The Boy (musical)

The Boy
Music Lionel Monckton
Howard Talbot
Lyrics Adrian Ross
Percy Greenbank
Book Fred Thompson
Percy Greenbank
Basis Pinero's play, The Magistrate
Productions 1917 West End

The Boy is a musical comedy with a book by Fred Thompson and Percy Greenbank (based on Arthur Wing Pinero's 1885 play, The Magistrate), music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot and lyrics by Greenbank and Adrian Ross. It opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 14 September 1917, directed by Robert Courtneidge, under the management of Alfred Butt, and ran for 801 performances – one of the longest runs of any musical theatre piece up to that time.[1]

The musical was later produced in Australia, starring Gladys Moncrieff.[2] It was also adapted for Broadway as Good Morning, Judge in 1919, by the same creative team, at the Shubert Theatre, running for 140 performances and then touring successfully.[3] Two songs by George Gershwin were added to the score, including "I am so Young," published as "I was so Young (You were so Young)."[4] It starred George Hassell (as Mr. Meebles), Charles King (as Hughie), Mollie King (as Joy Chatterton) and Edward Martindel (as Col. Bagot).[5]

Although the piece was revived several times by amateur British groups in the 1930s, it has not been seen since then.[6]

Background

During the gloomy days of World War I, audiences, including servicemen on leave, wanted light and uplifting entertainment, and they flocked to theatres to see lighthearted musical comedies, a number of which broke box-office records. These included The Bing Boys Are Here (1916), Chu Chin Chow (1916), and The Maid of the Mountains (1917).[7] Almost as popular were The Boy, The Happy Day (1916) and Yes, Uncle! (1917). Greenbank had worked on a dozen shows with each of Monckton and Ross from 1900 to the time of The Boy, and Talbot and Thompson were also frequent collaborators of theirs in the first two decades of the 20th century.[8]

The plot of The Boy closely follows that of The Magistrate, although character names have been changed, and some of the original dialogue is retained. In the Play Pictorial feature, B.W. Findon's review of the musical praised the singing of Nellie Taylor and Peter Gawthhorne, and the comedy of W. H. Berry, as well as the production in general.[9]

Synopsis

Australian sheet music to "Little Miss Melody"
Act I

Mrs. Millicent Meebles, a remarried widow, habitually understates the age of her son, Hughie Cavanaugh, to make herself appear several years younger. Consequently, the 19-year-old lad is taken for a 14-year-old boy and appears to be precocious. Hughie, that "Sporty Boy", flirts with astonishing skill with his beautiful music teacher.

Act II

Hughie also precociously introduces his step-father, Mr. Meebles, a magistrate, to the nightclub in the Cosmos Hotel. They are followed by Millicent, who wishes to warn a friend not to divulge the boy's true age. When the nightclub is raided by the police, Mr. Meebles escapes without capture, having a comically difficult time.

Mr. Meebles arrives at court just in time to hear the case that results from the raid and must, as magistrate, sentence his wife and sister-in-law, Diana Fairlie (whose lover is Albany Pope), to incarceration. Fortunately, a fellow magistrate, Mr. Burridge comes to the ladies' rescue by over-ruling the sentence on a technicality. At home, Millicent confesses that she has exaggerated Hughie's age. All is forgiven.

Roles and original cast

Musical numbers

Meebles, Hughie and Burridge, watched by Millicent and Diana

ACT I – Mr. Meebles' House at West Hampstead

Millicent Meebles and her sister under arrest

ACT II – Scene 1 – The Cosmos Hotel, Verrey Street, London W.C.

ACT II – Scene 2 – The Magistrate's Room, Bromley Street

Meebles bursts into the magistrates' room

ACT II – Scene 3 – The Garden of Meebles' House

Supplementary items:

Notes

  1. ↑ Gaye, p. 1529
  2. ↑ "Her Majesty's: 'The Boy'", The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 February 1922, p. 16
  3. ↑ Good Morning, Judge, IBDb database, accessed 23 October 2011
  4. ↑ Pollack, Howard. George Gershwin: His Life and Work, (2006) University of California Press, p. 230 ISBN 0-520-24864-3
  5. ↑ IBDB entry for Good Morning, Judge
  6. ↑ Bond, Ian. The Boy, Rarely Performed Shows, St. David's Players, accessed 22 October 2011
  7. ↑ Gaye, pp. 1528–1530
  8. ↑ "Percy Greenbank" at the British Musical Theatre website, accessed 31 December 2009
  9. ↑ Findon, B.W. (ed.) "The Boy", The Play Pictorial, No. 186, Vol. XXXI, 1917, pp. 33–35
  10. ↑ "Betty Blake; Jean Castaner in The Boy", National Portrait Gallery, 2 July 1918, accessed 22 October 2010

References

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