The Cherry Girl was an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts based on a book by Seymour Hicks with lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and music by Ivan Caryll. It opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End on 21 December 1903. The original cast included Hicks, Constance Hyem, Courtice Pounds and Hicks's wife, Ellaline Terriss. From August 1904, the play went on tour to the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and other British provincial theatres. The play was described as a "children's fairy play", and its story involves a prize to be given by a Fairy Queen for the creation of a statue.
Roles and original cast The original London cast was as follows:
Act 1 Moonshine, a White Pierrot – Seymour Hicks Starlight, a Black Pierrot – Courtice Pounds Bow and Scrape, two chamberlains – Stanley Brett and Murray King Esau, Pansy's gorilla – Edward Sillward Snowball, a sweep's boy – George Hersee Pansy, a cherry seller – Constance Hyem Sylvia, Night and Morning, pierretts – Carmen Hill, Katie Vesey and Hilda Anthony Dimples, Snowball's sweetheart – Winnie Hall Mdlle. Pas Bas, a model – Dorothy Frostick Josephine, a pierette maid – Gladys Archbutt The Chamberlain – Miss Carrington The Queen – Ellaline Terriss
Act 2 Happy Joe, a knight of the road – Seymour Hicks The Squire, of Homewood Hall – Courtice Pounds Grab and Snatchem, two beadles – Stanley Brett and Murray King Rose of the Riviera, Happy Joe's stable boy – Master Valchera White Surrey and Hecuba, his horse and dog – Edward Sillward Robin Roy, Robin Me and Robin Anyone, Happy Joe's men – Frank Carroll, Robert Wilkes and William Hay Ikestein, his Irish servant – Charles Trevor Millicent, Lady of Homewood Hall – Carmen Hill Tip-Toe, Happy Joe's wife – Kate Vesey The Queen – Ellaline Terriss
Synopsis of scenes and plot The scenes for both acts are as follows:
Act 1 – Once Upon a Time Scene 1 – A street in carnival time (night). Scene 2 – On the housetops (Pierrot-land). Scene 3 – The throne room of the Queen. Scene 4 – Moonshine's studio. Scene 5 – Cloudland. Act 2 – 100 Years Ago Scene 1 – A village green in Old England. Scene 2 – The gateway of Happy Joe's garden. Scene 3 – Happy Joe's purple garden. Scene 4 – Moonshine's studio again.
Reviewing the first performance, The Manchester Guardian gave this summary of the plot:
Musical numbers
Act I 1. Chorus – "Revelry riots when Carnival's King" 2. Watchmen and Chorus – "Good folk who here rejoice" 3. Starlight – "Pussy Cats Three" 4. Chorus – "Over the tiles" 5. Moonshine and Chorus – "Telephone to the moon" 6. Chorus – "Hail! Her Majesty" 7. "The Queen and Chorus – Naughty, just for once" 8. Chorus and Dance – "Painting" 9. Sylvia and Chorus – "Bubble Land" 10. Entrance of Picture Buyers 11. Moonshine – "What a pretty picture" 12. The Queen and Moonshine – "In the Studio" 13. Starlight and Chorus – "Pansy" 14. Finale – "Sleep, little Queen, and drift away"
Act II 15. Chorus – "When the birds begin to sing" 16. The Queen – "My little Hong Kong baby" 17. Moonshine – "Did he?" 18. The Queen – "Those loving eyes" 19. The Queen – "Just to please you" 20. The Squire – "Bogeys" 21. Octet – "Dat's the way to spell chicken" 22. Spirit of Dawn – "The coming of Dawn" 23. The Queen – "Miss Innocent" 24. Finale – "God save Her Majesty" Source: 1903 vocal score.
Following its 100th performance in March 1904, several new songs were introduced: "The Little Yellow Bird" "Fascinating Frou-Frou of the Frill" "When the Stars are Shining in the Sky"
Reception The Times thought that dramatically the first act was a success, but was much less impressed by the second, though it had "all sorts of pretty, clever and funny things in it." Caryll's music was judged "tuneful enough, but very thin", and too reminiscent of the composer's earlier scores. The paper's anonymous reviewer thought "Bubble Land" the best musical number. The Manchester Guardian commented:
Recordings No recordings were released by the original cast. A list of releases by other artists is given below – it includes title, singer, record company and release date (where known):
"Little Yellow Bird", Flo de Vere, G&T, 1904 "By the Sycamore Tree", Helen Haydn, G&T, 1904 "Miss Innocent", Bohemian Band, Edison Bell (cylinder) "Navajo", Peter Dawson, Edison Bell "Pansy", George Sherwin, Zonophone
References and notes
External links Victorian and Edwardian Musical Shows – MIDI simulation of musical numbers from The Cherry Girl