“Dorothy” By Alfred Cellier: World Premiere Recording
Before the building of railways into London from the rest of south-east England in the third quarter of the nineteenth
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Ivor Novello’s “The Dancing Years”: The First Complete Recording
The effect of Ivor Novello’s music on me was immediate: I remember the first time I heard his songs on
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High Kicks, Or: The History Of The CanCan In English-Language Theater
To say precisely who were the first English dancers to perform the cancan in the English-language theatre is pretty impossible.
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Charles Hayden Coffin: A ‘Gay’ Matinee Idol Revisited
A combination of circumstances led me, a year or three ago, to a little coven of enthusiasts fascinated by the
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“La comédie musicale britannique XIXème et XXème siècle”: A New Collection Of Essays In English, French And German
Just out is a large-size almost catalogue-like publication in English, French and German in the Revue Musicorum series, no. 20/2018.
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Trying To Define Opéra-Bouffe: An Article From “The Era” 1870 About “Chilpéric” At The Lyceum
In his 2 volume biography Emily Soldene: In Search of a Singer Kurt Gänzl chronicles the initial success of opéra
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“The Pretty Polish Girl Who Sat Astride Her Virtue”: Early Opéra-Bouffe Star Joseph Kelm (1805-1882)
My last post and its original five pictures, borrowed from the gold mines of Blois, included four taken from the
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W H Payne: Reconstructing The Career Of A Pantomime Artist And Supreme Clown
When you are researching the past, and the answers and facts don’t fall obviously into place, you just have to
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“La Princesse de Trébizonde”: Opéra-bouffe in 2 acts by Jacques Offenbach
Originally produced at Baden-Baden during the 1869 summer season, with the young Mdlle Périer in its principal travesty rôle, La
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Amy Sheridan: Royal Milkmaid, Queen Of Burlesque, And Concubine
Amy Sheridan was something of a phenomenon. When she died, in 1878, at a Brighton boarding house, aged 39, of
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“Hervé par lui-même” Presented By Pascal Blanchet At Palazzetto Bru Zane
It has been a splendid winter. Three new musical-theatre works – one English, two French – have crossed my desk,
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Revisiting G. B. Shaw And Oscar Straus: Bravo Munich!
I’ve got a book and a CD to review, plus family arriving in a few days, and a bottle of
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Offenbach-Star “Mlle Géraldine.” Or: Every Picture Hides A Story
Many years ago, when I was collecting illustrations for my musico-theatrical books, I haunted e-bay. Bought something weekly. But then
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A New Biography: “André Messager. Le passeur de siècle” By Christophe Mirambeau
The Musical Theatre book of the decade. I sha’n’t gush. Well, I’ll try not to. But … I thought that
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Kinky Boots? Kurt Gänzl Talks About 19th Century Operetta
Kurt Gänzl is no stranger to readers of these pages. As the author of The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
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Theatrical Mythology, or The Best Thing About Her Singing Was Her Looks: Blanche Roosevelt
Theatrical mythology has been curiously and undeservedly kind to some folk. Miss Tucker from Ohio went from failure to failure
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Offenbach And Opera Rara. Or: Waiting For A Recording Of The Original French “Robinson Crusoé”
It’s interesting how you can have a full cast recording sitting on your CD shelf for decades, and it never
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Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoe”: Bring On The Cannibals
Daniel Defoe’s shipwrecked hero (1719) and his man Friday seem to have made their first appearance on the musical stage
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Stephen Storace’s “The Cherokee” (1794): First Representation Of Native Americans?
Turn the page. Item two in my volume is a 1794 show tune. And there’s another from the same musical,
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“The Greek Slave”: Musical Comedy In 2 Acts With Music By Sidney Jones
Musical comedy in 2 acts by Owen Hall. Lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. Music by Sidney Jones. Additional
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Bring On The (1860s) Dancing Girls
Today I got led (via my blonde burlesque ladies) into the world of the ‘spectacular theatre’. You know, those shows
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Oozing Sex: Julia Baron, Opéra-Bouffe Star And Top Paris Courtesan
When I lived in St Paul de Vence, my partner Ian and I took a weekly bus jaunt down to
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Racist Minstrel Magic? The Story of the George Mitchell Choirs
A seventy-one year old man, a little crippled these days, lying in the too-scorching sun by the Australian seaside, reading
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The History Of A Burlesque Blonde: Belle Land
Last night, I was researching in ancient texts, trying to track down the history of a burlesque blonde who went
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Victor Herbert (b Dublin, 1 February 1859; d New York, 24 May 1924)
Victor Herbert (b Dublin, 1 February 1859; d New York, 24 May 1924). The grandson of Samuel Lover, the novelist,
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“Eine Nacht in Venedig” At The Pforzheim Theater
The industrial town of Pforzheim boasts a population of under 121,000, yet has an intimate 507 seat modern theatre which
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BABES IN TOYLAND: Musical extravaganza by Victor Herbert
Commissioned by producers Julian Mitchell and Fred Hamlin to follow up their 1902 success with the fairytale spectacular The Wizard
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The Demystification Of “The Black Crook”
One thing leads to another … Answering various queries, after my 15 years old article on The Black Crook, which
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THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, or The Slave of Duty: Comic opera in 2 acts by Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan’s successor to the phenomenal HMS Pinafore proved to be another enormous international opéra-bouffe hit. Where the former
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Double Treat: “The Black Crook” From New York and London
Often, in earlier times, quoted as “the first landmark in the history of the American musical theatre”, the 1866 extravaganza
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Stanley Potter (1819-1894): A Seventy Year Old Chorus Boy!
When Stanley Potter died in 1894, his – paid – death notice said he was ‘of the Carl Rosa’. So
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Mystery Solved: The Truth About Gilbert & Sullivan’s Star Lilian LaRue
Lilian La Rue? Oh heavens, that name sounds like something out of a New Orleans drag show. Lily Street, maybe?
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Adolf Philipp (1864-1936): “Deutsch-Amerikanisches Theater” In New York
Adolf Philipp (b Lübeck, 29 January 1864; d New York, 30 July 1936) was the eclectic leading light of the
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From Operetta To The Russian Hit Parades: Paul Hankinson & Fiora
Not so very many years ago, two young students, already laurelled, each one, with considerable success, entered the Queensland Conservatorium
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CHU CHIN CHOW Musical Tale of the East In 3 Acts, Music By Frederic Norton
Chu Chin Chow was a version of the Arabian Nights’ Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves tale, put together by
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GIUDITTA: Musical play in 5 scenes by Paul Knepler and Fritz Löhner-Beda. Music by Franz Lehár
Giuditta was the last of the series of darkly coloured romantic operettas (this one purposely titled ‘musikalische Komödie’) composed by
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