Bluebell in Fairyland
Encyclopedia
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood (son of John Turner Hopwood
John Turner Hopwood
John Turner Hopwood was an English Liberal Party politician, and barrister.He was the only son of Robert and Elizabeth Hopwood . His paternal grandfather, also named Robert, was the second mayor of Blackburn...
) and Charles H. Taylor
Charles H. Taylor
Charles Hart Taylor is an American politician; a Republican, he represented North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He began serving in 1991 and continued through January 3, 2007....
, and music by Walter Slaughter
Walter Slaughter
Walter Alfred Slaughter was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.-Life and career:...
. It was produced by Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....
. The creators sought to distinguish the work from a Christmas pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. The story concerns a flower girl, Bluebell, who on Christmas Eve goes to fairyland in search of the "Sleeping King", seeking to restore him to his throne, which has been usurped by the "Reigning King".
First produced in 1901 in London, Bluebell in Fairyland was a hit, running for 300 performances. The piece provided inspiration for J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
's stories of Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
.
Background
Seymour HicksSeymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
was a writer-producer-actor in London who, with his singer-actress wife, Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
, created a number of hit musicals and plays in London in the 1890s and for decades thereafter, later turning to film. Other successes in the years after Bluebell were The Cherry Girl (1902), Quality Street
Quality Street (play)
Quality Street is a comedy in four acts by J. M. Barrie, written before his more famous work Peter Pan. The story is about two sisters who start a school "for genteel children"....
(1902), The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for...
(1903) and The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
(1904). They were so successful with these shows that they were able to build two theatres with the profits, the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
and the Hicks Theatre (now the Gielgud).
Bluebell in Fairyland was first produced at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
in London on 18 December 1901 and played for two performances daily until it closed on 26 June 1902, running for 300 performances. It starred Hicks as Dicky and his wife, Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
, as the title character. Phyllis Dare
Phyllis Dare
Phyllis Dare born Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century....
played Mab
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
. Costumes were by C. Wilhelm. The play was a critical and financial hit; it was revived regularly in London over the next four decades and played in other theatres throughout Britain and elsewhere in the English-speaking world. When Hicks built the Aldwych Theatre, he opened the house in 1905 with a long-running revival of the work. 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...
called the piece "really a charming and beautiful thing, of a simple, reminiscent kind, with capital music by Walter Slaughter and fine scenery.... Ellaline Terriss acts with exquisite simplicity ... while Hicks himself bears a large share of the work with his accustomed energy and confidence."
J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
and his friends the Llewelyn Davies boys
Llewelyn Davies boys
The Davies boys were the sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies . They served as the inspiration for the characters of Peter Pan and the other boys of J. M...
were so taken with the play that Barrie began to think about writing his own fairy play, and so it provided inspiration for the Peter Pan segment in his book The Little White Bird
The Little White Bird
The Little White Bird is a novel by J. M. Barrie, published in 1902, ranging in tone from fantasy and whimsy to social comedy with dark aggressive undertones. The book attained prominence and longevity due to several chapters written in a softer tone than the rest of the book, in which it...
and the subsequent play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. In its review of the 1923 revival at the Aldwych, 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 that the piece "wears quite well". It praised the cast, particularly Phyllis Black as Bluebell, Geoffrey Saville as Dickie, George Zucco
George Zucco
George Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
as the Reigning King, and the children's chorus. Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television....
, Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews
Jessie Matthews, OBE was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period.-Early life:...
, Charles Hawtrey
Charles Hawtrey (film actor)
George Frederick Joffre Hartree , known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English comedy actor and musician.Beginning at a young age as a boy soprano, he made several records before moving on to the radio...
and many other actors began their careers as children in the piece.
Synopsis
Act IOn Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, Bluebell, a flower girl, is dismayed that she has not sold enough flowers to purchase Christmas gifts for her little sisters, Mab and Winnie. Mr. Joplin, a wealthy merchant, who is stuck by her beauty, has long wished to adopt Bluebell. After a misunderstanding involving the police, Mr. Joplin finds Bluebell in the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, among her friends, a group of flower girls and boot blacks. He gives some money to Bluebell and sends her home. In a garret, Bluebell's sisters and her faithful black cat, Peter, are preparing for Christmas. Bluebell arrives and reads to her sisters the story of the Sleepy King, who has been condemned, for undue thrift, to sleep until he should be awakened by a good girl. The three girls soon fall asleep.
Bluebell dreams that the fairy queen
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
and the fairies step out of the fireplace and ask Bluebell to come to the Palace where the reigning King of Fairyland has usurped the throne. Bluebell and Peter soon meet Blib and Blob, who are to escort them from the Palace to the dungeon where the Sleepy King is being held prisoner. Once at the Palace, however, she sees the reigning King and Queen, whom she recognizes as Will and Won't, Mr. Joplin's eccentric servants. They are giving a children's party. Bluebell asks to be admitted, but instead she is arrested. The fairy queen rescues her, however, and leads her to the Sleepy King.
Act II
Bluebell meets Will o'the Wisp, who will help her. They meet the Fairy Waterlilly, who leads them to the Enchanted Glade, where they find the Magic Oak, which grows above the Sleepy King's dungeon. Peter kills the dwarf who is guarding the Oak, and the group descends. The Sleepy King has grown old. Bluebell awakens him by ringing a bell, and they all head for the Palace. At the Doll's Castle, a big party is in progress. Everyone enters, and Bluebell introduces the Sleepy King, who is revealed as the rightful King, and also as Bluebell's sweetheart, the crossing sweeper
Crossing sweeper
A crossing sweeper was a person who would sweep a path ahead of people crossing dirty urban streets in exchange for a gratuity. This practice was an informal occupation among the urban poor, primarily during the 19th century...
Dicky. The reigning King and Queen are dethroned, and Dicky asks Bluebell to be his queen. Just then the Christmas bells chime, and Bluebell knows that she must return to her two sisters, so she flees back to the garret.
It is morning, and as Bluebell awakens, Mr. Joplin and Dicky come in. Mr. Joplin wants to adopt all three girls, to Dicky's great alarm. But Bluebell rushes back, and she and Dicky become engaged, and all ends happily.
Musical numbers
Act I- Opening and Carol – "Hour by hour the dying year tolls its solemn warning; hour by hour the new draws near"
- Chorus of Flower Girls and Shoeblacks – "It's Christmas time, it's Christmas time, the best in all the year"
- Song – Blue-Bell – "Night by night in dark December, while the wintry winds blow chill"
- Trio – Will, Won't and Joplin – "Now, what you think that he meant when he said, 'Tut-tut!'"
- Duet – Blue-Bell and Dicky – "Suppose we try a music-hall, there's always lots of fun"
- Quartette – Girls and Cats – "Two little cats on the cold, cold leads – miaou, miaou, miaou"
- Vocal Gavotte – Blue-Bell – "Point your toe as you trip it lightly, raise your paw and smooth your fur"
- Chorus of Fairies – "Blue-bell, 'tis you whom the fairies have bidden; seek out the cave where the king lies asleep"
- Vocal Polka – "Brightly, brightly our party has now begun"
- Song – Queen and Regent, with Chorus – "A sense of humour is a thing that isn't wanted in a king"
- Duet – Blib and Blob – "That all that glitters is not gold, the copy-books instill"
- Trio – Blue-Bell, Blib and Blob – "I'm old Mother Hubbard who went to the cupboard to fetch the poor dog a bone"
- Finale Act I – "I'll ask the king if we may stay, I'm sure we shan't be turned away"
Act II
- Opening
- Song – Water Lily and Chorus – "When the stars begin to twinkle in the silent summer skies"
- Dance – Will o' the Wisp
- Dance – Autumn Leaves
- Chorus, with Dove, Sparrow, Fish, Beetle, Kite, Thrush, and Bull – "Who killed Cock Robin?"
- Entrance of Bluebell
- Chorus – "Peal, golden bells; let your music ring, from Fairyland's spells to waken a King"
- Sabot Dance
- Yacht Dance
Roles and original cast
- Dicky – (a crossing sweeper; also the Sleepy King) – Seymour HicksSeymour HicksSir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
- Mr. Joplin – (a city merchant) –
- Will and Won't – (Mr. Joplin's footmen; also the Reigning King and Queen) –
- Policeman I. C. –
- An Organ Grinder –
- Peter – a Cat – Pat Kay
- Slim – a Cat –
- Hearty – (Bluebell's landlady) –
- MabQueen MabQueen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
– Phyllis DarePhyllis DarePhyllis Dare born Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century.... - Winnie and Meg – Bluebell's sisters
- A Rich Lady –
- First Bootblack –
- Bluebell – (a London flower girl) – Ellaline TerrissEllaline TerrissEllaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
- The Water Lily
- Will o'the Wisp
- Yellow Dwarf
- The Doll
- Flower girls, maids, boot blacks, fairies, etc.