Toy Town

Abstract

This chapter examines the emergence of the musical comedy. Musical comedy was invented by George Edwardes, famed for being the manager of the Gaiety Theatre. Therefore, the dawn of musical comedy became known as the Gaiety Era. This was a period that lasted roughly from the 1890s to about 1915. Interestingly, though, Edwardes' first such production, In Town (1892), did not quite fit in with this new genre. In Town, was a hit, lasting some thirty-five weeks. Next, A Gaiety Girl (1893) was a smash at 413 performances, and this one at least had a plot. It soon became a favorite on the English-speaking musical comedy scene and was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The chapter then considers the move toward the modern story musical, looking at librettist Owen Hall, who wrote the books for two of the most successful Edwardian shows: The Geisha (1896) and Leslie Stuart's Florodora (1899).