MusicSmiles.com
The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

The Geisha¹,  A Story of a Teahouse, was described as a Japanese Musical Play in Two Acts. It immediately became a smash hit! The play was perhaps a foretaste of the coming world of musical comedy. Composed by Sidney Jones², with additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and James Philp. The libretto was written by Owen Hall and lyrics by Harry Greenbank. 

The show was very light, with real-life characters, and was easy on the senses.  It was premiered in 1896 in Daly's Theatre under the impresario George Edwardes, who was previously Richard D'Oyly Carte's manager. The show opened in the same year as G&S's last opera The Grand Duke. Different, it still maintained the Sullivan style, and was a worthy successor to Gilbert and Sullivan. Often compared with The Mikado, its music - quite Japanesey in parts - was greatly influenced by the European music of the day, whereas Sullivan's was very distinctly English in style.

The story³ of The Geisha was a fairly simple one. Royal Navy officer, Reggie Fairfax, is stationed out in the Orient. He is far away from his fiancée Molly. Lonely and looking for feminine company, he regularly visits the Tea House of Ten Thousand Joys, run by Chinaman Wun-Hi. He spends a lot of his free time with the lovely geisha O Mimosa San.

Alarm signals are telegraphed by Lady Constance Wynne, visiting the area, who warns Molly. She gets the next P&O out. The local overlord Marquis Amari is also alarmed, as he also fancies Mimosa. 

Molly arrives and disguises herself as a geisha. Meanwhile the Marquis closes the teahouse and orders the girls to be sold. Now complications arise with Molly. Fortunately the bidding is cleverly 'arranged' and ambitious French interpreter Juliette ends up willingly as the Marquis' bride, and everything turns out fine.

This show was immensely successful, outstripping even The Mikado with its unprecedented initial run of 760 performances. Three big stars (see for example, Dorothy) took the initial leading roles: Marie Tempest (Soprano) as Mimosa, Hayden Coffin (Baritone) as Reggie, and Letty Lind (Mezzo Soprano) as Molly. Its songs were the biggest hits of the day, and sold in their thousands. It was popular in America, and throughout Europe. And it had numerous revivals over the years, both professionally and by amateurs. Now however it is rarely performed. In fact, though, recently one fresh concert presentation (on CD) of The Geisha musical has been uncovered through our library enquries⁴. It is well worth finding and hearing. 

If you would like to taste the mysterious delights of the MusicSmiles' world of The Geisha click Welcome  on the Teahouse  entrance in the picture > > >. 

1.    Footnote: Our dictionary informs us that a Geisha is a Japanese girl trained to provide entertainment (as conversation, performance of dances etc) for men. Return to story.

2    Footnote: Sidney Jones was born in London on 17 June 1861, but moved about frequently due to family circumstances. His father was a military bandmaster and conductor. With this background he quickly learned the capabilities of numerous musical Instruments. In Dublin he studied music under Sir Robert Stewart of Trinity College. Sidney's younger brother was also a musician, so he really was steeped in music at home. A fastidious craftsman, he lived a quiet and uneventful life and died in Kew on 29 January 1946, aged 84.  Return to story.

3.    Footnote: Here is a list of the characters from the original Score to give you a taste:

O Mimosa San    Chief Geisha
Juliette Diamant    A French Girl, attached to Tea House as Interpreter
Nami (Wave of the Sea)    An attendant
O Kiko San (Chrysanthemum)    }
O Hana San (Blossom)               }    Geisha
O Kinkoto San (Golden Harp)    }
Komurasaki San (Little Violet)    }
Lady Constance Wynne An English Visitor to Japan, travelling in her Yacht
Miss Marie Worthington    }
Miss Ethel Hurst                }    English Ladies, Guests of Lady Constance
Miss Mabel Grant              }
Miss Louie Plumpton        }
Miss Mollie Seamore
Reginald Fairfax                }
Dick Cunningham              }
Arthur Cuddy                      }    Officers of HMS "The Turtle"
George Grimston               }
Tommy Stanley (Midshipman)    }
Captain Katana    Captain of the Governor's Guard
Takemine    Sergeant of the Governor's Guard
Wun-Hi    A Chinaman, proprietor of Tea House
The Marquis Imari    Chief of Police and Governor of the Province
Coolies, Attendants, Mousmés, Guards, &c.

Act I - The Tea House of Ten Thousand Joys.  Act II - A Chrysanthemum Féte in the Palace Gardens.
Time - The Present.
The action of the play takes place in Japan outside the Treaty Limits. Return to story.

4.     Footnote: An excellent recording on compact disc is listed in our MusicSmiles bibliography. Return to story.

( Click number to view statistics > > >). Scribe thanks all our  223,547 MusicSmiles visitors up to beginning of September, 2010. 

You may find our special effects work best with Microsoft Internet Explorer