San Toy

This article is about the musical comedy. For the ghost town, see San Toy, Ohio. For the United States Navy ship, see USS San Toy II (SP-996).
F. Collingbourn
Huntley Wright as "Li"

San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances (edging out The Geisha as the second longest run for any musical up to that time). The book was written by Edward Morton, and the musical score was written by Sidney Jones with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton. The cast included Marie Tempest, Scott Russell, Huntley Wright and Rutland Barrington.

The piece enjoyed international success.[1] In America, San Toy opened at the Daly's Theatre on Broadway on 10 October 1900.[2] It was revived at the same theatre in 1901, 1902 and 1905, playing for a total of more than 200 performances in these productions.[3] The piece was regularly performed by amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, from 1910 through the 1930s, but it has been produced only rarely since then.[4]

Some of the language and stereotyping in the show reflect the period in which it was written and would not now be considered politically correct.[5] However, a close inspection to the lyrics of such songs as Samee Gamee display a gentle mocking of the pretension of Western superiority.

Roles and original cast

Synopsis

Act I

In the town of Pynka Pong, where Sir Bing Preston is the British Consul, two jade merchants bribe Li, the private secretary of the mandarin Yen How. Li flirts with Dudley, the maid at the British Consulate, but Li is in love with Ko Fan, one of the Emperor's female guards, a service into which all noble daughters are conscripted. The Mandarin, however, has got around the conscription law for his favourite daughter, San Toy, by raising her as a boy. However, the student Fo Hop discovers the secret, and his price for silence is San Toy's hand in marriage. The Mandarin allows this on the condition that no one must ever know that San Toy is a girl, cleverly preventing the marriage from happening. San Toy is in love with the Consul's son, naval Captain Bobby Preston, but a marriage between the two would never be permitted by either of their fathers.

Bobby must leave San Toy to go to Peking on his father's business and departs sadly. Fo Hop, discovering their romance, tells San Toy that he will turn her into the model Chinese wife. A new edict from the Emperor is announced, ordering that now all sons, as well as daughters, of Mandarins must join a new regiment in Peking, so San Toy must depart for Peking, where she will admit her sex, entering the girls' regiment, and can see Bobby. The Mandarin declares that he will also go to Peking and petition the Emperor to return his daughter.

Act II

In the Emperor's Palace at Peking, San Toy is introduced to the Emperor, and he is charmed by her, telling her that she will be treated with favour. Li arrives, followed by Dudley, who entertains the Emperor. The Preston family and consulate staff arrive. Poppy Preston, the Consul's daughter, explains Western marriage customs. San Toy assures Bobby that she is still his, and Yen How and his wives also arrive and are pleased to see that San Toy is receiving the amorous attentions of the Emperor. However, it is declared that the Emperor is astrologically ill-suited to San Toy but well-suited to one of the other girls, leaving San Toy free to marry Bobbie, Li to his old love Ko Fan and Yen How to be promoted to Viceroy.

Musical numbers

ACT I - A Street in Pynka Pong

ACT II - Hall in Emperor's Palace at Peking

Supplementary Numbers

Notes

  1. ↑ Lionel Monckton biography at the British Musical Theatre site of The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
  2. ↑ Bloom, Ken. American Song: the Complete Musical Theatre Companion, 2nd Edition, Schirmer Books, 1996.
  3. ↑ San Toy at the Internet Broadway Database
  4. ↑ Bond, Ian. "Rarely Produced Shows". St. David's Players, accessed 22 July 2010
  5. ↑ Thesis

References

External links

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