The Cingalee
Encyclopedia
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 11, 1905 for a total of 365 (another source giving 391) performances. The musical had a short Broadway run, opening at the Original Daly's Theatre in New York on October 24, 1904 and running for 33 performances.
The Cingalee is set in Ceylon and concerns colonial tea planters (one of the most popular songs in the score is called simply "Tea, tea, tea"!) in an era before this island paradise became the more troubled Sri Lanka
. It was given a showy production and was a success in London. The fashion there for shows set in Asian locales had been started by The Mikado
and continued by The Geisha
, San Toy
, The Nautch Girl
, A Chinese Honeymoon
and others. There is little in the music to give The Cingalee an Eastern flavour. However, Monckton's catchy sextet, "The Island of Gay Ceylon" and "Pearl of Sweet Ceylon" and Ruben's "White and Brown Girl", "Sloe Eyes", "Monkeys" and "You and I" are highlights of the musical score. The condescending racial nature of The Cingalee's libretto, however, would be unacceptable today, and so The Cingalee is unlikely to be revived.http://www.library.unt.edu/theses/open/20032/hicks_william/thesis.pdf
The London cast included Hayden Coffin, Rutland Barrington
, Huntley Wright
and Isabel Jay
. A young Lily Elsie
also appeared in the show, as did Topsy Sinden
.
The first professional recording of Monckton works, including The Cingalee, was made in 2003 by Theatre Bel-Etage chorus and orchestra, conductor Mart Sander
.
Act II - Boobhamba's Palace by the Lake of Kandy
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 two acts by 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:...
, with music by 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:...
, 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 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...
, and additional material by 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....
. It opened at Daly's Theatre
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:...
in London, managed by George Edwardes
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....
, on March 5, 1904 and ran until March 11, 1905 for a total of 365 (another source giving 391) performances. The musical had a short Broadway run, opening at the Original Daly's Theatre in New York on October 24, 1904 and running for 33 performances.
The Cingalee is set in Ceylon and concerns colonial tea planters (one of the most popular songs in the score is called simply "Tea, tea, tea"!) in an era before this island paradise became the more troubled Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It was given a showy production and was a success in London. The fashion there for shows set in Asian locales had been started by 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...
and continued by 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....
, 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...
, The Nautch Girl
The Nautch Girl
thumb|right|250px|Solomon , with Gilbert and Sullivan irate at his success at the SavoyThe Nautch Girl, or, The Rajah of Chutneypore is a comic opera in two acts, with a book by George Dance, lyrics by Dance and Frank Desprez and music by Edward Solomon...
, A Chinese Honeymoon
A Chinese Honeymoon
A Chinese Honeymoon is a musical comedy in two acts by George Dance, with music by Howard Talbot and additional music by Ivan Caryll and others, and additional lyrics by Harry Greenbank and others...
and others. There is little in the music to give The Cingalee an Eastern flavour. However, Monckton's catchy sextet, "The Island of Gay Ceylon" and "Pearl of Sweet Ceylon" and Ruben's "White and Brown Girl", "Sloe Eyes", "Monkeys" and "You and I" are highlights of the musical score. The condescending racial nature of The Cingalee's libretto, however, would be unacceptable today, and so The Cingalee is unlikely to be revived.http://www.library.unt.edu/theses/open/20032/hicks_william/thesis.pdf
The London cast included Hayden Coffin, Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
, Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies....
and Isabel Jay
Isabel Jay
Isabel Jay was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in musical comedies...
. A young Lily Elsie
Lily Elsie
Lily Elsie was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era, best known for her starring role in the hit London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow....
also appeared in the show, as did Topsy Sinden
Topsy Sinden
Harriet Augusta Sinden , better known as Topsy Sinden, was an English dancer, actress and singer. She was best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, both in London and on tour. Sinden was an accomplished tap dancer and skirt dancer.-Life and career:Sinden was born...
.
The first professional recording of Monckton works, including The Cingalee, was made in 2003 by Theatre Bel-Etage chorus and orchestra, conductor Mart Sander
Mart Sander
Martin Laurent Sander is an Estonian singer, actor, director, author and television host.-Life and career:...
.
Roles and original cast
- Harry Vereker (A Tea Planter) – C. Hayden CoffinC. Hayden CoffinCharles Hayden Coffin was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes....
- Boobhamba (A Noble of Kandy) – Rutland BarringtonRutland BarringtonRutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
- Sir Peter Loftus (High Commissioner and Judge, Ceylon) – Fred Kaye
- Myamgah (An Indian Servant) – Willie WardeWillie WardeWillie Warde was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a comic actor in musical theatre...
- Bobby Warren, Dick Bosanquet, Freddie Lowther, Jack Clinton, Willie Wilson (Pupils of Vereker on the Tea Plantation) – Henry J. Ford, Conway Dixon, Arthur Hope, Archie Anderson, J. Boddy
- Captain of The Guard – Norman Greene
- Attendant – F. J. Blackman
- Chambhuddy Ram (A Baboo Lawyer) – Huntley WrightHuntley WrightHuntley Wright was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies....
- Nanoya (A Cingalese Girl) – Sybil Arundale
- Peggy Sabine – Gracie Leigh
- Naitooma, Sattambi, Mychellah, Coorowe (Four Tea Girls on Vereker's Plantation) – Carrie Moore, Alice D'Orme, Freda Vivian, Doris Severn
- Angy Loftus (Sir Peter's Daughter) – Doris Stocker
- Miss Pinkerton, Fräulein Weiner, Mademoiselle Chic, Signorina Tasso (Angy's Governesses) – Nina Sevening, Mary Fraser, Mabel Hirst, Joan Keddie
- Lady Patricia Vane – Isabel JayIsabel JayIsabel Jay was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in musical comedies...
Musical numbers
Act I - Vereker's Tea Plantation, "Karagama," Ceylon- 1 - Opening Chorus - "Sleepy Ceylon."
- 2 - Octet - Tea Girls and Pupils - "Girls on a tea plantation..."
- 3 - Song - Vereker - "Beyond the bar of fair Manaar..."
- 4 - Duet - Nanoya and Vereker - "Little girl to school must go..."
- 5 - Chorus and Scene - "What on earth is that?"
- 6 - March, Chorus and Song - Boobhamba - "Hail the noble deeply venerated..."
- 7 - Song - Chambhuddy - "Some years ago when a very chotah boy..."
- 8 - Song - Lady Patricia - "As you have to decide on a bride..."
- 9 - Song - Naitooma and Tea Girls - "Tea, Tea, Tea."
- 10 - Duet - Peggy and Chambhuddy - "White and Brown Girl."
- 11 - Sextet - "In the Island of Gay Ceylon."
- 12 - Song - Nanoya - "My Cinnamon Tree."
- 13 - Finale - Act I - "Have you found the girl?"
Act II - Boobhamba's Palace by the Lake of Kandy
- 14 - Act II Opening Chorus - "At the Palace of Boobhamba..."
- 15 - Song - Nanoya, Tea Girls and Chorus - "I'm a maiden merry, sorry to be sold..."
- 16 - Concerted Number - "I'm afraid I do not quite understand..."
- 17 - Song - Chambhuddy - "If English Pot a rich man be..."
- 18 - Song - Vereker - "My dear little Cingalee."
- 19 - Quartet - "True Love."
- 20 - Song - Naitooma and Chorus - "A Cingalese Wedding."
- 21 - Chorus - "On the quiet lake the moonbeams shimmer..."
- 22 - Song - Boobhamba and Chorus - "A Happy New Year."
- 23 - Song - Nanoya - "You met a little girl one day..."
- 24 - Duet - Peggy and Chambhuddy - "In a jungle once on a time..."
- 25 - Finale - Act II - "Cingalee, Cingalee..."
- Addendum - Song - Lady Patricia - "You and I, and I and you..."