Charles Henry Taylor (1860 - June 27, 1907) was a British lyricist, best known for his lyrics for early 20th century West End musical comedies and a comic opera, Tom Jones. 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... // West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland . Along with New Yorks Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the... Comic opera is a subcategory of opera, and denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature. ... Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon the Henry Fieldings novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. ...

Life and Career

Charles H. Taylor was born in Manchester, the son of a silk merchant. He followed his father into the trade and remained there until his late thirties. Manchester is a major city within Greater Manchester in North West England, historically notable for being the worlds first industrialised city, and its subsequent central role in the Industrial Revolution. ...

His friend Robert Courtneidge was a producer at a local theatre, and Taylor supplied some topical lyrics for a pantomime production there. This eventually led to continued contributions of lyrics, and so Taylor quit the silk business to begin writing lyrics full-time for popular music. It has been suggested that The British Pantomime be merged into this article or section. ...

After writing the lyrics for his first production for London's West End, The Silver Slipper, Taylor became a popular lyricist. He supplied lyrics for Seymour Hicks's Bluebell in Fairyland (1901), which became the most successful children's entertainment of the era and was revived annually for the next four decades. During the next few years, he contributed lyrics to Sidney Jones's comedy opera My Lady Molly (1902), George Edwardes's production of The Girl from Kays, The Medal and the Maid (1903), and Leslie Stuart's The School Girl (1903). After the success of Bluebell in Fairyland, the Seymour Hicks/Charles Frohman organisation hired him as it chief lyricist. From 1904 to 1907 he supplied the lyrics to the four shows that the team wrote and produced with music by Herbert Haines. The Catch of the Season (1904) and The Beauty of Bath (1906) were particularly successful. Seymour Hicks Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 - 6 April 1949) was a British actor and music hall performer. ... Sidney Jones was a composer most famous for producing the scores for several musical comedies in the last Victorian period. ... George Edwardes (d. ... Leslie Stuart (1864-1928) was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora (1899). ... Charles Frohman (1860 - 1915) was a U.S. theatre manager. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Herbert Haines was a British composer of musicals and songs, including some pieces for silent films, in the early years of the 20th century. ...

His last work, Tom Jones, was a collaboration with his friend Robert Courtneidge, who had co-written an opera libretto adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Taylor supplied the lyrics, and Edward German wrote the music. Some of the songs such as "For Tonight" (sometimes recorded as "The Tom Jones Waltz"), "The Green Ribbon", and "The West Country Lad" proved to be some of the most popular of Taylor's and German's work. The work eventually became popular among amateur light opera groups. Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon the Henry Fieldings novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. ... Henry Fielding (April 22, 1707 – October 8, 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humor and satirical prowess and as the author of the novel Tom Jones. ... The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (often known simply as Tom Jones) is a comic novel by Henry Fielding. ... Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 - 11 November 1936) was a musician and composer. ... Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending. ...

Taylor died at the age of 47 while working on his first musical comedy libretto. A song from that work, "Dream 'o Day Jill" became a special addition to Tom Jones to celebrate the 100th night of its run.

External links

• Biography on the British Musical Theatre site, adapted from The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre by Kurt Gänzl, retrieved September 6, 2006.
• Listing of English musicals with links
• Charles H. Taylor Credits on Broadway at the Internet Broadway Database
• Photograph of Taylor, German and others
• Listing of musicals with Jones, including link to information about The Medal and the Maid