Theatre Register

Adrian Ross

Shows · Adrian Ross

Lyricist 1859–1933

Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific English writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the most important lyricist of the British stage during a career that spanned five decades. At a time when few shows had long runs, nineteen of his West End shows ran for over 400 performances. Starting out in the late 1880s, Ross wrote the lyrics for the earliest British musical theatre hits, including In Town (1892), The Shop Girl (1894) and The Circus Girl (1896). Ross next wrote the lyrics for a string of hit musicals, beginning with…

Also credited on1 work

The Merry Widow

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature6 passages

  • It travelled first to London, with a new book by Basil Hood and lyrics by Adrian Ross where it played successfully for over a year at Daly’s Theatre . In New York it was given a new libretto by George Grossmith Jr., (the son of a Gilbert and Sullivan veteran) and some additional music by Jerome Kern . The New York Times complained that it…ebooks/Atkey, Mel/Million Miles from Broadway_ Musical Theatre Beyond New York and London, A - Mel Atkey.txt
  • Like the April 1957 production, the October 1957 revival was also seen at City Center, and it seems to have been at least partially based on the earlier presentation. The April production credited Sidney Sheldon and Ben Roberts with the book’s adaptation and Adrian Ross with the lyrics; City Opera’s production credited only Adrian Ross, a…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Based on a 1913 London musical with music by Paul Rubens and Sidney Jones and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, The Girl from Utah underwent a major sea change by the time it opened on Broadway, with no less than seven songs now credited to Jerome Kern (including his first hit, “They Didn’t Believe Me”). Despite the somewhat misl…ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • That’s not entirely fair. Adrian Ross was no Gilbert, but he was a wag and steered clear of the flowery archaisms beloved by journeymen librettists. As to the music overwhelming – the hallmark of operetta – while Lehár may not have got rhythm, he did have tempo, and his score offers more scope than the unrelieved lushness of later Silver…ebooks/Steyn, Mark/Broadway Babies Say Goodnight_ Musicals Then and Now - Mark Steyn.txt
  • Ev’ry touch of fingers ? Ugh! Strange how no lyricist has ever managed to articulate the irresistible, heady perfume of the tune. Adrian Ross opts for:ebooks/Steyn, Mark/Broadway Babies Say Goodnight_ Musicals Then and Now - Mark Steyn.txt
  • The Merry Widow (1907). Book: Victor Leon and Leo Adrian Ross; music: Franz Lehar. This popular operetta has had its book and lyrics readapted a number of times to bring it up to date, but ittheatre-pdfs/McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, v. 3 (I-N).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — lyricist — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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