The Messenger Boy


The Messenger Boy is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Alfred Murray, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, with music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton, with additional numbers by Paul Rubens. The story concerned a rascally financier who tries to discredit a rival in love. After a tryout in Plymouth, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 3 February 1900 and ran for a very successful 429 performances. Harry Grattan and Edmund Payne starred. Marie Studholme later joined the cast. It had a Broadway run of 128 performances, at Daly's Theatre, from 16 September 1901 to 4 January 1902. The director was Herbert Gresham, and the musical director was Louis F. Gottschalk. The cast included Georgia Caine as Nora, Jobyna Howland as Lord Punchestown, May Robson as Mrs. Bang and Flora Zabelle as Isabel Blyth.
Rosie Boote, who played Isabel in the London cast, so charmed Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort, that he married her in 1901. She outlived her husband, dying in 1958. The young ladies appearing in George Edwardes's shows became so popular that wealthy gentlemen, termed "Stage Door Johnnies", would wait outside the stage door hoping to escort them to dinner. In some cases, as here, a marriage resulted.

Roles and original cast

Source: Gilbert and Sullivan Archive

Musical numbers

Act I - Scene 1 - Hôtel de Luxe, Thames Embankment
Act I - Scene 2 - Brindisi
Act II - Scene 1 - Cairo; Scene 2 - Up the Nile; Scene 3 - El Barra