The Blue Moon (musical)
Encyclopedia
The Blue Moon is an Edwardian musical comedy
with music composed by Howard Talbot
and Paul Rubens
, lyrics by Percy Greenbank
and Rubens and a book by Harold Ellis and by Alexander M. Thompson
. It is set in India during the days of the British Raj
, and concerns the love of a singing girl for a young British army officer.
It ran in London in 1905, starring Courtice Pounds
, and was then played in the English provinces and in America and Australia.
on 29 February 1904, with a book by Harold Ellis. By the time of the London production, Ellis had died, and the book was revised by Alexander M. Thompson
(credited as "A. M. Thompson"). The lyrics were by Percy Greenbank
and Paul Rubens
, and the music by Rubens and Howard Talbot
.
The London production, produced by Robert Courtneidge
, opened at the Lyric Theatre on 28 August 1905. Despite generally favourable press notices, it ran for only 182 performances, not a significant success by the standards of the Edwardian London stage. Nevertheless, in 1906, a production toured the English provinces, and another opened on Broadway
, starring Ethel Jackson
. The J. C. Williamson
company toured a production in Australia in 1907–08.
Act II – The Ruby Palace of Kharikar
Numbers marked* were composed by Talbot; the others by Rubens.
made fun of the lack of plot, and said that if there were any less of a story, the show would have to be billed as a series of turns rather than a musical play. "The only things that matter now are the turns. Are they "bright" and "pretty"? Are Mr. Edouin and Mr. Passmore funny? Are the dresses splendid, the music soothing or exciting, and the ladies beautiful? We can answer all those questions in the affirmative." The Observer
commented, "The specially hearty welcome accorded to the piece at its première certainly suggests that if, as some have been alleging, this particular form of entertainment is dying out, it is at any rate dying very hard, and is capable of rousing much laughter and applause by its moribund mirth." The Daily Mail also predicted success for the musical, describing it as:
Reviewing the touring production, The Manchester Guardian praised the score: "The music has not the fascinating charm of André Messager
's music; it excels in a more northern quality of sentimentalism which, in moderation, does not harm anybody." The New York Times
gave the Broadway production an unfavourable notice; of the comic lead, James T. Powers, it wrote, "one gets rather tired seeing him labor to put humor into lines which are absolutely without a vestige of that desirable quality."
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...
with music composed by Howard Talbot
Howard Talbot
Richard Lansdale Munkittrick, better known as Howard Talbot , was an American-born, English-raised conductor and composer of Irish descent...
and Paul Rubens
Paul Rubens (composer)
Paul Alfred Rubens was an English songwriter and librettist who wrote some of the most popular Edwardian musical comedies of the early twentieth century. He contributed to the success of dozens of musicals....
, lyrics by 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...
and Rubens and a book by Harold Ellis and 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...
. It is set in India during the days of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, and concerns the love of a singing girl for a young British army officer.
It ran in London in 1905, starring Courtice Pounds
Courtice Pounds
Charles 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...
, and was then played in the English provinces and in America and Australia.
History
The Blue Moon was originally staged in NorthamptonNorthampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
on 29 February 1904, with a book by Harold Ellis. By the time of the London production, Ellis had died, and the book was revised 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...
(credited as "A. M. Thompson"). The lyrics were by 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...
and Paul Rubens
Paul Rubens (composer)
Paul Alfred Rubens was an English songwriter and librettist who wrote some of the most popular Edwardian musical comedies of the early twentieth century. He contributed to the success of dozens of musicals....
, and the music by Rubens and Howard Talbot
Howard Talbot
Richard Lansdale Munkittrick, better known as Howard Talbot , was an American-born, English-raised conductor and composer of Irish descent...
.
The London production, 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...
, opened at the Lyric Theatre on 28 August 1905. Despite generally favourable press notices, it ran for only 182 performances, not a significant success by the standards of the Edwardian London stage. Nevertheless, in 1906, a production toured the English provinces, and another opened on 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...
, starring Ethel Jackson
Ethel Jackson
Ethel Jackson was U.S. stage actress, comic prima donna of the late 19th century and early 20th century. She appeared in Broadway theatrical productions.-Family:...
. The J. C. Williamson
J. C. Williamson
James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd....
company toured a production in Australia in 1907–08.
Cast
- Major Vivian Callabone – 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...
- Captain Jack Ormsby – Harold Thorley
- Bobbie Scott – Fred Allandale
- Moolraj – Willie Edouin
- Private Charlie Taylor – Walter PassmoreWalter PassmoreWalter Henry Passmore was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
- Prince Badahur – Clarence Blakiston
- Lady Brabasham – Eleanor Souray
- Evelyn Ormsby – Billie BurkeBillie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
- Chandra Nil – Florence Smithson
- Millicent Leroy – Carrie Moore
Synopsis
"Blue Moon" is the title by which the young singer Chandral Nil is popularly known. She is generally assumed to be Burmese, but is in fact English, abducted from her mother Lady Augusta Brabasham, by a criminal deserter from the British army. He fled to avoid arrest for theft and took the young child with him. He is now calling himself Moolraj and plies a trade as an "idol maker, juggler and marriage broker." Captain Jack Ormsby, a young officer whose regiment is stationed nearby, has fallen in love with Chandra Nil. Moolraj has other plans for her, having promised her as a wife to Prince Badahur of Kharikar. The Prince, learning of Jack's love, gracefully withdraws and hands over his bride-to-be to the young captain. Subsidiary love interests are those of Private Charlie Taylor, who loves a lady's maid, Millicent Leroy, and the journalist Bobbie Scott and his admirer Evelyn Ormsby. Moolraj comes face to face with the Major, who was the victim of the robbery that caused Moolraj to flee England. This unexpected meeting forces Moolraj to explain who Chandra Nil really is, and Jack is able to marry his singing girl without shocking his aristocratic relations.Musical numbers
Act I – The Bungalow at Naga.- Chorus – If not on labour over-sweet, the lotos you would rather eat*
- Bobbie and chorus – In our dear little national Isle, I fancy no custom more strange is*
- Major and chorus – A major I and a D.S.O.Distinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
who has faced the foe as you doubtless know* - Charlie and Leroy – As I gaze with admiration on your face and figure smart*
- Major, Jack, and Bobbie – A Major bold in me you see
- Chorus of jugglers and entrance of Chandra*
- Chandra Nil and chorus – I'm a little maid, dark, demure and dreamy*
- Charlie – I've got a mother, a perfect dear
- Leroy and chorus – Little girl goes out all day on her little own
- Evelyn – I can't make out if you love me at all
- Jack and chorus – In this lazy land our distractions are few
- Finale Act I, with Jack, Major and Chandra Nil – The sun sinks down in the golden west*
Act II – The Ruby Palace of Kharikar
- Chorus and entrance of European visitors – Hushed and still the city lies *
- Major – Throughout the world I've been and seen girls of each sort and kind
- Leroy – Rosie was at school with me sev'ral years ago
- Charlie and chorus – Now children all, both large and small, when walking by the Hongly
- Entrance of Chandra – Fairest of all the fair ever seen*
- Chandra – A poplar tree in a forest stood, her head the highest in the wood*
- Bobbie and chorus – The tourist finds all sorts and kinds of vehicles to ride in
- Charlie and Leroy – Of all the entertainments that now are quite the rage
- Bridal chorus – Over away where the lordly mountains rise*
- Finale Act II – Oh, be careful of the crocodile
Numbers marked* were composed by Talbot; the others by Rubens.
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...
made fun of the lack of plot, and said that if there were any less of a story, the show would have to be billed as a series of turns rather than a musical play. "The only things that matter now are the turns. Are they "bright" and "pretty"? Are Mr. Edouin and Mr. Passmore funny? Are the dresses splendid, the music soothing or exciting, and the ladies beautiful? We can answer all those questions in the affirmative." The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
commented, "The specially hearty welcome accorded to the piece at its première certainly suggests that if, as some have been alleging, this particular form of entertainment is dying out, it is at any rate dying very hard, and is capable of rousing much laughter and applause by its moribund mirth." The Daily Mail also predicted success for the musical, describing it as:
the pleasant, light, more or less connected variety show so dear to the heart of the tired Londoner in search of a jolly digestive. What matter if the story is conventional or the music tinkly? There are plenty of neat lyrics, comic situations, and pretty love-scenes. The dresses are lovely and charming, and the scenery charming and lovely. ... [Pounds's] charm of personality was as irresistible as ever, and he sang his best number, "The Burmah Girl," as only Courtice Pounds could sing it – even with a cold. The discovery of the evening was Miss Florence Smithson. Never has a daintier, quainter, more plaintive little singer graced the boards of the lyric stage. ... Passmore danced very nimbly, and made a hit with an eccentric number, entitled "The Crocodile." ... Moore made a sly, useful maid.
Reviewing the touring production, The Manchester Guardian praised the score: "The music has not the fascinating charm of André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
's music; it excels in a more northern quality of sentimentalism which, in moderation, does not harm anybody." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
gave the Broadway production an unfavourable notice; of the comic lead, James T. Powers, it wrote, "one gets rather tired seeing him labor to put humor into lines which are absolutely without a vestige of that desirable quality."
External links
- The Blue Moon at the IBDB Database
- Photos of Carrie Moore in the musical