The Girl from Kay's

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The Girl from Kays is a musical comedy in three acts, with music by Ivan Caryll and book and lyrics by Owen Hall. Additional songs were by Paul Rubens, Howard Talbot, Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and others. The farcical story concerns a misguided kiss. The musical was produced by George Edwardes at the Apollo Theatre in London, opening on 15 November 1902 and moving to the Comedy Theatre on 14 December 1903 to finish its run of 432 performances.

Dramatis Personæ

NORAH CHALMERS	Miss Kate Cutler
ELLEN (her Maid)	Miss Letty Lind
MRS. CHALMERS	Miss Marie Illington

NANCY LOWLEY
MARY METHUEN
CORA PAGET
MABEL MACDONALD
HILDA FRENCH

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(Assistants at Kay's)

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Miss Ella Snyder
Miss Kitty Gordon
Miss Georgie Read
Miss Nellie Souray
Miss Marie Billing

RHODA LESLIE
ELLA WYLY
MAUD RACINE
GERTRUDE HILDESLEY
OLIVE WHITNEY
JOAN MAYEN

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(Norah's Bridesmaids)

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Miss Delia Beresford
Miss Vashti Earle
Miss Evelyn Corry
Miss Rosie Chadwick
Miss Edith Neville
Miss Irene Allen

JANE	Miss Kitty Ashmead
WINNIE HARBOROUGH (the Girl from Kay's)	Miss Ethel Irving
HARRY GORDON	Mr. W. Louis Bradfield
THE HON. PERCY FITZTHISTLE	Mr. Aubrey Fitzgerald
THEODORE QUENCH, K.C.	Mr. W. Cheeseman
MR. CHALMERS	Mr. E. W. Garden
JOSEPH (Hall Porter at Flacton Hotel)	Mr. William Wyes
ARCHIE PEMBRIDGE	Mr. J. Thompson
FRANK (Waiter at Savoy Restaurant)	Mr. Ernest Lambart
PEPPER (Page Boy of Flacton Hotel)	Master Bottomley
SCAVVIN (Proprietor of Flacton Hotel)	Mr. E. Fence
MAX HOGGENHEIMER	Mr. Willie Edouix

MIDI Files

Act I - Chalmers' Flat.

No. 1 - Opening Chorus of Bridesmaids, with Norah - "We're the bright and bridal bevy who have recently attended..."
No. 2 - Song - Norah and Bridesmaids - "As I came up the aisle, supported by dear father..."
No. 3 - Scene - Norah and Chorus - "We've come for you ladies, no pretty bridesmaid is allowed to be absent by stealth..."
No. 4 - Song - Winnie - "When a girl of commonsense wants to make a competence..."
No. 5 - Song - Harry - "Oh, when a young man takes a wife, his bachelor chrysalis shedding..."
No. 6 - Finale Act I - "Now we see the carriage stand before the door ... it will take the wedded couple to the station..."

ACT II - Grand Hotel, Flacton-on-Sea.

No. 7 - Opening Chorus - "Sunday at Flacton-on-Sea, isn't it jolly in summer? Who isn't happy to be here..."
No. 8 - Duet - Norah & Harry - "We're married, I cannot deny ... Then what are we going to do?..."
No. 9 - Song - Mary & Chorus - "We are good little girls, very worldly and wise, and we can teach you just a few things..."
No. 10 - Song - Winnie & Chorus - "If you'd like to know the ways of the customers at Kay's..."
No. 11 - Song - Ellen & Chorus of Bridesmaids - "Oh, the fine folk with their marriages too fussy always are..."
No. 12 - Song - Norah - "I dreamed my husband's love was pure as snow, Papa! ..."
No. 13 - Coon Song - Nancy - "Sambo was a coffee colour'd coon ..."
No. 14 - Song - Harry - "Women are extraordinary beings! Upon my word, I don't know what to think! ..."
No. 15 - Finale Act II - "He has gone his ways with a girl from Kay's, but why should you weep, and why sigh? ..."

ACT III - The Savoy Restaurant.

No. 16 - Act III Introduction
No. 17 - Duet - Winnie and Harry - "Wife and I have had a quarrel, she believes me far from moral..."
No. 18 - Song - Mary, with Chorus - "When love stands at the heart's door of a maiden..."
No. 19 - Song - Harry, with Chorus - "Supposing things look black in town, and you feel rather blue..."
No. 20 - Song - Winnie & Chorus - "It's very nice to be a dame of high degree, with blood and reputation beautifully blue..."
No. 21 - Finale - "She'll marry Hoggenheimer of Park Lane..."

Additional numbers.

No. 22 - Song - Percy - "When I gaze in this glass my reflections go back to the time when I was a boy..."
No. 23 - Song - Harry - "There was a little builder once to build a house began..."
No. 24 - Quartet - Nancy, Ellen, Fitzthistle, & Frank - "I want to give a birthday party here..."

Nos. 1, 3, 7 and 15 were composed by Cecil Cook.
No. 2 was written and composed by Bernard Rolt. No. 6 was composed by Meyer Lutz.
Nos. 11 and 13 were composed by Howard Talbot. No. 12 was composed by Lionel Monckton.
No. 14 was written and composed by Paul A. Rubens. No. 19 was composed by A. D. Cammeyer.
Nos. 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 17, 18 and 20 were composed by Ivan Caryll.
Nos. 22 and 24 were composed by Paul A. Rubens, and no. 23 was composed by Ernest Bucalossi.

MIDI Files

Posters and Postcards

External Links: Vocal Score at UR Research; The Girl from Kay's at Wikipedia; The Girl from Kay's at the Guide to Musical Theatre

British Musical Theatre | Musicals

Page modified 7 December 2016