Princess Caprice
Encyclopedia
Princess Caprice is a musical theatre
work described as a "comedy with music", in three acts, with music by Leo Fall
. The book was adapted by Alexander M. Thompson
from Fall's operetta
Der liebe Augustin by Rudolf Bernauer
and Ernst Welisch. The lyrics were by A. Scott-Craven, Harry Beswick and Percy Greenbank
. Much of the music was from Der liebe Augustin, but Fall composed four new numbers, with lyrics by Scott-Craven, for the new piece. The story involves mistaken identities and farcical financial dealings at a European palace, following which the proper romantic partners are paired happily.
The original production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
, London, on 11 May 1912, running for 265 performances until January 1913. It was was produced by Robert Courtneidge
. The piece then toured.
One of the servant-maids was May Etheridge, who married Lord Edward Fitzgerald
during the run of the show and subsequently became the Duchess of Leinster.
, hates the formality and constraint of court life, while her maid, Anna, daughter of the Chief Steward, Jasomir, is devoted to etiquette and courtly customs. Helen's bibulous uncle Bogumil is Prince Regent. He has so poorly managed the country's finances that the Treasury has run dry. Bogumil and his Prime Minister Gjuro ineptly plot each other's downfall. Gjuro proposes that Helen should marry the wealthy, formal and dignified Prince Nicola of Micholics. A head bailiff is mistaken for a wealthy banker, and the Regent and his creditors pay him extravagant courtesy.
Helen loves her music teacher, Augustin, and detests Nicola, though Anna fancies him. Thanks to the curiosity of Nicola's sister Clementine, it is discovered in an old book in the archive of a monastery that Helen and Anna were switched at birth by their nurse. Helen is free to marry Augustin, and Anna gladly marries Nicola.
Act II
Act III
After the show had begun its run, Scott-Craven and Fall wrote four new numbers:
wrote that the score of the piece was mostly pervaded "with a kind of decorous, very accomplished dulness, which makes us sigh for a good catchy tune, however trivial." The paper singled out the principal comedian, Graves, and the soubrette, Courtneidge, for praise, and complained that Pounds had too little singing or dancing and was "all but wasted". The Manchester Guardian thought better of the music, and considered it "somewhat beyond the reach of most of the artists and the orchestra". The paper judged the lyrics "better than such things usually are".
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
work described as a "comedy with music", in three acts, with music by Leo Fall
Leo Fall
Leo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.-Life:Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin...
. The book was adapted by Alexander M. Thompson
Alexander M. Thompson
Alexander Mattock Thompson , sometimes credited as A. M. Thompson, was a German-born English journalist and dramatist. From the 1880s, Thompson wrote for socialist newspapers and journals, co-founding The Clarion in 1891...
from Fall's 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:...
Der liebe Augustin by Rudolf Bernauer
Rudolf Bernauer
Rudolf Bernauer was an Austrian lyricist, librettist, screenwriter, film director, producer,and actor.He was born on 20 January 1880, in Vienna, Austria....
and Ernst Welisch. The lyrics were by A. Scott-Craven, Harry Beswick and Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank was an English lyricist, best known for his contribution of lyrics to a number of successful Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century. His older brother, lyricist Harry Greenbank, had a brilliant career in the 1890s that was cut short by his death at the...
. Much of the music was from Der liebe Augustin, but Fall composed four new numbers, with lyrics by Scott-Craven, for the new piece. The story involves mistaken identities and farcical financial dealings at a European palace, following which the proper romantic partners are paired happily.
The original production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Original Shaftesbury Theatre
The Original Shaftesbury Theatre was a theatre in central London between 1888 and 1941. It was built by John Lancaster for his wife, Ellen Wallis, a well-known Shakespearean actress. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps and built by Messrs...
, London, on 11 May 1912, running for 265 performances until January 1913. It was was produced by Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera Tom Jones and the producer of The Arcadians...
. The piece then toured.
Cast
- Jasomir (Steward to Princess Helen) – Courtice PoundsCourtice PoundsCharles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member...
- Nicola (Prince of Micholics) – Fred Leslie
- Augustin Hofer (A music master) – Harry WelchmanHarry Welchman-Selected filmography:* The Maid of the Mountains * The Last Waltz * The Gentle Sex * Lisbon Story * Mad About Men...
- Gjuro (Prime Minister of Thessalia) – George Hestor
- Colonel Burko (Officer of the Thessalian army) – Charles Chamier
- Captain Mirko (Officer of the Thessalian army) – Frank Wyatt, Jr.
- Ensign Pips (Officer of the Thessalian army) – Nelson Keys
- Matheus (Lay brother of the convent) – Alfred Clark
- Sigilloff (A head bailiff) – George Elton
- Pasperdu (Banker) – Campbell Bishop
- Bogumil (The Regent of Thessalia) – George GravesGeorge Graves (actor)George Windsor Graves was an English comic actor. Although he could neither sing nor dance, he became a leading comedian in musical comedies, adapting the French and Viennese opéra-bouffe style of light comic relief into a broader comedy popular with English audiences of the period...
- Princess Clementine (Sister of Prince Nicola) – Cicely CourtneidgeCicely CourtneidgeDame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress and comedienne. The daughter of the producer Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End, by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.After the...
- Anna (Daughter of Jasomir) – Marie Blanche
- Princess Helen (Niece of the Regent) – Clara Evelyn
- Diplomats, servant-maids at the palace and ladies of the Court
One of the servant-maids was May Etheridge, who married Lord Edward Fitzgerald
Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster
Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster, etc. , known as Lord Edward FitzGerald before 1922 was Ireland's Premier Peer of the Realm.-Life:...
during the run of the show and subsequently became the Duchess of Leinster.
Plot
Princess Helen, sovereign of ThessalyThessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, hates the formality and constraint of court life, while her maid, Anna, daughter of the Chief Steward, Jasomir, is devoted to etiquette and courtly customs. Helen's bibulous uncle Bogumil is Prince Regent. He has so poorly managed the country's finances that the Treasury has run dry. Bogumil and his Prime Minister Gjuro ineptly plot each other's downfall. Gjuro proposes that Helen should marry the wealthy, formal and dignified Prince Nicola of Micholics. A head bailiff is mistaken for a wealthy banker, and the Regent and his creditors pay him extravagant courtesy.
Helen loves her music teacher, Augustin, and detests Nicola, though Anna fancies him. Thanks to the curiosity of Nicola's sister Clementine, it is discovered in an old book in the archive of a monastery that Helen and Anna were switched at birth by their nurse. Helen is free to marry Augustin, and Anna gladly marries Nicola.
Musical numbers
Act I- "Rouse up and open wide your doors" – Chorus
- "Take your time" – Augustin
- "The music master" – Augustin and Helen
- "Pay, pay, pay" ("Great sire") – Concerted number
- Finale – Act I
Act II
- "Though yesterday his highness arrived" – Chorus
- "Anna, what's wrong with you?" – Anna, Augustin and Jasomir
- "Comme il faut" – Anna and Nicola
- "La petit Clementine" – Clementine and Chorus
- "If you were mine" – Helen and Augustin
- Let's away – March Chorus
- Finale – Act II
Act III
- Introduction
- "The wedding bell" – Clementine and Chorus
- "Puss, puss, pussy cat" – Clementine, Bogumil, Jasomir and Matheus
- "A lover's token" – Helen and Augustin
- "Do you like me best?" – Helen, Anna and Jasomir
- Finale – Act III
After the show had begun its run, Scott-Craven and Fall wrote four new numbers:
- "Be my comrade true" (Waltz song) – Helen
- "Many, many years ago" – Jasomir
- "They all come under the Act" – Gjuro
- "If I were Princess" ("Born to Rule") – Anna and Chorus
Critical reception
The TimesThe 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...
wrote that the score of the piece was mostly pervaded "with a kind of decorous, very accomplished dulness, which makes us sigh for a good catchy tune, however trivial." The paper singled out the principal comedian, Graves, and the soubrette, Courtneidge, for praise, and complained that Pounds had too little singing or dancing and was "all but wasted". The Manchester Guardian thought better of the music, and considered it "somewhat beyond the reach of most of the artists and the orchestra". The paper judged the lyrics "better than such things usually are".