The Catch of the Season
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| The Catch of the Season | |
 |
|
| Hicks and Terriss | |
|---|---|
| Music | Herbert Haines Evelyn Baker |
| Lyrics | Charles H. Taylor |
| Book | Seymour Hicks Cosmo Hamilton |
| Based upon | Cinderella |
| Productions | 1904 West End 1905 Broadway |
The Catch of the Season is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. It was produced by A. & S. Gotti and Charles Frohman at the Vaudeville Theatre in London, opening on 9 September 1904 and running for a very successful 621 performances. The production starred Zena Dare as Angela, because Hicks' wife Ellaline Terriss was pregnant. Later Terriss played the role for a time, ceding it to Dare's sister, Phyllis Dare. It also starred Hicks and Louie Pounds. It also had a Broadway run starring Edna May.
The story concerns Lady Caterham's stepdaughter Angela, who is a debutante about to 'come out' and is 'the catch of the season'. She becomes engaged to the young rake, Lord St. Jermyns, although she really loves the page, Bucket. Honoria Bedford, Lady Crystal's younger daughter, who is about to 'come out', has taken up smoking, which in 1904 was considered very shocking.
[edit] Roles and original cast
- Angela Crystal - Zena Dare
- Duke of St. Jermyns - Seymour Hicks
- Higham Montague - Hilda Jacobson
- William Gibson - Compton Coutts
- Sir John Crystal - Charles Daly
- Lady Crystal - Mollie Lovell
- Lady Caterham - Rosina Filippi
- Almeric Montpelier - Philip Desborough
- Lord Dundreary - Sam Sothern
- Captain Rushpool - Mervyn Dene
- Lord Yatton - Cecil Kennard
- Miss Caw - Barbara Dane
- Hon. Sophia Bedford - Ethel Matthews (Louie Pounds later played the role)
- Duchess of St. Jermyns - Ruby Day
- Enid Gibson - Kate Vesey
- Princess Schowenhohen-Hohenschowen - Lily Maynier
- Clotilde - Helene Blanche
- Bucket - Master A. Valchera
- Honoria Crystal - Hilda Jacobsen
- Footmen, Guests, Gibson Girls, Bridesmaids
[edit] Musical numbers
Broadway score (music by Haines and Baker and lyrics by Taylor, except as noted):
- Act I
- Tea and tittle tattle – Lady Crystal, Lord Yatton, Almeric Montpelier, Footmen and Chorus
- We've become the great attraction – Gibson Girls
- (It's) All Done by Kindness (Music by William T. Francis) – Mr. William Gibson
- I'll Be a Good Little Girl – Angela
- If I Were King of Babylon – Bucket
- (My Little) Buttercup (Music by Luke Forwood) – Angela
- Fairy attendants! – Clotilde, Angela, Lady Caterham and Assistants
- Act II
- Every year there's somebody – Chorus
- Sylvia the Gibson Girl (Lyrics by Frank Compton, music by Hugh Rumbold) – Gibson Girls
- Seaweed (Music and Lyrics by Fred Earle) – Mr. William Gibson
- Hail! Miss O'Halloran – Chorus
- Molly O'Halloran (Music and Lyrics by Jerome Kern) – Angela
- A Little Bit of Dinner (with a Friend) (Music by William T. Francis) – Lord Yatton
- Suppose – Angela and The Duke of St. Jermyns
- Auf Wiedersehn (Lyrics by Vernon Roy, music by William T. Francis) – Talleur Andrews
- The Church Parade – The Duke of St. Jermyns
- Back to Harrow (Lyrics by J. J. Montague, music by William T. Francis) – Mr. William Gibson and Lord Yatton
- Rainbow (Lyrics by Fred W. Leigh, music by Henry E. Pether) – Angela
- Rosy Petals We Will Shower (Music by William T. Francis)
- Cinderella! You Have Won! (Music by William T. Francis) – Angela
The Broadway score cut the following songs by Haines, Baker and Taylor (except as noted) that had been included in the British production:
- "Raining"
- "Won't You Kiss Me Once Before You Do?" (by Kern and Harris)
- "Cupid is the Captain of the Army" (by Dave Reed, Jr.)
- "Around the World (by Cass Freeborn and Grant Stewart)
- "Cigarette"
- "The Charms on My Chain"
