Sarcastic was his temper and uncertain was his age
He knew that two canaries had apartments overhead
Who’d only very recently been wed.
He kept an eye on all that they were doing,
An interfering parrot in a nasty frame of mind…
And vowed he’d stop their billing and their cooing,
Which really was exceedingly unkind,
Exceedingly unkind.
In April of 1896, The Geisha premiered at Daly’s Theatre in London. The two-act musical comedy (considered Edwardian by most, but technically, late Victorian) featured music by Sidney Jones with a Libretto by Owen Hall. The play was meant to be light and breezy and to achieve that end, the songs were kept relatively brief and upbeat.
The story concerns the love of a woman, Molly and her unfaithful fiancé who is seduced by a geisha. The play was such a success that it opened abroad and had a tremendously popular run in New York. One of the longest running musicals in English theater history, long after the official production closed, The Geisha continued to be performed by amateur theatrical groups well into the 1960’s.
One of the most popular songs from the show occurs in the second act. “Molly’s Song” also known as “The Interfering Parrot” is a moral tale with humorous consequences. Take a listen, it’s really wonderful.
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