Musical comedy.
The Times critic wrote of the opening night:
'When the curtain rose, the scenery was promising... for we were introduced, straightaway, to one of those inns which Dickens loved to describe. To this inn came a series of the Dickensian characters that the programme had led us to expect [College Bloods, hunting ladies, hunting men and so on] - and there the promise ended. The piece started haltingly and ended haltingly. In the first act there were real horses, real hounds and a number of real hens; in the last act there were 26 real candles; but there was never a real atmosphere of the 'good old days,' and never a real musical comedy... we were never allowed to guess what it was all about'.
The critic added, 'Its music (by Mr Percy Fletcher) is rarely striking; its book, by Mr Oscar Asche, striking only when it falls into pantomime blank verse. The evening, in fact, was mainly interesting because of the unexpected naivete of the production' (28 October 1925, p.12).
Produced with the financial assistance of his ex-wife, Lily Brayton, this 1925 London production was a critical and financial disaster for Oscar Asche.
1925: Gaiety Theatre, London, 27 October - 28 November. Producer Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton ; Director Oscar Asche ; Scenic Art Cecil Aklin.
Cast incl. Oscar Asche, Margaret Cochran, Pope Stamper, Richard Hatteras, Pedro Branco, Eve Ghay, Hugh E. Wright, Norman Williams.
The entries connected with this record have been sourced from on-going historical research into Australian-written music theatre being conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.
