The Medal and the Maid is a musical play with book by Owen Hall, lyrics by Charles H. Taylor and music by Sidney Jones. It opened at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 25 April 1903.

Dramatis Personæ

MIDI Files

ACT I   -   Public Gardens at Cannes.

• No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "We have come from the ends of the earth to the Mediterranean Sea, and we're going for all we are worth to be jolly as jolly can be..."
• No. 2 - Octette and Chorus - "The Polo championship we claim of all the Riviera, for none can beat us at the game, from Cannes to Bordighera..."
• No. 3 - Song - Miss Ventnor and Chorus - "In gen'ral terms you might allude to my Curriculum;  review the subjects I include in my Curriculum..."
• No. 4 - Concerted Number - "If you'll follow us pray, we will show you the way that conducts to Acacia Villa.  It's contiguous but we avoid a short cut..."
• No. 5 - Chorus and Song - Josephine - "What is the matter?  Bid her be gone - we want no interlopers here to interfere with our affairs, and she is one..."
• No. 6 - Duet - Merva and Josephine - "Come kind gentlemen, buy my posies;  I have violets, jonquils, roses.  Ev'ry blossom that sweetly blows is here today..."
• No. 7 - Song - Levanter - "One fellow has some fault to find with ev'ry girl he sees;  another can't make up his mind:  I'm not so hard to please..."
• No. 8 - Song - Miss Ventnor and Schoolgirls - "Of marks of high distinction we hear of many types;  the soldier and policeman receive good conduct stripes..."
• No. 9 - Song - Pentweazle and Chorus - "All the world's a seminary where, as circumstances vary, we are learning to be foolish or be wise..."
• No. 10 - Song - Merva - "Free, free at last I am going to be!  No more school bell's early morning clamour.  No more lessons at all for me..."
• No. 11 - Quartette - Pentweazle and others - "I'm going to be a Marquis, and I wonder if they'll let me wear a silver gilt electro-plated coronet!"
• No. 12 - Shoeblack Dance - Polka , Graceful Dance, and the Storm
• No. 13 - Finale Act I - "Oh! it's now to be a roamer in the classic land of Homer!  We have never yet look'd forward to a trip so..."

ACT II   -   A wild territory in the Island of Karagovina.

• No. 13a - Entr'acte
• No. 14 - Chorus of Brigands, etc. - "We gladly welcome ev'ry time the enterprising folks who climb from crag to crag and slowly drag their limbs to our abode..."
• No. 15 - Duet - Mrs. Habbicombe, Pentweazle and Chorus - "If ever you're going to travel about, it isn't advisable starting without a person proficient in guiding..."
• No. 16 - Song - Darien - "It's very like a satire that the people of a nation, possessed of ev'ry peaceable proclivity, should have to take to Brigandage..."
• No. 17 - Duet - Merva and Allen - "One day a maiden wander'd down a sunny country lane, and as she went, there pass'd close by a tall and handsome swain."
• No. 18 - Song - Miss Ventnor and Girls - "Though few of us are clever, and though fewer still are great, yet we all can be celebrities today..."
• No. 19 - Duet - Miss Ventnor and Darien - "You shall reign o'er my heart in a kingdom apart, and love's flame shall be constant and steady..."
• No. 20 - Song - Mrs. Habbicombe and Chorus - "There was once a most delightful little charmer, tho' it struck me as peculiar to find..."
• No. 21 - Song - Merva - "O foolish men!  it goes to prove you anything but wise, to talk about the girls you love as angels from the skies..."
• No. 22 - Song - Elsie and Chorus - "Katie had a Kodak, with a shiny lens;  Katie used to photograph her relatives and friends..."
• No. 23 - Song - Levanter and Chorus - "There are lots of little stories which I reckon ... which I reckon ... if examined, would assume another shape..."
• No. 24 - Finale Act II - "Send your friends to Karagovina ... Karagovina, Vive! ... If they're wealthy, and would be happily married and done for..."

MIDI Files

External Links

The Medal and the Maid at The Guide to Light Opera and Operetta

Vocal Score at the Internet Archive

British Musical Theatre | Musicals

Page modified 15 January 2017