The Marriage Market is an English-language adaptation of Leányvásár, an operetta by Hungarian composer Victor Jacobi. It was adaptated by Gladys Unger, with lyrics by Arthur Anderson and Adrian Ross. The Marriage Market was the operetta's first English-language production, in 1913, at Daly's Theatre in London, starring Gertie Millar, produced by George Edwardes and directed by Edward Royce, and at the Knickerbocker Theatre on Broadway, produced by Charles Frohman, again directed by Royce, with additional songs by Jerome Kern.[1]
The Hungarian original of the opera premiered on 14 November 1911 at the Király Színház (King Theater) in Budapest and was the composer's first significant success not only in Hungary, but also abroad. The Hungarian libretto was by Miklós Bródy and Ferenc Martos.[1]
Roles in 1913 London production
- Kitty Kent — Gertie Millar
- Jack Fleetwood, known as "Slippery Jack" — Robert Michaelis
- Senator Abe K. Gilroy — E. A. Douglas
- Bald-Faced Sandy, Sheriff of Mendocino bluff and proprietor of the Palace Hotel — Tom Walls
- Other guests on the yacht: Dolly, Pansy, Peach, Dora, and Dolores — Kate Welch
- Spanish and American cowboys: Mexican Bill — Pop Cory, Shorty, Tabasco Ned — Edward Arundell, and Cheyenne Harry
- Hi-Ti, a Chinese barkeeper
- Padre Pedro, a Spanish Priest
- Captain on the 'Mariposa'
- Midshipmen — Daisy Burrell, and Elsie Craven
- Spanish and American girls, miners, sailors, and footmen
Musical numbers
- Act I
- Little Chiquita – Pablo and Chorus
- Compliments – Mariposa, Kitty and Jack
- Never Count Your Chickens Before They're Hatched – Emma and Blinker
- American Courtship – Kitty
- The One I Love – Mariposa and Jack
- Come On Boys For This Is Market Day – Chorus
- Hand In Hand – Mariposa, Jack, Kitty and Hurlingham
- Act II
- All the Ladies Love a Sailor Man – Captain
- Love Of Mine – Mariposa and Jack
- The Middy – Kitty
- A 1 – Blinker
- On Their Honeymoon – Company
- June Is In the Air – Mariposa and Jack
- Answers – Kitty
- How Things Happen – Hurlingham and Blinker
- Act III
- It's Late Now – Blinker
- Jilolo – Kitty
- Additional Numbers
- I'm Not A Silly Billy – Kitty
- The Boy In Blue – Captain
- I Don't Believe In Fairies Now – Blinker
- The Heart of a Sailor – Captain and chorus
- Very Little Time For Loving Nowadays – Blinker and chorus
- Joy Bells – Blinker and chorus
Other adaptations
Another adaptation, Sybill, played in Budapest (1914), Vienna (1919), New York (1916), and most successfully in London (1919). Its English-language production had a book by Harry Graham with lyrics by Harry B. Smith. It was produced on Broadway by Frohman and in London by Seymour Hicks, starring José Collins.[1]
In 1916 a Spanish-language version was produced, in an adaptation by Emilio González del Castillo, at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, under the title Jack. Jacobi's music was adapted by Pablo Luna.
References
- 1 2 3 Scott, Derek B. (2019). German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900–1940: Appendix 1 – Productions of Operetta from the German Stage on Broadway and in the West End, 1900–1940. Cambridge University Press. pp. 290–311. Retrieved 2 October 2023.