Ivan Caryll

Félix Marie Henri Tilkin^[1] (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later New York. He composed (or contributed to) some forty musical comedies and operettas.

Caryll's career encompassed three eras of the musical theatre, and unlike some of his contemporaries, he adapted readily to each new development. After composing a few musical burlesques, his first great successes were made in light musical comedies, epitomised by the George Edwardes productions at London's Gaiety Theatre, such as The Shop Girl, The Circus Girl, The Gay Parisienne, and A Runaway Girl. He continued to write musical comedies throughout the next decade, including such hits as The Messenger Boy, The Toreador, The Girl From Kays, The Earl and the Girl, The Orchid, The Spring Chicken, The Girls of Gottenberg and Our Miss Gibbs. He also wrote some operetta scores, such as The Duchess of Dantzic. After this he moved to New York City, where he became an American citizen; his last works, including The Girl Behind the Gun (which became a London hit as Kissing Time), incorporated the new fox-trot and one-step rhythms. At the peak of his career, he had the unparalleled distinction of having five musicals running at the same time in the West End.