{{Short description|American librettist, lyricist and playwright}} '''Frederic G. Ranken''' (c. 1869 – October 19, 1905, in Manhattan)<ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=FREDERIC RANKIN DEAD.; The Librettist Had Just Achieved Success in "Happyland."|work=The New York Times|date=October 20, 1905|page=9}}</ref> was an American librettist, lyricist, and playwright for light operas and musicals staged on Broadway from 1899 through 1907. His greatest success was the libretto for Reginald De Koven's 1905 comic opera ''Happyland''. He also wrote libretti for composers Victor Herbert and Ludwig Engländer, and was a lyricist for composers Alfred Baldwin Sloane and Gustave Kerker among others. As a playwright he wrote the books for several musicals.
==Life and career== Frederic G. Ranken was born in Troy, New York, the son of the owner of an electrical works in that city.<ref name="obit"/> He was educated at schools in his home town and began his professional life working for his father.<ref name="obit"/> He was the librettist for Victor Herbert's 1899 operetta ''The Ameer'' which was staged at Broadway's Wallack's Theatre.<ref>Bordman & Norton, p. 196</ref> He was also the librettist for Ludwig Engländer's opera ''The Jewel of Asia'' (1903, Criterion Theatre)<ref>Bordman & Norton, p. 221</ref> and Reginald De Koven's ''Happyland'' (1905, Lyric Theatre);<ref>Dietz, p. 308</ref> the latter the greatest success of his career.<ref name="obit"/> His final libretto was for De Koven's operetta ''The Student King'' which premiered posthumously at the Garden Theatre on Christmas Day 1906 and continued to run at that theatre into 1907.<ref>Letellier, p. 1031</ref>
Ranken wrote both the book and lyrics for several Broadway musicals, including ''The Chaperons'' (1902, composer Isidore Witmark);<ref>Erdman, p. 53</ref> ''Nancy Brown'' (1903, composer Henry K. Hadley);<ref>Ross Griffel, p. 646</ref> and ''The Gingerbread Man'' (1905, composer Alfred Baldwin Sloane.<ref>Dietz, p.331</ref> He also was a lyricist for songs written by Gustave Kerker for the 1903 musical ''Winsome Winnie'' which was staged at the Casino Theatre.<ref>Dietz, p. 194</ref>
Ranken died of yellow fever at the age of 36 in Manhattan on October 19, 1905.<ref name="obit"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|title=American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle|first1=Gerald Martin|last1=Bordman|first2=Richard|last2= Norton|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199729708}} *{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2022|isbn=9781538168943}} *{{cite book|title=Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay|author=Andrew L. Erdman|author-link=Andrew L. Erdman|year= 2012|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801465727}} *{{cite book|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II|first1= Robert Ignatius|last1= Letellier|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443885089|year=2015}} *{{cite book|title=Operas in English: A Dictionary|isbn=9780810883253|publisher=Scarecrow Press|author=Margaret Ross Griffel|year=2013}} *{{cite book|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II|first1= Robert Ignatius|last1= Letellier|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443885089|year=2015}}
==External links== *{{IBDB name|id=5659}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranken, Frederic}} Category:1869 births Category:1905 deaths Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:American librettists Category:American lyricists Category:People from Troy, New York