Ada Reeve as the principal boy in the pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool, Christmas 1908
(photo: C Co, Liverpool, 1908)
London Coliseum, 27 September 1915
‘Miss Ada Reeve has returned to the Coliseum – a fact that was intensified on Monday by two enthusiastic and crowded houses. One again the London public can enjoy the delightful experience of hearing a really gifted comedienne interpret a song so fully, completely, and with such an absolute command of every shade of expression that each phrase vividly stands out. In the case of the diseuse it often happens that the music is sacrificed to the words, and the art of the composer, which has been welded with that of the poet, loses its significance. But Ada Reeve has the gift – rare on any stage – of giving out the tune with a richness and volume of tone, and at the same time revealing the pathos or humour of the words. There was a touch of raillery in her opening number, “Ladies, beware” [from the musical comedy, Peggy, Gaiety, London, 4 March 1911, originally sung by Phyllis Dare; Miss Reeve recorded this song for HMV twice in 1915, but both versions were rejected and never issued], which hardly prepared her audience of Monday afternoon for the depth of pathos she revealed in “Lonely,” a song burdened with unavailing regret, and rendered with a sweet melancholy that touched all hearts. The dreaminess and charm of “My Oriental girl” were in vivid contrast to the banter and sarcasm of “Foolish questions” (HMV B-523, mx HO-1806ae, recorded Hayes, near London, 16 September 1915; 1.5mb mp3), which in its turn yielded pride of place to the domestic sentiment of “Jim,” the exquisite little monologue of a coster’s wife who talks to her baby. The cheering audience was too insistent to let Miss Reeve depart, even after five songs, and she obliged with a sixth, singing before the “tabs” “The girl I left behind,” which made a special appeal to the large number of Tommies in front. The distinguished artiste has returned to London in the full possession of her powers, and her popularity was never greater.’
(The Era, London, Wednesday, 29 September 1915, p.14d)
Ada Reeve as she appeared at the Alhambra, Leicester Square, London, December 1908
(caricature by Max Lowe, 1908)
Footlight Notes 