The School Girl
Encyclopedia
The School Girl is a musical comedy, in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart
(with additional songs by Paul Rubens
) with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor
and others. It concerns a French school girl from a convent, who graduates to the Paris stock exchange and ends up at a ball in the Latin Quarter.
The musical was first produced in 1903 by George Edwardes
and Charles Frohman
at the Prince of Wales Theatre
in London and ran for 333 performances there. It starred Edna May
, Marie Studholme
and Billie Burke
. George Grossmith, Jr.
succeeded G. P. Huntley as Ormsby St. Ledger. The show also played successfully on Broadway
in 1904, with May and Grossmith, and on the national and international touring circuits.
The most famous song from this show was "My Little Canoe."
Act I - Scene 2 - The Open Stock Exchange
Act II - Edgar Verney's Studio
Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
(with additional songs 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....
) with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor
Charles H. Taylor (lyricist)
Charles Henry Taylor was a British lyricist, best known for his lyrics for early 20th century West End musical comedies and a comic opera, Tom Jones.-Life and career:...
and others. It concerns a French school girl from a convent, who graduates to the Paris stock exchange and ends up at a ball in the Latin Quarter.
The musical was first produced in 1903 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....
and 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....
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...
in London and ran for 333 performances there. It starred Edna May
Edna May
Edna May Pettie , known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian Musical Comedies.- Life and career :...
, Marie Studholme
Marie Studholme
Marie Studholme , born Caroline Maria Lupton or Marion Lupton, was an English actress and singer known for her supporting and sometimes starring roles in Victorian and Edwardian musical comedy...
and Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
. 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...
succeeded G. P. Huntley as Ormsby St. Ledger. The show also played successfully on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1904, with May and Grossmith, and on the national and international touring circuits.
The most famous song from this show was "My Little Canoe."
Roles and original cast
- Lillian Leigh – Edna MayEdna MayEdna May Pettie , known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian Musical Comedies.- Life and career :...
- Mother Superior – Violet Cameron
- Marianne (a French Bonne) – Marianne Caldwell
- Norma Rochester, Mamie Reckfeller, Yolande, Violette, Mimi, Fifine (American Girls) – Norma Whalley, Billie BurkeBillie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
, Pauline Chase, Maude Percival, Ethel Negretti, Mamie Stuart - Saaefrada (a Model) – Clarita Vidal
- Kate Medhurst – Mildred Baker
- Jessie Campbell, Evelyn Somers, Mabel Kingston (School Girls) – Mary Fraser, Evelyn Bond, Alice Coleman
- Miss Yost (the Typewriter) – Lulu Valli
- Mrs. Marchmont – Barbara Huntley
- Cicely Marchmont (her Daughter) – Marie StudholmeMarie StudholmeMarie Studholme , born Caroline Maria Lupton or Marion Lupton, was an English actress and singer known for her supporting and sometimes starring roles in Victorian and Edwardian musical comedy...
- Sir Ormesby St. Leger – G. P. Huntley (replaced by 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...
) - General Marchmont – George GravesGeorge Graves (actor)George Windsor Graves was an English comic actor. Although he could neither sing nor dance, he became a leading comedian in musical comedies, adapting the French and Viennese opéra-bouffe style of light comic relief into a broader comedy popular with English audiences of the period...
- Peter Overend (of the Open Stock Exchange) – J. A. Warden
- Corner (his Clerk) – Gilbert Porteus
- Jacques De Crevert (Clerk) – Frank Walsh
- Tubby Bedford – James Blakeley
- George Sylvester, Adolphe Delapois, Jack Merrion, Edgar Verney (Artists) – Charles Hampden, Murri Moncrieff, Talleur Andrews, J. Edward Fraser
Musical numbers
Act I - Scene 1 - The Convent Lawn- No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "Gaily rings the bell for recreation, occupation we willingly pursue..."
- No. 2 - Song - Cicely and Chorus - "I'm going to be a Honeymoon Girl, and leave my spinster days behind..."
- No. 3 - Song - Mother Superior and Chorus - "When I was a girl like you, little girls, little girls..."
- No. 4 - Song - Lilian - "We've formed a small battalion on a military plan, for none defeats a man as lovely woman can..."
Act I - Scene 2 - The Open Stock Exchange
- No. 5 - Opening Chorus - "We're going to be busy today, for the market is changing and chopping today..."
- No. 6 - Entrance of American Girls - "We say to you, good day to you, flotationers - Chickoo! chickoo! chickoo! ..."
- No. 7 - Song - Sir Ormesby - "There's a girl they call Belinda whom I met one day..."
- No. 8 - Song - Tubby - "She had read Marie Corelli, and emphatically swore that she'd never wed a man..."
- No. 9 - Song - (singer unknown) - "The world has maidens sweet and pretty where'er we go; the gay grisettesGrisette (French)The word grisette has referred to a French working-class woman from the late 17th century and remained in common use through the Belle Époque era, albeit with some modifications to its meaning. It derives from gris, , and refers to the cheap grey fabric of the dresses these women originally wore...
of Paris city..." - No. 10 - Song - Lilian - "If you'd like to know what waiting is, then you may coquette with me..."
- No. 11 - Finale Act I - "We're going to be at least a nine days wonder, the rise is in 'Jumping Jacks' today..."
Act II - Edgar Verney's Studio
- No. 12 - Opening Chorus - "Étudiant des Beaux Arts, what though posterity may give unto your honour'd name..."
- No. 13 - Song - Mamie Reckfeller - "Mamie, if you've nothing else to do, ma Mamie girl, I'm goin' to give an invitation..."
- No. 14 - Song - Lilian - "Clytie is so unsophisticated; she has a modest smile, a drooping eye..."
- No. 15 - Duet - Lilian and Verney - "Can't you see that I'm in love,and only wait till I can prove that I've been true? ..."
- No. 16 - Quartette - "There's nothing like a wife, they say, for driving worries and cares away..."
- No. 16a - Tarantella, Valse and Cake Walk
- No. 17 - Song - Tubby - "I've been in love since seventeen, of course that's nothing new..."
- No. 18 - Song - Lilian - "Our good Monsieur le Maire at a town that I come from in France was choosing out La Rosière..."