Hyperion Records

In The Toreador (Gaiety, 17 June 1901) Edmund Payne played Sammy Gigg, who in deepest Spain gets involved with a Carlist conspiracy and an attractive señora. He also manages to get dressed up as a toreador. It was, though, another comedian—Fred Wright junior as Pettifer, a dealer in wild animals—who in When I marry Amelia anticipates marriage to his blushing bride. The show’s big hit was Keep off the grass, Monckton’s first offering for Gertie Millar in the minor role of Cora Bellamy, a bridesmaid. This was the last show at the original Gaiety Theatre in the Strand before it was replaced by a new theatre in the newly constructed Aldwych.

from notes by Andrew Lamb © 2008