Adrian Ross
Encyclopedia
For the NFL player see Adrian Ross (American football)
Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), 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. He was the most important lyricist of the British stage during a career that spanned five decades. At a time when few shows had long runs, sixteen of his West End
shows ran for over 400 performances.
Starting out in the late 1880s, Ross wrote the lyrics for the earliest British musical theatre hits, including In Town
(1892), The Shop Girl
(1894) and The Circus Girl
(1896). Ross next wrote the lyrics for a string of hit musicals, beginning with A Greek Slave
(1898), San Toy
(1899), The Messenger Boy
(1900) and The Toreador
(1901) and continuing without a break through World War I
. He also wrote the English lyrics for a series of hit adaptations of European operettas beginning with The Merry Widow
in 1907.
During World War I, Ross was one of the founders of the Performing Rights Society. He continued writing until 1930, producing several more successes after the war. He also wrote the popular novel The Hole of the Pit and a number of short stories.
, London. He was the youngest son and fourth child of Ellen Harriet Ropes née Hall, of Scarborough, and William Hooper Ropes, a Russia merchant. Ross's parents lived in Normandy
, France, but sent him to school in London at Priory House School in Clapton, Mill Hill School
, and the City of London School
. He later attended King's College, Cambridge
, where, in 1881, he won the Chancellor's Medal for English verse for his poem "Temple Bar", and also won the Members' Prize for the English essay. In 1883 he graduated with a first-class degree, winning the Lightfoot scholarship for history and a Whewell scholarship for international law. He was elected a fellow of the College.
He was a Cambridge University graduate and don
, teaching history and poetry from 1884 to 1890 and writing serious and comic verse of his own, the first volume of which was published in 1884. In 1889, he published "A Sketch of the History of Europe". He was also a translator of French and German literature. He created the fictitious name "Adrian Ross" due to a concern that writing musicals would compromise his academic career.
, and Ropes used the name "Arthur Reed". His next work for the stage, also as Arthur Reed, was the book and lyrics for a musical burlesque, Faddimir (1889 at the Opera Comique
), with music by fellow Cambridge graduate, F. Osmond Carr.
The piece earned enough praise so that the impresario George Edwardes
commissioned the two to write another burlesque, together with the comic actor John Lloyd Shine, called Joan of Arc. Songs from the piece included "I Went to Find Emin", "Round the Town", and "Jack the Dandy-O". Joan of Arc opened in 1891 at the Opera Comique starring Arthur Roberts and Marion Hood
, and Ross used the pseudonym Adrian Ross. The piece was a hit, lasting for almost eight hundred performances, and Ross resigned from Cambridge. To supplement his income from theatre writing, Ross became a contributor to such journals as Punch
, Sketch, Sphere and The World, and he joined the staff of Ariel in 1891–1892. He wrote in The Tatler under the pseudonym Bran Pie and in 1893 published an edition of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters. He also published numerous French texts for the Pitt Press series.
Ross and Carr's next work, in collaboration with James T. Tanner
, was In Town
(1892), a smart, contemporary tale of backstage and society goings-on. This left behind the earlier Gaiety burlesques and helped set the new fashion for the series of modern-dress Gaiety Theatre
shows that quickly spread to other theatres and dominated British musical theatre. For his next piece, Morocco Bound
(1893, with the song "Marguerite from Monte Carlo"), Ross concentrated on writing lyrics, leaving the "book" mostly to Arthur Branscombe. This proved to be his most successful model through most of his career. The position of "lyricist" was relatively new, as previously the writers of libretti would invariably write the lyrics themselves. As the new Edwardes-produced "musical comedies"
took the place of burlesque, comic opera
and operetta
on the stage, Ross and Harry Greenbank
established the usefulness of a separate lyricist.
Ross contributed lyrics to almost all of the Gaiety Theatre
's shows, beginning with The Shop Girl
(1894, with his song "Brown of Colorado") and Go-Bang
in 1895. He wrote over two thousand lyrics and produced lyrics for over sixty musicals thereafter, including most of the hit musicals through World War I
. In 1896, he contributed to the Gaiety Theatre hit, The Circus Girl
. He also wrote lyrics for the one-act comic opera
, Weather or No
(1896), which played as a companion piece to The Mikado
at the Savoy Theatre
, as well as several other Savoy operas, such as Mirette
(1894), His Majesty, or The Court of Vignolia (1897), The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
(1897) and The Lucky Star
(1899).
Ross also wrote lyrics for the shows at Daly's Theatre
. His lyrics to additional numbers for An Artist's Model
(1895) and The Geisha
(1896) were successful enough so that Edwardes asked him for major contributions to the rest, beginning with A Greek Slave
(1898), especially after the death of the theatre's early chief lyricist, Harry Greenbank. These included a series of enormous successes, including San Toy
(1899), The Messenger Boy
(1900), Kitty Grey (1901), The Toreador
(1901), A Country Girl
(1902), The Girl from Kays
(1903), The Orchid
(1903), The Cingalee
(1904), The Spring Chicken
(1905) and The Girls of Gottenberg
(1907). In 1901, Ropes married Ethel Wood, an actress, and the couple produced a son and two daughters. The family resided in Church Street, Kensington
. Also in 1901, he collaborated with Mary Emily Ropes on the children's story, On Peter's Island.
When Edwardes found success, beginning in 1907, in mounting English-language versions of the new generation of continental European operettas to the London stage, Ross wrote the English lyrics for the adaptations, often with libretti by Basil Hood
. His words to the songs in The Merry Widow
(1907) became the standard English version of that piece, performed throughout the world for many decades. Other Continental musicals that Ross anglicized included A Waltz Dream (1908), The Dollar Princess
(1909), The Girl in the Train
(1910), The Count of Luxembourg
(1911), The Girl on the Film
(1913) and The Marriage Market (1913), most of which had enduring success throughout the English-speaking world. Other successes from this period were the musicals King of Cadonia
(1908), Havana
(1908), Our Miss Gibbs
(1909), The Quaker Girl
(1911), and Betty
in 1915. In addition, many of Ross's most successful pieces had additional successes on tour in Britain, in America and elsewhere. His biggest hits on Broadway included The Girl from Kays (1903), The Merry Widow (1907 and many revivals), Havana (1909), Madame Sherry (1911) and The Quaker Girl (1911).
In 1914, Ross was one of the founders of the Performing Rights Society. Ross continued, after the Edwardes's death, to write lyrics for numerous shows at the Gaiety, Daly's, the Adelphi Theatre
, and other London theatres. During World War I
, he contunued to produce hits, writing the lyrics for the musical adaptation of a French comedy, Theodore & Co
(1916), the musical The Boy
(1917), André Messager
's adaptation of Booth Tarkington
's Monsieur Beaucaire
(1919, "Philomel") and contributed to A Southern Maid
(1920). He also worked on the revue
s Three Cheers (1917) with Herman Darewski
, Airs and Graces with Lionel Monckton
, and, years later, Sky High for the Palladium Theatre, but these were only diversions from his chief focus of writing lyrics for musicals and operetta adaptations. In 1922, he wrote both the book and the lyrics for the popular English version of Das Dreimäderlhaus
, the international hit based on Franz Schubert
's music and life, produced in Britain as Lilac Time
. In 1927, Ross and Dudley Glass, an Australian composer, collaborated on a musicalization of The Beloved Vagabond by W. J. Locke. His last works were produced in 1930: the English adaptation of the operetta Friederike for the Palace Theatre
, and a musicalization of The Toymaker of Nuremberg by Austin Strong, which was produced as a Kingsway Theatre Christmas entertainment.
Ross collaborated extensively with the foremost British-based composers of musical theatre active during his productive period, including Carr, Ivan Caryll
, Monckton, Leslie Stuart
and Sidney Jones
, and later Paul Rubens
, Harold Fraser-Simson
, Howard Talbot
and Messager. Sixteen of his musicals ran for more than 400 performances. Ross tailored each song to fit the style required by the producer – songs for the Gaiety were different from those for Daly's. Many of his most popular shows, songs (both for the theatre and beyond it) and adaptations are still performed today.
, and dedicated to M. R. James
, the novel tells of a loathsome entity which inhabits a flooded pit amid the marshes surrounding the castle belonging to a brutal Cavalier. The book is notable for its depth of characterisation - the narrator, a young Puritan
scholar who has refused to join Oliver Cromwell
's army because of his objections to religious violence, is a compassionate man who sees the good in everyone, including the villains - and for its subtle depiction of the creature in the hole, which is never completely seen even as it overwhelms the castle. The novel was published in 1914 and never reprinted until Ramsey Campbell
collected it in his 1992 anthology Uncanny Banquet
. He also wrote Short History of Europe, edited Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu's Letters (Selection and Life), and was a contributor to Punch
magazine.
Ross died of heart failure at his home in Kensington, London on 11 September 1933 at the age of 73.
Adrian Ross (American football)
Adrian Ross is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1998. He played college football at Colorado State....
Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies
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...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the most important lyricist of the British stage during a career that spanned five decades. At a time when few shows had long runs, sixteen of his West End
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...
shows ran for over 400 performances.
Starting out in the late 1880s, Ross wrote the lyrics for the earliest British musical theatre hits, including In Town
In Town (musical)
In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...
(1892), The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
(1894) and The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant , with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton....
(1896). Ross next wrote the lyrics for a string of hit musicals, beginning with A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. The...
(1898), San Toy
San Toy
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
(1899), The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love...
(1900) and The Toreador
The Toreador
The Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an...
(1901) and continuing without a break through World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He also wrote the English lyrics for a series of hit adaptations of European operettas beginning with The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
in 1907.
During World War I, Ross was one of the founders of the Performing Rights Society. He continued writing until 1930, producing several more successes after the war. He also wrote the popular novel The Hole of the Pit and a number of short stories.
Life and career
Ross was born in LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London. He was the youngest son and fourth child of Ellen Harriet Ropes née Hall, of Scarborough, and William Hooper Ropes, a Russia merchant. Ross's parents lived in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France, but sent him to school in London at Priory House School in Clapton, Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....
, and the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
. He later attended King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, where, in 1881, he won the Chancellor's Medal for English verse for his poem "Temple Bar", and also won the Members' Prize for the English essay. In 1883 he graduated with a first-class degree, winning the Lightfoot scholarship for history and a Whewell scholarship for international law. He was elected a fellow of the College.
He was a Cambridge University graduate and don
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, teaching history and poetry from 1884 to 1890 and writing serious and comic verse of his own, the first volume of which was published in 1884. In 1889, he published "A Sketch of the History of Europe". He was also a translator of French and German literature. He created the fictitious name "Adrian Ross" due to a concern that writing musicals would compromise his academic career.
Early career
During a brief illness in 1883 after catching cold at the University Boat Race, Ross used the lonely time in bed to write the libretto of an entertainment entitled A Double Event. This was produced at St George's Hall in 1884 with music by Arthur LawArthur Law
William Arthur Law , better known as Arthur Law, was an English playwright, actor and scenic designer.-Life and career:...
, and Ropes used the name "Arthur Reed". His next work for the stage, also as Arthur Reed, was the book and lyrics for a musical burlesque, Faddimir (1889 at the Opera Comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
), with music by fellow Cambridge graduate, F. Osmond Carr.
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
commissioned the two to write another burlesque, together with the comic actor John Lloyd Shine, called Joan of Arc. Songs from the piece included "I Went to Find Emin", "Round the Town", and "Jack the Dandy-O". Joan of Arc opened in 1891 at the Opera Comique starring Arthur Roberts and 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...
, and Ross used the pseudonym Adrian Ross. The piece was a hit, lasting for almost eight hundred performances, and Ross resigned from Cambridge. To supplement his income from theatre writing, Ross became a contributor to such journals as Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
, Sketch, Sphere and The World, and he joined the staff of Ariel in 1891–1892. He wrote in The Tatler under the pseudonym Bran Pie and in 1893 published an edition of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters. He also published numerous French texts for the Pitt Press series.
Ross and Carr's next work, in collaboration with James T. Tanner
James T. Tanner
James Tolman Tanner was an English stage director and dramatist who wrote many of the successful musicals produced by George Edwardes.-Life and career:...
, was In Town
In Town (musical)
In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...
(1892), a smart, contemporary tale of backstage and society goings-on. This left behind the earlier Gaiety burlesques and helped set the new fashion for the series of modern-dress Gaiety Theatre
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...
shows that quickly spread to other theatres and dominated British musical theatre. For his next piece, Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound
Morocco Bound is a farcical English musical in two acts by Arthur Branscombe, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on April 13, 1893, under the management of Fred J. Harris, and transferred to the Trafalgar Square Theatre on...
(1893, with the song "Marguerite from Monte Carlo"), Ross concentrated on writing lyrics, leaving the "book" mostly to Arthur Branscombe. This proved to be his most successful model through most of his career. The position of "lyricist" was relatively new, as previously the writers of libretti would invariably write the lyrics themselves. As the new Edwardes-produced "musical comedies"
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...
took the place of burlesque, comic opera
Comic 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...
and 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:...
on the stage, Ross and Harry Greenbank
Harry Greenbank
Harry Greenbank was an English author and dramatist best known for contributing lyrics to the successful series musicals produced at Daly's Theatre by George Edwardes in the 1890s.-Life and career:...
established the usefulness of a separate lyricist.
Gaiety and Daly Theatre musicals
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...
's shows, beginning with The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
(1894, with his song "Brown of Colorado") and Go-Bang
Go-Bang
Go-Bang is an English musical comedy with words by Adrian Ross and music by F. Osmond Carr.The piece was produced by Fred Harris and opened at the Trafalgar Square Theatre on 10 March 1894. It ran for 159 performances. The show starred Harry Grattan, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Playfair,...
in 1895. He wrote over two thousand lyrics and produced lyrics for over sixty musicals thereafter, including most of the hit musicals through World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1896, he contributed to the Gaiety Theatre hit, The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant , with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton....
. He also wrote lyrics for the one-act comic opera
Comic 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...
, Weather or No
Weather or No
Weather or No is a one-act comic opera, styled a "musical duologue", by Bertram Luard-Selby with a libretto by Adrian Ross and William Beach...
(1896), which played as a companion piece to The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
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,...
, as well as several other Savoy operas, such as Mirette
Mirette (opera)
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...
(1894), His Majesty, or The Court of Vignolia (1897), The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is an opéra bouffe , in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
(1897) and The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star is an English comic opera, in three acts, composed by Ivan Caryll, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood...
(1899).
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...
. His lyrics to additional numbers for An Artist's Model
An Artist's Model
An Artist's Model is a two-act musical by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and music by Sidney Jones, with additional songs by Joseph and Mary Watson, Paul Lincke, Frederick Ross, Henry Hamilton and Leopold Wenzel. It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and...
(1895) and The Geisha
The Geisha
The Geisha, a story of a tea house is an Edwardian Musical Comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James Philip....
(1896) were successful enough so that Edwardes asked him for major contributions to the rest, beginning with A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave
A Greek Slave is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. The...
(1898), especially after the death of the theatre's early chief lyricist, Harry Greenbank. These included a series of enormous successes, including San Toy
San Toy
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
(1899), The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy
The Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love...
(1900), Kitty Grey (1901), The Toreador
The Toreador
The Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an...
(1901), A Country Girl
A Country Girl
A Country Girl, or, Town and Country is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens....
(1902), The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays is an English musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, Paul Rubens, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz and Edward Jones, book by Cecil Cook and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling...
(1903), The Orchid
The Orchid
The Orchid is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. It opened at Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 October 1903 and ran for 559 performances. It starred Gertie...
(1903), The Cingalee
The Cingalee
The Cingalee, or Sunny Ceylon is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens. It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on March 5, 1904 and ran until March...
(1904), The Spring Chicken
The Spring Chicken
The Spring Chicken is an English musical comedy adapted by George Grossmith, Jr. from Coquin de Printemps by Jaime and Duval, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and Grossmith, produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre, opening on 30 May...
(1905) and The Girls of Gottenberg
The Girls of Gottenberg
The Girls of Gottenberg is a musical play in two acts by George Grossmith, Jr. and L. E. Berman, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Basil Hood, and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. P. G...
(1907). In 1901, Ropes married Ethel Wood, an actress, and the couple produced a son and two daughters. The family resided in Church Street, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. Also in 1901, he collaborated with Mary Emily Ropes on the children's story, On Peter's Island.
When Edwardes found success, beginning in 1907, in mounting English-language versions of the new generation of continental European operettas to the London stage, Ross wrote the English lyrics for the adaptations, often with libretti by Basil Hood
Basil Hood
Basil Willett Charles Hood was a British librettist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including The Merry Widow. He embarked on a career in the British army, writing theatrical pieces in his spare...
. His words to the songs in The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
(1907) became the standard English version of that piece, performed throughout the world for many decades. Other Continental musicals that Ross anglicized included A Waltz Dream (1908), The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum , adapted into English by Basil Hood , with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened in London at Daly's Theatre on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances...
(1909), The Girl in the Train
The Girl in the Train
Die geschiedene Frau , is an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall with a libretto by Victor Léon, after Victorien Sardou's Divorçons!...
(1910), The Count of Luxembourg
The Count of Luxembourg
The Count of Luxembourg is an operetta in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross, music by Franz Lehár, based loosely on the German original, entitled "Der Graf von Luxemburg", which had premiered in Vienna in 1909....
(1911), The Girl on the Film
The Girl on the Film
Filmzauber, literally 'Film Magic', is a Posse mit Gesang in four scenes by Walter Kollo and Willy Bredschneider, with a German libretto by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolf Schanzer. A parody of silent films, Filmzauber premiered in Berlin in 1912. An English version, The Girl on the Film, translated...
(1913) and The Marriage Market (1913), most of which had enduring success throughout the English-speaking world. Other successes from this period were the musicals King of Cadonia
King of Cadonia
King of Cadonia is an English musical in two acts with a book by Frederick Lonsdale, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Arthur Wimperis and music by Sidney Jones and Frederick Rosse. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on 3 September 1908, produced by Frank Curzon, and ran for 333...
(1908), Havana
Havana (Edwardian musical)
Havana is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Graham Hill, music by Leslie Stuart, lyrics by Adrian Ross and additional lyrics by George Arthurs. It premiered on 25 April 1908 at the Gaiety Theatre, London, starring Evie Greene as Consuelo, W. H....
(1908), Our Miss Gibbs
Our Miss Gibbs
Our Miss Gibbs is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by 'Cryptos' and James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. Produced by George Edwardes, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 23 January 1909 and ran for an extremely...
(1909), The Quaker Girl
The Quaker Girl
The Quaker Girl is a Edwardian musical comedy in three acts with a book by James T. Tanner, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and music by Lionel Monckton. In its story, The Quaker Girl contrasts dour Quaker morality with Parisienne high fashion. The protagonist, Prudence, is thrown out...
(1911), and Betty
Betty (musical)
Betty is an English musical in three acts, with a book by Frederick Lonsdale and Gladys Unger, music by Paul Rubens and Ernest Steffan, and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Rubens. It was first produced at the Prince's Theatre in Manchester, opening on December 24, 1914, then at Daly's Theatre in London,...
in 1915. In addition, many of Ross's most successful pieces had additional successes on tour in Britain, in America and elsewhere. His biggest hits on Broadway included The Girl from Kays (1903), The Merry Widow (1907 and many revivals), Havana (1909), Madame Sherry (1911) and The Quaker Girl (1911).
Later career
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...
, and other London theatres. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he contunued to produce hits, writing the lyrics for the musical adaptation of a French comedy, Theodore & Co
Theodore & Co
Theodore & Co is an English musical comedy in two acts with a book by H. M. Harwood and George Grossmith, Jr. , with music by Ivor Novello and Jerome Kern and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Clifford Grey. It was produced by Grossmith and Edward Laurillard, opening at the Gaiety Theatre on 19 September...
(1916), the musical The Boy
The Boy (musical)
The Boy is a musical comedy with a book by Fred Thompson and Percy Greenbank , music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot and lyrics by Greenbank and Adrian Ross...
(1917), 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 adaptation of Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
's Monsieur Beaucaire
Monsieur Beaucaire (operetta)
Monsieur Beaucaire is a romantic opera in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto, based on the 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington, is by Frederick Lonsdale, with lyrics by Adrian Ross...
(1919, "Philomel") and contributed to A Southern Maid
A Southern Maid
A Southern Maid is an operetta in three acts composed by Harold Fraser-Simson, with a book by Dion Clayton Calthrop and Harry Graham and lyrics by Harry Graham and Harry Miller. Additional music was provided by Ivor Novello and George H. Clutsam, with additional lyrics by Adrian Ross and Douglas...
(1920). He also worked on the revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
s Three Cheers (1917) with Herman Darewski
Herman Darewski
Herman Darewski was a British composer and conductor of light music. His most successful work was perhaps The Better 'Ole, which ran for over 800 performances in its original London production in 1917...
, Airs and Graces with Lionel Monckton
Lionel Monckton
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
, and, years later, Sky High for the Palladium Theatre, but these were only diversions from his chief focus of writing lyrics for musicals and operetta adaptations. In 1922, he wrote both the book and the lyrics for the popular English version of Das Dreimäderlhaus
Das Dreimäderlhaus
Das Dreimäderlhaus , adapted into English language versions as Blossom Time and Lilac Time, is a Viennese pastiche 'operetta' with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Hungarian Heinrich Berté , and a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
, the international hit based on Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's music and life, produced in Britain as Lilac Time
Das Dreimäderlhaus
Das Dreimäderlhaus , adapted into English language versions as Blossom Time and Lilac Time, is a Viennese pastiche 'operetta' with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Hungarian Heinrich Berté , and a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
. In 1927, Ross and Dudley Glass, an Australian composer, collaborated on a musicalization of The Beloved Vagabond by W. J. Locke. His last works were produced in 1930: the English adaptation of the operetta Friederike for the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
, and a musicalization of The Toymaker of Nuremberg by Austin Strong, which was produced as a Kingsway Theatre Christmas entertainment.
Ross collaborated extensively with the foremost British-based composers of musical theatre active during his productive period, including Carr, Ivan Caryll
Ivan Caryll
Félix Marie Henri Tilkin , better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language...
, Monckton, Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
and Sidney Jones
Sidney Jones
James Sidney Jones , usually credited as Sidney Jones, was an English conductor and composer, most famous for producing the musical scores for a series of musical comedy hits in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods....
, and later 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....
, Harold Fraser-Simson
Harold Fraser-Simson
Harold Fraser-Simson , was an English composer of light music, including songs and the scores to musical comedies. His most famous musical was the World War I hit, The Maid of the Mountains, and he later set numerous children's poems to music, especially those of A. A...
, 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 Messager. Sixteen of his musicals ran for more than 400 performances. Ross tailored each song to fit the style required by the producer – songs for the Gaiety were different from those for Daly's. Many of his most popular shows, songs (both for the theatre and beyond it) and adaptations are still performed today.
Fiction and last years
Ross also wrote the popular horror novel The Hole of the Pit and a number of short stories. Set in 1645, during the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, and dedicated to M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
, the novel tells of a loathsome entity which inhabits a flooded pit amid the marshes surrounding the castle belonging to a brutal Cavalier. The book is notable for its depth of characterisation - the narrator, a young Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
scholar who has refused to join Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's army because of his objections to religious violence, is a compassionate man who sees the good in everyone, including the villains - and for its subtle depiction of the creature in the hole, which is never completely seen even as it overwhelms the castle. The novel was published in 1914 and never reprinted until Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
collected it in his 1992 anthology Uncanny Banquet
Uncanny Banquet
Uncanny Banquet is an anthology of reprinted horror stories edited by Ramsey Campbell and published by Little, Brown in 1992. The editor's intention, expressed in the introduction, was to "collect a range of stories as remarkable as the accredited classics of the field but less well known"...
. He also wrote Short History of Europe, edited Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu's Letters (Selection and Life), and was a contributor to Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
magazine.
Ross died of heart failure at his home in Kensington, London on 11 September 1933 at the age of 73.
List of stage works
Ross contributed lyrics to the following musicals and comic operas, often in collaboration with other lyricists:- Faddimir, or The Triumph of Orthodoxy (1889)
- Joan of Arc (1891) (400+ performances in total)
- Don Juan (1892, starring Roberts)
- The Young Recruit (1892)
- In TownIn Town (musical)In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...
(1892) (292 performances) - Morocco BoundMorocco BoundMorocco Bound is a farcical English musical in two acts by Arthur Branscombe, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, on April 13, 1893, under the management of Fred J. Harris, and transferred to the Trafalgar Square Theatre on...
(1893) (295 performances) - Go-BangGo-BangGo-Bang is an English musical comedy with words by Adrian Ross and music by F. Osmond Carr.The piece was produced by Fred Harris and opened at the Trafalgar Square Theatre on 10 March 1894. It ran for 159 performances. The show starred Harry Grattan, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Playfair,...
(1894) (129 performances) - The Shop GirlThe Shop GirlThe Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
(1894) (546 performances) - MiretteMirette (opera)Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...
revised English version (1894) (total of 102 performances in both versions) - Bobbo (1895)
- Biarritz (1896) (71 performances)
- My Girl (1896) (183 performances)
- Weather or NoWeather or NoWeather or No is a one-act comic opera, styled a "musical duologue", by Bertram Luard-Selby with a libretto by Adrian Ross and William Beach...
(1896) (209 performances) - The Circus GirlThe Circus GirlThe Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant , with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton....
(1896) (497 performances) - His Majesty, or The Court of Vignolia (1897) (61 performances)
- The Ballet Girl (1897)
- The Grand DuchessLa Grande-Duchesse de GérolsteinLa Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is an opéra bouffe , in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
(1897) (104 performances) - The Transit of Venus (1898)
- Billy (1898)
- A Greek SlaveA Greek SlaveA Greek Slave is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. The...
(1898) (349 performances) - Milord Sir Smith (1898) (82 performances)
- The Lucky StarThe Lucky StarThe Lucky Star is an English comic opera, in three acts, composed by Ivan Caryll, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood...
(1899) (143 performances) - San ToySan ToySan Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances...
(1899) (768 performances) - The Messenger BoyThe Messenger BoyThe Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love...
(1900) (429 performances) - The ToreadorThe ToreadorThe Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an...
(1901) (675 performances) - Kitty Grey (1901) (220 performances)
- A Country GirlA Country GirlA Country Girl, or, Town and Country is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens....
(1902) (729 performances) - The Girl from KaysThe Girl from KaysThe Girl from Kays is an English musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, Paul Rubens, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz and Edward Jones, book by Cecil Cook and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling...
(1903) (432 performances; 236 performances on Broadway) - The OrchidThe OrchidThe Orchid is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. It opened at Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 October 1903 and ran for 559 performances. It starred Gertie...
(1903) (559 performances) - The CingaleeThe CingaleeThe Cingalee, or Sunny Ceylon is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens. It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on March 5, 1904 and ran until March...
(1904) (365 performances) - The Spring ChickenThe Spring ChickenThe Spring Chicken is an English musical comedy adapted by George Grossmith, Jr. from Coquin de Printemps by Jaime and Duval, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and Grossmith, produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre, opening on 30 May...
(1905) (401 performances) - The Little Cherub (1906) (114 performances)
- Naughty Nero (1906)
- The New AladdinThe New AladdinThe New Aladdin is an English musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and W. H. Risque, with music by Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, and additional numbers by Frank E. Tours, and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank, W. H. Risque, and George Grossmith, Jr...
(1906) (203 performances) - See-See (1906) (152 performances).
- Les Merveilleuses (1906) (196 performances)
- The Girls of GottenbergThe Girls of GottenbergThe Girls of Gottenberg is a musical play in two acts by George Grossmith, Jr. and L. E. Berman, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Basil Hood, and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. P. G...
(1907) (303 performances) - The Merry WidowThe Merry WidowThe Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
(1907) (778 performances; 416 performances on Broadway, and many revivals) - A Waltz Dream (1908) (146 performances)
- HavanaHavana (Edwardian musical)Havana is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Graham Hill, music by Leslie Stuart, lyrics by Adrian Ross and additional lyrics by George Arthurs. It premiered on 25 April 1908 at the Gaiety Theatre, London, starring Evie Greene as Consuelo, W. H....
(1908) (221 performances; 231 performances on Broadway) - King of CadoniaKing of CadoniaKing of Cadonia is an English musical in two acts with a book by Frederick Lonsdale, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Arthur Wimperis and music by Sidney Jones and Frederick Rosse. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on 3 September 1908, produced by Frank Curzon, and ran for 333...
(1908) (333 performances) - The Dollar PrincessThe Dollar PrincessThe Dollar Princess is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum , adapted into English by Basil Hood , with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened in London at Daly's Theatre on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances...
(1909) (428 performances) - The Antelope (1909)
- Our Miss GibbsOur Miss GibbsOur Miss Gibbs is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by 'Cryptos' and James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. Produced by George Edwardes, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 23 January 1909 and ran for an extremely...
(1909) (636 performances) - The Dashing Little Duke (1909) (101 performances)
- The Arcadians (1910, 809 performances; Broadway production: 201 performances)
- Captain Kidd (1910)
- The Girl in the TrainThe Girl in the TrainDie geschiedene Frau , is an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall with a libretto by Victor Léon, after Victorien Sardou's Divorçons!...
(1910) (340 performances) - The Quaker GirlThe Quaker GirlThe Quaker Girl is a Edwardian musical comedy in three acts with a book by James T. Tanner, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and music by Lionel Monckton. In its story, The Quaker Girl contrasts dour Quaker morality with Parisienne high fashion. The protagonist, Prudence, is thrown out...
(1911) (536 performances; 248 performances on Broadway) - Madame Sherry (1911: 231 performances on Broadway)
- Castles in the Air (Frau Luna) (1911)
- The Count of LuxembourgThe Count of LuxembourgThe Count of Luxembourg is an operetta in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross, music by Franz Lehár, based loosely on the German original, entitled "Der Graf von Luxemburg", which had premiered in Vienna in 1909....
(1911) (240 performances) - Gipsy Love (1912) (299 performances)
- The Wedding Morning (1912)
- Tantalising Tommy (1912)
- The Dancing MistressThe Dancing MistressThe Dancing Mistress is a musical comedy with music by Lionel Monckton, book by James T. Tanner and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank. It depicts the fortunes of a school dancing mistress who is dismissed and finds fortune and happiness in Switzerland...
(1912) (241 performances) - The Girl on the FilmThe Girl on the FilmFilmzauber, literally 'Film Magic', is a Posse mit Gesang in four scenes by Walter Kollo and Willy Bredschneider, with a German libretto by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolf Schanzer. A parody of silent films, Filmzauber premiered in Berlin in 1912. An English version, The Girl on the Film, translated...
(Filmzauber) (1913) (232 performances) - The Marriage Market (Lednyedsdr) (1913)
- The Girl from UtahThe Girl from UtahThe Girl from Utah is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with music by Paul Rubens, and Sidney Jones, a book by James T. Tanner, and lyrics by Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and Rubens. The story concerns an American girl who runs away to London to avoid becoming a wealthy Mormon's newest wife...
(1913) (195 performances) - The Belle of Bond Street revised version of The Girl from KaysThe Girl from KaysThe Girl from Kays is an English musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, Paul Rubens, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz and Edward Jones, book by Cecil Cook and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling...
(1914) - BettyBetty (musical)Betty is an English musical in three acts, with a book by Frederick Lonsdale and Gladys Unger, music by Paul Rubens and Ernest Steffan, and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Rubens. It was first produced at the Prince's Theatre in Manchester, opening on December 24, 1914, then at Daly's Theatre in London,...
(1915) (391 performances) - The Light Blues (1915)
- The Happy DayThe Happy DayThe Happy Day is an English musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with music by Sidney Jones and Paul Rubens, and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Rubens. It was produced by George Edwardes's company and was directed by Evett. The musical opened at Daly's Theatre in London on 13 May 1916 and ran...
(1916) (241 performances) - Theodore & CoTheodore & CoTheodore & Co is an English musical comedy in two acts with a book by H. M. Harwood and George Grossmith, Jr. , with music by Ivor Novello and Jerome Kern and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Clifford Grey. It was produced by Grossmith and Edward Laurillard, opening at the Gaiety Theatre on 19 September...
(1916) (503 performances) - Oh! Caesar (1916) (toured only)
- The Happy Family (1916)
- Arlette (1917)
- The BoyThe Boy (musical)The Boy is a musical comedy with a book by Fred Thompson and Percy Greenbank , music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot and lyrics by Greenbank and Adrian Ross...
(1917) (801 performances) - Three Cheers (1917) (revue)
- Monsieur BeaucaireMonsieur Beaucaire (operetta)Monsieur Beaucaire is a romantic opera in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto, based on the 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington, is by Frederick Lonsdale, with lyrics by Adrian Ross...
(1919) (400 performances) - The Kiss Call (1919)
- Maggie (1919)
- The Eclipse (1919)
- Medorah (1920)
- A Southern MaidA Southern MaidA Southern Maid is an operetta in three acts composed by Harold Fraser-Simson, with a book by Dion Clayton Calthrop and Harry Graham and lyrics by Harry Graham and Harry Miller. Additional music was provided by Ivor Novello and George H. Clutsam, with additional lyrics by Adrian Ross and Douglas...
(1920) (306 performances) - The Love Flower (1920)
- The Naughty PrincessThe Naughty PrincessThe Naughty Princess is an opéra bouffe with music by Charles Cuvillier, book by J. Hastings Turner, and lyrics by Adrian Ross. The work, adapted from La reine joyeuse by Cuvillier and Andre Barde, depicts a princess with very modern ideas, who rebels against arranged marriage and court etiquette...
(1920) (280 performances – at the Adelphi TheatreAdelphi TheatreThe 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...
) - Faust on Toast (1921)
- Love's Awakening (1921)
- Lilac TimeDas DreimäderlhausDas Dreimäderlhaus , adapted into English language versions as Blossom Time and Lilac Time, is a Viennese pastiche 'operetta' with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Hungarian Heinrich Berté , and a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
(1922) (626 performances) - The Cousin from Nowhere (1922; Der Vetter aus Dingsda, 1921, composed by Eduard KünnekeEduard KünnekeEduard Künneke was a German composer of operettas, operas and theatre music. He was born in Emmerich. His daughter was the actress and singer Evelyn Künneke....
) (105 performances) - Head Over Heels (1923)
- The Beloved Vagabond (1927) (107 performances)
- Frederica (Friederike) (1930) (music by Franz LehárFranz LehárFranz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
) - The Toymaker of Nuremberg (1930) (32 performances)