C. Hayden Coffin
Encyclopedia
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....
.
Hayden achieved fame as Harry Sherwood in the Dorothy
Dorothy (opera)
Dorothy is a comic opera in three acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by B. C. Stephenson. The story involves a rake who falls in love with his disguised fiancée.It was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre in London on in 1886...
(1886), which became the longest-running piece of musical theatre
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...
in history up to that time; other similar roles followed. In 1893, he joined the company of George Edwardes and starred in a series of extraordinarily successful musical comedies, including A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl is an English musical comedy in two acts by a team of musical comedy neophytes: Owen Hall , Harry Greenbank and Sidney Jones . It opened at Prince of Wales Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes, on 14 October 1893 and ran for 413 performances. The show starred C...
(1893), 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), 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), 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), 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....
(1903), Veronique
Véronique (operetta)
Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
(1904), The Girl Behind the Counter
The Girl Behind the Counter
The Girl Behind the Counter is an Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Arthur Anderson and Leedham Bantok, music by Howard Talbot and lyrics by Arthur Anderson , produced by Frank Curzon....
(1906), Tom Jones
Tom Jones (opera)
Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor....
(1907) and 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...
(1910).
In his later years, Coffin found success in Shakespearean roles such as Feste in Twelfth Night (1912), and in musicals, a few films and other works, such as the classic comedy The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
(1929).
Life and career
Coffin was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. His parents were from Maine, and his father was a dentist. Coffin passed the preliminary examinations to enter the College of Surgeons, but decided instead to become an actor. In 1883, he performed at St. George's Hall
St. George's Hall (London)
St. George's Hall was a theatre located in Langham Place, Regent Street in London, built in 1867, which closed in 1966. The hall could accommodate between 800 and 900 persons, or up to 1,500 persons including the galleries...
in London as Tom Gilroy in H. J. Byron's "Partners for Life" and as Vivid in "Monsieur Jacques"
Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon was a prolific English composer, as well as a conductor, orchestrator and pianist. Though he died before his fortieth birthday, he wrote dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, such as The Nautch Girl, among others.-Early...
and Sydney Grundy
Sydney Grundy
Sydney Grundy was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world...
's Pocahontas (1885). He then played Coriolon in Lily of Leoville by 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...
. Coffin rose to fame as Harry Sherwood in Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
and B. C. Stephenson
B. C. Stephenson
Benjamin Charles Stephenson or B. C. Stephenson was an English dramatist, lyricist and librettist. After beginning a career in the civil service, he started to write for the theatre, using the pen name "Bolton Rowe". He was author or co-author of several long-running shows of the Victorian theatre...
's record-setting hit Dorothy
Dorothy (opera)
Dorothy is a comic opera in three acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by B. C. Stephenson. The story involves a rake who falls in love with his disguised fiancée.It was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre in London on in 1886...
(1886), in which he introduced the popular song, "Queen of My Heart." Coffin's good looks and powerful voice made him one of the most popular stage baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
s of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early in his career, he also had successes with the same team's Doris
Doris (opera)
Doris is a "comedy opera" in three acts by Alfred Cellier, with a libretto by B. C. Stephenson. After the phenomenal success of Cellier and Stephenson's Dorothy , the pair were hoping for another big hit. Doris turned out to be only modestly successful.It opened at the Lyric Theatre in London on...
(1889), Solomon and Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp , was an English dramatist and journalist. With a variety of partners, he wrote burlesques, comic operas and musical comedies that briefly rivalled the Savoy Operas in popular esteem.-Life and career:"Pot" Stephens was born in Barrow-on-Soar,...
' The Red Hussar
The Red Hussar
The Red Hussar is a comedy opera in three acts by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens, which opened at the Lyric Theatre in London on 23 November 1889, running for 175 performances. It was the revised version of an opera written several years earlier called The White Sergeant...
(1889, as Sir Harry Leighton), F. C. Burnand's adaptation of Edmond Audran
Edmond Audran
Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
's La Cigale (1890), and Captain Therese (1890), among others. He spent the 1892–93 season in New York City co-starring in several productions with soprano Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.Russell was born in Iowa but raised in Chicago...
. He also starred in a number of 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...
s.
Coffin returned to London in 1893 to star in a series of hit Edwardian musical comedies produced by George Edwardes and composed by 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 then 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:...
. His roles in these included Charles Goldfield in A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl
A Gaiety Girl is an English musical comedy in two acts by a team of musical comedy neophytes: Owen Hall , Harry Greenbank and Sidney Jones . It opened at Prince of Wales Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes, on 14 October 1893 and ran for 413 performances. The show starred C...
(1893), Rudolph Blair in 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), Reginald Fairfax in 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), Diomed in 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), Captain Bobby Preston in 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), Geoffrey Challoner in 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....
(1903) and Harry Vereker in 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). He also starred in Veronique
Véronique (operetta)
Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
(1904), as Charlie Chetwynd in The Girl Behind the Counter
The Girl Behind the Counter
The Girl Behind the Counter is an Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Arthur Anderson and Leedham Bantok, music by Howard Talbot and lyrics by Arthur Anderson , produced by Frank Curzon....
(1906) and in the title role in Tom Jones
Tom Jones (opera)
Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor....
(1907). Coffin had a brief London run and tour in Two Merry Monarchs
Two Merry Monarchs
Two Merry Monarchs is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by Arthur Anderson and George Levy, lyrics by Anderson and Hartley Carrick, and music by Orlando Morgan. It opened at the Savoy Theatre in London on 10 March 1910, under the management of C. H. Workman, and ran there for 43...
(1910) as Prince Charmis and then played Captain Charteris in another hit, 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...
(1910).
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,...
in 1912. He also made occasional appearances in musicals such as Young England (1916) and As You Were (1918). He made several films until 1930 and also continued touring through the 1920s. In 1929, he played Sir Harry Bumper in The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
at the Kingsway Theatre.
Coffin was first engaged to actress Hope Temple but married actress Adeline de Leuw, whose first husband was the composer Alberto Randegger
Alberto Randegger
Alberto Randegger was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely-used textbook on singing technique.-Life and career:Randegger was born in Trieste, Italy, the son of...
. He died in London at the age of 73.
Recordings
Coffin made a small number of records for the Gramophone CompanyGramophone Company
The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" label...
, as follows:
- 4-2834 When travelling days are over Young England (Hubert BathHubert BathHubert Charles Bath was a British film composer and music director. His credits include Tudor Rose , A Yank at Oxford and Millions Like Us .Bath was born in Barnstaple, Devon in 1883....
) c. 1916, 10", coupled on E35. (speed 81) - 2-4385 Young Fresh England Young England (Hubert BathHubert BathHubert Charles Bath was a British film composer and music director. His credits include Tudor Rose , A Yank at Oxford and Millions Like Us .Bath was born in Barnstaple, Devon in 1883....
) in ensemble, 10", coupled on E 35. - 02714 Who sings of England? Young England (G. H. Clutsam), 1916–17, 12", coupled on D200.