Edward Laurillard
Encyclopedia
Edward Laurillard was a cinema and theatre producer in London
and New York
during the first third of the 20th century. He is best remembered for promoting the cinema early in the 20th century and for musical comedies
produced in partnership with George Grossmith, Jr.
, including Tonight's the Night
(1914), Theodore & Co
(1916) and Yes, Uncle!
(1917).
in The Netherlands, he was educated at Osnabrück
and in Paris
. Laurillard moved to London, England as a young man. He was married and divorced twice.
, producing King Kodak, and his first big success was The Gay Parisienne at the Duke of York's Theatre
, which introduced the hit song "Sister Mary Jane's Top Note." Other early productions included My Old Dutch and Oh! Susannah, after which he toured the United States
. The Savoy Theatre
in London, closed in 1903 after the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
discontinued producing its Savoy opera
s there, was reopened under the management of Laurillard in February 1904 with The Love Birds, by Raymond Roze and Percy Greenbank
, starring George Grossmith, Jr.
, who would later become Laurillard's producing partner.
He soon became manager of the New Gallery Cinema in Regent Street and built a group of 25 cinemas. He screened Herbert Beerbohm Tree
's film of Henry VIII
, one of the first films of a big stage production. With Grossmith, he brought the ethnic comedy hit, Potash and Perlmutter by Montague Glass, to London in 1914 for a long run at the Queen's Theatre
. He was then the manager of the Comedy Theatre for the production of Peg O' My Heart by John Hartley Manners. Grossmith and Laurillard opened Tonight's the Night
, based on the farce Pink Dominoes, at the Shubert Theatre
in New York in 1914 (the first Gaiety show to be produced in New York before opening in London) and then moved to the Gaiety Theatre, London
in 1915.
Back in London, at the Prince of Wales Theatre
, Grossmith and Laurillard had successes with Mr Manhattan (1916) and Yes, Uncle!
(1917). At the Gaiety Theatre, Laurillard's biggest hit was Theodore & Co
(1916). At that theatre, he later produced two shows in 1921: Faust on Toast, a burlesque starring Jack Buchanan
, and Maurice Maeterlinck
's play The Betrothal, featuring Bobbie Andrews and Gladys Cooper
, with incidental music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
and costumes by Charles Ricketts
.
to produce several shows from 1917 to 1921. These included Arlette (1917), Baby Bunting by Fred Thompson
and Worton David (1919), The Great Lover, by Leo Ditrichstein, Frederic Hatton, and Fanny Hatton (1920), and Out to Win, by Roland Pertwee and Dion Clayton Calthrop (1921). At the Alhambra Theatre
, they produced Oscar Asche
and Dornford Yates
's conception of Eastward Ho! in 1919.
The partners also purchased the Winter Garden Theatre
in 1919, where they produced Kissing Time
(1919, with a book by P. G. Wodehouse
and Guy Bolton
and music by Ivan Caryll
) and A Night Out
(1920). Grossmith and Laurillard also became managers of the Apollo Theatre
in 1920 (they had produced The Only Girl there in 1916 and Tilly of Bloomsbury there in 1919), producing the stage version of George Du Maurier
’s novel Trilby
(1922) and Such a Nice Young Man by H.F. Maltby
, among others over the next three years. After this, Grossmith and Laurillard terminated their partnership.
Other shows that Laurillard produced in the 1920s included The Naughty Princess
, with a book by John Hastings Turner, lyrics by Adrian Ross
, and music by Charles Cuvillier
at the Adelphi Theatre
(1920), Don 'Q, with words by Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard
with and music by Charles Essen (1921), The Smith Family at the Empire Theatre
in 1922 and The Butter and Egg Man at the Garrick Theatre
in 1927.
The Piccadilly Theatre
was built by Bertie Crewe
and Edward A. Stone, for Laurillard's production company in 1928, opening with Blue Eyes, a romantic musical with music by Kern and book and lyrics by Bolton and Graham John.
Laurillard also brought to London Ralph Benatzky
's My Sister and I (Meine Schwester und ich aka Meet My Sister) in 1931. In his last years, he moved to New York and also spent some time in Hollywood.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
during the first third of the 20th century. He is best remembered for promoting the cinema early in the 20th century and for musical comedies
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...
produced in partnership with George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr. was a British actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies...
, including Tonight's the Night
To-Night's the Night (musical)
To-Night's the Night is a musical comedy composed by Paul Rubens, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and Rubens, and a book adapted by Fred Thompson. Two songs were composed by Jerome Kern. The story is based on the farce Les Dominos roses .The musical was produced by George Grossmith, Jr. and Edward...
(1914), 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) and Yes, Uncle!
Yes, Uncle!
Yes, Uncle! is a musical comedy by Austen Hurgen and George Arthurs, with music by Nat D. Ayer and lyrics by Clifford Grey...
(1917).
Life and career
Born in RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in The Netherlands, he was educated at Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Laurillard moved to London, England as a young man. He was married and divorced twice.
Early career
In 1894, Laurillard became manager of Terry's TheatreTerry's Theatre
Terry's Theatre was a West End theatre on Strand, in the City of Westminster, London. Built in 1887, it became a cinema in 1910 before being demolished in 1923.-History:...
, producing King Kodak, and his first big success was The Gay Parisienne at the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
, which introduced the hit song "Sister Mary Jane's Top Note." Other early productions included My Old Dutch and Oh! Susannah, after which he toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. 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,...
in London, closed in 1903 after the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
discontinued producing its Savoy opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
s there, was reopened under the management of Laurillard in February 1904 with The Love Birds, by Raymond Roze and Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank was an English lyricist, best known for his contribution of lyrics to a number of successful Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century. His older brother, lyricist Harry Greenbank, had a brilliant career in the 1890s that was cut short by his death at the...
, starring George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith, Jr. was a British actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies...
, who would later become Laurillard's producing partner.
He soon became manager of the New Gallery Cinema in Regent Street and built a group of 25 cinemas. He screened Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
's film of Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
, one of the first films of a big stage production. With Grossmith, he brought the ethnic comedy hit, Potash and Perlmutter by Montague Glass, to London in 1914 for a long run at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
. He was then the manager of the Comedy Theatre for the production of Peg O' My Heart by John Hartley Manners. Grossmith and Laurillard opened Tonight's the Night
To-Night's the Night (musical)
To-Night's the Night is a musical comedy composed by Paul Rubens, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and Rubens, and a book adapted by Fred Thompson. Two songs were composed by Jerome Kern. The story is based on the farce Les Dominos roses .The musical was produced by George Grossmith, Jr. and Edward...
, based on the farce Pink Dominoes, at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
in New York in 1914 (the first Gaiety show to be produced in New York before opening in London) and then moved to the Gaiety Theatre, London
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...
in 1915.
Back in London, at the Prince of Wales Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...
, Grossmith and Laurillard had successes with Mr Manhattan (1916) and Yes, Uncle!
Yes, Uncle!
Yes, Uncle! is a musical comedy by Austen Hurgen and George Arthurs, with music by Nat D. Ayer and lyrics by Clifford Grey...
(1917). At the Gaiety Theatre, Laurillard's biggest hit was 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). At that theatre, he later produced two shows in 1921: Faust on Toast, a burlesque starring Jack Buchanan
Jack Buchanan
Walter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...
, and Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also called Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life...
's play The Betrothal, featuring Bobbie Andrews and 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....
, with incidental music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs was an English composer. A monument on the north chancel wall of the church of St John the Baptist, Danbury, Essex states that "He lived, worked and is buried in Danbury".He studied with Edward Dent at Trinity College, Cambridge, and with Charles Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams...
and costumes by Charles Ricketts
Charles Ricketts
Charles de Sousy Ricketts was a versatile English artist, illustrator, author and printer, and is best known for his work as book designer and typographer from 1896 to 1904 with the Vale Press, and his work in the theatre as a set and costume designer.-Life and career:Ricketts was born in Geneva...
.
Later years
Grossmith and Laurillard leased the Shaftesbury TheatreOriginal Shaftesbury Theatre
The Original Shaftesbury Theatre was a theatre in central London between 1888 and 1941. It was built by John Lancaster for his wife, Ellen Wallis, a well-known Shakespearean actress. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps and built by Messrs...
to produce several shows from 1917 to 1921. These included Arlette (1917), Baby Bunting by Fred Thompson
Fred Thompson (writer)
Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies from World War I to World War II. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and...
and Worton David (1919), The Great Lover, by Leo Ditrichstein, Frederic Hatton, and Fanny Hatton (1920), and Out to Win, by Roland Pertwee and Dion Clayton Calthrop (1921). At the Alhambra Theatre
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
, they produced Oscar Asche
Oscar Asche
John Stange Heiss Oscar Asche , better known as Oscar Asche, was an Australian actor, director and writer, best known for having written, directed, and acted in the record-breaking musical Chu Chin Chow, both on stage and film, and for acting in, directing, or producing many Shakespeare plays and...
and Dornford Yates
Dornford Yates
Dornford Yates was the pseudonym of the British novelist, Cecil William Mercer , whose novels and short stories, some humorous , some thrillers , were best-sellers in the 21-year interwar period between the First and Second world wars.The pen name, Dornford Yates, first in print in 1910, resulted...
's conception of Eastward Ho! in 1919.
The partners also purchased the Winter Garden Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
in 1919, where they produced Kissing Time
Kissing Time
thumb|right|[[Leslie Henson]] and [[Phyllis Dare]] Kissing Time, an earlier version of which was titled The Girl Behind the Gun, is a musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey...
(1919, with a book by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
and Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
and music 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...
) and A Night Out
A Night Out (musical)
A Night Out is a musical comedy with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Arthur Miller, music by Willie Redstone and Cole Porter and lyrics by Clifford Grey. The story is adapted from the 1894 French comedy L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières...
(1920). Grossmith and Laurillard also became managers of the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
in 1920 (they had produced The Only Girl there in 1916 and Tilly of Bloomsbury there in 1919), producing the stage version of George Du Maurier
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier...
’s novel Trilby
Trilby (novel)
Trilby is a novel by George du Maurier and one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894, it was published in book form in 1895 and sold 200,000 copies in the United...
(1922) and Such a Nice Young Man by H.F. Maltby
H.F. Maltby
Henry Francis Maltby was a prolific writer for the London stage and British cinema from after the First World War, until the 1950s. He also appeared in many films.-Life and career:...
, among others over the next three years. After this, Grossmith and Laurillard terminated their partnership.
Other shows that Laurillard produced in the 1920s included The Naughty Princess
The Naughty Princess
The 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...
, with a book by John Hastings Turner, lyrics by Adrian Ross
Adrian Ross
For the NFL player see Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes , 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...
, and music by Charles Cuvillier
Charles Cuvillier
Charles Cuvillier was a French composer of operetta. He won his greatest successes with the operettas La reine s'amuse and with The Lilac Domino, which became a hit in 1918 in London.-Biography:Cuvillier was born in Paris, and studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Gabriel Fauré and...
at the Adelphi Theatre
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...
(1920), Don 'Q, with words by Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard
Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard
Major Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard, DSO, MC, FRGS, FZS was an explorer, adventurer, big-game hunter and marksman who made a significant contribution to sniping practice within the British Army during the First World War...
with and music by Charles Essen (1921), The Smith Family at the Empire Theatre
Empire Theatre
Empire Theatre or Empire Theater may refer to:In the United Kingdom:*Empire Theatre of Varieties, now the Empire, Leicester Square, City of Westminster, London*Glasgow Empire Theatre, Glasgow*Hackney Empire, in Hackney...
in 1922 and The Butter and Egg Man at the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in 1927.
The Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
was built by Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915-Biography:Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R...
and Edward A. Stone, for Laurillard's production company in 1928, opening with Blue Eyes, a romantic musical with music by Kern and book and lyrics by Bolton and Graham John.
Laurillard also brought to London Ralph Benatzky
Ralph Benatzky
Ralph Benatzky , Moravia, Austrian Empire – 16 October 1957), born in Moravské Budějovice as Rudolf Josef František Benatzki, was an Austrian composer of Czech origin...
's My Sister and I (Meine Schwester und ich aka Meet My Sister) in 1931. In his last years, he moved to New York and also spent some time in Hollywood.