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Henry Hamilton (playwright)
Encyclopedia
Henry Hamilton was an English playwright, lyricist, and critic. He is best remembered for his musical theatre
pieces.
Hamilton was born at Nunhead
, Surrey
. He was educated at Christ's Hospital
. Originally an actor, he debuted in 1873 at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh
. He later appeared in London at the Lyceum Theatre and the Drury Lane
. He retired from the stage in 1883 and turned to writing plays, his first being A Shadow Sceptre. His most popular theatre pieces included The Duchess of Dantzic
(1903), Veronique
(1905) and The Little Michus
(1907). He was also the author of the popular song "Private Tommy Atkins
".
He died at Sandgate, Kent
.
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...
pieces.
Hamilton was born at Nunhead
Nunhead
Nunhead is a place in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England. It is an inner-city suburb located southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery. Nunhead has traditionally been a working-class area and, with the adjacent neighbourhoods, is currently going...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. He was educated at Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
. Originally an actor, he debuted in 1873 at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh
Theatre Royal, Edinburgh
Four theatre buildings in Edinburgh have borne the name Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, though the final three were all rebuildings of the second. The first was the Theatre Royal, Shakespeare Square, at the east end of Princes Street. This was opened 9 December 1769 by actor manager David Ross, and was...
. He later appeared in London at the Lyceum Theatre and the Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
. He retired from the stage in 1883 and turned to writing plays, his first being A Shadow Sceptre. His most popular theatre pieces included The Duchess of Dantzic
The Duchess of Dantzic
The Duchess of Dantzic is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton, based on the play Madame Sans-Gêne by Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau. Additional lyrics by Adrian Ross...
(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...
(1905) and The Little Michus
The Little Michus
Les p'tites Michu is an opérette in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto was by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval.Dismayed by the Paris reception for his 1896 piece, Le Chevalier d’Harmental, Messager retreated to London vowing to write no more...
(1907). He was also the author of the popular song "Private Tommy Atkins
Tommy Atkins
Tommy Atkins is a term for a common soldier in the British Army that was already well established in the 19th century, but is particularly associated with World War I. It can be used as a term of reference, or as a form of address. German soldiers would call out to "Tommy" across no man's land if...
".
He died at Sandgate, Kent
Sandgate, Kent
Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Shepway district of Kent, England. In 2004, the village re-acquired civil parish status....
.
Works
- Stolen Orders, play, with Cecil RaleighCecil RaleighCecil Raleigh was an English actor and playwright.He was the son of Dr. John Fothergill Rowlands, and took the stage name of Raleigh...
1915, turned into a motion picture in 1918 - The Whip, play, with Raleigh, 1912, turned into motion pictures in 1917 and 1928
- Autumn Manoeuvres (1909), the English version of Tatárjárás, a musical play by Emmerich KalmanEmmerich KalmanEmmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition...
with a Hungarian libretto by Karl von Bakony and R. Bodanski. It had been produced as The Gay HussarsThe Gay HussarsThe Gay Hussars is an operetta in three acts by Emmerich Kálmán. The piece was Kalman's first operetta and a hit throughout Europe and America. The first version, in Hungarian, Tatárjárás, with libretto by Karl von Bakonyi and Andor Gábor, premiered at the Lustspieltheater in Budapest on 22...
in America in 1909 and was then adapted for the English stage by Hamilton; lyrics by Percy GreenbankPercy GreenbankPercy 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...
.
- The Sins of Society, play, with Raleigh, 1909, turned into a motion picture in 1915
- Moths, adaptation
- La ToscaLa ToscaLa Tosca is a five-act drama by the 19th-century French playwright Victorien Sardou. It was first performed on 24 November 1887 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role...
, adaptation - Expiation, play, 1909
- The Little MichusThe Little MichusLes p'tites Michu is an opérette in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto was by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval.Dismayed by the Paris reception for his 1896 piece, Le Chevalier d’Harmental, Messager retreated to London vowing to write no more...
, musical comedy, book (English translation of book by Albert VanlooAlbert VanlooAlbert Vanloo was a Belgian librettist and playwright.Vanloo lived in Paris as a child and was attracted to the theatre. As a young student he began writing plays and opéra comique libretti, notably with Eugène Leterrier who remained his main collaborator until the latter's death in 1884...
and Georges Duval), 1907 - VeroniqueVéronique (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...
, comic opera, book (English adaptation of French libretto by Vanloo and Duval), 1905 - The Duchess of DantzicThe Duchess of DantzicThe Duchess of Dantzic is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton, based on the play Madame Sans-Gêne by Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau. Additional lyrics by Adrian Ross...
, romantic light opera, 1903, book and lyrics, music by Ivan CaryllIvan CaryllFélix 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...
(based on the play Madame Sans-GêneMadame Sans-GêneMadame Sans-Gêne may refer to:*Marie-Thérèse Figueur , French female soldier*Cathérine Hübscher, wife of Marshal of France François Joseph Lefebvre, whose life has been dramatised in:...
by Victorien SardouVictorien SardouVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
) - The School Girl, musical, 1904, book
- The King's Musketeer, romantic play, 1899 (after the novel The Three MusketeersThe Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
by Alexandre Dumas) - The Great Ruby, play, with Raleigh, 1898, turned into a motion picture in 1915
- The White Heather, play, with Raleigh, 1897, turned into a motion picture in 1919
- Dick Whittington and His CatDick Whittington and His CatDick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...
, an 1894 pantomime version of this tale. - The Derby Winner, produced in the United States under the title The Sporting Duchess, melodrama, with Augustus HarrisAugustus HarrisSir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris , was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.-Early life:Harris was born in Paris, France, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris , who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier...
and Cecil Raleigh, 1895, turned into motion pictures in 1915 and 1920 - Carmen, with Prosper MériméeProsper MériméeProsper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, play (from the opera by Georges BizetGeorges BizetGeorges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
) - Handfast, play, with Mark Quinton, 1897
- Harvest, play, 1886
- Our Regiment, 1883
- A Shadow Sceptre
- The Royal Oak, play, with Harris, turned into a motion picture in 1923
- The Hope, play, with Raleigh, turned into a motion picture in 1920
- The Best of Luck, play, with Raleigh and Arthur Collins, turned into a motion picture in 1920
External links
- Henry Hamilton at the Internet Broadway Database
- Henry Hamilton at the Internet Movie Database