The Shop Girl

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The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written in 1894 by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London. The piece ran for an extremely successful 546 performances. It starred Seymour Hicks, George Grossmith, Jr. and Ada Reeve, who was eventually replaced in the cast by Hicks' wife, Ellaline Terriss.

The success of A Gaiety Girl in 1893 confirmed to Edwardes that the lighter "musical comedy" was the right path for musical theatre. The Shop Girl heralded a new era in musical comedy, and the critics were amazed that the author had provided such a coherent story, as there had been hardly any story at all in burlesque. Over a dozen copies followed at the Gaiety Theatre (including The Circus Girl, and A Runaway Girl) over the next two decades and were widely imitated by other producers and playwriting teams. They also led to the next level of sophistication in the integrated musical comedy at Daly's Theatre and elsewhere in London.

The Shop Girl achieved immediate popularity. It introduced to London audiences a cleaner, more respectable form of musical comedy than the previous "musical farces", which had been more closely related to burlesque. Indeed, during the run of the show, some of the racier lines were removed, as Edwardes recognised that the future of musicals lay in appealing to the respectable Victorian audience. In addition, at Hicks' urging, the romantic couple was designed as less sentimental and more mischievous and light hearted. But it was not lacking in sex appeal. It featured Edwardes Gaiety Girls, who were to feature in all of these shows.

Caryll, the music director at the Gaiety, conducted the performances of the piece himself. One of the most famous songs from the show was "Her golden hair was hanging down her back." As the run went on, songs were constantly changed and new business frequently introduced, especially when there were cast changes. This also began a pattern for musicals of the era.

1 Synopsis
2 Roles
3 Musical numbers
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

An attractive and charming London shop girl meets a good-hearted millionaire, who had gone out in the steerage of a liner, "to become a miner", and had struck it rich in Colorado. The millionaire has come back to London to look for the daughter of his mining chum, to whom a fortune of four million pounds was due. She is to be identified by a birthmark. The daughter, of course, turns out to be the shop girl and, after a few misunderstandings, she agrees to marry her sweetheart, a poor but lively young medical student from a good family.

[edit] Roles

Mr. Hooley (proprietor of the Royal Stores)
Charles Appleby (a medical student)
Bertie Boyd (one of the Boys)
John Brown (a millionaire)
Sir George Appleby (a solicitor)
Colonel Singleton (retired)
Count St. Vaurien (secretary to Mr. Brown)
Mr. Tweets (financial secretary to Lady Appleby)
Mr. Miggles (shopwalker at the Royal Stores)
Lady Dodo Singleton (Charlie's cousin)
Miss Robinson (fitter at the Royal Stores)
Lady Appleby (Charlie's mother, wife of Sir George)
Ada Smith (an apprentice at the Royal Stores)
Lady Appleby's daughters: Faith, Hope, and Charity
Of the Syndicate Theatre: Maud Plantagenet, Eva Tudor, Lillie Stuart, Ada Harrison, Mabel Beresford, Florence White, Sylvia Perry, Agnes Howard, Maggie Jocelyn, and Violet Deveney
Bessie Brent ("The Shop Girl")

[edit] Musical numbers

Act I - The Royal Stores.

No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "This noble institution of financial evolution is the glory of our British trade..."
No. 2 - Song - Hooley & Bessie, with Chorus - "If you ever should engage in trade, you will never find your fortune made..."
No. 3 - Quartet - Sir George, Count, Hooley & Colonel - "Although I am a man of law, of many years in practice spent..."
No. 4 - Chorus of Stage Beauties - "In us of course you see a charming coterie, whose fascinations all confess..."
No. 5 - Song - Charlie & Foundlings - "If without a single mark of your identity, on a hospitable doorstep you are thrown..."
No. 6 - Song - Beatrice - "When I came to the shop some years ago, I was terribly shy and simple..."
No. 7 - Perambulator Duet - Bessie & Charlie - "Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, shut your little eye, dear..."
No. 8 - Valse Song - Beatrice & Chorus - "Over the hills and over into the sunset's glow..."
No. 9 - Concerted Piece - Bertie & Foundlings - "Foundlings are we, waiting to see who will unravel our pre-natal mystery..." No. 9a - Exit after Scene (Reprise) - "Foundlings are we, waiting to see..."
No. 10 - Song - Miggles - "It was an evil hour when I met my Mary Ann, oh! woe! woe the day!..."
No. 11 - Song - Ada & Chorus - "Left upon a doorstep at half past nine..."
No. 12 - Finale Act I - "Farewell, farewell, we tender our congratulations truly..."

ACT II - Fancy Bazaar at Kensington.

No. 13 - Opening Chorus - "Charity, charity, charity, charity, fearless are we in a bazaar..."
No. 14 - Song - (soloist unspecified) - "I'm a lady not unknown to fame, critics call me by my Christian name..."
No. 14a - Song with Chorus - Bessie - "I lub a gal, 'spose she lubs me too, anyhow she say she do..."
No. 15 - Duet - Miggles & Miss Robinson - "I am a Jap, please notice my cap, 'twas copied from off a tea caddy..."
No. 16 - Song - John Brown & Chorus - "In the steerage of a Liner I went out to be a miner..."
No. 17 - Trio - Sir George, Count & Colonel - "If you can fully fathom human folly and fatuity..."
No. 18 - Chorus - "We're now to have some mystery, the forecast of our history..."
No. 19 - Song - Charlie & Chorus - "There was once a country maiden came to London for a trip..."
No. 20 - Song - Lady Dodo - "The Man in the Moon is down, he is winning a great renown..."
No. 21 - Song - Bertie & Chorus - "I'm what folks call a Johnnie, of the title I am proud..."
Nos. 22 & 22a - Chorus & Recits. (soloist unspecified) - "The show, the show, the show, the show..."
No. 23 - Finale Act II - "Now joy is in the air, their future will be fair, look'd after by this kindly desperado..."