Talk:German Reed Entertainment

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[edit] Barrington revives the German Reeds

I remember reading in (I think) Wolfson's "Final Curtain", Rutland Barrington said he tried to revive the German Reed tradition in 1895. He also said that it was unsuccessful, and the magic of those days "died with the German Reeds". Shouldn't this be included at the close of the page? I'd put it in, but I don't have the book to check if I remember it correctly. Slfarrell 15:49, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] German Reed Gallery Stage

I don't know where to put it in the article (or if it belongs) but the stage in German Reed's theater had a peculiarity- there was an immovable structural column slightly off center of the stage which had to be incorporated into the sets as a tree, part of a wall, a column, or (in one case) a ship's mast. This is shown in period illustrations reproduced in "Gilbert Before Sullivan". Saxophobia 22:48, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Young Composers Working with the Entertainments

I'd like to add Charles King Hall to the names of the composers contributing to the German Reed entertainments. King Hall (1845-1895), the prominent London composer and organist, supplied the music for at least nine entertainments from "The Happy Bungalow" in 1877 to "Missing" in 1894. King Hall worked with Burnand, Law, a Beckett, and Carr. This information comes from King Hall's obituary in The Music Times for 1 October 1895.Shallard 01:02, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Now that you have supplied the obituary reference, the information is useful. I added the above information in a footnote after Hall's name. Do not try to link the name to erroneous links. If there is no Wikipedia article for Hall, just leave the name unlinked until you add an article on Hall. Were the two shows you mention the most successful ones? Do you know who starred in them or any other information about Hall's compositions? What were his most famous compositions? -- Ssilvers 08:02, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

The two shows I mentioned simply bracketed the years of King Hall's association. They are not necessarily the best or the most popular of his "vaudevilles." (I don't know which were.) He contributed scores for G.R. from the late 1870s, throughout the 1880s, and to the mid 1890s.

King Hall wrote both sacred and secular music. Amazon.com/uk lists over eighty out-of-print titles of his compositions, which include oratorios, service music, humorous cantatas, and a lot of what we might call today "pop music" for voice and piano. One of the titles is "The Verger," which was one of the German Reed shows, so we do know that at least one of King Hall's scores was published.

King Hall was my great grandfather. I have quite a lot of his music, including an original M.S. Unfortunately, none of it seems related to the German Reed entertainments. I'll keep looking. Meanwhile, I have written a 750-word biographical article (and photo of the man) that I'd like to include in Wikipedia. I'm brand new to the site, though, and am feeling my way through the directions. I apologize for not including the necessary citation before. I'm learning.

By the way, King Hall's daughter-in-law (my grandmother) sang in the D'Oyly Carte rep company for a couple of seasons in the early 1900s. She filled in as Fiametta twice in The Gondoliers. (I supplied her bio and a photo to Who's Who in the D'Oyly Carte Company.)

I'd appreciate your advice (and help) at this stage.Shallard 12:41, 4 August 2007 (UTC)