Scene VI

Whittington and his Cat, or Harlequin Lord Mayor of London was the 26th Grand Comic Christmas Annual, written by E. L. Blanchard for performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London in 1875. Pantomimes are a favourite Christmas entertainment in England, and in Victorian times were usually written in rhyming couplets. They featured a Principal Boy (played by a girl) and a Dame (played by a man). Over the years they became ever more elaborate with fantastic costumes, huge casts and spectacular transformation scenes. We shall have to leave these to your imagination, dear listener, but we hope that our performance will give you a flavour of Victorian panto. This version of the story of Dick Whittington was produced from a torn and well-used copy of the pantomime script, and a long search online and in various British libraries for the original music, details of which may be found <a href="https://archive.org/download/whittington_cat_1312_librivox/whittington_copyright_info.odt">here</a>. The lyrics of the last song are the cast's curtain call and include the names Wright, Vokes and Coveney, the Vokes family and Harriet Coveney being famous celebrities in Victorian pantomime. Dick arrives in London to search for the fabled "streets paved with gold" and after being reunited with his cat Tom who has followed him, finds the mercer Mr. Fitzwarren (for whom business is not going well), his lovely daughter Alice and the fearsome Dorothy the Cook. Many high jinks ensue. (Summary by Ruth Golding) Cast: Dick Whittington - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2297">Philippa</a> Hugh Fitzwarren, mercer - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4358">Kim Stich</a> Alice Fitzwarren, his daughter - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1474">Jc Guan</a> Dorothy the Cook - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3068">Tom</a> Tom the Cat - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/152">Andy Minter</a> The Fairy Bluebell - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/92">Cori Samuel</a> The Sovereign of Zanzibar - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/5717">Phil Chenevert</a> Captain - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2911">David Lawrence</a> First Apprentice - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2587">Anne Cheng</a> Second Apprentice - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3477">Ikku</a> First Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2592">Anna Roberts</a> Second Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3157">TriciaG</a> Third Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3615">Lucy Perry</a> Helmsman - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1492">mb</a> Narrator - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2607">Ruth Golding</a> Audio edited by Ruth Golding

Arts

Whittington and his Cat, or Harlequin Lord Mayor of London was the 26th Grand Comic Christmas Annual, written by E. L. Blanchard for performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London in 1875. Pantomimes are a favourite Christmas entertainment in England, and in Victorian times were usually written in rhyming couplets. They featured a Principal Boy (played by a girl) and a Dame (played by a man). Over the years they became ever more elaborate with fantastic costumes, huge casts and spectacular transformation scenes. We shall have to leave these to your imagination, dear listener, but we hope that our performance will give you a flavour of Victorian panto.This version of the story of Dick Whittington was produced from a torn and well-used copy of the pantomime script, and a long search online and in various British libraries for the original music, details of which may be found here.The lyrics of the last song are the cast's curtain call and include the names Wright, Vokes and Coveney, the Vokes family and Harriet Coveney being famous celebrities in Victorian pantomime.Dick arrives in London to search for the fabled "streets paved with gold" and after being reunited with his cat Tom who has followed him, finds the mercer Mr. Fitzwarren (for whom business is not going well), his lovely daughter Alice and the fearsome Dorothy the Cook. Many high jinks ensue. (Summary by Ruth Golding)Cast:Dick Whittington - PhilippaHugh Fitzwarren, mercer - Kim StichAlice Fitzwarren, his daughter - Jc GuanDorothy the Cook - TomTom the Cat - Andy MinterThe Fairy Bluebell - Cori SamuelThe Sovereign of Zanzibar - Phil ChenevertCaptain - David LawrenceFirst Apprentice - Anne ChengSecond Apprentice - IkkuFirst Girl - Anna RobertsSecond Girl - TriciaGThird Girl - Lucy PerryHelmsman - mbNarrator - Ruth GoldingAudio edited by Ruth Golding

Whittington and his Cat, or Harlequin Lord Mayor of London was the 26th Grand Comic Christmas Annual, written by E. L. Blanchard for performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London in 1875. Pantomimes are a favourite Christmas entertainment in England, and in Victorian times were usually written in rhyming couplets. They featured a Principal Boy (played by a girl) and a Dame (played by a man). Over the years they became ever more elaborate with fantastic costumes, huge casts and spectacular transformation scenes. We shall have to leave these to your imagination, dear listener, but we hope that our performance will give you a flavour of Victorian panto. This version of the story of Dick Whittington was produced from a torn and well-used copy of the pantomime script, and a long search online and in various British libraries for the original music, details of which may be found <a href="https://archive.org/download/whittington_cat_1312_librivox/whittington_copyright_info.odt" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. The lyrics of the last song are the cast's curtain call and include the names Wright, Vokes and Coveney, the Vokes family and Harriet Coveney being famous celebrities in Victorian pantomime. Dick arrives in London to search for the fabled "streets paved with gold" and after being reunited with his cat Tom who has followed him, finds the mercer Mr. Fitzwarren (for whom business is not going well), his lovely daughter Alice and the fearsome Dorothy the Cook. Many high jinks ensue. (Summary by Ruth Golding) Cast: Dick Whittington - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2297" rel="noopener noreferrer">Philippa</a> Hugh Fitzwarren, mercer - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4358" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kim Stich</a> Alice Fitzwarren, his daughter - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1474" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jc Guan</a> Dorothy the Cook - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3068" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tom</a> Tom the Cat - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/152" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andy Minter</a> The Fairy Bluebell - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/92" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cori Samuel</a> The Sovereign of Zanzibar - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/5717" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phil Chenevert</a> Captain - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2911" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Lawrence</a> First Apprentice - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2587" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anne Cheng</a> Second Apprentice - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3477" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ikku</a> First Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2592" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anna Roberts</a> Second Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3157" rel="noopener noreferrer">TriciaG</a> Third Girl - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3615" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucy Perry</a> Helmsman - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1492" rel="noopener noreferrer">mb</a> Narrator - <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2607" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ruth Golding</a> Audio edited by Ruth Golding

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Scene VI

Scene VI