The Gay Parisienne: History and Key Facts

The Gay Parisienne is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a libretto by George Dance. It premiered at the Opera House in Northampton, England, in October 1894, with music by Ernest Rousden. It was revived in London (after a tryout in a smaller London theatre in March 1896) on 4 April 1896, with music by Ivan Caryll, where it ran for 369 performances at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring W. H. Denny as Major Fossdyke, Frank Wheeler as Auguste and Ada Reeve as Julie.

The piece toured internationally, adapted in New York with new songs and material by Edgar Smith and Nat. D. Mann as The Girl from Paris, opening on 8 December 1896, at the Herald Square Theatre and running for 266 or 281 performances (sources differ) and then touring. This was the first of about 250 productions in America directed by Frank Smithson, many of them for Broadway. Smithson also portrayed Major Fossdyke in the Broadway cast, and Josephine Hall, as the servant Ruth, achieved fame for her performance of the song "Sister Mary Jane's Top Note". The Girl from Paris was later revived at Wallack's Theatre in New York. The original version played on the European continent and Australia as The Gay Parisienne.

Source and attribution

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