Philip Michael Faraday
Encyclopedia
Philip Michael Faraday was an English lawyer, surveyor, composer, organist and theatrical producer. He composed one of the last Savoy operas, staged several long-running shows in the West End
of London, and wrote a book about local taxation that was for many years the standard work on the subject. After sustaining financial losses on shows that he produced in the 1910s, Faraday declared bankruptcy in 1914. In later years, however, he rebuilt his fortune through his legal and valuation work and resumed theatrical production.
Faraday was born in Upper Holloway, London, the youngest of five children of Charles Adkins Faraday (1835–1913) and his wife Maria nee Bragg (1836–1930). He married Elizabeth Mary Gale (1872–1950) in 1900, and the couple had four children: Stanley Michael (1902–1942), Yolande (b. 1904), Thelma (b. 1907) and Katharine Miriam.
that opened in August 1906 at the New Theatre
. Fenn's libretto was rated above average, and The Times
said of Faraday, "He has a sense of humour, and uses his orchestra ingeniously and artistically; his melodies are nearly always individual, sometimes extremely pleasant, and always well scored and supported." The English Illustrated Magazine wrote, "Mr. Faraday's work is admirable throughout, perhaps a trifle too reminiscent at times, and often very suggestive of Sir Arthur Sullivan
's work in this field ... but it is imaginative and vigorous." The cast included two popular former stars of the Gilbert and Sullivan
operas, Ruth Vincent
and Rutland Barrington
. It ran for 200 performances, transferring to the Criterion Theatre
during the run. After it closed in London, the production was taken on tour.
Fenn and Faraday next collaborated on a one-act opera, A Welsh Sunset
, described by The Times as "a sentimental, even a sickly little piece." Neither the libretto nor the score won critical approval. The piece was presented at the Savoy Theatre
on 15 July 1908 as a curtain raiser
to H.M.S. Pinafore
and later to The Pirates of Penzance
, for a total of 85 performances. Faraday's next stage piece was a musical comedy
, The Islander, staged at the Apollo Theatre
, with a libretto by Major Marshall. The music received some praise from reviewers, but Marshall's libretto was thought inferior to Fenn's work. The piece ran from 23 April to 6 August 1910. Another musical activity of Faraday's was as "Grand Organist of England" for the Freemasons, a position to which he was appointed in 1914.
As a producer, Faraday presented The Chocolate Soldier
(1910), Nightbirds (1912), The Five Frankforters (described as a "Viennese banking comedy", 1912), The Girl in the Taxi
(1912), The Girl Who Didn't (1913), and Mamzelle Tralala (1914), all at the Lyric Theatre. Faraday's other theatrical ventures of this period included a melodrama, Within the Law (1913), co-produced with Herbert Beerbohm Tree
, and The Pink Lady (1912), a Broadway
show, which he presented in the British provinces. Although The Chocolate Soldier
and The Girl in the Taxi
made large profits, other shows were produced at a loss. Faraday sold his interest in the Lyric and was declared bankrupt in August 1914. The bankruptcy was discharged in February 1915.
, London, acting for large corporations such as the Port of London Authority
and the Durham Coal Owners' Association. By 1921 he was sufficiently recovered financially to resume his theatrical activities, presenting The Wrong Number, starring Yvonne Arnaud
at the Duke of York's Theatre
. In the same year, he became licensee of the Duke of York's. In 1922 he co-produced Sir Arthur Pinero
's new play, The Enchanted Cottage, described by The Times
as the most important theatrical event of the year. The play ran for only seven weeks, however, and Faraday gave up the tenancy of the theatre.
Faraday continued his activities as a property valuer, working as a specialist for, among other companies, Harrods
into the 1930s.
He died in London at the age of 69.
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
of London, and wrote a book about local taxation that was for many years the standard work on the subject. After sustaining financial losses on shows that he produced in the 1910s, Faraday declared bankruptcy in 1914. In later years, however, he rebuilt his fortune through his legal and valuation work and resumed theatrical production.
Faraday was born in Upper Holloway, London, the youngest of five children of Charles Adkins Faraday (1835–1913) and his wife Maria nee Bragg (1836–1930). He married Elizabeth Mary Gale (1872–1950) in 1900, and the couple had four children: Stanley Michael (1902–1942), Yolande (b. 1904), Thelma (b. 1907) and Katharine Miriam.
Early success
Faraday first came to public notice in his capacity as a lawyer and valuation expert. In 1896, at the age of 21, he published Rating: Principles, Practice, Procedure, a study of local property tax. This work became the standard book on its subject; there were three new editions in Faraday's lifetime and a further edition seven years after his death, revised by Sir Arthur Comyns Carr and others. Faraday published other papers early in his career.Music and theatre
Alongside his work as a specialist in property valuation, Faraday began to compose songs and light operas. His songs include "Little princess, look up!" (1906), "Lovely woman" (1907), "I love somebody" (1910), "Jack the handy Man" (1910), "Maid o' mine" (1910) and "The Orphan Ward" (1910). With the librettist Frederick Fenn, he composed Amāsis; or An Egyptian Princess, a comic operaComic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
that opened in August 1906 at the New Theatre
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre on St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by...
. Fenn's libretto was rated above average, and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
said of Faraday, "He has a sense of humour, and uses his orchestra ingeniously and artistically; his melodies are nearly always individual, sometimes extremely pleasant, and always well scored and supported." The English Illustrated Magazine wrote, "Mr. Faraday's work is admirable throughout, perhaps a trifle too reminiscent at times, and often very suggestive of Sir Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's work in this field ... but it is imaginative and vigorous." The cast included two popular former stars of the 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...
operas, Ruth Vincent
Ruth Vincent
Ruth Vincent was an English opera singer and actress, best remembered for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1890s and her roles in the West End during the first decade of the 20th century, particularly her role as Sophia in Tom...
and 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...
. It ran for 200 performances, transferring to the Criterion Theatre
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
during the run. After it closed in London, the production was taken on tour.
Fenn and Faraday next collaborated on a one-act opera, A Welsh Sunset
A Welsh Sunset
A Welsh Sunset is a one-act comic opera composed by Philip Michael Faraday, with a libretto by Frederick Fenn. It was produced at the Savoy Theatre from 15 July 1908 and played with revivals of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance until 17 October 1908, and from 2 December 1908 until 24...
, described by The Times as "a sentimental, even a sickly little piece." Neither the libretto nor the score won critical approval. The piece was presented at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
on 15 July 1908 as a curtain raiser
Curtain raiser (drama)
A curtain raiser is a performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain...
to H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
and later to The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, for a total of 85 performances. Faraday's next stage piece was a 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...
, The Islander, staged at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, with a libretto by Major Marshall. The music received some praise from reviewers, but Marshall's libretto was thought inferior to Fenn's work. The piece ran from 23 April to 6 August 1910. Another musical activity of Faraday's was as "Grand Organist of England" for the Freemasons, a position to which he was appointed in 1914.
As a producer, Faraday presented The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, Arms and the Man...
(1910), Nightbirds (1912), The Five Frankforters (described as a "Viennese banking comedy", 1912), The Girl in the Taxi
The Girl in the Taxi
The Girl in the Taxi is the English-language adaptation by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis of the operetta Die keusche Susanne , with music by Jean Gilbert. The German original had a libretto by Georg Okonkowski...
(1912), The Girl Who Didn't (1913), and Mamzelle Tralala (1914), all at the Lyric Theatre. Faraday's other theatrical ventures of this period included a melodrama, Within the Law (1913), co-produced with Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
, and The Pink Lady (1912), a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show, which he presented in the British provinces. Although The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier
The Chocolate Soldier is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, Arms and the Man...
and The Girl in the Taxi
The Girl in the Taxi
The Girl in the Taxi is the English-language adaptation by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis of the operetta Die keusche Susanne , with music by Jean Gilbert. The German original had a libretto by Georg Okonkowski...
made large profits, other shows were produced at a loss. Faraday sold his interest in the Lyric and was declared bankrupt in August 1914. The bankruptcy was discharged in February 1915.
Later years
Faraday restored his fortunes by his successful work as an expert on rating and taxation. He became senior partner of Michael Faraday, Rodgers and Eller of Chancery LaneChancery Lane
Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...
, London, acting for large corporations such as the Port of London Authority
Port of London Authority
The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
and the Durham Coal Owners' Association. By 1921 he was sufficiently recovered financially to resume his theatrical activities, presenting The Wrong Number, starring Yvonne Arnaud
Yvonne Arnaud
Yvonne Arnaud was a French-born pianist, singer and actress.Germaine Yvonne Arnaud was born in 1892. She entered the Paris Conservatoire at age 9, studying piano under Alphonse Duvernoy and other teachers...
at the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
. In the same year, he became licensee of the Duke of York's. In 1922 he co-produced Sir Arthur Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
's new play, The Enchanted Cottage, described by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as the most important theatrical event of the year. The play ran for only seven weeks, however, and Faraday gave up the tenancy of the theatre.
Faraday continued his activities as a property valuer, working as a specialist for, among other companies, Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
into the 1930s.
He died in London at the age of 69.