Ivan Caryll

b. Félix John Tilkins, 12 May 1861, Liege, Belgium, d. 29 November 1921, New York City, New York, USA. After studying at Liege Conservatory, Caryll moved to London in 1882. He had begun composing but with only moderate success, contributing to The Lily Of Léoville and Monte Cristo (both 1886), and several one-act operettas. He then composed extensively for musical comedies, many at George Edwardes ' Gaiety Theatre where he was musical director. There, he associated often with Lionel Monckton, each usually composing separately. An early success was The Shop Girl that opened at the Gaiety on 24 November 1894. From then on Caryll was in great demand. Among subsequent shows, mostly for Edwardes, were The Circus Girl (1896, with lyricists Adrian Ross and Harry Greenbank, additional music by Monckton), A Runaway Girl (1898, with Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank), The Messenger Boy (1900, another collaboration with Monckton with lyrics by Ross and Percy Greenbank), The Toreador (1901, with the same team as The Messenger Boy), The Girl From Kays (1902, with Cecil Cook, lyrics by Ross and Claude Aveling), The Duchess Of Dantzic, The Orchid, and The Earl And The Girl (all 1903), and The Girls Of Gottenberg (1907). Caryll also wrote The Lucky Star (1899), which was staged by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. The success of these shows made Caryll a rich man and an extravagant man. From 1896 and The Girl From Paris, shows with music by Caryll were frequently staged in New York and in time he took up residence there. Among the Broadway shows, some of which had premiered in London, were The Messenger Boy, The Ladies Paradise (for which he also wrote lyrics) and Du Barry (all 1901), The Toreador (1902), The Girl From Kays (1903), The Duchess Of Dantzic and The Earl And The Girl (both 1905), The Little Cherub and The Spring Chicken (both 1906), The Orchid (1907), The Girls Of Gottenberg (1908), Our Miss Gibbs (1910), Marriage À La Carte and The Pink Lady (both 1911), Oh! Oh! Delphine (1912), The Little Café (1913), The Belle Of Bond Street, Chin Chin and Papa’s Darling (all 1914), Jack O’Lantern (1917), The Girl Behind The Gun and The Canary (both 1918). In his final years Caryll composed Tip Top and Kissing Time (both 1920) and The Hotel Mouse (1922), the latter a collaboration with Guy Bolton and Clifford Grey, was staged posthumously. His last work was Little Miss Raffles, completed only days before he died. Caryll brought flair to much of his work, delighting in waltzes and romantic melodies that brought a sweeping suggestion of classic operetta to his music.