
  6. ^ "Dramatis Personae", The Observer, 20 October 1918, p. 5
  7. ^ Rollins and Witts, pp. 13–20
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Jones, p. 96
  10. ^ Byrnside, Ronald and Andrew Lamb. "Kern, Jerome (David)". Grove Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed May 10, 2010 (subscription required).