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GREENBANK, Percy (b London, 24 January 1878; d Rickmansworth, 9 December 1968). Harry Greenbank's younger brother, Percy, was originally intended for the law, but instead followed his celebrated brother's footsteps into the world of journalism with contributions to such journals as Punch, The Sketch and The Taller, and into the theatre.
After Harry's death, George Edwardes offered the younger Greenbank the opportunity to collaborate with Adrian Ross on the lyrics for the new Gaiety show, The Messenger Boy, and also interpolated two of his lyrics into San Toy, when the score was reorganized to suit take-over Ada Reeve ('Somebody', `All I Want is a Little Bit of Fun'). His The Messenger Boy contribution included one of the show's hits, its title number (and the rhyming of `Rameses' with `clammy seas'), and won him a firm place in the Gaiety `team' along with composers Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, Ross, and the deviser of the Gaiety show plots and outlines, James Tanner.
For the remaining 14 years of the `Edwardes era' he worked consistently for the producer, at the Gaiety, Daly's and later the Adelphi, contributing sometimes much and sometimes only a few lyrics to most of Edwardes's shows (although the frequent credit `additional lyrics by ...' was often no guide to quantity) and being responsible for many a fairly ephemeral song hit.
After the end of the Edwardes era, he continued for a further decade to supply songwords and occasionally libretti to the musical stage, only rarely venturing into the world of revue (Half Past Eight, Vanity Fair). His last major work for the West End was the adaptation from the German of what was to become the book to the Jean Gilbert-Vernon Duke musical Yvonne. He subsequently did occasional work as a play doctor (El Dorado et al) or an adaptor – he modernized San Toy with Percy Barrow for its 1931 revival – but basically settled into what proved to be a long retirement. Greenbank died at the age of 90 and, as a result, the Edwardian musical comedies to which he contributed remain in copyright well into the 21st century.
1900 The Messenger Boy (Lionel Monckton, Ivan Caryll/w Adrian Ross/James Tanner, Alfred Murray) Gaiety Theatre 3 February
1901 The Toreador (Monckton, Caryll/w Ross/Tanner, Harry Nicholls) Gaiety Theatre 17 June
1901 The Gay Cadets (Basil Davis/w Harold Simpson/Norman Prescott, J Thomson) Birmingham 24 June
1902 A Country Girl (Monckton/w Ross/Tanner) Daly's Theatre 18 January
1902 Three Little Maids (Paul Rubens/w Rubens/Rubens) Apollo Theatre 20 May
1903 My Lady Molly (Jones/w Charles H Taylor/George H Jessop) Terry's Theatre 14 March
1903 The Orchid (Monckton, Caryll/w Ross/) Gaiety Theatre 28 October
1903 The Earl and the Girl (Caryll/Seymour Hicks) Adelphi Theatre 10 December
1904 The Blue Moon (Talbot, Rubens/w Rubens/Harold Ellis) Northampton 29 February, Lyric Theatre, London 28 August 1905
1904 The Cingalee (Monckton/w Ross/) Daly's Theatre 5 March
1904 Véronique English lyrics w Lillian Eldee (Apollo Theatre)
1904 Lady Madcap (Rubens/w Rubens/N Newnham-Davis, Rubens) Prince of Wales Theatre 17 December
1905 The Little Michus (Les P'tites Michu) English lyrics (Daly's Theatre)
1905 The Spring Chicken (Monckton, Caryll/w Ross/George Grossmith) Gaiety Theatre 30 May
1906 The Girl Behind the Counter (Talbot/w Anderson/ Leedham Bantock, Arthur Anderson) Wyndham's Theatre 21 April
1906 See See (Jones/w Ross/C H E Brookfield) Prince of Wales Theatre 20 June
1906 The New Aladdin (Monckton, Caryll/w others/, W H Risque) Gaiety Theatre 29 September
1906 Two Naughty Boys (Constance Tippett/Grossmith) Gaiety Theatre 8 January
1907 The Three Kisses (Talbot/w Bantock) Apollo Theatre 21 August
1908 The Belle of Brittany (Talbot/Bantock, P J Barrow) Queen's Theatre 24 October
1909 Our Miss Gibbs (Monckton, Caryll/w Ross/ et al) Gaiety Theatre 23 January
1909 A Persian Princess (Talbot/Barrow, Bantock) Queen's Theatre 27 April
1910 The Quaker Girl (Monckton/w Ross/) Adelphi Theatre 5 November
1911 The Mousmé (Talbot, Monckton/w Arthur Wimperis/ Robert Courtneidge, Alexander M Thompson) Shaftesbury Theatre 9 September
1912 Princess Caprice (Der liebeAugustin) English lyrics w Scott Craven, C M Beswick (Shaftesbury Theatre)
1912 Autumn Manoeuvres (Tatárjárás) English lyrics (Adelphi Theatre)
1912 The Dancing Mistress (Monckton/w Ross/) Adelphi Theatre 19 October
1913 The Girl From Utah (Jones, Rubens/w Rubens/Tanner, Rubens) Adelphi Theatre 18 October
1914 The Cinema Star (Die Kino-Königin) additional English lyrics w Harry Graham (Shaftesbury Theatre)
1914 After the Girl (Rubens/w Rubens/Rubens) Gaiety Theatre 7 February
1914 Tonight's the Night (Rubens/w Rubens/Fred Thompson) Shubert Theatre, New York 24 December
1915 Tina (Rubens, Hadyn Wood/w Graham, Rubens) Adelphi Theatre 2 November
1915 The Miller's Daughters (revised Three Little Maids) London Opera House 15 May
1916 Houp-La! (Nat D Ayer/w Hugh E Wright/Wright, Thompson) St Martin's Theatre 23 November
1917 The Boy (Talbot, Monckton/w Ross/Thompson) Adelphi Theatre 14 September
1919 The Girl for the Boy (Howard Carr, Bernard R(At/Austen Hurgon, George Arthurs) Duke of York's Theatre 23 September
1919 The Kiss Call (Caryll/w Ross, Clifford Grey/Thompson) Gaiety Theatre 8 October
1921 My Nieces (Talbot) Queen's Theatre 4 October
1922 The Little Duchess (G H Clutsam/w Bertrand Davis/ Courtneidge, Davis) Glasgow 25 December
1924 The Street Singer (Fraser-Simson/Frederick Lonsdale) Lyric Theatre 27 June
1926 Yvonne (Uschi, Zwei um Eine etc) English libretto and lyrics (Daly's Theatre)
1929 Cupid and the Cutlets (Patrick Barrow) 1 act Q Theatre 20 May
British Musical Theatre | Authors
Page modified 1 June 2017