The Cingalee or Sunny Ceylon is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens.[1] The story is set in the Edwardian era in the then-tranquil island of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and follows the story of British colonial tea planters (one of the most popular songs in the score is called "Tea, tea, tea").
The piece opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 5 March 1904 and ran until 11 March 1905 for a total of 365 performances.[1] The setting in an exotic Asian locale follwed the precedent set by The Mikado that was continued in The Geisha, San Toy, The Nautch Girl, A Chinese Honeymoon and others. There is little in the music to give The Cingalee an Eastern flavour. However, Monckton's catchy sextet, "The Island of Gay Ceylon", his "Pearl of Sweet Ceylon" and Ruben's "White and Brown Girl", "Sloe Eyes", "Monkeys" and "You and I" are highlights of the musical score. The London cast included Hayden Coffin, Rutland Barrington, Huntley Wright and Isabel Jay. A young Lily Elsie also appeared in the show, as did Topsy Sinden.[2]
The musical had a short Broadway run, opening at Daly's Theatre in New York on 24 October 1904, and running for 33 performances.[3] A production in Sydney, Australia, in May 1905 by J C Williamson's Royal Comic Opera Company, opened on 6 May, starring Margaret Thomas as Nanoya.[4]
^ abJ. P. Wearing "Productions 1904: The Cingalee; or, Sunny Ceylon", The London Stage 1900–1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd edition, Scarecrow Press; 5 December 2013), p. 176
^"Daly's Theatre", The Times, 11 November 1904, p. 4
^The Cingalee, Guide to Musical Theatre, accessed 3 April 2018
^Rutledge, Martha, "Margaret Jane Gordon (1880–1962)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 20 October 2023
TheCingalee or Sunny Ceylon is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy...
The Lonsdale Sisters were a dancing duo consisting of Pauline Cingalee & Florence Samuels who performed on numerous variety shows throughout the United...
eleven musicals over the ensuing years, including A Country Girl, TheCingalee, Véronique, The White Chrysanthemum, The Girl Behind the Counter, Miss Hook...
achieved fame on the Australian and British stage. She was born Caroline Ellen Moore in Geelong, Victoria, on 31 July 1882, the third of the nine children...
twice: 1784–1802 in the Peerage of Great Britain and since 1807 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom The Lonsdale Sisters, Pauline Cingalee & Florence Samuels...
operas and musicals. Garrick died on 13 July 2001. Out of the Bag (1941) - radio TheCingalee (1942) - radio musical Rats of Tobruk (1944) - film Australian...
Lady Patricia Vereker in TheCingalee in 1904, Madame du Tertre in The Little Michus in 1905, and Lady Agnes Congress in The Little Cherub (during which...
"Fancy Dress"). The success of A Country Girl led to another musical with Monckton as principal composer and Rubens as contributor, TheCingalee in 1904. Monckton's...
Angy Loftus in TheCingalee at Daly's Theatre (1904); Pepzi in A Waltz Dream at Daly's (1911); Lady Diana Camden in Theodore & Co at the Gaiety (1912);...
spotted by the impresario Robert Courtneidge. Under his management she toured in 1904–05 as Nanoya in TheCingalee and Chandra Nil in The Blue Moon. In...
also appeared as Peggy Sabine in the musical play TheCingalee at Daly's Theatre on Broadway, in October 1904. The musical featured chorus girls with...
The Messenger Boy (1900), Kitty Grey (1901), The Toreador (1901), A Country Girl (1902), The Girl from Kays (1903), The Orchid (1903), TheCingalee (1904)...
at the Vaudeville Theatre on September 9 and ran for 621 performances TheCingalee (Lionel Monckton, Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank) – London production...
Bantock Pierpoint. The rest were duets with baritone Francis Ludlow: Lionel Monckton: A Country Girl—"Boy and Girl" and TheCingalee—"You and I" André...
including: The Geisha (1896, as Wun-Hi), A Greek Slave (1898, as Heliodorus), San Toy (1899, as Li), A Country Girl (1902, as Barry), TheCingalee (1904,...
Ralph Vaughan Williams – In the Fen Country Frederick Delius – Koanga (premièred 30 March in Germany) 5 March – TheCingalee, by Lionel Monckton, Adrian...
appearing with the company of Joseph Jefferson in 1901 and 1902. She was seen on Broadway in musicals Babes in Toyland (1903), TheCingalee (1904) and Sergeant...
principal dancer in TheCingalee in 1904–05, played the princess in The Princess and the Troubador (with music by Walter Slaughter) at the London Coliseum...
including Dick Whittington and His Cat, The Toreador, Venus by George Grossmith, My Lady Molly and TheCingalee. During World War I, she appeared in Fred...
(1902), The Orchid (1903), The Earl and the Girl (1903), Lady Madcap (1904), Véronique (1904), TheCingalee (1904), The Little Michus (1905), The Spring...
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