# Theatre productions of Dan Leno

Dan Leno (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904) was an English comedian and stage actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, famous for performing in music hall. As a child, he was known for his clog dancing, and in his teen years, he became the star of his family's music hall act throughout Britain. He was an increasingly popular solo artist during the late 1880s and 1890s. He also performed in pantomimes and a few Victorian burlesques and comic plays and musicals, especially in the last two decades of his career.
Leno's first theatre appearance (as distinguished from music hall) was in pantomime in Liverpool in 1865, where he had a supporting part as a juvenile clown in Fortunatus; or, The Magic Wishing Cap alongside his parents, who appeared as "Mr and Mrs Leno – Comic Duettists". Leno earned wider theatrical notice as Dame Durden in a pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at London's Surrey Theatre in 1886, having been spotted singing "Going to Buy Milk" by the theatre's manager. The piece was a success, and Leno received rave reviews; as a result, he was booked to star as Tinpanz the Tinker in the following year's pantomime, Sinbad and the Little Old Man of the Sea; or, The Tinker, the Tailor, the Soldier, the Sailor, Apothecary, Ploughboy, Gentleman Thief. The Era reported that Leno "made a capital Tinker, full of drollery and grotesque business."
Sinbad brought Leno to the attention of Augustus Harris, the manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, one of the largest London theatres, which staged elaborate pantomime spectacles every Christmas. Harris offered Leno a role in the theatre's 1888 Christmas pantomime, Babes in the Wood. One critic wrote that "'the cake' for frolicsome humour is taken by the dapper new-comer, Mr. Dan Leno, who is sketched as the galvanic baroness in the wonderfully amusing dance which sets the house in a roar. The substantial "babes", Mr. Herbert Campbell and Mr. Harry Nicholls, would have no excuse if they did not vie in drollery with the light footed Dan Leno." Babes was a triumph: the theatre reported record attendance, and the run was extended until 27 April 1889. Leno went on to star in a total of 16 Christmas pantomimes at Drury Lane from 1888 to 1904. In 15 of these, he played alongside Herbert Campbell, a veteran pantomime performer, with Leno playing predominantly dame roles. Leno became famous for his characterisations of dame roles, and he was described as the "precursor of contemporary pantomime dames".
Leno also performed in a few other theatre productions during his career, including burlesques and musical comedies, while continuing to perform in his own popular music hall act, in London and on tour in the British provinces. By 1902, he had become an alcoholic and had begun to decline physically and mentally; he was briefly admitted to a mental asylum in 1903 and, upon his release later that year, played in only one more production. Leno died the following year, aged 43.

## Productions

| Date | Production | Genre | Role | Theatre | Notes |
| 18 Dec 1865 | Fortunatus; or, The Magic Wishing Cap | Pantomime | Juvenile clown | Royal Colosseum, Liverpool | Leno's first recorded theatrical performance; he appeared in the harlequinade, while his parents, Louisa and Will, played the principal boy Fortunatus and Ursa Major Britain, respectively. His parents were billed as "Mr and Mrs Leno – Comic Duettists". The music hall comic Harry Liston was also in the cast. |
| 18 Jan 1869 | Old King Humpty; or, Harlequin Emerald Isle and Katty of Killarney | Pantomime | Various | Monsters Saloon, Crampton Court, Dublin | By Will Leno. Performed during a tour of Ireland; young Dan Leno received praise from Charles Dickens, who was in the audience and told him: "Good little man, you'll make headway!" |
| 22 Jan 1870 | Jack the Giant Killer; or, Harlequin Grim Gosling, or the Good Fairy Queen of the Golden Pine Grove | Pantomime | Jack the Giant Killer | Rotunda Music Hall, Liverpool | By Will Leno. The Lenos also featured in the variety entertainment that preceded the pantomime, which offered Dan Leno a chance to "demonstrate his all-round talents". |
| 26 Dec 1886 | Jack and the Beanstalk, which grew to the moon; or, the Giant, Jack Frost and the Ha-Ha Balloon | Pantomime | Dame Durden | Surrey | By George Augustus Conquest and Henry Spry. Leno and his wife Lydia were jointly paid £20 a week. |
| 26 Dec 1887 | Sinbad and the Little Old Man of the Sea; or, The Tinker, the Tailor, the Soldier, the Sailor, Apothecary, Ploughboy, Gentleman Thief | Pantomime | Tinpaz | Surrey | By George Conquest and Henry Spry. Co-starring Leno's wife Lydia, the pantomime was the last of Conquest's performances. |
| 2 Apr 1888 | Two Lovely Black-Eyed Susan | Burlesque | Susan | Strand | By Horace Lennard. This reworking of the F. C. Burnand burlesque, The Latest Edition of Black-Eyed Susan; or, the Little Bill that Was Taken Up, was not well received. However, The Entr'acte called Leno's dancing "quite phenomenal". |
| Nov 1888 | Atalanta | Burlesque | Leontes | Strand | Opened on 17 November, with Leno joining at the end of the month. |
| 26 Dec 1888 | Babes in the Wood | Pantomime | Baroness | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris. Co-starring E. L. Blanchard and Harry Nicholls. |
| 9 May 1889 | Penelope | Comic opera | Pitcher | Comedy | By George P. Hawtrey (words) and Edward Solomon (music). |
| 26 Dec 1889 | Jack and the Beanstalk; or, Harlequin and the Midwinter Night's Dream | Pantomime | Mrs. Simpson | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris and Harry Nicholls. Nicholls and Campbell played King and Queen. |
| 26 Dec 1890 | Beauty and the Beast | Pantomime | Mr. Lombarde Streete | Drury Lane | By W. Yardley and Augustus Harris. Nicholls and Campbell both played dame roles. |
| 26 Dec 1891 | Humpty Dumpty; or, Harlequin the Yellow Dwarf and the Fair One with the Golden Locks | Pantomime | Queen of Hearts | Drury Lane | By Harry Nicholls and Augustus Harris. Little Tich played the title role with Marie Lloyd as Princess Allfair and Fanny Leslie as King Dulcimar. |
| 26 Dec 1892 | Little Bo-Peep, Little Red Riding Hood and Hop o' My Thumb | Pantomime | Daddy Thumb | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris and Wilton Jones, co-starring Marie Lloyd, Little Tich, Marie Loftus and Herbert Campbell. The pantomime received negative reviews from the press for its lengthy script, which was of the "roughest Cockney texture". |
| 26 Dec 1893 | Robinson Crusoe | Pantomime | Mrs. Crusoe | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris and Harry Nicholls. The production co-starred Marie Lloyd as Polly Perkins and Little Tich as Man Friday. |
| 26 Dec 1894 | Dick Whittington | Pantomime | Idle Jack | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris, Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton. Herbert Campbell played the dame called Alice. |
| 26 Dec 1895 | Cinderella | Pantomime | Baroness | Drury Lane | By Augustus Harris, Cecil Raleigh and Arthur Sturgess. The lavish production included a carriage drawn by real horses and "the use of thousands of lights". |
| 26 Dec 1896 | Aladdin | Pantomime | Widow Twankey | Drury Lane | By Arthur Sturgess and H. Leonard. The production was considered to be one of the weakest of the Drury Lane pantomimes, but Leno's characterisation of Widow Twankey was admired as one of his finest Dame roles. |
| 26 Dec 1897 | The Babes in the Wood | Pantomime | Reggie | Drury Lane | By Arthur Sturgess and Arthur Collins. Herbert Campbell starred as the dame Chrissie. |
| 1 Aug 1898 | Orlando Dando, the Volunteer | Musical farce | Orlando Dando | The Grand Theatre, Fulham | By Basil Hood (words) and Walter Slaughter (music). |
| 26 Dec 1898 | The Forty Thieves | Pantomime | Abdallah | Drury Lane | By Arthur Sturgess and Arthur Collins. Herbert Campbell played The Fair Zuleika, and Leno's uncle, Johnny Danvers, played Ali Baba. |
| 9 Oct 1899 | In Gay Piccadilly! | Musical farce | Aubrey Honeybun | Theatre Royal, Glasgow | By George R. Sims (words) and Clarence Corri (music). A provincial tour followed. |
| 26 Dec 1899 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Pantomime | Dame Trot | Drury Lane | By Arthur Sturgess and Arthur Collins. Music by Walter Slaughter. Leno starred with Harry Nicholls, Herbert Campbell, Johnny Danvers and Charles Lauri. |
| 26 Dec 1900 | The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast | Pantomime | Queen Ravia | Drury Lane | By J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. |
| 26 Dec 1901 | Bluebeard | Pantomime | Sister Anne | Drury Lane | By J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. Leno starred opposite Herbert Campbell's Bluebeard. |
| 21 July 1902 | Mr. Wix of Wickham | Musical comedy | Mr. Wix | Stratford Borough Theatre | By Herbert Darnley, George Everard, Frank Seddon and Frank E. Tours. A provincial tour followed. |
| 26 Dec 1902 | Mother Goose | Pantomime | Mother Goose | Drury Lane | By J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. The role was created for Leno. |
| 26 Dec 1903 | Humpty Dumpty | Pantomime | Queen Spritely | Drury Lane | By J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. |
    Note: The source for Leno's stage performances, except as otherwise noted, is Barry Anthony, The Kings Jester, pp. 215–16.