A Book of Burlesque: Sketches of English Stage Travestie and ParodyAdams, William Davenport
History
A Book of Burlesque: Sketches of English Stage Travestie and Parody
Adams, William Davenport
Burlesque (Literature); English literature -- History and criticism; Parody
It was, however, in each case only for the fable that Planché
had to give thanks: everything else--even in most instances the
nomenclature--was his own. And that nomenclature was often very
ingenious and amusing. Thus, in "Fortunio," we have an impecunious
noble called Baron Dunover (played by Morris Barnett). In "The
Invisible Prince" the name of the Queen of Allaquiz is Blouzabella;
her son is the Infante Furibond;[22] and among her courtiers are the
Marquis of Anysidos, Count Palava Torquemova (who introduces the
ambassadors), and Don Moustachez de Haro y Barbos (Captain of the
Guard). In the same piece, the Princess of the Island of Tranquil
Delights is called Xquisitelittlepet, and her ladies in waiting are
Toxaloto-tittletattle and Itsaprettipetticoat. Soyez Tranquille (with
a clever suggestion of Soyer) is the _chef de cuisine_ in "The King of
the Peacocks," in which there is also an Irishman, The O'Don't Know
Who, and a German, the Baroness Von Huggermugger. Planché's kings and
queens have mostly comic names. There is Giltgingerbread the Great,
with Tinsellina, his consort, in "The Island of Jewels." There is
Henpeckt the Hundredth in "King Charming"; there is Fulminoso the
Pugnacious in "The Queen of the Frogs"; there is Periwigulus the Proud
in "Once upon a Time there were Two Kings." Henpeckt, again, has a
valet called Natty, and a porter called Nobby. Elsewhere we come across
an usher named Antirumo, an Indian named Tan-tee-vee (of the tribe of
Tal-hee-ho), and an evil genius named Abaddun. The Yellow Dwarf is
christened, very appropriately, Gambogie.[23]
[22] This part, originally played (in 1846) by James Bland, was played
by Mr. Toole at the Adelphi in 1859, and afterwards by George Honey at
the Princess's.
[23] The part of the Yellow Dwarf was first played (Olympic, 1854) by
Robson, of whose performance Planché says that "So powerful was his
personation of the cunning, the malignity, the passion and despair of
the monster, that he elevated extravaganza into tragedy." At one point
his delivery of the lines moved Thackeray almost to tears. "It is not a
burlesque," he exclaimed: "it is an idyll."
"The Yellow Dwarf," it may here be chronicled, is the title of a
burlesque by Gilbert Abbott a'Beckett and by Mr. Robert Reece;
A'Beckett's being produced in 1842, Planché's in 1854, and Mr. Reece's
in 1882. "Beauty and the Beast" has been made the subject of travestie
by Mr. Burnand. The "Fortunio" of Planché was also rivalled in the
"Lady Belle Belle, or Fortunio and his Seven Magic Men" of H. J. Byron
(Adelphi, 1863).[24] This last was in a thoroughly H. J. Byronic vein,
with a Count Collywobbol among its characters and the usual supply
of puns and parodies. Here are a few of the best of the puns. The
Princess Volante is a very Atalanta in her fondness for race running:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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