Owen Hall

{{Short description|British theatre writer (1853–1907)}} {{About|the theatre writer James Davis|the New Zealand novelist with the same pseudonym|Hugh Lusk|the Oregon State University building|Owen Hall (Oregon State University)}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}  thumb|right|Owen Hall [[File:Hall-Edwardes-Jones.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Hall (seated left) with George Edwardes (c) and Sidney Jones]] '''Owen Hall''' (10 April 1853 – 9 April 1907) was the principal pen name of the Irish-born theatre writer, racing correspondent, theatre critic and solicitor, '''James Davis''', when writing for the stage. After his successive careers in law and journalism, Hall wrote the librettos for a series of extraordinarily successful musical comedies in the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s, including ''A Gaiety Girl, An Artist's Model, The Geisha, A Greek Slave'' and ''Florodora''. Despite his achievements, Hall was constantly in financial distress because of his gambling and extravagant lifestyle; his pseudonym was a pun on "owing all".

==Life and career== Born in a Jewish household, Hall was the eldest son of an English dentist who practised in Dublin and later became a portrait photographer in London, Hyman Davis (1824–1875), and his wife Isabella (1824–1900), whose maiden name was also Davis.<ref name=Endelman>Endelman, Todd M. "The Frankaus of London: A Study in Radical Assimilation, 1837–1967", ''Jewish History'', Vol. 8, Nos. 1–2 (1994), pp. 127–128</ref><ref>Frankau, p. 37</ref> The Davis family returned to London in the 1850s,<ref name=Endelman/> and James graduated from University College London as a Bachelor of Laws in 1869.<ref name=Jacobs>Jacobs, Joseph. [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=160&letter=D Davis, James (Owen Hall)], JewishEncyclopedia.com, accessed 12 January 2013</ref> Among his eight siblings were Julia, a successful novelist under the name "Frank Danby", who married businessman Arthur Frankau and was the mother of the author Gilbert Frankau and the comedian Ronald Frankau and grandmother of the novelist Pamela Frankau and the actress Rosemary Frankau; Eliza, who was the journalist "Mrs. Aria" and long-time lover of the actor Henry Irving;<ref>Aria, pp. 27–53, pp. 84–157; Richards, Jeffrey. ''Sir Henry Irving: A Victorian Actor and his World'', Hambledon & London (2005), pp. 41 and 158</ref> Harrie (1864–1920), who became a journalist in the US;<ref>"Harrie Davis, Writer, Dead", ''New-York Tribune'', 15 January 1920, p. 6</ref> and Florence ("Florette") a novelist<ref>Collins, Florence. ''The Luddingtons: A Novel'', Heinemann (1906)</ref> who married Marcus E. Collins, brother of Arthur Collins, the manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.<ref>Collins, Horace. ''My Best Riches'', Eyre & Spottiswoode (1941), pp. 11, 19, 34</ref><ref>Aria, p. 7</ref>

In the 1870s, Hall (still known as James Davis) married Esther Josephine (''née'' Da Costa Andrade, 1854–1946)<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8913/ONS_M18764AZ-0877?pid=7547588 James Davis marriage to Esther Josephine Da Costa Andrade], quarterly marriage index Q4 1876 in Marylebone, West London, Vol. 1a, p. 1162, via Ancestry.com, accessed 30 November 2017</ref> and had three children, Isabelle Davis (1877–1935), Hyman Davis (1878–1950) and Dorothy Davis (1880–1963).<ref name=Endelman/><ref>[https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/14484758db2ce74c?projector=1 Family listing: 1881 England Census, Marylebone, Portland Place, p. 79]; [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8912/ONS_B18774AZ-0376/41730397 Birth registration for Isabelle Davis], 1877 Q4, Marylebone, Vol. 1a, p. 532; [http://www.rookwoodjewishcemetery.com.au/detail.php?id=579 Jewish Cemetery Rockwood, New South Wales grave entry: Isabelle Benjamin], died 22 December 1935; [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8912/ONS_B18784AZ-0395?pid=41729505 Birth registration for Hyman Andrade Davis], 1878 Q4, Vol. 2b, p. 67; [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/32858_609838_0650-00369/18189931 National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966: Hyman Andrade Davis], died 6 January 1950 at Westminster; [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8912/ONS_B18802AZ-0076?pid=41685591 Birth registration for Dorothy Davis], 1880 Q1, Marylebone, Vol. 1a, p. 570 Ancestry.com, accessed 29 November 2017; and [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/32858_611411_1986-00126/17020222 National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966: Dorothy Josephine De Warzee D'Hermalle], died 29 September 1963 in Nice, France</ref> Isabel married Gerald Benjamin, the son of mayor Benjamin Benjamin of Melbourne, in 1912.<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120834038 "News and Views"], ''The Hebrew Standard'', 29 November 1912, p. 9: Wedding on 5 December 1912 of Gerald Septimus Benjamin of Melbourne to Isabelle Davis.</ref> Hyman married Helen Davis (so she didn't change surname) in 1914.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8913/ONS_M19142AZ-0293/7546127 Hyman Davis marriage to Helen Elizabeth Davis], 1914 Q2, Marylebone, Vol. 1a, p. 1401</ref> Dorothy married a Belgian diplomat, Baron Marie-Georges-Gérard-Léon le Maire de Warzée d'Hermalle (1877–1931), and wrote of her travels in Persia, ''Peeps into Persia'' (1913), under the name of Dorothy de Warzée.<ref>{{cite book|title=La Noblesse Belge|date=1901|page=2587| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHsSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2587|access-date=5 July 2017|language=fr}}</ref><ref>De Warzée, Dorothy.[https://archive.org/details/peepsintopersia00herm ''Peeps into Persia''], (1913), Archive.org, accessed 27 February 2014</ref>

===Early career=== [[File:Cover of the Vocal Score of Sidney Jones' The Geisha.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''The Geisha'' vocal score]] After practising from 1874 to 1886 as a solicitor, Hall gave up the law in favour of journalism, starting a newspaper called ''Pan'', which "went to popularity and thence through an inexperienced direction to death",<ref name=Aria15>Aria, pp. 15–16</ref> after which he "owned and edited in turn ''The Bat'' [1885–87], ''The Cuckoo'' and ''The Phoenix'' [after 1899], whilst writing industriously [and caustically] for ''The Sporting Times'' many paragraphs on ... racing, and dramatic criticisms, under the signature 'Stalled Ox'."<ref name=Jacobs/><ref>Aria, p. 17</ref><ref name=BMT/> He also wrote for ''Truth, The World, The Illustrated London News'' and the ''Ladies' Pictorial''.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19070410&id=cVsuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IH8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6240,4313713 "Death of Owen Hall"], ''The Montreal Gazette'', 13 April 1907, p. 4, accessed 18 January 2013</ref> He was assistant editor of Galignani's ''Messenger'' from 1888 to 1890.<ref name=Jacobs/> Hall and his sisters had been friendly with Oscar Wilde and his brother William, but Hall later became a harsh critic of Wilde.<ref name=Aria15/><ref>Danby, Frank (Julia Frankau). ''The Sphinx's Lawyer'', Heinemann (1906), Dedication "To My Brother 'Owen Hall'"; and Stetz, Margaret D. [http://www.oscholars.com/TO/Specials/Wilde/Stetz.htm "'To Defend the Undefendable': Oscar Wilde and the Davis Family"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002120914/http://www.oscholars.com/TO/Specials/Wilde/Stetz.htm |date=2 October 2011 }}, ''The Oscholars'' Special Issue: "Oscar Wilde, Jews and the ''Fin-du-Siecle''", Summer 2010, accessed 12 January 2013</ref> Hall was, for a time, interested in politics and ran (unsuccessfully) against the Liberal statesman Charles Russell for the Parliamentary seat of Dundalk in the 1880 election.<ref>Frankau, p. 112</ref>

The change of career from critic to librettist came after he expressed a harsh view of a George Edwardes production, ''In Town'' (1892); the producer challenged Hall to do better. The result was the hit of the West End theatre season, ''A Gaiety Girl'' (1893), with music by Sidney Jones and lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Hall's satirical book included lines that jabbed in the style of an upmarket gossip columnist.<ref name=BMT>[https://www.gsarchive.net/british/authors/hall.html "Owen Hall"]. British Musical Theatre, accessed 26 July 2011</ref><ref>His sister Eliza was engaged for part of her career as such a columnist. See Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc. ''The Merry Wives of Westminster'', Macmillan (1946), p. 56</ref> The smart society back-chat was very popular with audiences, and ''A Gaiety Girl'' has a claim to being the first true musical comedy. Hall's next libretto was for ''An Artist's Model'' (1895), another success for the same writing team. He repeated the snappy dialogue style of the previous work, but joined it with a romantic plot, which Hall added at the last minute after Edwardes hired the star Marie Tempest, for whom Hall quickly wrote a new role. The result established the formula for two further extraordinary successes by Hall and his collaborators at Daly's Theatre.<ref name=BMT/>

The first of these was ''The Geisha'' (1896), which became the biggest international hit in musical theatre history, playing for 760 performances in its original London run and enjoying numerous international productions.<ref>''Histories of Tourism: Representation, Identity and Conflict'' (ed. John K. Walton; 2005), p. 105, Multilingual Matters Limited. {{ISBN|1-84541-031-9}}</ref> The next collaboration for Hall, Jones and Greenbank was another popular work for Daly's, ''A Greek Slave'' (1898).<ref name=BMT/>

{{Listen|type=music|header=Music from Leslie Stuart and Owen Hall's ''Florodora'' (1899) |filename=Florodora - Tell me pretty maiden.ogg |title="Tell me pretty maiden" |description=Edison Records, c. 1908: "Edison Sextette": Ada Jones, George S. Lenox, Corinne Morgan, Grace Nelson, Bob Roberts and Frank C. Stanley |filename2=Florodora - In the shade of the palm.ogg |title2="In the shade of the palm" |description2=Edison Records, 1902: Frank C. Stanley}} Hall declared bankruptcy first at the age of 29, during his early career as a solicitor, having run up debts of more than £27,000. He was back in bankruptcy court six years later, in 1888. Even after his theatrical success and high salary from Edwardes, he was bankrupt again in 1898.<ref name=BMT/> His constant financial trouble stemmed from his gambling and extravagant entertaining of his friends. The pseudonym "Owen Hall" was an ironic nod ("owin' all") towards his extensive debts, as was another of his pseudonyms, "Payne Nunn" ("payin' none").<ref name=BMT/> His sister Eliza recalled: "As a lawyer he gave advice freely to his friends; as a racehorse owner he indulged his prodigal proclivities in the world of hangers-on; during his editorial and play-writing epochs he was lavish in his hospitality ... and he voiced his belief that he 'had enjoyed every experience except death and solvency'."<ref>Aria, pp. 19–20</ref> She wrote that, during his bankruptcy proceedings, Hall quipped irreverently: "Now I know that my Receiver liveth".<ref name=Aria20>Aria, p. 20</ref> His nephew Gilbert recalled that Hall said: "You can trust me with anything except a pretty girl or a sovereign."<ref name=Aria20/>

[[File:Grave of James Davis (Owen Hall) in Highgate Cemetery.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Hall's grave in Highgate Cemetery]]

===''Florodora'' and later years=== Hall wrote the musical ''Florodora'' (1899) for producer Tom Davis, which was set to music by Leslie Stuart, and the piece became another record-setting international hit, running for 455 performances in London, and then 552 performances in New York, followed by other international productions and revivals.<ref>Kenig, Marc. "Reviving a Legend of Musical Theatre", The Patter Post, Lyric Theatre, San Jose, California, May 2009, pp. 6–10</ref>

Hall wrote several more works in the new century, including two more musicals for Davis: ''The Silver Slipper'' (1901) with Stuart, and the unsuccessful ''The Medal and the Maid'' (1903) with Jones. For Edwardes, he wrote "perhaps the most delightful of all his libretti" and his last big success, ''The Girl from Kays'' (1902), and later ''The Little Cherub'' (1906). A 1904 piece was ''Sergeant Brue'', written with Liza Lehmann.<ref name=BMT/>

He died in Harrogate, one day short of his 54th birthday,<ref name=BMT/> and was buried in Highgate Cemetery, north London,<ref>[https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/19070415/086/0005 "Funeral of Mr 'Owen Hall'"], ''The Morning Post'', 15 April 1907, p. 5, accessed 29 November 2017, via British Newspaper Archive {{subscription required}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book|last=Aria|first=Mrs. Eliza Davis|author-link=Eliza Davis|year=1922|title=My Sentimental Self| url=https://archive.org/details/mysentimentalsel00ariauoft| location=London| publisher=Chapman & Hall}} * {{cite book|last=Frankau|first=Gilbert|author-link=Gilbert Frankau|year=1940|title=Self-Portrait: A Novel of His Own Life | location=London| publisher=Hutchinson}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Hyman|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Hyman|year=1978|title=Sullivan and His Satellites| location=London| publisher=Chappell|ref=none}}

==External links== *{{IBDB name|7982}} *Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/who22.htm Profile of Hall] at Musicals101.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Owen}} Category:British theatre critics Category:Alumni of University College London Category:Writers from London Category:1853 births Category:1907 deaths Category:Burials at Highgate Cemetery Category:Jewish English writers Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:Jewish dramatists and playwrights Category:19th-century English dramatists and playwrights Category:19th-century English male writers Category:English satirists