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Reviews
“Here, There, and Everywhere”
Fun June 11. 1870, p. 143
The musical legend by Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Clay, at the Charing Cross Theatre, is a pleasant sparkling little piece, that may almost call itself an operetta. The Gentleman in Black takes its name from a personage, who by his dark art transfigures for a month the soul of a virtuous peasant into the body of a bad baron, and the soul of a bad baron into the body of a virtuous peasant. The peasant-baron, while distracted to see the baron-peasant making love to his (the P. B.’s) soul’s idol, is saddled with the real baron’s wife and family. His cup of misery is filled to overflowing when the baron-peasant assures him that they were both babies together, and that he, the peasant-baby, changed himself for the baron-baby, and that consequently—but we need not carry our explanation any further, as any one can understand it at a glance! These complications anyhow are amusingly carried out, and all ends happily, thanks to the Emperor, who by altering the “Old Style” of the Calendar to the “New,” brings the month to a sudden end, and restores the proper souls to their proper bodies. Mr. Flockton as the ———, and Mr. Danvers as the Baron, acted well, and Miss Cole as Bertha, sang charmingly. The remaining characters were sustained with spirit, and the performance came to an end amid loud applause, both author and composer being summoned before the curtain.
The Graphic, issue 27, June 4, 1870, p. 18
At the Charing Cross theatre a new extravaganza from the pen of Mr. Gilbert has been produced, with the title The Gentleman in Black. Its plot is a wild German legendary story, which is treated in that riotous spirit of extravagance which characterises the author’s Bab Ballads. Mr. Danvers is provided with a good opportunity for the display of his odd mannerism in the character of a German baron; and Miss Fowler and Miss Emmeline Cole also take part in the extravaganza. The music by Mr. F. Clay is not remarkable: but the piece was decidedly successful.
The Rectangular Review, vol. 1 no. 2, Oct. 1870, p. 206
The other production of the kind during the past season has been “The Gentleman in Black,” represented for the first time in May last at the Charing Cross Theatre. More of a farcical comedy, perhaps, than a burlesque, it yet possesses many of the characteristics of the latter. The libretto, written by Mr. Gilbert, is of a most whimsical and humorous description. The subject of the story — the exchange, by means of the Gentleman in Black, of the soul of a peasant into the body of a baron, and vice-versâ, — enables Mr. Gilbert to introduce some highly amusing writing. The dialogue is interspersed with some capital original music by Mr. Frederick Clay, and the whole forms a most diverting entertainment.
Page modified 16 September 2020