Musicals from the Gaiety Theatre: 1880-1888: Complete Librettos (Historical Libretto Series)

With their musical burlesques, operettas, and spectacular extravagances, the musical entertainments of London’s Gaiety Theatre contributed significantly to the evolution of musical comedy. Starting in 1880 with Robert Reece’s “The Forty Theatre,” which introduced a full score by a single writing team, the Gaiety musicals of the 1880s blended dialogue and music into a fully integrated story thus creating what would eventually become the pattern in musical theatre. Along with its many accomplishments, the Gaiety Theatre first produced the musical “Dorothy” in 1886 which would later become one of the longest-running hits of the musical stage. Also during the 1880s the theatre produced some of the most prominent librettists of the Victorian era including F. C. Burnand and George R. Sims. Collected here for the first time in one volume are the 1880s musicals that changed, shaped, and cultivated the art form of musical comedy. Including in this volume: “The Forty Thieves” by Robert Reece, “Blue Beard" by F. C. Burnand, “Dorothy” by B. D. Stephenson, “Miss Esmeralda” by A. C. Torr and Horance Mills, “Faust Up To Date” by George R. Sims and Henry Pettitt. Published as part of Theatre Arts Press’ Historical Libretto Series.