THEATRE REVIEWS

46. The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown (1895)

The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown
by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe (Harriett Jay).
London: Vaudeville Theatre. 26 June to 5 October, 1895.
London: Terry’s Theatre. 7 October, 1895 to 8 February, 1896.
New York: Standard Theatre. 2 December, 1895 to 8 February, 1896.
Other performances:
London: Court Theatre. 23 September, 1901.

Novelisation: The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Harriett Jay (London: R. Buchanan, 1897).
In 1909 The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown was published in the series, French’s International Copyrighted Edition of the Works of the Best Authors, no. 163. Available at the Internet Archive.

A musical version, Tulip Time, was also produced in 1935 and had a successful run in London.

The Stage (6 June, 1895 - p.9)

     Referring to the vague paragraphs which have recently gone the round of the Press in regard to the plans of the Vaudeville, I am enabled to give you the true story. Mr. Weedon Grossmith, instead of going out of his way to give more or less uninteresting reasons for his decision, says frankly that his present play does not satisfy the box-office, and his new piece—concerning which he is not ready to give any detail for publication—not being ready, he has decided to close his season on Saturday, June 15, and has sub-let the theatre to Mr. Frederick Kerr, who will produce on Wednesday, the 19th, Robert Buchanan’s new farcical comedy Miss Brown, the existence of which I told you some weeks ago. Mr. Grossmith wishes it known that he has no intention of surrendering his lease, and will re-open later on with his new play. Meanwhile Mr. Henderson will, of course, remain in his present capacity during Mr. Kerr’s short season.
     In the cast of Miss Brown will be found, among others, Mr. F. Kerr, Mr. Lionel Brough, Mr. Gilbert Farquhar, Mr. Beauchamp; Misses May Palfrey, Gladys Homphrey, Esmé Beringer, Murray, Dudley, and M. A. Victor.

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The Times (27 June, 1895 - p.6)

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE.

     The humour of Charley’s Aunt has proved contagious. Another young gentleman is now masquerading in women’s clothes on the stage: for this is the theme of The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown, given last night at the Vaudeville at the instance of Mr. Robert Buchanan and Mr. Charles Marlowe. It is a theme necessarily bordering upon the vulgar or the risky, but it is handled by the authors, and by the false “Miss Brown” herself—namely, Mr. Frederick Kerr—with sufficient tact to pass muster; and the cordiality of its reception by the first-night public augurs a successful run for the piece. Among the young ladies attending a select boarding establishment is a certain ward in Chancery who has profited by some laxity of discipline to get married to a gallant captain in the Army. The escapade is almost immediately discovered, and Miss Angela—for such is the young lady’s name—brought back to school. The Lord Chancellor, however, has to be reckoned with,  and a Scotland-yard detective is deputed to arrest the male offender. Meanwhile, the captain, with the connivance of a brother officer, makes up in female attire as “Miss Brown,” and obtains admission to the establishment as a boarder also, in order to be near his bride and to plan an escape for both. It is at this juncture that the somewhat broad fun of the piece attains its maximum. Mr. Kerr, who has the interim management of the theatre, adopts as his rather transparent disguise a ludicrous short-skirted school frock, with a sailor hat and a flaming head of red hair, and his movements are a source of continued merriment to the house. Although the bride has no difficulty in penetrating the secret, the other young ladies, together with the detective, are deceived, and even the lady principal of the school observes nothing amiss with the new pupil except that she is a little gauche. Eventually the nocturnal escape is planned, and so far carried out that both the detective and an amorous German music-master, who is on the watch to protect his favourite pupil, are overpowered in a scrimmage which brings all the inmates of the school upon the scene, with candles and in their night-dresses. In the third and last act the terrible “Miss Brown,” who has done prodigies of athleticism, is brought back to the school handcuffed but still undetected as to her sex, the charge being that of aiding and abetting the bride to escape; and when at last the dread discovery is made that “Miss Brown’s” box is full of male clothing, and that she is in truth the captain in disguise, it is reported that she or he has just succeeded to a peerage—a circumstance which it is thought will mollify the Lord Chancellor, and which consequently allows of a happy ending. Mr. Kerr’s disguise is humorous enough to dispense him from saying much, which is fortunate, seeing that he is quite unable to adapt his voice to the situation; but there is otherwise an abundance of dialogue, which, if not as polished as one might expect in a piece to which Mr. Buchanan had put his name, is at least on a level with the subject. Miss May Palfrey makes a bright and engaging bride, and the piece enjoys the services, further, of Mr. Lionel Brough as the detective; Miss M. A. Victor as the lady principal; Miss Esmé Beringer as an amorous pupil who unaccountably takes to the companionship of “Miss Brown,” thereby arousing the bride’s jealousy; Mr. Beauchamp as the brother officer; and Mr. Gilbert Farquhar as an elderly solicitor.

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The Guardian (27 June, 1895 - p.7)

     “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown,” produced this evening at the Vaudeville Theatre, is an attempt by Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe to “go one better” than “Charley’s Aunt.” Captain Courtenay, a cavalry officer, has married a ward in Chancery, but the minions of the law have got on his track on the very day of the wedding, and he has been obliged to disguise himself in female attire in order to elude them. The bride is sent back to the boarding school from which she has run away, and the success of the gallant captain’s disguise suggests the idea that he should assume it once more in order to rejoin his wife in the seclusion of Cicero House and carry her off therefrom. The style of situation which results from this imbroglio may readily be divined. The authors have steered tolerably clear of the offensive possibilities of such a theme, but on the other hand they have shown very little invention in the development of their idea. The audience, however, was in excellent humour, and laughed and applauded liberally. Mr. Fred Kerr, who has taken over the management of the theatre, played the supposed Miss Brown; Miss May Palfrey was very bright as the schoolgirl bride; Mr. Lionel Brough was good as an idiotic detective; and other parts were cleverly played by Mr. Beauchamp, Miss Gladys Homfrey, and Miss Esmé Beringer.

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The Era (29 June, 1895 - Issue 2962)

STRANGE ADVENTURES OF MISS BROWN.
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A New and Original Farcical Play, in Three Acts,
by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe,
Produced at the Vaudeville Theatre, on Wednesday, June 26th.

Miss Romney     ....................     Miss M. A. VICTOR
Angela Brightwell ..................     Miss MAY PALFREY
Euphemia Schwartz ...............     Miss ESME BERINGER
Matilda Jones     ....................     Miss DAISY BROUGH
Millicent Loveridge ................     Miss JAY HOLFORD
Clara Loveridge ....................     Miss GRACE DUDLEY
Mrs O’Gallagher ...................     Miss GLADYS HOMFREY
Emma                ....................     Miss MARION MURRAY
Major O’Gallagher ................    Mr J. BEAUCHAMP
Private Docherty  ...................    Mr POWER
Herr von Moser   ...................    Mr ROBB HARWOOD
Mr Hibbertson     ...................    Mr GILBERT FARQUHAR
Sergeant Tanner   ...................    Mr LIONEL BROUGH
Captain Courtenay .................    Mr FREDERICK KERR

     To say that The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown “proved acceptable” at the Vaudeville Theatre on Wednesday night is to exactly describe the impression produced. We have had, of late, rather a glut of serious plays; and a sad tale saddens doubly when it—the weather, not the narrative—is warm. We turned on Wednesday with cheerful alacrity and a certain feeling of relief to Messrs Buchanan and Marlowe’s adroit concoction, with its good, old-fashioned farcical business, its irresistible frivolity, and its pretty young ladies in creamy attire well suited to the prevailing temperature, and suggestive of an airy coolness much to be desired. Pleasing mystery is ever present to lend piquancy to scenes in the interior of a young ladies’ school, and what with the excellent acting, and the never-flagging if not particularly novel fun, we confess to spending a pleasantly hilarious evening with Miss Brown. This is the story:—A certain impulsive damsel named Angela Brightwell runs away from school to marry one Captain Courtenay, of the 41st Lancers, aided and abetted thereto by Major and Mrs O’Gallagher, at whose quarters the wedding breakfast takes place. In the middle of it Miss Angela’s school mistress, Miss Romney, arrives in pursuit of the fugitive, accompanied by Mr Hibbertson, a solicitor, and Sergeant Tanner, a detective from Scotland-yard—for Miss Brightwell is a ward in Chancery, and Captain Courtenay by wedding her has put himself within reach of his country’s laws. In order to escape capture by the police, he dresses up in the clothes of and is introduced to the detective as an imaginary “Miss Brown,” the Major’s niece. In the second act, which takes place at “Cicero Academy,” Courtenay, still in the disguise of “Miss Brown,” is left by the Major as a pupil at the school, and it is arranged that he shall elope with Angela that same evening. Tanner, who is on the premises, prepares for an attack from outside, and makes himself comfortable in an apartment communicating with the garden of the school through a conservatory. Now the music-master of the establishment, one Von Moser—no relation to the celebrated German dramatist—is watching in the garden outside, for he has conceived a violent passion for Angela, and is determined to prevent her loving husband from carrying her off. When “Miss Brown” and Angela come down into the sitting-room at eleven p.m. they find Tanner there, put him off his guard by their simple blandishments, and finally succeed in getting him to lock a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. They then turn out the lights, and escape in the confusion caused by the irruption of the young ladies and their preceptress in their nocturnal costumes.
     In making his escape Courtenay engaged in a desperate struggle with the music-master, and maltreated him severely. The Captain was pursued by Tanner, and finally captured, and is brought back to Cicero House in the third act, dishevelled and mud-splashed. The misunderstanding is kept up for some time longer, and then the dénouement is done by the arrival of the news that Courtenay’s cousin, an Earl, is dead; and that the Captain has succeeded to the title. In these circumstances the objections of Angela’s guardians to the match are withdrawn; and Courtenay, having cast away feminine disguise, appears once more in male attire, and leads away his bride.
     The farce had the advantage of being admirably acted by a remarkably good all-round cast. It is difficult to imagine a better representative of the rôle of Miss Romney than Miss M. A. Victor, who looked superbly proper in black silk and white lace, and bore herself with all the grace and dignity possible. Miss May Palfrey’s peculiarly fascinating personality and style were once more displayed in the part of Angela Brightwell; and she played it throughout with charming naturalness and impulsive vivacity. Miss Esme Beringer deserves very warm praise for her performance as Miss Euphemia Schwartz—Messrs Buchanan and Marlowe have evidently been reading “Vanity Fair”—a young lady from Demerara. She looked the part extremely well; and played it with excellent taste and discretion. Miss Daisy Brough was quietly comical as Matilda Jones; and Miss Gladys Homfrey made a genial, hearty, and agreeable Mrs O’Gallagher. Mr J. Beauchamp infused into his representation of Major O’Gallagher a vast amount of sly and roguish humour, and his performance was smart, vigorous, and alert throughout. Mr Power made the most of the small part of Private Docherty, and Mr Robb Harwood won a round of hearty applause by the burlesque vigour of his acting in the scene in which Von Moser, with broken head, cut face, and arm in a sling, persists in loudly proclaiming his love for Angela. Mr Gilbert Farquhar endowed Mr Hibbertson with all the necessary solidity and self-importance, and Mr Lionel Brough’s Sergeant Tanner was an impersonation to be remembered for its dry, irresistible drollery. Mr Brough’s depiction of the heavy, conscientious, and obstinate detective was most artistic; and contributed not a little to the illusion and to the success of the piece. Mr Frederick Kerr, as Captain Courtenay, was gentlemanlike and natural in the first act; and in the attire of “Miss Brown” was quietly and intensely amusing without any offensive and unnecessary exaggeration. The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown was warmly received; and Mr Kerr, appearing in the serge suit of Captain Courtenay, briefly thanked the audience for their kind reception of the play, and promised to convey the verdict to its authors. Everyone will be pleased if the popular actor’s experiment as a manager, so bravely tried at a time of torrid heat, should prove successful. We fancy a good deal more might be done, by a judicious arrangement of doors, to keep the auditorium of the Vaudeville as cool during the performance of the farce as it was on Wednesday at the commencement, when, to an audience of early comers, was played, as a lever de rideau, Mrs Hugh Bell’s comedietta entitled

“BETWEEN THE POSTS.”

Geoffrey Warburton     ..........     Mr JOHN BUCKSTONE
Edith Neville                 ..........     Miss MEASOR
Lucy                             ..........     Miss GRACE DUDLEY

How Mrs Bell’s play in French called L’Indécis was produced at the Royalty Theatre in the November of 1887, how it was adapted into English by her under the title of Between the Posts, and how a version by Mr G. W. Godfrey called The Man that Hesitates was performed at the St. George’s Hall in the February of 1889 need not be here retold. The interest in connection with the revival at the Vaudeville last Wednesday grew out of the appearance of Miss Measor, a charming actress who has been too long absent from the English stage, though what has been England’s loss has been Australia’s gain. She sustained the character of Edith Neville with her wonted delicacy, tact , and fine finish; and an effective contrast to her agreeable impersonation was the Geoffrey Warburton of Mr John Buckstone, which was a sound, careful, and humorous bit of acting. The little piece was evidently much enjoyed. Laughter was hearty and frequent during its representation; and Mr Kerr deserves the gratitude of the pit and gallery for supplying them with such a capital curtain-raiser.

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From The Theatrical ‘World’ of 1895 by William Archer (London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1896 - p.233)

“MISS BROWN.”
                                                                                                                      3rd July.

     The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown, a farce by Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe, produced at the Vaudeville last week, amused the audience hugely, and in so far fulfilled its purposes. It is an ingenuous attempt to run Charlie's Aunt and The New Boy into one; but it is not nearly so clever as either of these farces, and quite as vulgar as both of them together. Still, as aforesaid, it went merrily enough, thanks to the bright acting of Miss May Palfrey and Miss Esme Beringer, and the red wig of Mr. Frederick Kerr. Mr. Kerr’s character called for no art whatever, except that of looking foolish—a task in which he succeeded to admiration. Mr. Lionel Brough, Mr. John Beauchamp, and Miss Gladys Homfrey also contributed to the success of the production.

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The Stage (10 October, 1895 - p.12)

LONDON THEATRES

TERRY’S.

     On Saturday The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown was transferred from the Vaudeville to this theatre, where it was presented before a well-filled house. Some alteration in the cast has taken place since the initial performance of Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe’s farce, which now goes as merrily as ever. Miss Eva Moore now plays the runaway schoolgirl, Angela Brightwell, so charmingly as to quite captivate the audience. As Euphemia Schwartz Miss Adela Measor, too, is well suited, and her portrayal is distinctly good. Nothing but praise can be given to Miss Rosina Filippi for her clever and smart performance of Mrs. O’Gallagher. Mr. Arthur Playfair now appears as the Irishman, Major O’Gallagher a part he plays with a fine freedom of style and capital brogue. It marks a great advance in the career of the young actor, who evidently means making a name for himself. The self-important Sergeant Tanner is admirably acted by Mr. Herbert Standing, who is as near perfection as is possible in the character, and a great favourite with his audience. Others in the cast continue to do well as before. Miss M. A. Victor, for instance, is thoroughly good as Miss Romney, Miss Daisy Brough is pretty and simple as the schoolgirl, Matilda Jones; Mr. Robb Harwood gives a clever and strongly characteristic portrait of Herr Von Moser; Mr. Gilbert Farquhar does his best as the Solicitor, and Mr. Frederick Kerr as Captain Courtenay, the young husband, who dons female attire to escape the law, and as Miss Brown causes wild fun throughout the piece, gives, as before, a quietly-effective performance that entitles him to praise. Between the Posts is played as a first piece by Mr. John Buckstone and Miss Adela Measor who both rattle it off in a highly-satisfactory manner.

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The New York Times (3 December 1895)

A FARCE AT THE STANDARD.

“The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” Is a Bit Queer.

     There was some difficulty in determining whether it was a theatrical performance, in the ordinary sense of that term, or an extremely large family party that took place at the Standard Theatre last evening. Everybody in the audience seemed to know somebody on the stage, and to take a most cordial and personal interest in his or her—especially her—success. Indeed, so complete and obvious was the sympathy between the people behind the footlights and those in front of them that a close observer almost fancied at moments that the two divisions looked alike. Of course, that must have been merely an optical illusion, but it gave one the sense of being present at an amateur instead of a professional effort to prove that “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” is an amusing farce, and that its importation from London was a wise proceeding. In the cast, however, were John T. Sullivan, Harry Brown, Ellen Burg, Jennie Satterlee, and two or three other people with familiar names, and therefore the amateur idea must have been as entirely without foundation as was that in regard to the resemblance.
     As for the piece, it is a manifest attempt to glean again the field from which “Charley’s Aunt” reaped so rich a harvest and from which “The New Boy” managed later to pick up enough grain to make a meagre sheaf or two. It is not so good as either of its predecessors, being more complex than either of them, quite without the serious thread of feeling which ran through the first and destitute of even the faint measure of possibility which the second possessed. It is, too, full of long speeches that are a weariness to flesh and attention alike, but these speeches are well written and every one of them contains “points” which one suspects are capable of producing both applause and laughter. Last night, a good many of these points produced no impression whatever, for, as already intimated, the people present were rather spectators than auditors and gave their very generous approval to individuals instead of to the work of those individuals or that of the authors. This was a fact decidedly confusing for such critics, if any were there, as tried to get a hint from the behavior of their neighbors as to whether the new farce is going to be a failure or a success. Perhaps it is safe to say, however, that “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” may win something of popular favor if the present company, or another, can be persuaded to play it with about three times the present speed of speech and action, and it is certainly not dangerous to declare that unless this end can be attained the farce will flicker for a little while and then go quietly out, leaving only a thick financial darkness in somebody’s pocket to serve as its only monument.
     The story of the play was published Sunday and was doubtless read then by all whom it would be likely to interest. As such stories go, there is no particular fault to be found with it. There are a few passages which an especially Young Person might criticise with an exclamatory “Isn’t that horrid!” but even these are quite harmless. The authors—Mr. Robert Buchanan, with whose previous work every theatregoer is familiar, and a C. Marlowe about whom nothing is known except that he is not the original Kit or the original Charles—have relied almost wholly upon the old expedient of putting a young officer in skirts for their humorous effects. Mr.Sullivan, who played this rôle last evening, has often proved both his talent and his intelligence, but he failed to strike the right key even for a moment and was much more grotesque than amusing in his blue gown and long red curls. His presence among the schoolgirls woke no thrill of apprehension, for his mannishness was far too insistent to deceive even the simplest of damsels for a moment. Mr. Brown, as an Irish Major, was mysteriously ineffective, for it was hard to see what his acting lacked to produce conviction, but lack it did to a decided extent. Miss Satterlee, as his wife, warm-hearted and impulsive, came much nearer hitting the mark. Miss Burg made a gently admirable object for the gallant young Captain’s plot and affection, while Louis Mann earned and won, in a single scene, hearty applause for his portrayal of a queer little music teacher with Paderewski hair and a soulful German accent. There was, too, a Miss Schwartz of Demerara—why of Demerara?—a bevy of particularly fresh and pretty girls assisted her in filling the school parlor with pleasing spectacles. Mr. Herbert Sparling played a conventionally impossible man from Scotland Yard, and there were others—as the following cast indicates:

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New-York Daily Tribune (3 December, 1895 - p.7)

MISS BROWN AT THE STANDARD.

     A good farce called “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” was brought forth at the Standard Theatre last night, and was received with auspicious favor by a large audience. It is the work of Messrs. Buchanan and Marlowe, and it has been brought here from the London stage by Messrs. J. M. Hill and J. R. Rogers. Its theme is kindred with that of Mr. Toole’s play of “The Don,” written for him by Hermann Merrivale. In “The Don” a young woman, who is a ward in chancery, has privately been wedded to an Oxford student, and, visiting her husband at the university, is disguised in male attire to avoid discovery. In “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” an army officer has married a ward in chancery, and in order to escape arrest he is disguised in female attire and is turned loose among the girls. To wed a ward in Chancery without the consent of the Chancellor, if she be a minor, is to commit a criminal offence. In “The Don” that subject is complicated with other subjects, and is treated with good taste. In “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” the theme has been handled with broad humor. The incidents are numerous, the situations are comic, the movement is nimble, and the effect is merry. Captain Courtenay elopes with Angela Brightwell, taking her from Miss Romney’s boarding school for young ladies, at Calchester, and subsequently the captain, in the character of Miss Brown, finds himself environed with many difficulties. The piece is amusing, and it was sufficiently well acted, with the following cast:

Captain Courtenay       .....     John T. Sullivan
Major P. O’Gallagher  .....     Harry Brown
Sergeant Tanner          .....     Herbert Sparling
Herr Von Moser         .....     Louis Mann
Mr. Hibbertson           .....     Charles Harbury
Private Docherty         .....     G. Nichols
Bugler Bates               .....     W. A. Eastwood
Angela Brightwell        .....     Ellen Burg
Miss Romney              .....     Lillian Alliston
Mrs. O’Gallagher        .....     Jennie Satterlee
Clara Loveridge          .....     Clara Lipman
Miss Matilda Jones     .....     Ollie Redpath
Emma                         .....     Annie Dacre
Euphemia Schwartz     .....     Nita Allen
Millicent Loveridge      .....     Carrie Sanford
Miss Stilts                   .....     Kate Miller

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Punch (21 December, 1895 - p.289)

A (MISS) BROWN STUDY.

     MISS BROWN, who is a kind of niece to Charley’s Aunt (her parents are Pa BUCHANAN and MAR-LOWE), is going strong at Terry’s Theatre. Apart from the amusing performance of the hero-heroine, Mr. FRED KERR, in the Kerr-acter of Miss Brown (this is a case in which as the part couldn’t be cut down to suit the actor, the actor ought to have been cut down to suit the part), and of Mr. ARTHUR PLAYFAIR as the somewhat burlesquely dashing cavalry officer Major O’Gallagher (without a song! more’s the pity!), the piece would be well worth seeing if only for the capital make-up and the well-sustained DAVID-JAMES’ like performance of Mr. HERBERT STANDING as Sergeant Tanner, the detective; one of the best bits of comedy to be seen just now on the London stage. It is broad without being vulgar; and, except where the exigencies of farce are supposed to demand some extravagance, it is natural. Mr. L. POWER’S Irish Servant is a capital sketch: always funny, never obtrusive.
     Very good, too, is Miss EMILY CROSS as the proprietress of Cicero House Academy; and Mr. GILBERT FARQUHAR as Hibbertson, the solicitor, gives us one of the best of his character sketches; indeed, if he adopts what may be termed the “Hill-and-Blakely line,” and sticks to it, he should be in great demand. Why did the authors select the name of Miss Schwartz for the creole pupil at Cicero House Academy? Was it that no better appellation could be found for this dark young lady than the one invented by THACKERAY, namely “Miss Swartz, the rich woolly-haired mulatto from St. Kitt’s,” who fell into “such a passion of tears” when Amelia left Miss Pinkerton’s academy? The authors spell “Swartz” “Schwartz,” which, as will be clear to any unprejudiced mind, makes all the difference in the world, and releases them from any obligation to the author of Vanity Fair. Miss Schwartz is cleverly played by Miss ADELA MEASOR, and her fury with a dagger hair-pin is something terrible to witness. Here’s your health Miss Brown, a merry Christmas and prosperity generally.

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The Era (21 December, 1895 - Issue 2987)

“MISS BROWN” AT TERRY’S.
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     It is a somewhat curious fact that two of the most successful farces now running at the London theatres should have for their principal characters gentlemen in petticoats. Miss Brown, the younger of the two, attained a run of 200 nights on Friday; and from the attitude of a crowded house on that evening, it would seem that her popularity is not likely to fade for a long time to come. Her “strange adventures” form the clou of one of the most hilarious farces that has been seen in the metropolis for years—just the sort of piece, in fact, that appeals to the cheery Londoner, who, when visiting the theatre, desires nothing so much as a couple of hours of hearty laughter. The authors, Messrs Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe, have managed their scenes with great cleverness; and the company now playing Miss Brown at Terry’s Theatre, though differing materially from that representing the farce on its original production in June, at the Vaudeville, work together admirably, and secure a representation that is as lively and exhilarating as it can possibly be.
     MR L. POWER AS CAPTAIN COURTENAY.—During Mr Frederick Kerr’s short vacation Mr L. Power, who originally appeared as Private Doherty, is taking the rôle of Captain Courtenay. Naturally he follows very closely on Mr Kerr’s lines, and, like him, carefully avoids the faintest suspicion of vulgarity. Mrs Grundy, in her severest mood, may sit quite easily in her seat while Mr Power masquerades in the skirts of the schoolgirl—the timid little orphan from Portsmouth. He certainly gives us Mr Kerr’s reading of the character—we could wish for nothing better—but he does it exceedingly well.
     MR HERBERT STANDING AS SERGEANT TANNER.—We have been accustomed to see Mr Herbert Standing playing smart military men, fashionable villains, and clubmen. As the detective from Scotland-yard he gives us a bit of real low comedy. The unwary limb of the law amuses us vastly with his absolute confidence in his sharpness and perspicuity. The sergeant gets his best chance, perhaps, when he returns from his chase of Miss brown, in the third act, and Mr Standing’s description of the run is one of the best things in the piece.
     MR ARTHUR PLAYFAIR AS MAJOR O’GALLAGHER.—The major is a cleverly drawn character. He bubbles over with good humour, and it is evident that he thoroughly enjoys his friend’s dilemma, and nothing is so much to his liking as the getting him clear of it. Mr Playfair, who makes a particularly smart Lancer, is geniality itself. He gets the utmost value out of the well-written comedy scene between the Major and Miss Romney in the second act, his blarney being as laughable as his mock heroics.
     MISS EVA MOORE AS ANGELA BRIGHTWELL.—What a wilful little puss is this ward in Chancery! How coquettish one minute, how fiercely jealous the next! As embodied by bright and pretty Miss Eva Moore, we take Angela to our hearts at once. She is simply irresistible, and yet she never fails to show us that Miss Romney’s wayward pupil has just a bit of a temper. Miss Moore is absolutely natural in her every movement, and her gaiety is infectious.
     MISS EMILY CROSS AS MISS ROMNEY.—The principal of Cicero House Academy for young ladies is a type of character that admirably suits Miss Cross’s method. She treats the part from the standpoint of high comedy, and we feel at one that Miss Romney is what the authors intended her to be—a woman of education and refinement. In the third act, where the schoolmistress expresses her fear that the escapade of her pupils, if known, will cause her ruin, the actress quite succeeds in giving the necessary seriousness to her share of the episode, her apprehension being most naturally expressed.
     MISS MONA K. ORAM AS EUPHEMIA SCHWARTZ gives to the character of the Demerara girl the dreamy significance and fierce emphasis required. There is just a touch of real seriousness in the way that Euphemia, taking a dagger ornament from her hair, threatens Angela, and for the moment Miss Oram, by her intensity as the hot-blooded girl, gives us a flash of tragedy. She is a very promising actress.
     MR GILBERT FARQUHAR AS MR HIBBERTSON.—Mr Gilbert Farquhar’s old men always interest us, and the fussy self-importance and ponderous periods of Lawyer Hibbertson could hardly be in better hands. The testiness and irritability of the character, too, are very funnily presented.
     MR GEORGE E. BELLAMY AS HERR VON MOSER.—The impressionable German professor of music, who has such a burning passion for Angela Brightwell, finds in this young actor a clever interpreter. The unkempt appearance, the elaborate gesticulation, and the romantic air all aid the vraisemblance of the character, and, though we look upon Von Moser with much the same feelings as we do upon the pantaloon of pantomime, still it is satisfactory to get such a conscientious performance of the part as Mr Bellamy gives us.
     MISS ELSIE CHESTER makes a dear, motherly soul of MRS O’GALLAGHER, and in her style reminds us strongly of Mrs John Wood, which we consider a very high compliment to her ability.
     MR O. SHILLINGFORD has a very few lines as PRIVATE DOHERTY, but he makes them tell; Miss DAISY BROUGH is an unaffected representative of MATILDA JONES; Miss DORIS TEMPLETON is a lively CLARA LOVERIDGE; Miss MARION MURRAY an effective EMMA; and the cast is completed by Miss J. HOLFORD, a capable MILLICENT LOVERIDGE.

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The Omaha Daily Bee (12 January, 1896 - p.2)

     Frederick Kerr denies the report that he is contemplating a tour of the United States during the coming autumn. Mr. Kerr states that “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” will surely run for 500 nights in London, and not until it becomes necessary will the new play, “Jobury, jr.,” be produced. The former piece has now been performed 220 nights.

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The Era (4 April, 1896 - Issue 3002)

THE PARKHURST.
On Monday, March 30th, the Farcical Play, in Three Acts,
by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe, entitled
“THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF MISS BROWN.”

Miss Romney     ....................     Miss EMMA VICTOR
Angela Brightwell ..................     Miss GRACE DUDLEY
Euphemia Schwartz ...............     Miss VIDA CROLY
Matilda Jones     ....................     Miss KATE HARWOOD
Millicent Loveridge ................     Miss AMY GERHART
Clara Loveridge ....................     Miss BIANCA CONTI
Mrs O’Gallagher ...................     Miss LIZZIE SCOBIE
Emma                ....................     Miss EVELYN SHELLY
Major O’Gallagher ................    Mr FRED W. SIDNEY
Private Docherty  ...................    Mr H. THOMAS
Herr von Moser   ...................    Mr STANLEY KENNISS
Mr Hibbertson     ...................    Mr GERALD GODFREY
Sergeant Tanner   ...................    Mr VICTOR WIDDICOMBE
Captain Courtenay .................    Mr CHARLES CHERRY

     Those inhabitants of the northern heights who were not fortunate enough to see The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown at the Vaudeville or Terry’s have an excellent opportunity afforded them this week by the Messrs Perfect of laughing at this hilarious farcical play at the Parkhurst, where an excellent touring company, formed by Mr Frederick Kerr, and under the direction of Messrs H. T. Brickwell and John A. Warden, is presenting it. It would be strange, indeed, if such excellent fooling as is provided by Mr Robert Buchanan and Miss Harriett Jay did not tickle the risible faculties of the dweller of Holloway, for during the “adventures” there are plenty of frank excuses for laughter. Mr Charles Cherry as Captain Courtenay, the young officer, who proves the truth of the old adage that love laughs at locksmiths, gives a buoyant interpretation of the part, and when in petticoats, as the wild and incomprehensible Miss Brown, he never fails to be humorous, taking care that his humour never oversteps the bounds of discretion. Among the many good points of a capital impersonation we may mention the first introduction of Miss Brown to Miss Romney, of Cicero House Academy, a part represented in admirable style by Miss Emma Victor. Miss Grace Dudley as that wilful ward in Chancery, Angela Brightwell, is as petulant and piquante as could be wished; Miss Lizzie Scobie as the kindly natured Mrs O’Gallagher does excellent service during her short stay; and other ladies who distinguish themselves in the cast are Miss Vida Croly as Euphemia Schwartz and Miss Kate Harwood as Matilda Jones. Mr Fred W. Sidney makes a jolly and genial character of the mischief-loving Irish Major O’Gallagher; Mr Victor Widdicombe plays in very droll fashion the character of Sergeant Tanner, of Scotland-yard; and Mr Gerald Godfrey quite realises the pomposity of Lawyer Hibbertson. The emotional Her Moser finds a capable representative in Mr Stanley Kenniss, and the smaller parts are efficiently represented by Misses Amy Gerhardt, Bianca Conti, Evelyn Shelley, and Mr A. Thomas.
     The principal item is preceded by the pretty one-act piece, by Hill-Davies, entitled

“AN OLD GARDEN”

Mildred Sandford     ..........     Miss VIDA CROLY
Rose Harmer            ..........     Miss KATE HARWOOD
David Brice              ..........     Mr VICTOR WIDDICOMBE
Philip Melville           ..........     Mr STANLEY KENNISS

This agreeable curtain-raiser, it will be remembered, was, after a trial trip at Brighton, introduced into the evening bill at Terry’s in November last. In the representation at the Parkhurst we must recognise the earnestness and sweetness of Miss Vida Croly’s Mildred Sandford and the brightness of Miss Kate Harwood’s Rose Harmer. Mr Victor Widdicombe interests us in the wooing of the hard-headed and honest-hearted young manufacturer, and Mr Stanley Kenniss discreetly gets over the difficulties of the part of the frivolous Philip Melville.

[Advert from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (10 May, 1896)]

The Stage (11 March, 1897 - p.12)

THE BRIXTON.

     The efforts of the management never relax in providing and presenting an attractive bill. This week The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown occupies the boards. Both as to staging and presentation it is fully up to the high level always maintained at this house. Miss Kitty Grattan in playing Angela Brightwell might throw a little more vigour into the part, but otherwise she gives a very able performance. Miss Emma Victor is good as Miss Romney, and the several boarders at the boarding-house are depicted well by Misses Clara Russell, Lilian Maude, Celia Dare, Hilda Cory, and Amy Graston. Mr. Herbert Sparling as Captain Courtney, whose unexpected appearance and unladylike behaviour as Miss Brown being forth rounds of applause from a very appreciative house, is exceedingly clever. Mr. Cory Thomas is smart and crisp as Major O’Gallagher, while Mr. Forsyth Bruce gives a very droll impersonation of the hardly-done-by music-master. Mr. Victor Widdicombe brings many a laugh by his able delineation of Sergeant Tanner.

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The Era (20 March, 1897 - Issue 3052)

ELEPHANT AND CASTLE.
On Monday, March 15th, the Farcical Comedy,
by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe, entitled
“THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF MISS BROWN.”

Angela Brightwell ..................     Miss KITTIE GRATTAN
Euphemia Schwartz ...............     Miss CLARA RUSSELL
Matilda Jones     ....................     Miss LILIAN MAUDE
Millicent Loveridge ................     Miss CELIA DALE
Clara Loveridge ....................     Miss IMELDA DALE
Ada Devereux ......................      Miss AMY GRASTON
Mrs O’Gallagher ...................     Miss HELEN ROUS
Emma                ....................     Miss EDITH DENNETT
Miss Romney     ....................     Miss EMMA VICTOR
Major O’Gallagher ................    Mr CORY THOMAS
Private Docherty  ...................    Mr JAMES LEWIS
Herr von Moser   ...................    Mr FORSYTH BRUCE
Mr Hibbertson     ...................    Mr ALFRED TATE
Sergeant Tanner   ...................    Mr VICTOR WIDDICOMBE
Captain Courtenay .................    Mr HERBERT SPARLING

     When The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown was produced at the Vaudeville Theatre on June 26th, 1895, we praised warmly the diverting farcical business, the irresistible frivolity, and the never-flagging fun of the clever and amusing concoction by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe. The creditable and capable rendering of the play which has been given at the Elephant and Castle Theatre this week by Messrs H. J. Wilde and Edward Lytton’s company is in no way calculated to tempt us to a reversal of the favourable verdict which we then pronounced upon the piece; and Mr D’Esterre may be congratulated upon having secured so attractive an entertainment for the present week. A considerable amount of interest which is felt in the “persons of the drama” is devoted to Miss Angela Brightwell, who is represented in Messrs Wilde and Lytton’s company by Miss Kittie Grattan, with chaste simplicity and delicate grace. Miss Clara Russell’s Euphemia Schwartz is a creditable rendering, and possesses much merit. Miss Helen Rous gives a brisk, bright, and humorous performance of the part of Mrs O’Gallagher; and Miss Emma Victor is extremely quaint and comical as the schoolmistress, Miss Romney. Mr Cory Thomas makes a manly and energetic Major O’Gallagher, and sustains the rôle with soldierly spirit. Mr James Lewis contributes a neat interpretation of Private Docherty; and to Mr Forsyth Bruce as Her Von Moser, praise is due for an impersonation which has many excellent qualities. Mr Alfred Tate’s Hibbertson is a polished and natural piece of acting. To Mr Victor Widdicombe must be awarded hearty commendation for his dry, droll, and always effective embodiment of Sergeant Tanner. That excellent and experienced actor, Mr Herbert Sparling, is quite at home in the character of Captain Courtenay, infusing into his reading a congenial flavour of quiet and unobtrusive comedy. The pupils at the school have pleasing and intelligent representatives in Miss Lilian Maude, Miss Celia Dale, Miss Imelda Cory, and Miss Amy Graston. The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown is preceded by the comedietta Man Proposes, a bright little sketch, in which much amusement is created by the manner in which a bashful young man is guided into a proposal by a lively young lady. The said damsel is impersonated with much tact and grace by Miss Imelda Cory, who has an attractive and agreeable appearance and a nice style. Mr Forsyth Bruce gives a funny reading of the part of the shy swain; and Miss Edith Denneth makes a sprightly servant. Both pieces are appropriately dressed and mounted.

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News of the World (22 April, 1900 - p.1)

AT ST. GEORGE’S HALL.

     A pleasant evening’s antertainment was provided at St. George’s Hall, where the members of the Marlowe Dramatic Club gave a performance of “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown,” a farcical comedy in three acts by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe. It may be remembered that this piece was brought out some years ago at the Vaudeville Theatre, being subsequently transferred to Terry’s. Allowance being made for the non-professional nature of the representation, the piece was well carried through, those most worthy of mention being Miss Jessie Carlyon as Miss Romney, Miss Florence Rex as Angela, Mr. Murray Short as Hibbertson, and Mr. Henry E. King as Captain Courtenay. “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown” was preceded by Charles Fawcett’s “Our Lottie,” in which Mr. Henry A. King, Miss Maud Drew, and Miss Nora Thorp showed to advantage. A crowded audience received both pieces in a hearty manner.

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The Stage (10 May, 1900 - p.14)

     Mr. Frederick Kerr has written a trenchant letter to the editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror in regard to the alleged pirating of The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown in a piece known in America as The Strange Adventures of Miss Blossom, all rights of which are vested in himself. English authors should be obliged to Mr. Kerr for the stand he has taken, as it is evidently his intention to make a test case, and to that end he has placed himself in the hands of Messrs. Howe and Hummel, the well-known theatrical lawyers of New York.

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The Times (24 September, 1901 - p.4)

COURT THEATRE.

     It would be expounding the obvious to give the reasons why actors in petticoats are generally felt to be a nuisance on the stage. The point presented itself only the other day in connexion with a farce now running at the Shaftesbury Theatre. But there are exceptional cases wherein an atmosphere of frank schoolboy fun deodorizes the dangerous subject. Thus there was not a particle of offence in Charley’s Aunt; nor is there a particle in The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown. This farce, written by the late Mr. Robert Buchanan in collaboration with “Charles Marlowe,” was produced at the Vaudeville some half-dozen years ago, had, if we remember rightly, a successful career, and has now been revived at the Court. It is a very slight and unpretentious trifle, which presumably owes its reappearance to the circumstance that the Court managers are in need of a stopgap, and that one of them, Mr. Frederick Kerr, remembers that he once played “Miss Brown” himself. But that was in his salad days, and now he is content to resign the part of the cavalry captain masquerading as a schoolgirl to that versatile young actor Mr. R. C. hertz, who will, we are sure, be found sufficiently amusing in it by those playgoers whom such things amuse at all. Miss Joan Burnett, who will be remembered for her charming sketch of the little Scotch lassie in The Wedding Guest, plays the gallant captain’s schoolgirl sweetheart; Miss Mabel Hardinge succeeds Miss Esmé Beringer as the passionate young lady from Demerara; and Mr. John Beauchamp resumes his old part of Major O’Gallagher. We give these details pro memoria rather than for their intrinsic importance. he one important point is, as we have said, that the farce is wholly inoffensive; and it was greeted with hearty laughter last night.

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Tulip Time (1935)

Tulip Time
by Worton David, Alfred Parker, Colin Wark and Bruce Sievier (based on The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe (Harriett Jay)).
London: Alhambra Theatre. 14 August, 1935. (425 performances).

[Programme for Tulip Time at the Alhambra Theatre, London, 12th October, 1935.]

The Stage (18 July, 1935 - p.8)

“Tulip Time.”
     During the first week of August Anne Croft will present at the Alhambra, by arrangement with Sir Oswald Stoll, a musical comedy entitled, “Tulip Time,” which she originally produced in the provinces. The play is based on the old farce entitled “The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown,” by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe (Harriett Jay). This was originally produced at the Vaudeville in 1895 and revived in 1901 at the Court. For musical purposes it has been adapted by Worton David and Alfred Parker, with a score by Colin Wark. The lyrics are by Bruce Sievier and additional music and lyrics by Hubert W. David. Miss Croft will not be appearing in it herself, but is jointly producing the play with Stephen Thomas. In the cast, which is practically completed, will be Jean Colin, Bernard Clifton, Betty Huntley Wright, Wendy Toye, Steve Geray, George Gee, Eva Grossmith, and Joan Fred Emney. The dances will be arranged under the direction of Buddy Bradley. “Tulip Time” is to be produced twice each evening at the Alhambra, at 6.15 and 9 o’clock, and there will also be two matinées during the week.

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The Times (15 August, 1935 - p.8)

THE ALHAMBRA.

“TULIP TIME”

     An adaptation by WORTON DAVID and ALFRED PARKER of a play by ROBERT BUCHANAN and CHARLES MARLOWE. Music by COLIN WARK.

     The State of Vanderleue, in which the scene is laid, has, though itself imaginary, a certain variable affinity with Holland—a canal, for example, that enables those who are in maritime mood to enter by barge, an abundance of windmills chiefly poised on mountains that rise in abundant purple from the dykes, and, of course, tulips. Not natural tulips, alas, but female and choral tulips, lavishly limelit, and so fussy, so mixed, so messy in their imitation of that sculptural flower that the ballet in which they are engaged is more like an ice-cream vendor’s dream of a mixed drink than any bed of tulips within our fevered recollection.
     In this décor the humour rages and an assembly of tap-dancing policemen beat their agile feet. Two men (Mr. Bernard Clifton and Mr. Steve Geray) dress up as young girls, and make their way into a girls’ school, conducting themselves there with a propriety assured to nervous devotees of Byron by a marriage in the first act. Miss Jean Colin prettily decorates the heroine’s romance; Mr. George Gee sings songs and tells nursery stories with what spirit a man may in affliction; Miss Ena Grossmith, Miss Joan Fred Emney, and Miss Sydney Fairbrother do their best, and the brass in the band is brazen. That the entertainment may please those for whom it is intended is suggested by the applause, and must be recorded; but this is no consolation to those of us who, as each joke thuds upon us, are tempted to cry out: “But surely this is very bad, even in its own kind!”

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The Observer (18 August, 1935 - p.11)

The Week’s Theatres.
_____

Alhambra.

“TULIP TIME.”

An adaptation by Worton David and Alfred Parker of a play by
Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe. Music by Colin Wark.
_____

     The head-mistress of the academy for young ladies, in whose dormitories the heart of this hullaballoo raged, confessed that she hardly knew whether her establishment was a girls’ school or a night club. We shared her uncertainty. But when tulip time is delayed until August, anything may happen in such a school, from flying pigs to strange bedfellows. They happened here.
     The tulip fields on which the curtain joyfully rose were certainly florid. Hills peeped o’er hills, with windmills dutifully thick upon them; and the middle distance of this imaginary State of Vanderleue was as unlike sober Holland as musical comedy scene-painters could make it. But in such entertainment, only pedants would desire topographical, ethnological and other local niceties.
     Picturesquely speaking, the prettiest notes, I thought, were those struck by the little scarlet jacket in which Miss Sydney Fairbrother so tactfully concealed the fact that her part was a thin one, and the poses of Miss Wendy Toye and her cavalier, Mr. Frederic Franklin, in a ballet scena that defies kind description. These rare gestures to beauty acknowledged, one may approach the major issues of an entertainment that was out above all to amuse, and at moments heartily succeeded.
     The plot achieved its most shattering stroke when Messrs. George Gee, Bernard Clifton, and Steve Geray—three ill-assorted members of a flying mess—sought escape from a matrimonial mess via the petticoats and mature and nubile simpers of a matron and her two daughters. Their arrival at the academy, the enrolment of the “girls,” and the havoc they caused there may be taken for granted. It is difficult to say which was the more absurd, Mr. Gee’s sophisticated chic, as the mother, or Mr. Geray’s cleverly assumed Fifth Form gaucherie. More certain were the uproar that ensued when the two new “girls” were bedded down for the night, and the valiant efforts of the entourage to skate over the thin ice of thawing farce without falling in.
     A tap-dancing, ditty-abetting chorus of schoolgirl-cooks and aeronaut-policemen punctuated the narrative disorder with dutiful vigour, or ran about among us, up and down the Alhambra aisles, band-provoked and spot-light conducted. Miss Jean Colin steadied the heroine’s solos, and Miss Ena Grossmith reminded us of what a good clown she can be in happier circumstances.
     The show has noise vigour, too much colour, and the rough kind of seasonable fun this large popular house enjoys. It makes no advance in over-explored territory, but marks time there with dust-raising confidence. The music seemed reminiscent, the dialogue subservient to the patter, and the patter at the mercy of the experienced comedians who did it justice. A full house enjoyed it all thoroughly.

                                                                                                                                            H.H.

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