View source for Cinder Ellen up too Late

{{Short description|Victorian burlesque by Fred Leslie}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Cinder-ellen-up-too-late.jpg|thumb|right|[[Fred Leslie]] as the servant in ''Cinder Ellen up too Late'']]
'''''Cinder Ellen up too Late''''' is a musical [[Victorian burlesque|burlesque]] written by [[Frederick Hobson Leslie]] (writing under the pseudonym A. C. Torr) and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by [[Meyer Lutz]] from compositions by [[Lionel Monckton]], [[Sidney Jones (composer)|Sidney Jones]], [[Walter Slaughter]], [[Osmond Carr]], Scott Gatti, Jacobi, Robertson, and [[Leopold Wenzel]]. Additional lyrics were written by [[Basil Hood]].  The show was a burlesque of the well-known [[pantomime]] and [[fairy tale]], ''[[Cinderella]]''.

The piece was first produced in [[Melbourne, Australia]] at the Princess's Theatre on 22 August 1891 and then in [[Sydney]], on 5 October at the Theatre Royal.  It then debuted in London at the [[Gaiety Theatre, London|Gaiety Theatre]] in London and ran from 24 December 1891 until 9 July 1892, a total of 181 performances. It was revised and revived later in 1892.  The production was directed by Walter Raynham, with choreography by Katti Lanner and [[Willie Warde]] and costumes by [[William Charles John Pitcher|Wilhelm]].  [[Nellie Farren]] created the title role in Australia; in London the part was played by Kate James and then [[Letty Lind]]. The piece was re-written during the run; some characters were dropped and new ones were introduced. The cast included [[Sylvia Grey]] as Linconzina and Florence Levey as Fettalana (the stepsisters), [[E. J. Lonnen]] as Prince Belgravia, [[Arthur Williams (actor)|Arthur Williams]] as Sir Ludgate Hill, and [[Fred Leslie]] as "a servant".  Adelaide Astor had the small role of Templina and later the larger one of Fettalana, and [[Topsy Sinden]] danced in the piece.<ref name=Era1898>''The Era'',  4 June 1898, p. 10</ref>  [[Lottie Collins]] sang her sensationally popular song, "[[Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay]]" as an interpolation in the show every evening.<ref>Hollingshead, p. 64</ref>

The title was a "playful allusion" to the real first name, Ellen, of the Gaiety's famous star, Nellie Farren.<ref name=Hollingshead63>Hollingshead, p. 63</ref>  After the company's return from Australia, and before the opening of ''Cinder Ellen'' in London, Farren experienced an attack of [[rheumatic fever]] which aggravated her spinal disease.  She had to withdraw from the London production of ''Cinder Ellen''.  Her illness progressively crippled her, and Farren rarely performed after this.<ref>[http://www.jeremy-clarke.freeserve.co.uk/Chevalier.htm Some information about Farren] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727190836/http://www.jeremy-clarke.freeserve.co.uk/Chevalier.htm |date=July 27, 2011 }}</ref>  Farren's withdrawal left Kate James to open in the title role in London.<ref name=Hollingshead63/>

==Background==
This type of [[Victorian burlesque|burlesque]] was popular in Britain at the time. Other examples include ''[[The Bohemian G-yurl and the Unapproachable Pole]]'' (1877), ''Blue Beard'' (1882), ''Ariel'' (1883, by [[F. C. Burnand]]), ''[[Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed]]'' (1883), ''[[Little Jack Sheppard]]'' (1885), ''[[Monte Cristo Jr. (Victorian burlesque)|Monte Cristo Jr.]]'' (1886), ''[[Miss Esmeralda]]'' (1887), ''[[Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim]]'' (1887), ''Mazeppa'', ''[[Faust up to Date]]'' (1888), ''[[Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué]]'' (1888), ''[[Carmen up to Data]]'' (1891) and ''Don Juan'' (1892, with lyrics by [[Adrian Ross]]).<ref>[http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Archive/August/prog1detail1.htm Programme for ''Carmen up to Data''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210092757/http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Archive/August/prog1detail1.htm |date=10 December 2008}}</ref>

[[John Hollingshead]] had managed the Gaiety Theatre from 1868 to 1886 as a venue for variety, continental [[operetta]], light comedy, and numerous musical burlesques composed or arranged by the theatre's music director, [[Wilhelm Meyer Lutz]]. Hollingshead called himself a "licensed dealer in legs, short skirts, French adaptations, [[Shakespeare]], taste and musical glasses."<ref name=cuttings>[http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Gaiety.htm Arthur Lloyd Music Hall site (on Gaiety) ''Cuttings''], accessed 1 Mar 2007 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212160039/http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Gaiety.htm |date=12 February 2009}}</ref> In 1886, Hollingshead ceded the management of the theatre to [[George Edwardes]], whom he had hired in 1885. Edwardes expanded the burlesque format from mostly one-act to full-length pieces, generally with original music by Lutz instead of scores compiled from popular tunes.<ref>"Theatrical Humour in the Seventies", ''[[The Times]]'', 20 February 1914, p. 9</ref> [[Nellie Farren]] starred as the "principal boy" at the Gaiety for over 20 years. She was joined in 1885 by [[Fred Leslie]], who played comic characters and wrote many of its pieces under his pseudonym, "A. C. Torr".<ref>Stewart, Maurice. "The spark that lit the bonfire", in ''Gilbert and Sullivan News'' Spring 2003, London: The Gilbert and Sullivan Society.</ref>  In the early 1890s, as Burlesque went out of fashion, Edwardes changed the focus of the theatre from musical burlesque to the new genre of [[Edwardian musical comedy]].<ref>Ganzl, Kurt. "Musicals", London: Carlton (1995), p. 56 {{ISBN|0-7475-2381-9}}; Hyman, Alan. "The Gaiety Years", London: Cassell (1975), p. 64 {{ISBN|0-304-29372-5}}</ref>

===Characters and casts===
The following list shows the names of the 1891 London cast, followed by the names of the 1892 cast:
[[File:Cinder-ellen-up-too-late2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Sylvia Grey]] as Linconzina]]
*Cinder-Ellen – Kate James;  [[Letty Lind]]
*Linconzina – [[Sylvia Grey]]; Katie Seymour
*Fettalana – Florence Levey; [[Adelaide Astor]]<ref>the wife of [[George Grossmith, Jr.]]</ref>
*Mrs. Kensington Gore – Emily Miller; Miss Holmes
*Lord Taplow – Maud Hodson; Florence Lloyd
*Lord Eastbourne – [[Blanche Massey]]; Ethel Earle
*Lord Soho – Hetty Hamer; [[Louie Pounds]]
*Mrs. Bayswater – Miss Kate Welwyn (1892 only)
*Sir Peterborough Court – Violet Durkin; [[Maud Boyd]]
*Lord Whitefriars – Miss Dunville; Miss Farrington (called Lord Blackfriars in 1892)
*Sir Waterloo Bridge – Miss Norton; Lily Harold
*Catherina – Lilian Price
*Grazina – Maud Wilmot; Alice Gilbert
*Furnivalzina – Violet Monckton
*Griffina – Eva Greville; Bob Robina
*Templina – Adelaide Astor; Miss Maud
*Victorina – Lily McIntyre; [[Topsy Sinden]]
*Pages (1892 only) – Phoebe Carlo and Lilian Sedgewick
*Prince Belgravia – [[E. J. Lonnen]]; Maggie Duggan
*Sir Ludgate Hill –  [[Arthur Williams (actor)|Arthur Williams]]; [[Charles Danby]]
*Lord Leatherhead (1892 only) – Fred Storey
*Charles Hollywell (1892 only) – [[Arthur Playfair]]
*Peckham – Mr. Harris; Mr. Barry
*Gnorwood – Mr. Walker; E. D. Wardes<ref>possibly a pseudonym for George Edwardes</ref>
*Footman – Mr. Hill (both productions)
*A Servant – [[Fred Leslie]] (both productions)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Adams, William Davenport.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwOAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22faust+up+to+date%22+stone+florence+lonnen&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 ''A dictionary of the drama''] (1904) Chatto & Windus
*Hollingshead, John.  ''Good Old Gaiety: An Historiette & Remembrance'' (1903)  London:Gaiety Theatre Co

==External links==
*[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/CAMELOT/cinder/cin8.htm Information about ''Cinder-Ellen'']
*[http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/cinderella.html Information about various versions of ''Cinderella'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060923100738/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Emelbear/1891.htm Information about the Melbourne production]
*[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/london_shows_chronology/1891.htm Information about other 1891 productions]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905193013/http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/musicals_tour/first_musicals/burlesques.php Information about Burlesque from the PeoplePlay UK website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200332/http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/collections/object.php?object_id=1597 Poster and further information from the PeoplePlay UK website]

{{Cinderella}}

[[Category:Musicals by Meyer Lutz]]
[[Category:1891 musicals]]
[[Category:West End musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals based on Cinderella]]