''Arlette'' is a 1917

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

in three acts by

Austen Hurgon Austen Hurgon (1867 – 24 June 1942) was an actor, singer, theatre director and librettist for several successful Edwardian musical comedies of the 1900s and 1910s. Early life Born as Richard Cornelius Horgan in London in 1867 to Irish pare ...

and

George Arthurs George Arthurs (13 April 1875 – 14 March 1944) was an English songwriter, playwright, composer, author and screenwriter who contributed lyrics to several successful Edwardian musical comedy, musical comedies such as ''The Belle of Mayfair ...

with lyrics by

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific English writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and

Clifford Grey Clifford Grey (5 January 1887 – 25 September 1941) was an English songwriter, librettist and screenwriter. His birth name was Percival Davis, and he was also known as Clifford Gray. Grey contributed prolifically to dozens of West End th ...

. Produced by

George Grossmith Jr. George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and Actor-manager, manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also a ...

and

Edward Laurillard Edward Laurillard (20 April 1870 – 7 May 1936) was a cinema and theatre producer in London and New York City during the first third of the 20th century. He is best remembered for promoting the cinema early in the 20th century and for Edwardian ...

it was adapted from the French with music by Jane Vieu, Guy Le Feuvre and

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

. It opened at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theat ...

in London on 6 September 1917 where it ran for 260 performances. It starred

Winifred Barnes Winifred "Betty" Barnes (18 December 1892 – 5 April 1935) was an English actress and singer known for roles in Edwardian musical comedy and operetta, creating the title role in ''Betty (musical), Betty'', among others. After 15 years on t ...

Joseph Coyne Joseph Coyne (27 March 1867 – 17 February 1941) was an American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years, from 1883-1931. A popular performer in the U.S., he achieved major stardom in the role of Prince Dan ...

and

Stanley Lupino Stanley Richard Lupino Hook (15 June 1893 – 10 June 1942), known professionally as Stanley Lupino, was an English actor, dancer, singer, librettist, director and short story writer. During the 1930s, Lupino appeared in a successful series of ...

.Gillan, Don
''Arlette'' (1917)
Stage Beauty, accessed 12 May 2019 Originally produced in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in October 1904 with music by Jane Vieu and a book and lyrics by Claude Roland and Louis Bouvet, it underwent considerable alteration for the British production resulting in only two of Vieu's songs remaining while the rest were specially written for the show by

and Guy Le Feuvre. The critic for ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'' commented that these changes reduced the piece from an operetta to a

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

. The London production was directed by

, and the musical director was Leonard Hornsey. The play's opening night coincided with the worst of the German air raids on London during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but the cast decided to continue with evening performances. In 1936 the show was revised and retitled ''How Do, Princess?'', with six new songs by Novello, but the subsequent tour of the British provinces was a financial disaster and quickly closed. On 14 October 1937 a one-hour condensed version was broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

with

Jean Colin Jean Colin (24 March 1905 – 7 March 1989) was an England, English actress. She began her career on stage in pantomime, musical theatre and operettas. She appeared in several films beginning in the 1930s. Colin was born in Brighton, Sussex an ...

as Arlette and

Tommy Handley Thomas Reginald Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian, best known for the BBC radio programme ''It's That Man Again'' ("''ITMA''") which ran between 1939 and 1949. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Handley went on th ...

as Rono.

Synopsis

*Act 1: 3pm – The Prince's Private Apartments in the Palace *Act 2: Same Evening – The Casino *Act 3: Next Morning (3 am) – The Council Hall in the Palace *Time: The Present Prince Paul needs to marry a wealthy woman to save Perania, his bankrupt country, and he is advertised for marriage by his Ministers of State. The ad is seen by Cherry, the daughter of American millionaire Cyrus B. Waters, and as she is keen on the idea of becoming a princess the necessary arrangements are made. Soon afterwards, however, Arlette, the maid of honour to the country's

Queen dowager A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is cle ...

, wanders by chance into the prince's private apartments where he is contemplating his financial difficulties. Arlette mistakes the prince for somebody else, and he, delighted by her naivety and charm, does not correct her. They discuss the many good attributes of the prince, and Paul gives her a private telephone number ("The Telephone Song"). Meanwhile, an armed revolution against Perania is being led by Kalitza, a woman who loves the prince's chief bodyguard, Rono. Rono (one of the army of four) is persuaded by Kalitza to assassinate the prince, but he bungles the attempt, angering Kalitza, and she decides to do the deed herself. In the evening a fancy dress ball is held at the casino during which it is discovered that the country's crown jewels have been stolen, but in reality they have been pawned by the Prince, who, caught by the comic gendarmes Anatole and Adhémar in disguise at the ball, arrest him. They are disconcerted to discover that the supposed thief is actually their prince. Paul abdicates so that he can put all these troubles behind him and marry his sweetheart, Arlette. Kalitza, disarmed by his abdication, decides to spare his life. His cousin, the Duke of Aristo, takes the throne and marries Cherry: the kingdom's finances are restored, the revolutionaries are pleased, and Arlette and Paul live in peace and happiness.Findon, B. W
Review of ''Arlette''
''

The Play Pictorial ''The Play Pictorial'' was an English theatrical magazine that was published in London between 1902 and 1939. ''The Play Pictorial'' provided pictorial records of West End theatrical productions. Each issue described a single show, with descrip ...

'', No. 189, Vol XXXI, November 1917, pp. 82–96

Cast

*Arlette –

*Prince Paul of Perania –

*Rono, a common soldier –

*The Duke of Aristo – Leonard Mackay *Cherry Waters – Adrah Fair *C.B. Waters, an American millionaire – Johnnie Fields *Kalitza, a revolutionary – Joan Hay *Sergine, Mistress of the Household – Mary Robson *Adhémar, 1st Policeman – Lucien Mussiere *Anatole, 2nd Policeman – Yvan Servais *Chancellor – A. G. Poulton *Minister of Finance – Wyn Weaver *Minister of the Interior – Murray Moore *Minister of Justice –

Strafford Moss Frederick Strafford Moss (1 November 1868 – 1941) was a British tenor and actor. He appeared in the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1897 to 1913, mainly in touring companies of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, following which he ha ...

*1st Lady-in-Waiting – Mabel Melbourne *2nd Lady-in-Waiting –

Blanche Stocker Blanche Eleanor Stocker (20 July 1884 – 1950) was a British actress and singer, who played minor roles in a string of Edwardian musical comedies and other stage works early in the 20th century. She also played a film role. Life and career ...

*3rd Lady-in-Waiting – Ursula Fenton *Court Officials, Ladies in Waiting and Revolutionaries J. P. Wearing
''The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''
Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books 17.199

Musical numbers

Act I

*Introduction (Music by Jane Vieu) *Entrance of the Prince – "Hail! All Hail!" (Grey & Novello) *Paul – "Going. Going. Gone" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Rono – "On the Staff" (Grey & Novello) *Cherry – "Love Bells" (Grey & Novello) *Duke – "The Man of Forty" (Grey & Novello) *Kalitza & Rono – "Revolution" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Arlette (Telephone Song) – "Love In My Heart Is Ringing" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Finale (Ross, Grey & Le Feuvre)

Act II

*Chorus (Ross, Grey & Le Feuvre) *Cherry, Duke & Waters – "Cousinly Love" (Grey & Novello) *Rono & Policemen – "Graft" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Sergine & Waters – "Someone Very Like You" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Arlette & Paul – "Didn't Know the Way To" (Grey & Novello) *Farandole (Ross & Vieu) *Cherry & Duke – "Stage Love" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Arlette – "The Fairy Ring" (Ross & Le Feuvre) *Finale (Ross & Le Feuvre)

Act III

*Arlette – "It's Just a Memory" (Grey & Novello) *Duke – "His Country First of All (The People's King)" (Grey & Novello) *Finale (Grey & Novello)''Arlette''
Production History, BroadwayWorld.com, accessed 15 May 2019

contributed the music to eight songs in the production.Gordon, Robert and Olaf Jubin (eds.
''The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(2016), p. 203,

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

The critic for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', writing of Novello's songs, commented on his "light and pretty numbers, without much character, but with plenty of agreeable melody." A cast album was released in 1917 recorded with the Mayfair Orchestra. Another album, titled ''Gems from 'Arlett'', was released by

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

in 1917 with the Light Opera Company and featured: "Love In My Heart Is Ringing (The Telephone Song)", "The Fairy Ring", "His Country First of All", "The People’s King", "On the Staff", "Didn’t Know the Way To", "Cousinly Love" and "It’s Just a Memory". It was conducted by

George W. Byng George Wilford Bulkley Byng (1861 – 29 June 1932) was an English conductor, composer, music arranger and musical director of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is known for composing music for ballet productions staged at the Alhambra ...

, and the vocal artistes included George Baker, Bessie Jones and

Ernest Pike Ernest George Pike (1871 – 4 March 1936) was an English tenor of the early 20th century who made numerous recordings in the first decades of the 20th century. After studying at the Guildhall School of Music in London, he worked as a bank cle ...

Review

The critic for the '' Lloyds Weekly News'' wrote of the production:

The magnificence of the mounting of ''Arlette'' at the Shaftesbury will set old playgoers thinking for all that it is called an "operetta," it is molded on traditional lines, and possesses sparkling music. The tale is of the impecunious Prince Paul of Perania (Mr. Joseph Coyne), who prefers Arlette, a modest attendant on the Queen Dowager (Miss Winifred Barnes), to all the vast wealth of Miss Walters from America (Miss Adrah Fair). There is here some sort of a likeness to ''The Merry Widow'', which first introduced Mr. Joseph Coyne as a peerless prince. Paul of Perania (perennial it might almost be) is, however, much more of what we term a Bertrand Wallis part, and a lady has even to look at a photograph of the princeling and talk of his good looks. Mr. Coyne makes much fun of this incident, but somehow it doesn't assist the love interest.Review of ''Arlette'', '' Lloyds Weekly News'', 9 September 1917

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlette (musical) Original musicals 1917 musicals 1917 compositions British musicals Musicals by Clifford Grey Musicals set in fictional countries Musicals set in palaces