The Geisha
The Geisha is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James Philp [1].
Contents
The original text
The full title is The Geisha, a story of a tea house and it was first produced by George Edwardes at Daly’s Theatre in London, playing there on an off during the last months of 1896 and 1897, ultimately running for 760 performances. The piece began to spread itself around, first to the British provinces and colonies, the USA (e.g. 194 performances on Broadway, thereafter and iltimately every corner of America, including San Francisco’s Tivoli Opera House), then around the world, to become one of the best-loved and most enduring of all 19th-century British musicals.
Translations and adaptations
It has been produced in many languages, e.g. in German as Die Geisha, eine japanische Theehausgeschichte,
Performance history in South Africa
1902: Staged in the Good Hope Theatre Cape Town by a visiting Gaiety Company.
1952: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert and Sullivan Society in 1952. November 3 - 8.
Sources
Kurt Gänzl. 2001. "The Geisha, a story of a tea house Japanese musical play in 2 acts" in The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre[2]
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