An Author-Manager Am I 1894 'Prince Ananias'

James Pitt-Payne, London UK 19 Jan 2004

[La Fontaine:] An AuthorManager am I,
of a company artistic.
Some say the apple of my eye,
is the ultrarealistic.
I try to humor ev'ry class,
For which the press say I'm an ass.
[Actors:] To which we all agree,
[La Fontaine:] The compliment
I oft return,
in language hot enough to burn,
but Phoenixlike they seem to be,
when e'er a play's
produced by me;
if I did not to plays give birth,
there'd be no critics on the earth.
[Actors:] Or actors such as we,
[La Fontaine:] I am the most original
of authors term'd dramatical;
My brain is large and whimsical,
Oh, it's acting all the time.
Some say I'm aboriginal,
in ev'rything dogmatical;
in me there's nothing flimsical,
I'm distinctly superfine.

[Actors:] He is the most original
of authors term'd dramatical;
His brain is large and whimsical,
Oh, it's acting all the time.
Some say he's aboriginal,
in ev'rything dogmatical;
in him there's nothing flimsical,
He's distinctly superfine.

[La Fontaine:] I heard of managers who pay,
to the playwrights sums gigantic.
Five thousand louis for one play,
from across the broad Atlantic.
I'd write a score for such a price,
why such a sum would just suffice.
[Actors:] To pay us salary.
[La Fontaine:] Now here am I
a playwright great,
whom classes high appreciate,
Yet I've to please both great and small,
or my receipts soon take a fall,
the critics spoil my audience
I cuss the press in selfdefence.
[Actors:] Yes, in soliloquy.

[La Fontaine:] Oh, pastoral,
or comical,
a play that's methodistical,
a study psychological,
on a woman with a past.
Historical or tragical,
a farce that's pessimistical,
a drama philosophical,
or a plaster for a cast.

[Actors:] Oh, pastoral,
or comical,
a play that's methodistical,
a study psychological,
on a woman with a past.
Historical or tragical,
a farce that's pessimistical,
a drama philosophical,
or a plaster for a cast.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
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An Author-Manager Am I 1894
Lyrics by Francis Neilson
Music by Vicotr Herbert
copyright 1894 by Edward Schuberth & Co.
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sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Monday 19 January 2004 at 12.48
in association with Doug Grierson
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"Prince Ananias." -  An Original Comic Opera.
Libretto by Francis Neilson. Music by Victor Herbert.
Victor Herbert Publication:
New York: Edward Shuberth & Co. (J.F.H. Meyer), 1894.
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This was Victor Herbert's first operetta....
*