The "Fritz" plays is a reference in a number of source to a series of plays and musicals that derived from a German immigrant character, developed by the vaudeville performer and actor Joseph Kline Emmett, who had developed the "Fritz" character in minstrel variety shows, and went on to perform a character called "Fritz van Vonderblinkenstoffen" in The Adventures of Fritz, Our Cousin German by Charles Gayler, which led to a number of subsequent plays using this name and character.

Among them Fritz in Ireland, Fritz Among the Gypsies, Fritz in Bohemia, Fritz in a Madhouse,

These are often referred to as the "Fritz" plays.

Fritz, Our Cousin German by Charles Gayler

Fritz, Our Cousin German is a musical play by Charles Gayler (1820–92)[],

Also found as The Adventures of Fritz, Our Cousin German or Fritz, Our Cousin-German

The original text

A play first performed in on July 11, 1870, in Wallack's Theatre, New York, later music was added. It contains the character "Fritz van Vonderblinkenstoffen", based on and often performed by Joseph Kline Emmett, who had developed the "Fritz" character in minstrel variety shows, and a character that would become the source of a range of "Fritz" plays. Possibly also the British musical performed in Cape Town by Charles Arnold in 1895, referred to as Captain Fritz by Boonzaier (1923) and said by Bosman (1980), to be a musical play by Henry Hamilton.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1895: A musical called Captain Fritz was performed in Cape Town by Charles Arnold in 1895.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

''Captain Fritz, a musical by Henry Hamilton

The original text

Possibly also the British musical performed in Cape Town by Charles Arnold in 1895, referred to as Captain Fritz by Boonzaier (1923) and said by Bosman (1980), to be a musical play by Henry Hamilton.

Performance history in South Africa

1895: According to Boonzaier (1923) a musical called Captain Fritz was performed in Cape Town by Charles Arnold.

Sources

Julian Mates. 1987. America's Musical Stage: Two Hundred Years of Musical Theatre ABC-CLIO.[1]

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 402, 407

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