Seymour Hicks in The Shop Girl, Gaiety Theatre, London, 1894

Seymour Hicks (1871-1949), English actor, as he appeared as Charles Appleby, a medical student, in The Shop Girl, the musical farce produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 24 November 1894. It was in this show that Seymour Hicks sang ‘And the Golden Hair was Hanging Down Her Back.’
(photo: Alfred Ellis, London, 1894)

‘The Gaiety Theatre was reopened on Saturday night after having undergone extensive structural alteration at the instance of the County Council, with a new musical piece by Mr. H. Darn [i.e. H.J.W. Dam] entitled The Shop Girl. There is a distinct resemblance between the general structure and idea of Mr. Darn’s [sic] piece and the highly successful Gaiety Girl, and it is quite evident that the London playgoer has not yet tired of a form of entertainment which is a species of hybrid between burlesque and comedy opera. The Shop Girl depends for its attractions, not on any cohesion of story or any attempt at plot, but on its songs and dances and the drolleris of the members of the company performing it… . Mr. Seymour Hicks shows a distinct advance in his art in the part usually associated in this theatre with Mr. Arthur Roberts. His singing is particularly good and he seems to have a decided gift for dancing of a grotesque but highly amusing character… .’
(Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Dublin, Monday, 25 November 1894, p. 7b)

‘… Mr. Seymour Hicks shows cleverness of a quality superior to the work he has to do in The Shop Girl, and acts, sings, and dances with an activity and a refinement worthy of comedy. By his tactful treatment he almost disguises the unpleasant flavour of his song about the girl with the golden hair… .’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 1 December 1894, p. 8b)

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