Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim
Encyclopedia
Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim (sometimes called Frankenstein, or The Model Man) is a musical burlesque written by Richard Henry
(a pseudonym of Richard Butler
and Henry Chance Newton
). The music was composed by Meyer Lutz
. The piece is a burlesque of the Mary Shelley
novel Frankenstein
and the Adelphi Theatre
drama based on the novel.
Opening at the Gaiety Theatre, London
on 24 December 1887, the production was a flop, closing after a week. It starred Nellie Farren
as Dr. Frankenstein and Fred Leslie
as a monster who is in touch with his feminine side. The Victorian audiences found the piece too feminist in tone. In addition, the public was annoyed at George Edwardes, who had reduced the size of the inexpensive "pit" in favour of more "stalls". The piece also featured Marion Hood
as the doctor's love interest Tartina; E. J. Lonnen
as the vampire Visconti; Emily Cross as Mary Ann; Sylvia Grey
as Tamburina, goddess of the sun; Sybil Grey
as Vanilla; the dancer John D'Auban
as Demonico; and Frank Thornton
as Schwank.
(1883), Little Jack Sheppard
(1885), Monte Cristo Jr (1886), Pretty Esmeralda (1887), Mazeppa, Faust up to Date
(1888), Ruy Blas and the Blase Roue
(1888), Carmen up to Data
(1890), and Don Juan (1892, with lyrics by Adrian Ross
).
John Hollingshead
had managed the Gaiety Theatre from 1868 to 1886 as a venue for variety, continental operetta
, light comedy, and numerous musical burlesques composed or arranged by the theatre's music director, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz. Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses." In 1886, Hollingshead ceded the management of the theatre to George Edwardes, whom he had hired in 1885. Edwardes expanded the burlesque format from one act to full-length pieces with original music by Lutz, instead of scores compiled from popular tunes, and choreography by the theatre's dance-master, John D'Auban
. Nellie Farren
, as the theatre's "principal boy," and Fred Leslie starred at the Gaiety for over 20 years. Leslie wrote many of its pieces under his pseudonym, "A. C. Torr". In the early 1890s, as Burlesque went out of fashion, Edwardes changed the focus of the theatre from musical burlesque to the new genre of Edwardian musical comedy
.
Richard Henry (pseudonym)
Richard Henry is a pseudonym credited on collaborative works of authors Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton.Works attributed to Richard Henry include Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim, a parody of the Mary Shelly novel Frankenstein, presented at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in 1887.-Selected...
(a pseudonym of Richard Butler
Richard Butler (author)
Richard William Butler was a British dramatist and editor of The Referee magazine in the late Victorian period.He shared a joint pen name, Richard Henry, with Henry Chance Newton...
and Henry Chance Newton
Henry Chance Newton
Henry Chance Newton was a British author and theatre critic for The Referee magazine.Newton, in conjunction with Richard Butler, wrote libretti for musical comedy under the joint collaborative name of Richard Henry...
). The music was composed by Meyer Lutz
Meyer Lutz
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz was a German-born English composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works....
. The piece is a burlesque of the Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
novel Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
and the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
drama based on the novel.
Opening at the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
on 24 December 1887, the production was a flop, closing after a week. It starred Nellie Farren
Nellie Farren
Nellie Farren was an English actress and singer best known for her roles as the "principal boy" in musical burlesques at the Gaiety Theatre.Born into a theatrical family, Farren began acting as a child...
as Dr. Frankenstein and Fred Leslie
Frederick Hobson Leslie
Frederick George Hobson, known as Fred Leslie , was an English actor, singer, comedian and dramatist....
as a monster who is in touch with his feminine side. The Victorian audiences found the piece too feminist in tone. In addition, the public was annoyed at George Edwardes, who had reduced the size of the inexpensive "pit" in favour of more "stalls". The piece also featured Marion Hood
Marion Hood
Marion Hood was an English soprano who performed in opera and musical theatre in the last decades of the 19th century...
as the doctor's love interest Tartina; E. J. Lonnen
E. J. Lonnen
E. J. Lonnen was an English actor and comedian known for his performances in musical burlesques and musicals, particularly at the Gaiety Theatre, London at the end of the Victorian era.-Biography:...
as the vampire Visconti; Emily Cross as Mary Ann; Sylvia Grey
Sylvia Grey
Sylvia Grey was an English actress and dancer best remembered for her roles in burlesque productions in London during the Victorian era.-Life and career:...
as Tamburina, goddess of the sun; Sybil Grey
Sybil Grey
Sybil Grey was a British opera singer during the Victorian era best known for creating a series of minor roles in productions by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including roles in several of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas, between 1880 to 1888...
as Vanilla; the dancer John D'Auban
John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the choreographer of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.After performing as a...
as Demonico; and Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton (Savoyard)
Frank Thornton was an English actor, singer, comedian and producer. Despite a successful stage career in comedies in London, on tour and abroad, Thornton is probably best remembered as the understudy to George Grossmith in a series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1884.Thornton began...
as Schwank.
Background
This type of work, the Victorian burlesque, was popular in Britain at the time. Other examples include The Bohemian G-yurl and the Unapproachable Pole (1877), Blue Beard (1882), Ariel (1883, by F. C. Burnand), Galatea, or Pygmalion ReversedGalatea, or Pygmalion Reversed
Galatea, or Pygmalion Re-Versed is a musical burlesque that parodies the Pygmalion legend, and specifically W. S. Gilbert's play Pygmalion and Galatea. The libretto was written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and W. Webster. The score was composed by Wilhelm Meyer Lutz...
(1883), Little Jack Sheppard
Little Jack Sheppard
Little Jack Sheppard is a burlesque melodrama written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, with music by Meyer Lutz, with songs contributed by Florian Pascal, Corney Grain, Arthur Cecil, Michael Watson, Henry J. Leslie, Alfred Cellier and Hamilton Clarke...
(1885), Monte Cristo Jr (1886), Pretty Esmeralda (1887), Mazeppa, Faust up to Date
Faust up to date
Faust up to Date is a musical burlesque with a score written by Meyer Lutz . The libretto was written by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt...
(1888), Ruy Blas and the Blase Roue
Ruy Blas and the Blase Roue
Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué is a burlesque written by A. C. Torr and Herbert F. Clark with music by Meyer Lutz. It is based on the Victor Hugo drama Ruy Blas. The piece was produced by George Edwardes. As with many of the Gaiety burlesques, the title is a pun...
(1888), Carmen up to Data
Carmen up to Data
Carmen up to Data is a musical burlesque with a score written by Meyer Lutz. The piece was a spoof of Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. The libretto was written by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt....
(1890), and Don Juan (1892, with lyrics by Adrian Ross
Adrian Ross
For the NFL player see Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes , better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
).
John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and writer during the latter half of the 19th century. He is best remembered as the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London...
had managed the Gaiety Theatre from 1868 to 1886 as a venue for variety, continental operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
, light comedy, and numerous musical burlesques composed or arranged by the theatre's music director, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz. Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, Shakespeare, taste and musical glasses." In 1886, Hollingshead ceded the management of the theatre to George Edwardes, whom he had hired in 1885. Edwardes expanded the burlesque format from one act to full-length pieces with original music by Lutz, instead of scores compiled from popular tunes, and choreography by the theatre's dance-master, John D'Auban
John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the choreographer of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.After performing as a...
. Nellie Farren
Nellie Farren
Nellie Farren was an English actress and singer best known for her roles as the "principal boy" in musical burlesques at the Gaiety Theatre.Born into a theatrical family, Farren began acting as a child...
, as the theatre's "principal boy," and Fred Leslie starred at the Gaiety for over 20 years. Leslie wrote many of its pieces under his pseudonym, "A. C. Torr". In the early 1890s, as Burlesque went out of fashion, Edwardes changed the focus of the theatre from musical burlesque to the new genre 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...
.